What's on your list of home resolutions for the New Year? A new kitchen or bath? An organized pantry? A cleaner house?

I used to dream big, planning pie in the sky plans each Jan. 1, nearly all of which are likely to be on the list year after year. So while in dream land I'd like to finish a basement room, rebuild the back porch and redo the upstairs bath, I'll likely settle for finishing half-started projects (window painting, a back-yard pathway) and re-fixing the front entry way after annual ice dam season ends. And maybe I'll finally use that paint I bought for the dining room some time back.

This year's list includes tackling one of the closets every other month, so in theory I could end the year with organized closets instead of tiny hiding spaces with doors to cover the avalanche of items placed there "just for now." Anything seems possible on Jan. 4. Possible, not probable.

What are you hoping to accomplish this year? And do you manage to pull off your to-do list or pull out your hair trying?

McClatchy News Service illustration