I made a commitment to myself that for 2013 I will aim to complete all projects I set for myself. I want to see if I can actually bring myself to apply my ambition and creativity to a variety of projects. Not just writing, but other forms of creative outlets I think I might enjoy.

I have decided that Project 2013 will begin with a redecoration project of my bedroom. My bedroom is a bland, over-filled box that suffocates me and feels like a prison cell. That isn’t fair to the room, but it’s how I feel.

See, my bedroom was supposed to be a stop over. Not a permanent residence. In June of 2006 I got sick. I lost my voice and my job, I lost everything I had. In the process of the proceeding six months I had a breakdown. Broke, drunk and severely underweight I moved back to my parents home for what I thought was a six month stint to get my feet back under me and clear my debt.

As the years went bye I earned good money. I could never break the strangle hold of debt though. No matter what I did the credit card kept getting worse, the savings were non-existent. In September 2007 I got a job that would lead to a career. In January 2008 my father stepped in to help me with my credit card.

Between the two of us we paid that damn piece of plastic off in six months. I was ecstatic. I’ve never been so happy as I was the day I realised I’d finally broken the interest cycle. That the credit card in my wallet owed nothing at all.

Somehow within a few short months it was not only fully spent again, I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what I’d spent it on.

It stayed that way for years. In July 2012 I quit drinking for Dry July, which is already well documented. So is the outcome of the binge I undertook in August, which led to the commitment to life sober.

The unexpected side effect of quitting the booze is my credit card has started to reduce. I’ve gone from a couple of thousand over my limit to a thousand or so under my limit. I’ve come to understand that when I was on my binges I’d either withdraw huge amounts of cash if I was out or go online shopping if I was home.

Now that I don’t do either of those things my credit card is heading in the right direction.

I’ve also come to realise since I attained sobriety that I am sort of stuck here. In order to buy my own home I need to save a deposit. I can’t do that if I’m renting. Heading towards 40 and living at my parents house is not how I envisioned my life when I was younger. I never realised how long it was going to take to get my feet back under me either.

I’ve come to the decision that moving isn’t on the cards for now. I don’t earn enough to live alone and I don’t ever plan on having flatmates again. That’s fine when you’re younger, but the idea of living with anyone now makes my teeth ache.

I earn enough money to get a mortgage and to pay it off. I earn enough money to live alone in my own home, but not if I’m paying rent. So I’m not going to be paying rent.

This decision – to spend this year saving towards a deposit – has led me to the first project I’ll be undertaking during Project2013. A complete redecoration of my bedroom.

I sat down the other day and worked out exactly what I want to do. What furniture needs to go, what needs to be replaced. I drew up a sketch of how the room layout would work best, and I let my imagination go wild.

I’ve worked out this is probably going to cost me a few thousand dollars, particularly as I need to replace the floor and need to have an electrician come out and put in more power points.

The bedroom needs to reflect me. Now a beige box with old brown carpet. The colours I’ve selected are beautiful. The feature wall, which is going to be a burgundy satin colour is also how I’ve selected the accent pieces.

The room will be done in burgundy and silver. I think it will work beautifully, particularly as my existing furniture – the pieces I’m keeping – are a honey coloured pine.

The flooring is going to be the most expensive part. I’m going to get a floating wood floor in a dark grey almost black. I have a small corridor leading from my bedroom to the front door that is currently bare concrete. I offered to have it covered with the floating floor and my parents have agreed.

Because the floor tiles are black, I can’t go for a light timber like I usually would, so the grey/black floor is my selection. I think it will work beautifully with the room itself.

I’m not going to rush to pull the room apart and get started. I understand and acknowledge this is going to be more than a weekend project. I have to get the money saved to get parts done.

But I think it’s important to do it. It’s time I acknowledged that I will be a resident here for a bit longer. Without a doubt I’ll be living here for another year or so depending on how quickly I can save the deposit for the house.

I’ve often said I missed my calling and should have been an interior designer, but I’ve never really had the opportunity to do it. I did do up my Grandmothers bedroom when I was younger. She loved it. I still cringe every time I see the wall colour. Still, she was happy and loved her green and white bedroom. And frankly, that’s all that matters.

There will be other projects throughout the year. This won’t be the only one, but it’s the first one and I’ve already begun collecting samples and images of what I want to include. When the room is finished I’ll post a blog about it. Well I’ll probably post all sorts of blogs about the experience, but I’m really looking forward to posting the “Before and After” blog.

I guess the point to this post is; there’s a huge variety of projects for us to contemplate, undertake. As I writer I tend to lock myself into the path of “for me their is only one creative outlet, words”. My hope for 2013 is to open up avenues of creative expression I normally wouldn’t consider, all while working full time and facing the biggest challenge of all, completing a full length feature script.