The "One Big, Three Small" Rule of Home Projects
To many homeowners, the to-do list for home improvement can feel like a mountain that never stops growing. Between the leaky faucet in the guest bath and the dream of a fully renovated chef’s kitchen, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by decision fatigue. This is where the One Big, Three Small rule becomes an essential strategy for maintaining a beautiful and functional home without the burnout.
The philosophy behind the rule is simple. You focus your energy on one high-impact project while maintaining momentum with three smaller, more manageable tasks. By categorizing your goals this way, you ensure that you are making significant progress on your home’s value while still crossing off the piling-up chores that cause daily stress.
The One Big Project: Moving the Needle
The Big project is your primary focus. This is the task that requires a significant investment of time, money, or mental energy. Usually, this is a project that will notably increase your home’s equity or drastically improve your quality of life. Examples might include refinishing the hardwood floors, painting the exterior of the house, or a minor kitchen refresh like replacing countertops and tile.
The strategy here is to only take on one of these at a time. A common mistake homeowners make is starting a bathroom demolition while the kitchen cabinets are still being painted. By sticking to one big goal, you ensure it actually gets finished.
The Three Small Projects: The Quick Wins
While the big project might take weeks or months to complete, the Three Small projects are designed to be finished in a single afternoon or weekend. These are the maintenance and aesthetic tasks that often get ignored but contribute heavily to the polished feel of a home. Examples include swapping out outdated cabinet hardware, installing a new smart thermostat, or power washing the front walkway.
These tasks provide the dopamine hit of completion. When you feel stalled on your Big project, knocking out one of these smaller items keeps your momentum high and prevents the house from feeling like a perpetual construction zone.
Why the Rule Works
The magic of this ratio is that it balances ambition with achievability. If you only focus on big projects, your home feels like a never-ending work in progress. If you only focus on small tasks, you never make the major upgrades that truly transform a property.
The One Big, Three Small rule also helps with budgeting. You can allocate your primary renovation fund to the major project while using smaller amounts of capital for the minor updates. Over a year, this rhythm allows you to complete four major renovations and twelve smaller upgrades, a pace that would transform almost any home.
Implementation Tips
To start, write down every project you have been dreaming of. Divide them into Big and Small categories based on the time and effort required. Pick your first Big project, then select three Small ones that can be done alongside it. Once a Small task is finished, you can rotate a new one in, but do not start a second Big project until the first is one hundred percent complete.
