2020: A Year of Home Projects in Review

I’ve been taking a bit of a blog and social media break for the past couple weeks as I think I really just needed some rest after this absolutely brutal year. Today though, I thought it would be a good opportunity to look back on what I did accomplish this year because as it turns out, it was quite a bit!

I also just want to note that this year has been a hard one on a lot of people, and I hope you don’t feel pressure to be productive in a time like this. I am in a much better position than a lot of people and I definitely still struggled with motivation. At the end of the day I didn’t do these projects because I needed to make my pandemic productive - I did them because I love doing this type of work, it was already in my plans for the year, and it brought me a lot of joy.

This time last year, we were hosting some friends for New Year’s Eve and the house was just barely, almost, sorta liveable. The first project I posted about completing in 2020 was my complete renovation of the full bathroom on the main floor which was mostly done by January 1st but got a few finishing touches. I did this entire renovation (including new floor and wall tile, toilet, sink, and tub) for $2000 which I’m incredibly proud of and still kind of shocked at looking back!

For the rest of the winter I worked on creating a small office space in the guest room (having no idea how much I’d need it), and on the dining room. The guest room still isn’t “done” so there’s no blog post on it but I’m super happy with the desk/shelf set-up even if I’d prefer not to be working 40 hours a week at it. The rest of the guest room isn’t the most designed/styled but there’s a comfy bed and a pair of nightstands so it’s functional even if it hasn’t had much use.

Right before we COVID-19 hit us in full force (literally, days before), I finished the dining room makeover. I had visions of dinner parties and cocktails with friends and instead it’s sat mostly empty. It is beautiful though, one of the first spaces in the house I really got to have fun with. And after not being able to use it for a couple months while it acted as a bathroom warehouse later in the year, I’m super happy to have it back now.

Spring came, and with patios at neighbouring restaurants not seeming like an option we cleared some driveway space for a patio of our own. I was really happy with the space we were able to create and with the help of some hand-me-downs from family and the fire table which was a housewarming gift, the space cost us less than $300. It allowed us to spend time outside and even let us have some socially distant visits with friends which I’m so grateful for.

After avidly following the One Room Challenge for years I got to participate as a guest participant for the first time in May and June of this year and I tackled the living room. The fireplace finally got to come into its own and now the room we spend the most time in also makes me the happiest. We’ve had such a cozy holiday vibe in the living room for the past couple months and I just can’t believe how different it feels from when we moved in.

It wasn’t really a me project but during the One Room Challenge I also had an HVAC system installed in the house. We hadn’t had an air conditioning and the house was heated by electric baseboard heaters, and the gas fireplace. This was a total game-changer, it’s so thrilling to be able to actually heat the house efficiently and cool it to a comfortable temperature in the summer - especially after years of apartments with window units.

Quarantine has meant a lot more cooking and meals at home for us and since dishes are both Ryan’s and my least favourite chore we were pulling our hair out by mid-summer. Finally, Ryan caved and said we could buy a portable dishwasher secondhand even though it would make the kitchen crowded. I used some extra materials I had on hand to give the whole kitchen a little refresh (that’s also renter-friendly!) knowing that the full reno was still 8-16 months out. Fresh stick-on backsplash, contact paper on the counters, and a new faucet changed the look and feel of the kitchen a lot and I’m not exaggerating when I say that the dishwasher has changed our lives. I highly recommend temporary renovations of spaces you use a lot. Over at Chris Loves Julia they always say “don’t wait” and I fully agree. Don’t wait until a move or a renovation to start loving where you live, you deserve to love it now.

I wrapped up my year of projects with my second One Room Challenge - making over my half bathroom. This was truly a labour of love and even though there were a lot of mishaps along the way I think the end result might be the nicest room in our house. That’s probably a ridiculous thing to say about a room with a sink and a toilet but it’s where we brush our teeth and get ready at the start and end of each day so it really does have a big impact on our day-to-day lives.

As I was starting this post I thought to myself I haven’t done as much as I’d hoped to this year, but I guess that’s okay but looking back - wow. I did an absolute ton. Let’s take a second to give ourselves credit for what we did this year. Whether it was working on a home, helping kids with online school, comforting loved ones, or just keeping it together I think we all deserve a pat on the back.

As we head into 2021 I’ve got some little projects to work on (floating shelves for the bathroom, some new decor around the house, closet organization for the entryway), some medium projects I’m so excited to start (a home gym and a makeover for my workshop), and at least one absolutely massive gut-job renovation coming later this year. Stay tuned, I’m so excited to keep making messes with you!