Home Improvements and Decorating: How Much Can You Do in a Year?

In this post: When it comes to home improvements and decorating, have you ever wondered how much you can do in one year ? Here’s a look at what I accomplished this year.⇒

I had grand plans last year at this time.

Oh yeah.  I was going to finally tackle my fear of painting furniture and spend the year refinishing half the pieces in my home.

Technically, I accomplished half that goal, since I did tackle my fear of painting furniture. However, you’re looking at the one and only piece that I finished during the year, above. Rather than fear though, it was a time issue that threw me off, and so it’s still in my plans to re-do several pieces, with one major project upcoming in the very near future.

There. I’ve committed. Now I have to do it.

Today I’m part of a very special blog hop, in which a group of friends and I have gotten together to share with you a review of what we accomplished in our homes this past year, and what we have on tap for 2020. 

This is not about seasonal decorating or tablescapes and the like. It’s more about the improvements we’ve made to make our homes more defined. The changes might be as dramatic as a total room remodel, or be simpler room refreshes that run the gamut from minor to transformative.

Please be sure to visit all the posts linked at the bottom of this one. Then come back tomorrow for another group of bloggers’ posts. I will be posting both days, as today I’m sharing the projects I fulfilled in the past year, while tomorrow I’ll be looking forward at what’s planned for the year ahead.

The funny thing is, as much as hubby thinks I was constantly changing things around our home, this wasn’t a year of huge projects. We’d already renovated our kitchen and master bath in the past few years, as well as adding a butler’s pantry.  I would consider those three renovations to be our largest to date and nothing we did in the past year came close. Instead it was a year of mostly refining, with a few notable exceptions.

Perhaps the biggest undertaking was decorating our basement, an effort I was determined to address with as much care as one would approach any room in the main part of the house. I wanted a space for casual entertaining and that’s exactly what I got. With two separate conversation areas and a bar in between, the spacious room is now perfect for hosting a large crowd for a relaxed gathering.

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The other project that was truly transformative was the remodeling of our main floor powder room. I actually didn’t change that much in the room, but the few changes I made amounted to a total metamorphosis, where the entire spirit of the room is vastly altered. What remains from before looks different in the new space and I am so much happier with the outcome.

My goal for the year was to work mostly on the upstairs, as I had refined many of the downstairs rooms the year before. As it turns out, only one bedroom was completed, but I was very satisfied with the results.  It went from dark and masculine to softer and more neutral. I couldn’t go too feminine, as it’s still the room my son uses when he stays with us.

We did add molding, rods and drapery panels to all of the bedrooms, but that’s just foreshadowing for what’s to come.

Another space that got a pretty significant revamp was the patio. Once again, without changing much of the major furniture, the entire look and style was nonetheless recast, going from bold and classic to softer and more vintage inspired.

Our family room is a space that I’ve been refining since we moved into our house and this year was no exception. The direction is simple and uncomplicated with fewer “things” on the surfaces, but we also added some technological advances making the room ‘smarter’ and hence life easier.

Curiously, the changes in the study are somewhat opposite those in our other rooms, where we changed quite a few things, but the net result is far more subtle. A softer rug, a more tranquil wall color, a new settee and office chair, as well as pretty French lamps all add up to a more cultivated space, yet the overall recalibration is really quite inconspicuous.

Another area I began to update is our upstairs hallway, which started with this fabulous French mirror.  But the project was held up by my procrastination on a painting project, so this one will definitely carry into the new year.

Not quite a home improvement, but something I still wanted to mention, a goal I set early in the year that I did achieve was to add more printables to the subscriber library. I added wall art, gift tags, jar labels and so much more, including table decor items like menus, place cards and  napkins rings. 

And finally, I had hoped the past year would be filled with organization projects, and I accomplished a few.  But there are so many more in the works that I’ll talk more about tomorrow.

It’s always great to set goals about what we’d like to achieve, but we also have to remain realistic and flexible. With an unlimited budget and endless amounts of time, the sky is the limit on what you can complete in a year. 

But for most of us, any forward movement is good enough. 

For our plans for the coming year, you can find Part 2 of this post here: Home Upgrades for the Coming Year

Please enjoy all the other posts below:

Designthusiasm | StoneGable | Shabbyfufu

The Happy Housie | Southern Hospitality | Sanctuary Home Decor

Zevy Joy | Nick + Alicia | So Much Better With Age

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