Home Remodeling, Updates and Decor: What I Accomplished This Year

In this post: It’s amazing how much home remodeling and updates you can get done when you rarely leave the house! Here’s a look at what I accomplished this year.⇒

It’s not that I didn’t have goals for this year.

I did, and I even shared them last week as a reminder of what I’d hoped to achieve this year.

I just never imagined I would have so much time or inclination to pour myself into these projects. Instead I expected, like most years, that I would manage to finish a mere fraction of what I had planned and would be delighted to have even done that much.

But as we all know, this was not an ordinary year and both the extra time at home and the extra money in the budget (due to not spending on much else) yielded a perfect storm for accomplishing home updates.

Add to that the daily wanderings around the house taking stock of what needed improvement and it’s no surprise that I tackled so much.

Still, much of it is in the small details and there’s also plenty left to do for next year! But since it’s fun to look back and recap, let’s take a look at what I worked on this past year.

(A few of my blogger friends are joining me for today’s post. Be sure to visit their posts, as well, at the bottom of this one!)

In reading my end of year posts from last year, one key thing that jumps out at me is that I’d carried over some goals from the prior year that never got completed.

Of those, the first was a focus on our upstairs. You’d think bedrooms are among the easiest rooms to update, but I seemed to be working through them rather slowly.

This year I did get to the darkest of them, my daughter’s charcoal grey bedroom which now is the bright white room you see above. The transformation is quite amazing and it’s become one of my favorite rooms. We painted, changed the window coverings, added new nightstands and of course white bedding.

It’s the perfect space to showcase flowers!

Or really any pop of color.

I only touched on some small changes in the blue guest room, below, mostly updating the linens to add a little sophistication. I removed some of the homespun patterns, but retained the blue and white accents.

It was a tight little refresh and no more.

The second carry-over concept from the year before was my desire to conquer my fear of painting furniture.

This was a looming goal in 2019, that yielded only my first tiny end table, but boy did I embrace painting this year! I started with the 9-drawer dresser below, which had belonged to my mom, and after that huge project, I was hooked.

I moved on to the following additional projects (which you can click on if you’d like to see the paint colors and technique details):

Dish Cabinet | Sideboard | Sewing Machine | Mora Clock

In fact, painting became so second nature to me that I used it to save money on a bathroom remodel.

I’d been wanting to renovate my daughter’s bathroom but wasn’t quite ready to start ripping everything out. I did a quick little reface that involved painting the vanity, changing the hardware, replacing the lighting and mirrors, and adding a rug.

I was so pleased with the result that I may never get to a full remodel. Or from here it can be done in stages, addressing counters and tile individually, and certainly not any time soon.

Also on the list of goals from last year was a small update to the living room. I had planned to recover the large throne chairs that sat by the bay window, but I wound up with a bit of a pivot that solved the problem much more easily.

For the same price as recovering the old chairs, I found a pair of vintage French chairs online, that were already upholstered in the deconstructed look I love. They are the embodiment of that wonderful modern twist on French inspired decor.

I bought the chairs and gave the old ones to a friend!

In addition to these more consequential changes, I spent some time refining the accent pieces in our existing rooms. The goal was to simplify and reduce even decorative clutter.

In the family room, I limited the coffee table styling to one singular centerpiece, while the throw pillows on the couch were switched to all monotone textures. I pulled out the gilded clock and added in more chippy patina, and used hints of soft lilac to whisper the suggestion of color.

Along with a decorative paring back, in a few key places I chose to display my collections, but instead of limiting the items I instead limited the colors, making it easier to appreciate each of the unique pieces.

This was exactly my approach with the back entry shelf unit, where I’m now welcomed home by a mélange of favorite vintage treasures.

Another key goal, which I not only embarked on, but completely threw myself into, was a deep-dive organizing of the spaces that had become overrun with clutter.

In many of these areas, I had already created systems that had completely broken down after several years of use and acquiring more “stuff”.

Now that we’ve been in the house for a while, I have a better idea of how we’re using it, and the new systems are better equipped to carry us though the upcoming years.

Click below if you’d like to see the details for each of these spaces:

Dish Closet Makeover | Dining Room Storage – The Complete Guide

The Pantry | Under Sink Storage | Drawer Organization

The most recent update was somewhat unexpected and probably the biggest remodel we completed this year. This was part 2 of our kitchen renovation and while I’ve wanted this for some time, it was not in the plans for the year, and only jumped to the top of the list when the oven gave out.

We replaced not only a couple of appliances, but the counters, sink and faucet, as well.

This was the one advantage of not traveling this year. My planned trip to Italy became Italian appliances and stone instead!

This was indeed a bizarre year, but I accomplished a lot and I’m enjoying my home more than ever.

Be sure to come back on Tuesday for the follow up to this post, where I’ll be sharing which projects I have planned to conquer in the coming year.

Please also visit the other bloggers’ posts below, as they each share what they’ve accomplished this year, too.

Please be sure to enjoy the other posts below!

On Sutton Place | StoneGable | Southern Hospitality

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