It’s the wonderful time of year when everyone writes down new resolutions, make new goals, take down the Christmas decor, reflect on the past year (or in this case, the decade) and excitedly but slightly terrified prepare for the new coming year. Or it’s all bogus and you keep doing what you do, either way.
But in this case!
Let’s check out these seriously dramatic DIY’s that took us foreverish to accomplish. It seems only right to do a 2019 recap and do a little pat on the back – plus, you might’ve forgot. 😉
Our Exterior Entryway
Ah, the project where I thought I might’ve regretted everything. But then we finished and I was like WOAH. Definitely would do cedar slats again. I hear that it’s going to be a trend soon? Dunno. Honestly don’t care, because I love love it! Check out the whole process and all the pics here (+ video included)!
Our Guest Bath
Technically, this guest bath is a never ending project. Simply because I had no clear plan from the very beginning but that’s okay, right? Some paint there, a DIY here, some restyling, and it’s already better than the dark version of the bathroom, in my opinion. And for sure, tons better than what it was when we first got the house! My husband and I shook on the fact that I will leave it alone for at least a year – I think I can do that. Check out the all the diff stages of this bathroom here, with explanations + tips when remodeling.
Our Dining Part of the Linai
I think this one is my favorite transformations of all. I mean, this photo speaks for itself. By the power of paint, repurposing, DIY, shopping my own home, and spicing up the ceiling, our exterior dining was transformed! We’ve had many issues along the way and you can read all about what and how, here. Plus watching this video of how we made this table is a must (hint: an old door and scrap metal, baby). The pendant light was a DIY also (video tutorial included).
Our Laundry
I loved and hated this project at the same time. It only took us a bajillion days to finish and of course, it wasn’t a smooth ride (still isn’t). It may look like there isn’t much to it. but we added and painted wainscoting, repainted the cabinets, made and added a roller cabinet in between the machines, searched and searched for wallpaper (that shrank and now have to replace for some unknown reason of course), made our own concrete counter and installed it, etc. I thought I had a clear plan for the design of the laundry but all the paint samples I liked threw me off because the lighting is just horrible in here, and the wallpaper I originally really wanted turned out to be super expensive. Anyway, a step by step guide is here, you can find the wallpaper process here, and the concrete tutorial here!
Our Backyard Pavers
Uhmmmm, so don’t hate me for this but I completely did not publish my tutorial for how we added travertine pavers in the backyard. I didn’t forget, I just simply didn’t have any nice, professional-ish photos. Plus, when we worked on this, I was taking a break from the blog as I was at a bad point with psoriasis than. I have my excuses, heh. But either way, Leo wanted to do this so that there would be a dedicated spot with less mud for grilling and bonfires. We used every piece of travertine paver we had leftover from a job site so the pattern kinda took a few tries to get. And the result? Pretty, pretty! It’d be a nice spot for future renters, hopefully. 😉 I have a highlight on Insta under Bonfire Area for more peeks!
Nursery Closet
Our toddler’s closet was a messy and unorganized disaster. I figured that if I could make it look somewhat cute, that that would be less likely to happen. And turns out, I was actually right! But what I thought would be a weekend project turned out to be a month project, as I decided to paint on a faux wallpaper (using a pencil first), and then paint the corner and upper shelves with chalk paint. I still love the faux wallpaper to this day and although it required a little more work, I spent ZERO DOLLARS. Zip, none. I have an entire blog post about it here.
Our Guest Accent Wall
Check out the difference with the accent wall in the guest room! Not all rooms need an accent wall, but like – 99.5% do. We used tongue and groove and added a shelf for some pretty displays and whatnot. Some time after this, I actually tried to sand down the desk we painted and make a new top for it but that didn’t turn out as expected. So yes, Leo did make me a new desk and I’m obsessed. I still need to stain it and then I’ll be doing some restyling in here! I have some peeks of the desk under my DIY’s highlight on Insta but it’s kinda towards the end (I have to organize that but idk how). A tutorial for the accent wall can be found here.
Our Master Bath Vanity
I believe this was our first major project that was finished in early 2019. We started it towards the end of 2018, I believe? I had NO LUCK with finding a vanity that we could afford and even that I liked so I eventually said screw it, and bought a $50 dresser of FB marketplace. Might’ve been a dumb idea but it actually didn’t turn out too shabby! There’s a meaty tutorial here on how we turned this crappy dresser into a sturdy bathroom vanity. And if you’re curious if we finished our master bath, the answer is NO. Embarrassing but anything with “master” in it, always seems to be pushed last on the to do list. In this case, waaayyyyy last. But don’t you worry, the master room AND bath will be first on the to do list for 2020 – woohoo!! Did I have all this time to find the perfect vanity? Why yes, yes I did. Don’t remind me.
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