2011: Before & After

Ahh, 2012 is just around the corner which means its time for our look back at the DIY projects of 2011!  Here’s what we hoped to accomplish this past year:

• Redecorate master bathroom with new lighting, faucet, paint, refinish vanity, and frame mirror.  Woot!
• Repaint office, kitchen, and bedroom, possibly even the living room, hallway, and foyer?
• Build fancy new shared desk for office.  <—Plans are in the works!
• Replace grungy carpet in den with laminate floors FINALLY! Please say 2011 is the magic year! <—Not the magic year :(
• Curtains for den windows (botched attempt #1 in 2010).
• Install shelving in garage for storage <—remind me to show you after pics (after I clean up the garage!)
• Convince Michael to let me paint the kitchen cabinets! <—Still working on this!
• Landscape mailbox bed, mulch backyard beds.
• Rebuild deck…  another year passes and I still have to write this on the list….
• Make plans to clear out back line of property for a sunny vegetable garden!

This was published on the blog (here) for all to see and now I must be judged for my failings in 2011. :)

Five and a half out of eleven isn’t terrible, right?  Especially since some of those are just pipe dreams that I put on the list every year!  So now that we’ve addressed my DIY failings, let’s see what I actually accomplished, shall we?

I jumped right in on the master bathroom makeover and did everything I said I would… and it looks awesome.  Almost a year later and I still love it!  And seeing these before pictures makes me love it even more!! :)

Even though we didn’t get a new deck in 2011, we did build an awesome fence for Riley.  It took over a month and certainly wasn’t cheap, but I have to say it was money well spent.  Having a dog is much easier with a fenced-in yard.  Riley and I are both happy campers now…

We spent a lot of time in the yard this past year… adding lattice to the deck, planting, mulching, enlarging and adding new planting beds, and we even installed cute new steps in the side yard. 

 

I also painted our master bedroom, closet and the office (which is still such a mess that I didn’t even blog about it… new desk and office makeover coming soon!).  And I restyled and subsequently lengthened the bedroom curtains, too!

 

(Sadly our room hasn’t looked this nice since this picture was taken… sigh.) 

Speaking of painting, I began an exterior makeover with a front door transformation!  I can’t wait to get back to work outside on the shutters and trim!  Okay I really can wait, but I sure will be excited to see it done.

Aside from the painting upgrades, there were also some lighting updates in 2011.  The deck sconces were replaced with pretty new ones.  The kitchen light got a new shade and the den got two new light fixtures!  I won’t bore you with the befores, but here are the afters:

Basically the rest of the blog year was spent crafting, gardening, decorating for parties (summer and fall) and holidays (both scary and merry), and generally rearranging stuff. 

That brings us to our new to-do list for 2012!  Oh the pressure!  Here are some of the goals we hope to accomplish in the coming year:

• Paint the kitchen walls and trim and possibly the cabinets
• Paint the hallway, living room and foyer
• Build and install desk for office, refinish bookcase to match, install bifold doors on closet
• Install laminate floors in den (I think it might be the year!)
• Make curtains for den windows
• Hang additional shelving in garage (and reveal after pics of it all!)
• Rebuild deck…  (don’t hold your breath for this one)
• Actually make plans to clear out “the last frontier” for sunny vegetable garden??
• Finish exterior spruce-up with black shutters, black storm door, and freshly painted white trim!
• Install paver patio/pathway between deck and garage
• Have lots of fun and take lots of pictures for blog friends!! :)

Hope you’re making plans for a fabulously productive, fun, and happy New Year 2012!