Since we’ve had our house, we like to sit down at the beginning of the year and discuss what we’d like to accomplish with the house that year. We don’t really make personal resolutions but we do like to figure out what can be done to the house within that year! We do this to help see a larger picture of cost for certain updates and renovations and budget accordingly. Some items are large, big ticket items that need to be done (like the roof or furnace) and others could be small cosmetic updates.
This past year, we did not do too many updates since we welcomed Graham in June but here are all the home updates we made in 2022 and what’s planned to come in 2023!
Built-in Bookcases and Desk
The biggest DIY we did this year was starting our built ins for the art and music room. It’s still only in phase 1 and not even fully completed but we got a majority of what we’ve dubbed ‘phase 1’ complete. We just need a few more finishing touches and then paint/stain and phase 1 is done. It’s wild to remember where this room initially even started when we moved it!
Graham’s Nursery
The nursery was a room that we had set up as our workout room and also had a pull out couch to be a guest room when people would stay over. We updated it over time since moving in and in 2022 we fully set it up as Graham’s nursery. We had painted the room in 2021 but we needed to still do final updates with paint and the room itself. We had a TV set up on the wall so we removed that and had to patch the wall, I decided to paint the closet doors the same color as the walls, and Steve painted the ceiling a fresh white. Steve also steam cleaned the carpet and then we fully set the room up as the nursery.
We decided to keep the couch in the room and use that instead of getting a separate rocker, and we are very glad we chose this option! There is just enough room to pull the couch out if need be and during a couple very sick nights for Graham, we slept in his room with him, taking turns keeping him upright so he could breath better. It was like a fun, sleepless, family slumber party!
We also set up his crib, got a simple changing table, and cube organizer shelves in the closet.
Modular Sectional Couch
In the winter, we ordered a new couch and it was delivered in April (thankfully with no shipping delay issues!). We went in store to Arhaus to test some couches out and see there fabric options and we ultimately went with 3 pieces in a performance fabric. I have another blog post all about our new Arhaus couch if you wanted more details!
Backyard Sod
In mid-Spring, Steve resodded the backyard. We had it freshly sodded in the fall of 2020 but it didn’t last through the winter and we left it as is since Quigley was a puppy tearing it all up anyway. We wanted fresh grass again so Steve resodded it and now that winter is here, we came to the realization that it is something we will probably just have to do every spring.
Bathroom Artwork
In the Spring, I began to paint some canvases for our bathroom to switch out throughout the seasons. I created some spring/summer and fall paintings so now I just need to make some winter ones! I have one that I did a couple years ago so I will see if I will want to use that one and paint another or make 2 new ones all together.
I bought some frames off of Amazon and can just swap the canvases out of the frames for each season which I loved about this DIY idea.
Graham Was Born
Ok, I lied before when I said the built ins were probably the biggest project we did this year. Giving birth to Graham definitely tops that list! LOL But seriously, Graham was born mid-June and he has been and continues to be our greatest, most fulfilling work. Steve was able to be home for a month and we were sure to soak it all up! I was thankfully home with him for four months before having to go back to work. Not much got done around the house renovation/DIY wise but we didn’t mind one bit. Keeping the house organized and functional, free of clutter, and free of baby stuff everywhere was the daily goal and I think we achieved that!
2023 Plans
We have some plans and goals of what we would like to accomplish with the house this year and we also have some that are a bit more of a dream to accomplish this year. Those ‘dreams’ are typically ones that we definitely want to do, it just may not be in the budget or time for the year.
Built In Book Shelves – Phase 2 of the bookshelves will be completed (at some point) this year but hopefully sooner than later! Phase 2 will be the top DIY built in bookshelves. Then we can finally fully organize the room so the closet can hold some larger items like more of my husband’s instruments and large canvases.
New Vent Covers – This is super boring adult things and not fun ‘look at our renovations!’ work but we really need to replace all of our vent covers in the entire house for nice, new, clean white ones. Our are currently old, brown or painted ugly off-white ones that have paint and random marks all over them from when we moved in.
Living Room Blinds – I finally got new curtain for our back French doors but our living room windows need some new, more aesthetically pleasing blinds. Our whole house actually needs new blinds but we will start with the living room because those things are expensive!
Pantry Renovation – Something we started thinking about right before 2023 started was giving our pantry a slight facelift. I always wanted to update the door with a DIY but this would be to update the inside first for functional and aesthetic purposes. It has a good amount of space but it is not being fully utilized. The shelves aren’t the prettiest to look at so we would want to update the look but also figure out ways to update the amount of shelves and spacing so we can get even better use out of it.
Front Door – This is a want that is purely for aesthetic purposes. I just really want a new front door.
Check out all of the renovations we have accomplished each year since we moved in!
