Best projects we did in 2017!

Best projects we did in 2017!

• 12.27.2017

I often see recaps with a few awesome room redos or home upgrades people did in a year, but am totally intimidated to make something similar for us! We bought the Stanley 90's reno in October of 2016 and we did most of the big-impact projects in 2017 (once the walls were patched, paint was done, and flooring had arrived and we installed it). We touched every inch of that house, most of it in 2017. But I'll try to just hit the highlights!

Here goes. BEST projects I did in 2017!

Best Home Renovation Projects in 2017

January

Our bed! A Cragislist find and some painting skills learned from other projects led to this elegant four-poster.

I finished painting and updating the kitchen cabinets!

February

I found and installed (in every room) these fabulous easy curtain rods, so stylish too. I highly recommend them! Here's the post.

March

In March we installed a lot of baseboards. I dreaded that project. Didn't finish in March, but did a bunch then.

We also installed our straight herringbone tile backsplash wall, which took foreeeeeever but looked amazing. Also did the shelves and vent hood.

April

The bathrooms!! We tackled TWO small bathroom gutting/reno projects in two weekends. Check out the video in that post. And here are the finished bathrooms--only $391 for the powder room including tile, sink, and everything, and only $905 for everything in the guest bathroom (including this great IKEA hack vanity).

May

In May we started the master bathroom reno project. Due to shipping issues, and also just how long it takes to remove a wall and turn a 1-sink, 1-light vanity into a 2-sink. 2-light one..... we didn't finish it till August. So keep reading for that.

June

We started to slow down in the summertime!

July

Did a little tiny, but very appreciated project--added cabinets for about $200 and made our laundry room an attractive, usable space!

August

Added some very cool retro removable wallpaper to the powder room, plus chair rail. Big improvement in what had been a very plain space.

We also FINISHED the master bathroom, what a great feeling!! We'd lived with it as an icky, dark room with the old low oak cabinets (and a turquoise painted floor after we pulled up the carpet and just needed to cover the subfloor with something), then lived without a master bathroom for quite a while too, then just had the flooring and toilet in while we finished plumbing/electrical/drywall and waited for the un-broken vanity... it was a saga. Removing walls, not easy. But so worth it in this case!

Seriously, check out the post to see the "before" and sources! This bathroom was only $1,482.

September

Did some landscaping clean-up. Nothing too big in September.

October

It all changed in October. As I shared here, we have an opportunity to buy a wonderful old house in my parents' neighborhood, FSBO, timeline still TBD--but we knew we'd need to sell the house first.

But do check out the "after" tour I shared here!

November

No projects, but I did share before/after listing photos taken about a year apart. See the changes in each room!

December

We moved. In with my parents, while we wait on the dream house. No going all-out on holiday decor like I'd looked forward to last December. I did some very simple Christmas decor but I will still have to think ahead to next year for a cozy holiday home of our own.

There you have it! Mostly, it's three bathrooms, a laundry room, and a kitchen, plus a few important details like curtains. We did a LOT in 2017 and are pretty beat. Hoping 2018 brings us a long-term home for our growing family that we can slowly make our own. Hoping we have fewer BIG projects next year! But better ones.