This article was originally shared on my original blog, OurFiftiesFixerUpper.com, in December 2017.
2017 was a slow renovation year for us, it seemed. A lot of the projects we were working on seemed to take FOR.EVER (cough- master bathroom- cough). Looking back though, there were quite a few things we accomplished and I’m laying them out below!
1. Mudroom creation: this was our first completed project of 2017. It feels kind of crazy that this was only a year ago- to me, it feels like it’s been done for much longer! Check out the link for more info on what we did to this space!
2. Skimcoated kitchen, dining, mudroom, and hallway ceilings: Almost forgot about this one- maybe because I blacked it out of my brain! ha! It was a roughly three week-long project involving taping off our entire kitchen and dining room and then layering 3-4 coats of mud over our plaster-textured ceiling (MUCH worse than popcorn texture! ugh!), followed by sanding it- and then cleaning up the dust for the next month!
3. Master bedroom completion: From knocking down a wall between two bedrooms to a fully-finished master bedroom and an almost-finished master closet and bathroom, this was a major change. As a quick recap, we had to sheetrock the wall between the rooms, skimcoat, sand, and paint the walls and ceilings, added a shiplap feature, trim, a new light fixture, and of course, decor!
4. Master bathroom and closet: We started this work at the same time we started our master bedroom, but quickly realized that we should focus our energy on one space at a time. We hired out a plumbing company to install the drains for the new bathroom, but Josh did all of the water supply runs and all of the electrical work, which was pretty tedious. He built the shower base, put up walls (then again, skimcoated, sanded, and painted) and together, we tiled the whole space. It’s still not 100% complete, but hopefully will be within a couple of weeks!
5. Guest bedroom remodel: From the second we finished our guest bedroom, I hated the paint color. One weekend, I decided I had finally had enough of the boring, ugly space, and painted it a shade of gray and added a white shiplap wall. If only I could get new bedding and a rug now! ha!
6. Living Room Makeover: My style has evolved over the last year- I still don’t think I fit into any specific category, but I am attracted to anything Scandinavian, Bohemian, slightly rustic, or modern (wide range, I know). I felt like our living room really just didn’t represent my style anymore so I did a mini-makeover by adding wall sconces, new artwork, a new rug, wall-mounting the TV, and swapping out decor pieces. We also ordered a new loveseat and plan on buying a new sofa later this year. It’s one of the most-loved spaces on my Instagram account, and I’m so happy with how it turned out!
Looking through that list, it seems like we did accomplish quite a bit in 2017, after all! In addition to all of that work on our home, we went on a ski trip to Colorado, took a trip to Austin and Waco (twice, for me!), went camping, saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers (our favorite band!), went down to GA to see my brother graduate from National Guard basic training, spent time at the lake in the summer, and spent a lot of time with friends and family. Oh, and I can’t forget- I launched my blog! All in all, 2017 was pretty great and we are so lucky to have had so many wonderful experiences- I can’t wait to see where 2018 takes us!
