Last year, I had big dreams for all the home projects I wanted to tackle and shared this ambitious post outlining all of our plans. But, as life would have it, not a single one of them made it across the finish line! Why? Well, let’s just say last year brought plenty of surprises – including an unplanned primary bathroom renovation and a cascade of unexpected home expenses that are leaving me with one heavy project punch list as we head into the New Year.

Prior to life throwing us these curveballs, I had already started working on a few of our largest spaces before we had to hit pause. If you’ve ever lived with half-painted walls or unopened project boxes stacking up, you know exactly how frustrating it can be. The whole house starts to feel unfinished and like you’re living in a never-ending construction zone. I’m really looking forward to tying up all of these loose ends and finishing up our outstanding projects. Let’s start with an update on the laundry room..

Laundry Room

We made a little progress in this space until a plumbing leak totally halted our plans. To make matters worse, this room sits front and center on our first floor and is sandwiched between two main entry points. This means that everyone who visits our home gets a front-row seat to its current state of chaos (and my daily dose of stress). Since the leak was right above the laundry room, it wreaked havoc on the walls we had so carefully prepped for wallpaper – taking us right back to square one.

Now, this room is sitting untouched while I try to figure out our next steps. We couldn’t move forward with updating this space until our replacement kitchen cabinets arrived – a process that took nearly six months! This was because we needed to access the main pipe through the laundry room to test that all leaks had been resolved before closing up the wall.

Outstanding Laundry room items:

• Installing wallpaper vs. trim vs. painting the walls – this will determine the entire design of the laundry room. I’m not sure if I want to go with the original plan of wallpapering..I’m afraid of another leak down the road!
• I’m considering painting the exiting cabinets. They’re in excellent condition and work for this space, but they feel a bit dated next to everything else. Once we replace the flooring, the cabinets won’t feel so old.
• We are definitely going to replace the countertop in here. If we paint the cabinets, I would love to install a wooden top to maintain some warmth. I also want to convert the sink to an under-mount.
• Replace all of the detail items like hardware and lighting.
• Add a sheer cafe curtain to the door.

I keep the door to this space closed most of the time because it always feels so messy. But, enough is enough – its time to get this project punch list rolling.

Dining Room

Do you remember the infamous red and green Christmas room? Well, we’ve made some progress here, though not as much as I’d hoped. We skim-coated the walls ourselves (which was a big first for me). There was a little learning curve, but now I feel like I have the hang of it. The walls already look so much better – the original texture and the paint color was driving me crazy!

The flooring finally goes in this week and then after that I think things will move along quickly. I would also like to wallpaper this room, but for now I plan to just give the walls a fresh coat of paint so we can move some furniture in here and start to utilize this space.

• We can’t really do anything else until the wood flooring goes in and get stained. I’m very excited for this to be complete!
• We’re having some issues with the existing electrical running through this room and haven’t been able to install a new light fixture. The electrician wants to completely rewire this room and add a new junction box to the panel. This is going to be really costly, so we’re trying to find a work around on this.
• Add wallpaper!

Family Room & Breakfast Nook

Now that our primary bathroom is almost wrapped up and we’ve got our kitchen put back together, we’re well underway on moving forward with the family room design & breakfast nook update. I recently shared our family room mood board which is heavily English inspired. I’m very excited to finally have this space finished (and to get out TV off of the floor!). Here is what is left for this space:

• I’ve already primed these walls so once the flooring is in I can immediately paint. The carpet will be removed this week and we’ll finally have hardwood installed throughout the first floor!
• I am reusing as much of the built-ins as possible, but they are getting a major overhaul to bring them up to date. We’re also updating the fireplace mantel to fit better with the style of our home.
• The fireplace brick is something we will tackle down the road. I don’t want to paint this or cover it, so I think I might try my hand at staining it.

Primary Bathroom

And finally, the project that threw a wrench into all our other plans! We’re so close to the finish line on this one. We just need to add the switch plates and vent covers, get the vanity lighting in place, and bring in some decor to tie everything together. I can’t wait to share the final reveal with you. Stay tuned for that post – I promise it’ll be worth the wait!

After the Project Punch List

It’s been quite the journey to get these projects moving, that’s for sure. Between the bathroom renovation and a few unexpected hiccups with our contractor (a story for another time), it’s been a test of my patience. But even though it’s been frustrating at times, I’m excited to start checking things off this list and move on to other updates around the house! Everything is a learning experience, right?

Have you ever had a home project that came to a halt because life got in the way? I’d love to hear how you handled it. Drop your tips in the comments or send me a message. And, of course, stay tuned for the next update as I check off these project punch list items!