Year In Review & What’s Planned For Next Year
I’m not sure if it’s a natural function of age or the times that we live in, but this year has flown by so quickly! I have been on the internet since the dawn of time (1999 precisely!) and blogging for about 17 years. That’s a lot of years under my virtual belt and I appreciate those of you who stick around through all of the changes. I really do, and not only has this allowed me to make new friends via the blog and social media, it’s my full time job. There have been many ups and downs and sharing my creative side is what I love the most. I hope to inspire you in 2022 and have many DIY projects and decorating ideas to share! Today I’m talking mostly about the projects that I’ve accomplished in 2021 and a few personal notes. My dearest blogging friends are sharing their year in review as well, so be sure to keep reading to the bottom!
Before I get started on the projects, I want to thank those of you who left kind words about the recent passing of our beloved Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Bartley. It hit us hard and he was ill for a few months, so caring for him daily took a lot of my time and my heart. We took his sibling Darby to our vet cardiologist on Thursday and she had a great report, so having her (and our other pets) around is a big help. Darby is a sweetheart 🥰…here’s a shot that I took while in the waiting room.
Projects Accomplished At Our Miami Home
We have been in our home in the suburbs of Miami for a long time and raised our family here. We never thought of a “forever home” when we purchased this place, but I guess that you could call it that. This year we had thoughts of moving out of Miami and went so far as to put a deposit down on some land. Circumstances didn’t work out and we will stay for the foreseeable future. It’s been a great house for us and we keep updating as the years go by. Plus…it has an incredible lot and that is so hard to find. The kids were here and we enjoyed watching the annual holiday boat parade from our dock the other evening…
But I digress and getting back to the projects that we’ve accomplished, my favorite would be the new front doors. Our doors were outdated and not only that, we wanted to let more light in. Plus they were no longer in great shape and it was time to replace them!
We are huge DIY-ers over here and I feel that we can design and accomplish almost any project together. My husband studied engineering and building construction and I’m from an art and design background. That is the ticket to our success and we’ve really enjoyed this aspect of our partnership. We have big plans to share more of our joint DIY projects in 2022.
A home shouldn’t be stagnant and stale and to me it’s like a living, breathing object of affection! I would like to do more in the living room and hope to add picture frame moulding as we did here. First we definitely need to paint the entire 3,400 sq ft interior of this house and that’s a project that we’ve been needing to do for sometime. I love the white that we currently have (Benjamin Moore White Dove) but it’s been years and needs a fresh coat of paint.
Speaking of paint, I found our current dining table on FBMP for just $10 and have a DIY on my painting technique in THIS POST. Below is a before and after!
On a roll with Facebook Marketplace, I found this set of Chinese Chippendale rattan chairs and will be using them as a spring and summer set. Below is the “before” and you can see the after HERE!
Not particularly exciting to the outsider, but we created a new version pantry space in one of our air-conditioner closets this year. It’s just on the other side of the kitchen and you can learn more in the DIY Pantry post HERE.
Projects Accomplished At Our Beach Home
This year I’ve once again fallen in love with wallpaper! In our first home as a married couple we did wallpaper in pretty much every room, so we do know how to put it up. Taking the old wallpaper down is another story and when we purchased our current home it had some tacky wallpaper that we had to remove. We steamed, scraped and sanded…all while cursing under our breath and swore that we would never put up wallpaper again! Times have changed and today’s wallpaper is much easier to put up and take down. And then there is peel and stick…which is a great option and works well for small spaces, tight spots and renters as well.
POWDER ROOM
We installed peel and stick wallpaper in the powder room at our beach home above. See more of the DIY “How To Hang Peel and Stick Wallpaper Like A Pro“!
LAUNDRY ROOM
We did a partial renovation of our laundry room after a leak situation and explain “How To Paint Cabinets” and work with wallpaper in a difficult space HERE.
BREAKFAST ROOM
My favorite renovation and design project of the year has to be the breakfast room at our beach home! The mood board is above and it’s a must see post…HERE! We did everything from building a banquette to adding picture frame moulding and wallpaper.
PROJECTS PLANNED FOR 2022
Our kitchen at the Miami house. Our home was built in 1962 and STILL HAS THE ORIGINAL KITCHEN CABINETS! That’s a shock, I know…but we have made cosmetic updates over the years. While keeping the solid wood interiors, we’ve replaced the doors, countertops, backsplash, floor, appliances and hardware. Years ago we even went so far as to move the living room wall out further to enlarge the kitchen and build the island.
It’s dated now and the doors, drawers and appliances all have issues. Plus we sketched out changes that we would make now, like removing the soffits, installing a walk-in pantry and more. Typically I work with brands for large projects and haven’t lined anything up, so we shall see. It’s a messy and costly project and we do this in homes for our clients, so we know the lag time these days.
The guest room may get an update and we have more projects planned, so stay tuned for all of those ideas and visit my friends below! YOU CAN ALSO SHOP MY HOME & SHOP MY BEACH HOME
Designthusiasm | On Sutton Place | StoneGable
What a productive year, Janet!! I just love the new layout in the living room and that powder room at the beach! Can’t wait to see what you have in store for 2022!!
it’s very nice
you have a beautifull “cavalier King Charles”
kisses from Belgium