Today is exactly the day to the year that we first viewed our new home!
The last 12 months have been such a whirlwind and I honestly have no idea where the past year has disappeared to!
Whilst we’ve not quite managed to achieve as much as we would have liked in terms of home improvements, we are really pleased with the progress we are making – even if it’s not as quick as we’d like!
And it only seems right to celebrate our mini anniversary with some before and after’s of our home!
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Sanding the floors throughout our home is our single biggest DIY job so far. It was epic and to say that I’m happy it’s done would be an understatement.
It’s transformed the way the whole apartment feels!
The next project on our list for the hallway is updating the front door, which at the moment is really bland and boring.
We’ve already added our new lamp which I love (it’s Molecular by House Doctor) and have some art on our walls but we’re yet to find a rug, start painting and I’m also thinking about wallpapering this whole room – if I can convince Jan!
The small guest bathroom hasn’t gone through much of a change yet.
I totally admit that it’s a room that we never use and, when we recently had our family visit, I realised that we hadn’t even hung a mirror! Ups.
We obviously couldn’t leave our guests mirrorless so have now added a few things like our new round mirror and lighting as well as some art but it’s still not exactly an inviting space.
We’re planning a complete overhaul of this room but annoyingly we need to replace the window before any serious work can start.
Our study is definitely the most furnished and art-filled room in our home.
Other than sanding the floor which turned out amazingly well (it’s probably the best floor in the apartment) we’ve not done a single thing in here. Our ultimate plan is still to move the kitchen to this room but that’s probably going to take us a long time to get around to doing.
Next on the list for here is painting the walls.
I’ve not even begun to think about colours though (it’s not really a priority) and because this room directly connects to the dining room and living room it’s probably going to be a bit tricky to choose something that will allow the rooms to flow into each other.
I think it’s fair to say, that the dining room and living room both look a lot better than when we first moved in, too.
As with everywhere else in our home, the sanded floor makes a huge difference to the way the whole space feels. We still need a lot of furniture and more things in general to fill the rooms but we do have a new DIY dining table and I’ve just finished making a DIY lamp, too!
The guest bedroom is still a bit of a mess but finishing it is our top priority as we’re going to be opening an Airbnb!
I’ve almost finished building a DIY herringbone desk and we’ve finally taken the plunge and have ordered an armchair, too.
I’m really excited about transforming this room as I’d like it to be a super luxurious space for our guests. I also know exactly what I’d like the room to look like, even if achieving it on a budget is turning out to be pretty much impossible! One of the next jobs on the list for this room is adding panelling on the walls.
Our master bedroom is the room that has gone through the biggest changes.
We’ve painted the walls, and door, we painted the radiators, sanded the floors and even painted the sockets & switches!
Yesterday we finally hung our newly extended curtains I’m trying to build a new headboard for the bed which is turning out to be a bit more difficult than I’d like. I’m hoping to get it done in the next couple of weeks and, of course, I’ll be sharing everything here on the blog when it’s finally finished, too.
Another room that we’ve kind of been ignoring (and not just because I’m a bad cook) is the kitchen.
We carried out a few minor improvements when we first moved in but have been ignoring all other problems in the room. As already mentioned, we will be replacing the whole kitchen but that’s still a long way off so we will be giving the kitchen a full makeover soon.
We’re planning on painting the cupboards, updating the tiling on the walls, adding more lighting and restoring the old refrigerator.
One part of the kitchen that we have updated is the pantry.
It was soooo dirty and sticky!
We covered the shelves with cork which, although it was almost accidental, was kind of genius as it’s the perfect surface for a pantry. It stops anything slipping and even soundproofs the shelves.
Overall, we are making progress but with an almost endless to-do list and what feels like dozens of projects started it can sometimes feel slightly overwhelming. We obviously still have a huge amount to update and we’re definitely in need of more furniture, more paint, more curtains, more art – basically more of everything!
Having said that, looking back at how far we’ve already come is always super motivating and we’re definitely very lucky to be living in our dream apartment!
Do you also find it difficult to stay motivated when you have what feels like a million projects to do? What do you struggle with most when improving your home?
If you like this project, you will love these ones, too!
Ragnar says
What happened to your front door? Did someone cover the inside with plywood or metal? I can’t imagine it always looked that plain considering how spectacular the rest of your place is! I mean I’ve grown up in Vienna where herringbone parquet was considered pedestrian and pine boards a poor-man’s floor before WWII but your place is sheer luxury for me!
I’ll definitely have to check out your AirB’nB when you open so we can finally meet in person and I can have a look at your spectacular place!
BTW, one serious downside of moving the kitchen would be the original tile floor – what would you do with it?
Christine says
Yes, the front door is covered with metal and the original panelling is underneath but we are planning on giving the door an update. We just need to get round to doing it! ;)
We’re hoping to have our Airbnb open early next year (we’ll be doing a lot of work on it over Christmas) and we’ll be sharing all details as soon as we’ve finished. I can’t wait to have guests!
Yep, the original floor is definitely an issue. You can’t tell from the photos but it’s quite badly damaged in a lot of areas and we’re in the process of trying to get quotes to have it repaired. I don’t mind the odd crack or imperfect area but some areas will definitely need to be repaired to be safe.
If we move the kitchen, we would still like to keep the floor. It really just depends on if it’s salvageable. (we’re sharing a mood board for our kitchen makeover next week!)
CX
HouseTreeBeast says
Wow, you might feel like there is still a lot to do, but guys this is looking GREAT! I could only hope to get to this point somewhere next year. The DIY lamp looks awesome, will you write a post about this? Could really use the inspiration. And this might be silly, but I really like the pantry update as well. Looks so much nicer now.
Christine says
Awww, thank you so much! I really love the pantry update, too – there was just no way I could have put any food in there before! Yuck!
I won’t be sharing a tutorial for this lamp as I did a bit of research and the company that makes the original seems to make bloggers take down any tutorials. So annoying but I obviously don’t want to get into any trouble! Basically, it’s made out of a pop-up tent and some PTFE tape. I’m sure you can work the rest of from there! ;)
Can’t wait to see what you ceiling will look like!
Cx
Andrea at the creative coastal home says
You’ve done a lot in a year! I know it always feels like you could have done more – that’s how I feel! But doing DIY well takes time. Love the pantry shelves
Christine says
You’re sooo right, Andrea! There’s no point rushing DIY as you’ll probably only be left with a result you’re not happy with anyway. Because the buying process took so long, we also only picked up the keys 8 months ago. So really we still have a bit of time until the full year actually in our home is up. Maybe we’ll manage to get a few more things done before then!
Cx
Allison Cooper says
Great photos. You are really reinstating the beauty of the apartment. I have been renovating our Edwardian house in South Wales for a year and a half. I can remember feeling really overwhelmed by how many things needed to be done. After a couple of serious meltdowns I calmed down and decided to concentrate on one job at a time and get that done. Over time those individual jobs start to make a difference and the motivation from that has been so helpful. I have also taken photos of the “before” and it is great to look back at them to see the difference you have made. I love your blog too. Your advice both in the blog and direct answers to questions have been so helpful. Keep up the great work and good luck with your Airbnb venture. X
Christine says
Thank you so much, Allison! That really means a lot!
It’s so easy to feel overwhelmed, isn’t it?! Concentrating on one job at a time and seeing at least some progress instead of living in a home where there are 20 unfinished projects lying around is definitely a good idea – now all I need to do is actually get a grip and stick to a plan for a change!
Cx