Is it just me or did the last 12 months just disappear in a flash? If it wasn’t so wet and cold outside I would swear that it’s only July! Even if I’m somehow missing around 5 months of my life, there’s no getting around the fact that the new year is just around the corner.
By no means are we people that believe in New Years’ resolutions but setting goals and taking stock are always good ways to give ourselves a reality check, keep motivated and realise that we probably managed more than we thought and, no, I’m not just talking about Netflix box sets!
As well as looking back at what we managed to accomplish, we also plan the projects we’d like to tackle in the new year. It’s something we’ve always done and it helps us stay focussed and gives us something to aim for.
In 2019 we didn’t even come close to achieving our home goals and I certainly didn’t achieve my 10k Instagram follower goal (you’re more than welcome to give us a follow over there!) but we managed to tick a few of the boxes on our ever-increasing to-do list and also completely changed our minds on a few projects, too.
The first project we’d planned was a pantry makeover. We gave it a super quick refresh not long after moving in and we are generally happy with it but it could still be so much better.
So, how far did we get? Well, we’ve not actually touched the room at all!
We’ve finally figured out the layout changes we’d like to make to our apartment and it’s almost certain that our pantry won’t stay a pantry!
I’ll be sharing our full renovation plans and ideas soon but it’s safe to say that we’re planning some big and rather major changes. As usual, I have way too many ideas spinning around my head and we’ll need your help deciding on the best option!
Given that we’re planning some major changes pretty much imminently updating the pantry only to tear it to pieces again probably doesn’t make the most sense no matter how much I’d like it to be pretty and finished.
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As much as our first project was a complete non-starter, our second project turned out to be much more successful. If you’ve not already caught it, we gave our bathroom a complete makeover which completely transformed it into a much more inviting and tranquil space.
Along with a coat of paint (it’s Farrow & Ball’s Pigeon), we built some ladder shelves and fitted a new vanity cupboard. We also installed a gorgeous new tap and washbasin and built an amazing concrete vanity countertop (we’ll be sharing the exact details of how we built it soon!).
There’s no getting around the fact that this is still a really a small bathroom and that almost all of it will ultimately need completely replacing and updating (we’ll be sharing our long term plans for here soon, too!) but for now, it’s definitely a much nicer space to relax in!
The next makeover on our list is another one we didn’t manage to complete. Our living room still looks almost exactly as it did this time last year.
We have given it a few small updates like pimping the skirting board and I finally managed to get round to restoring our teak sideboard after the total nightmare delivery where I got threatened by the delivery person but there haven’t been any major changes in here.
Honestly, our lack of updates is more down to indecision and budget restraints than anything else. I still don’t like the colour of the walls, we still haven’t found a rug we like and can afford, we still don’t have curtains and I’ve not even got round to choosing a fabric let alone reupholstering the second-hand sofa we purchase almost 2 years ago!
I’ve changed my mind about this room so many times already and I’m definitely suffering from a serious case of decision fatigue.
Ultimately, the room does work as it is and it’s by no means something that I can’t live with for a while longer. We could do with some more storage (both the sideboard in here and the one in our dining room are stuffed full of board games), I’d like more art (I still think the Monet waterlilies would look fabulous on our wall), we’d like to add and update some furniture, I’d love a Frame TV which would be perfect for this room and the lighting situation in here is less than ideal.
Having said all of that, we have some massive and extremely expensive house updates coming up soon (more on the utter misery of having to pay £££ for new heating as soon as I know exactly what’s happening) which is another reason we’ve been putting off any other big investments. Having said that, I think a can of paint has to be in budget for this room for 2020!
The last and rather an epic project that I’d planned for 2019 was overhauling our windows. Although we only live in an apartment, we have a whopping 68 windows! No, that’s not a typo!
I did make a start on restoring them in the summer but the combination of breaking a pane of glass in the first window I started working on, sanding for hours on end and the fact that it’s such boring and time-consuming work means that we’re nowhere near as far along with our windows as we would have liked. 3 out of 68 windows isn’t exactly groundbreaking but it has given me a better idea of what will be involved and how much time I will roughly have to spend on each window.
At the moment, I estimate that it’ll take me about a day a window to get everything completely restored. This includes scraping off any old paint, sanding the whole window, renewing the putty, repairing any broken bits, adding draughtproofing seals and painting everything.
It’s definitely not a quick job but it’s also something that I won’t be able to put off much longer if I want to be able to keep the original 100+-year-old windows.
In January when we sit down to make all of our plans for the year, it always seems like we have forever to complete our goals but somehow the year always has a way of disappearing much quicker than expected.
Ultimately, there’s no point dwelling on things that we haven’t achieved and we did accomplish a lot of smaller projects like our DIY dining room bench, or our completely bonkers guest bathroom makeover and giving our bedroom chest of drawers a full upgrade.
We already know that there will be some big changes around here in 2020. We don’t yet know exactly what will happen so stay tuned for our 2020 plans and some possibly big changes around here!
Did you manage to complete your 2019 goals? How do you stay motivated to get things done? Do you have any big plans for 2020? We’d love to hear what you’re planning for the new year!
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