Top Decorating + DIY Home Improvement Projects of 2018

Hello my Foxes! It seems like we were just awakening from Winter and looking towards Springtime, and now it’s the last day of 2018. And we’ll be doing that looking towards Spring thing all over again in a blink! I don’t know how, but I think the time goes faster & faster each year.

Today I’m going to reminisce with you and celebrate some of the top loved & viewed posts of 2018, and some of my favorite projects that we tackled throughout the year . I’m not going to put them in any particular order, but instead, just meander back through the year. 

Let’s Take A Look Back At 2018…

• ALL ABOUT MY WOOD FLOORS

This one was a surprise, because I didn’t know there were so many people as (cough cough) obsessed with their floors, as I am. You know I did buy myself one new thing on Black Friday, and it was a vacuum. LOL! If you’ve been around for any amount of time, you know my floors are kind of my nemesis. And I talk about all the challenges I’ve had with them in this post, Everything You Want To Know About My Hardwood Floors [here]

Everything You Want To Know About My Hardwood Floors [read here]

My New Vacuum [affiliate link] It’s my second – I love the brand!

• THAT KITCHEN CLEANING POST

I especially loved sharing this project with you all, because we’ve all got a kitchen right? It was also something I felt we could all I really relate to. I so enjoyed shaming myself and sharing how much expired food I had too. Gah… I about died, but I sure haven’t done it since! In this post [read here] I shared everything I did to get my kitchen counters, cabinets, drawers & even my pantry in shape! And I’m happy to report that it’s been a real game-changer, and everything has stayed surprisingly tidy!

How To Purge, Clean & Organize Your Kitchen [read here]

• The Brick Wall That Jim Built

We had a busy Summer, and lots of our biggest changes were completed right before Fall, when our weather changes. Our new brick wall in the kitchen was one of them. This was a pretty layered project, in that we had to do some light demo, removing the old cabinets, prepping and installing the brick, and then feathering in the new flooring pieces to match the existing floor. I have not managed to capture it on camera yet, in a way that conveys how beautiful it is, and how it is so much an anchor for this entire space! You see it upon entry to our home and the whole upstairs seems to orbit around it. We just love it, and I think Jimmy did a wonderful job on it.

DIY BRICK ACCENT WALL and the new island [read here]

• I CAN SEE!

Or, that time we hung a ceiling light fixture… 14 years later. Probably the most used and enjoyed the change of the year. I can’t believe I lived without a proper ceiling light in this room for all those years. After that little squirrel crawled up in the attic and put a lightbox in, I’ve taken liberal advantage of being able to see. I’ve even been painting at the dining room table. It has been seriously wonderful! The seeing. My painting, not so much.

New Chandelier & Living/Dining Refresh [more pics & details here]

• PAINTING THE HOUSE(s)

And the angels sang… T H I S was my favorite project that we got accomplished this last year. Partly because it’s pretty, but mostly because we so so needed to paint and protect the house! And as I type, and the rain, driven by the wind, literally lashes the house, I don’t feel that tiny twinge of fear that water is damaging our home because it’s not well protected with paint. The back side of the house not withstanding. We’re getting there though.

Before & After Paint Reveal [read here]

Prior to finding out about our back side of the main house water damage… I splurged a tiny bit and had The Little Cottage painted to match. You can see the [reveal here] and take a look at our pretty new Dutch Door as well. In the Spring, I’ll get a post written about the stone path we put in from the main house, down to the cottage and take some pretty pictures too! We love it! It might actually be in the running for “most-used” new change with the dining room chandelier.

The Little Cottage Paint & Dutch Door Reveal [see more here]

• MY TWO FAVORITE PROJECTS I DIDN’T DO AT OUR HOUSE

Working with Better Homes & Gardens for the last few years has been such a wonderful experience and a true blessing! And while I love all my own Better Homes & Gardens projects, it was my sincere pleasure to get to share my blessings and work with two amazing local teachers, giving some BHG style to their home! Thankfully neither are English teachers, so hopefully they don’t cringe too much when reading my blog!

Small Space Dining Room Makeover [see more here]

Relaxed Coastal Living & Music Room Makeover [click here]

• FOLLOWING MY DECORATING HEART

Those pink velvet chairs… oh my. I’m so glad I threw playing it safe out the window, and went with the pink chairs that called out to me instead of going neutral like I so often do! It’s been my greatest joy, because I never would have went blush for Christmas at The Little Cottage if I hadn’t indulged my whim, and out of everything I decorated for Christmas, the flocked tree at The Little Cottage was my favorite of all. Perhaps in years. There was just something about it that I truly loved so much!! I felt light of heart as I decorated it. It was me doing whatever I wanted, however I wanted, and it was freeing and I felt pure joy in the act of adorning that tree. If you see something that you truly love, and it calls too you, perhaps you should give in a little. Something to think about as we venture into 2019!

My Pink Velvet Chairs [affiliate link] – There are other colors too!

Christmas at The Little Cottage [click here]

• PRETTY LITTLE JARS ALL IN A ROW

And… in honor of the sun room being completely out of service, covered in Tyvek house wrap and under construction, I’ll close with the sun room. In this post, I shared a few sources on how to date and identify vintage mason jars, and our beloved apothecary cabinet happily housing My Vintage Mason Jar Collection.

My Vintage Mason Jar Collection [read here]

• 2019 Plans

Planning ahead is something Jim and I really like to do. Mostly for budgeting. Dang budgets. hehe. Seriously though, we are big planners and we like to save up and not go into debt for projects and DIY’s. It’s why our projects are always pretty modest and we go so slow. We pay cash and don’t want to take out loans for projects. It’s why we both also have really old cars. They are paid for and we are so spoiled not having car payments. Anyhow… sorry, got off track there. Our plans for 2019 shifted considerably when we had to come up with a pretty hefty chunk of change for the home repairs to the back side of the house. I’ve re-worked a few things we had on the books and we’ll be doing the following in the beginning of the New Year and into Spring.

• Replace the light fixture over the kitchen island
• Replace the kitchen sink
• Replace the kitchen faucet
• Refresh kitchen tile grout
• Paint kitchen cabinets (I really need to talk myself into this one)
• Refresh the entryway at The Little Cottage (coming soon!)
• Replace the door jam at the front door
• Replace the sun room door or add a storm door
• Refresh the upstairs bathroom (since the remodel budget had to be re-allocated)
• Add a fridge to The Little Cottage kitchen (I’m looking for a perfect fit, pre-owned model)
• Paint the front door at the main house
• Main house: make shutters or add window boxes in the Summer
• Possibly tackle a no-money makeover of the loft at The Little Cottage
• Hopeful: Explore flooring options for The Little Cottage
• I’m sure I’ll add more, and won’t accomplish some, but I’m flexible & happy for the challenges!

I hope you all have something super fun planned for New Year’s Eve! Whatever super-fun means to you. Whether that means a party and staying up until midnight and lots of excitement, or a quiet evening snuggled up at home.

And I hope you know that it means so much to me that we have shared and visited and laughed and cried together in 2018 – Your love, support, comments, shares and camaraderie are priceless, they mean so much. Sometimes your comments, direct messages or emails come at such perfect times, you have no idea! xo Shannon

Cheers to more magic, more wonder… more love & light for us all in 2019!!!!

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