Looking Back and What’s Ahead in 2015

2014 was another busy year for changes around our house, and I haven’t even shared them all on the blog yet.  The biggest project we completed was our old shed that we converted into a guest room/photo studio, which then became a bedroom for our oldest son when he switched from an out-of-state college, to our local collage.  He’ll graduate from college in the spring, and once he gets his own apartment, it will revert back to a guest room/photo studio again, but I’m enjoying having him home until then.

It started out looking like this…

and ended up looking like this (full reveal here)…

It was the most rewarding room remodel, because of how drastically the seemingly hopeless shed got transformed.

The next project we worked on was originally planned to be our bedroom remodel, but we made a spur of the moment decision to turn our room into our youngest son’s bedroom, and remodel it for him instead.

Here’s how our old/his new bedroom looks now. (full reveal here)

There were also projects that got finished, but never photographed, so I never shared them on the blog.

Toward the end of the summer, we also added a porch to the back of our house, and added a small brick patio to the front of the house.  Once the weather gets nice again, I’ll share those projects.  My husband also built me a new picnic table (more here), which we enjoyed while the weather was nice.

Our living room has been a remodel in progress for several years, and I’ve never shared a full reveal on the blog.  Just about the time I think everything is done, we start tweaking something else.   I have a coffee table that needs a makeover, and an antique ceiling light my husband rewired, but I still need to find shades for it.  I got a new electric fireplace for Christmas, and as soon as I tore the wrapping paper off, my husband said I could paint it, since it looks too newish in my vintage style room.   I hope to get those projects done fairly soon, so I can share the living room sometime in early 2015…I hope.

We have lots of projects planned for 1015!

We moved into my son’s former bedroom, with plans to remove the wall between it an another room, and expand it into a larger master bedroom.  The wall has been torn out between the 2 rooms, and the old wood floor on one side of the room has been patched and painted.  Here’s the cluttered mess my husband had to remove before he could work on the floor.

I shared the pine plank wall we are installing in our room yesterday (it’s here, if you missed it).

Part of our plans for our bedroom, include adding a door to the back wall, which will go out to a porch.  We’ll build the porch to connect to the first part of the porch we added in the summer.  The porch will be a wonderful area to relax, looking out at our horse pasture, and the trees beyond it.  Just looking at this photo, makes me hope that summer comes quickly!

What’s ahead in 2015?  Obviously, finishing the bedroom is at the top of the list.  I’m hoping it will be close to completion by the time the weather starts getting warm, so we can focus our attention on remodeling the RV we bought several years ago.

We got as far as gutting a lot of the interior, then stopped to work on the guest room, so we have a lot to do to get it ready to use.  We haven’t gone camping as a family in several years, and I miss it a lot.

My blog underwent a lot of changes in 2014 as well, with a move from being a blogspot.com blog on Blogger to having my own self-hosted blog on WordPress, and  I made some changes to my blog’s look as well.

I really did love my old header, but it was too large to be used with the new template I had switched to, and I felt it was time for a lighter, brighter look, so I brought in this new one.

In 4 years of blogging, I’ve never had an “about me” section on my blog.  I share quite about about myself, my home, and often my family, in my blog posts, but I know it would be better to have a tab at the top of my blog for a condensed version, that is easy to locate.  I hope to get that done this month.  In 2014, I began partnering with some companies for some of the projects in our house, like our oven vent, and the plank wall.  I’d like to be able to present a professional “portfolio” when companies inquire about working with me, so I’ve also started working on an online “flip book” about my blog, and myself, similar to the “about me” section, but with more details.

I’ve been batting around some ideas for over a year, for my own line of products.  I’ve been dragging my heels though, in part, because I’m overly busy, and probably a bit out of fear, but I’d love to make some progress and be able to introduce at least a few products in 2015.  It’s a little scary saying something like that anyplace outside of my own brain, but I’m hoping by just putting it out there, I’ll get the courage, and focus to make it happen this year.  I really want to make sure than any product I introduce, with be totally in line with my style, so I’m not rushing it, but do intend to focus on it.  I have a few specific ideas in mind, and a few random ones I’m batting around, so I’m excited to see how my plans come together!

2014 really was a wonderful year, and I want to thank each and every one of you for allowing me to be a part of your days.  I feel like I’ve gotten to know many of you – especially those who regularly leave comments.  I love hearing from you all.

God’s Blessings to you and your families in 2015!