Here’s my 2020: Year in review!
With everyone looking forward to 2021 and wanting to forget about 2020, I wondered if a review was even gonna make it on the blog this year. Even though this year has been full of challenges and disappointments, I still wanted to look back on some of the projects I completed in 2020. There were some really special projects like JJ’s Star Wars room makeover that I gifted him for his 11th birthday, the kids’ bathroom facelift as well as our moody dining room that went all black from floor to ceiling.
These projects really helped lighten the weight of the challenges we faced. It continued to remind me that our homes truly do serve us as our sanctuaries. It’s a respite from the outside world and a place for us to experience joy, healing, peace, and gratitude. I feel gratitude for our home more than ever and I’m so glad that we have made so many special touches to create our own personal sanctuary.
When 2020 began, I started to work on giving our upstairs hallway a transformation. We hired out for painting since the walls reached the second story and I installed peel and stick wallpaper. We added furniture and really created a beautiful space that often got overlooked. I love adding furniture in unexpected places. This dresser serves as a great place for extra storage in our wide hallway.
Recipes were shared throughout the year like homemade crusty bread, paleo banana cake, fresh spring rolls like shown below, easy ravioli soup, paleo peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, dalgona coffee, Mongolian ground beef, and more! Check out my recipes tab for more delicious and easy meal ideas.
Our main bedroom received a few small changes with some art and furniture swicharoo. Because I receive so many questions throughout the year of our interior paint selections, I created a post with all the interior paint colors of our home.
This fun and very inexpensive DIY sunburst mirror was a popular post from 2020. They are made from cheap shims! See how to create your own sunburst mirror.
As always, we love a simple furniture transformation like this one in Jules’ room. I bought this old dresser for $20 about 8 years ago and it has gone through a couple of paint makeovers.
The banister received a modern update with some black paint! It was a bit of trial and error but it has held up pretty well after the last correction.
Jules and JJ’s bathroom received a cosmetic update. With the upstairs hallway looking so pretty, it was a bit of an eyesore looking into this bathroom from that same view. I shared simple tips on how to paint bathroom cabinets, we installed beautiful wallpaper, built a frame around the mirror, installed new sconces, and added a DIY towel ladder.
This was a fun project with my oldest girl during the quarantine. This year, Jules exceeded my height!
The cosmetic changes really transformed the bathroom so much!
One of my favorite projects this year is our dramatic dining room. I decided to paint it all black and I could not love it more.
My love for plants continued to grow and I propagated so many of them around the home.
Our family took vacations when we could and I’m actually writing this post down in Florida as we close 2020 here together. These trips have been so good for our soul.
With so many people starting to work from home along with our kids being home too, it forced us to think about how our homes function more than ever. My friend and neighbor was struggling to find a dedicated work area in her home and I thought her dining room would be perfect. Since it wasn’t being used that much, we converted it into her new home office.
Speaking of office spaces, I helped to create a better working area for Jimmy. He has been working here in our bedroom for hours and hours every day and this simple change has really made the biggest difference for him.
I repainted JJ’s very old dresser and added beautiful board and batten treatment to his walls.
I shared simple tips and tricks to hanging your curtains. I do this every time I hang drapes in any space.
If you don’t have a fireplace, try an electric one like the one we added to our bedroom.
For his 11th birthday, JJ received the Star Wars bedroom of his dreams!
I don’t seem to get sick of newly painted DIY projects especially when they turn out like this.
These picture ledges are a great way to build something for your first project.
My own office space received a nice little refresh at the end of the year. I work in our formal den which doubles as our piano room. This just shows how a small wall in another room can work as an office. You don’t need a whole room dedicated to your office if you don’t have that option.
If you missed my Christmas post, you can find that here.
I didn’t share everything on this recap so you can find more DIY projects and recipes on the blog. You can also find our cell phone agreement we made with our oldest after she received her cell phone. So far, it’s been working out for us and you can also find the app that we use to monitor her phone which I highly recommend.
As this year comes to an end, I just wanted to thank you so much again for being here. I can’t wait to share all the new projects in 2021 along with all my endless ideas with you all.
Happy New Year, friends!
xoxo,
Let all that you do be done in Love. 1 Corinthians 16:14
