House Projects: My top 5 in 2015

In many ways, 2015 was all about finishing touches. Well that, a new roof, and new ceilings and attic insulation on the main floor. Those investments aside, I took a look back through my archives to pick five of my favourite upgrades from the year, just like last year. Believe it or not, we only have a few updates left on our list, and as a result, we’ve been able to spend more time enjoying our house than working on it this year. Yay!

So, here are five of my favourite DIY projects from 2015:

ONE. I started off the year by addressing this long-neglected eyesore in our kitchen. After painting the brick, Adam moved the outlet to the back of the opening and I built a new box to frame the bump-out. Both openings were topped with pine boards that I cut to size, stained and sealed.

The other side of the kitchen got some upgrades too, including new shelves, a freshly-painted door, and new pot lights.

TWO. Our entry has come a long way since we moved in, but 2015 is the year we finally “finished” it. We added new baseboards and shoe moulding, new shoe storage in the closet, and – my favourite – I turned a piece of scrap wood and some new hooks into pretty and functional wall storage. Even with a closet, it’s nice to have a place to stash the bags and jackets we use everyday.

THREE. Our living room underwent some big design changes in 2015, as I slowly figured out my style, including a new-to-us couch, a DIY transformation of a thrifted leather recliner, and my beloved new rug. I also made some updates to our dining room (new table, new paint), and finally updated our main floor with new baseboards and shoe moulding.

FOUR. We’ve been so focused on updating our home’s interior over the past four years that we almost didn’t notice our outdated porch light and house numbers. 2015 was the year I finally got around to updating both, and I switched up the colour of our front door while I was at it. Small updates that make a huge difference and better reflect our style.

FIVE. We made some updates to the back patio this year, too, extending the pea gravel to make room for Hannah’s sand and water table, mulching our row of transplanted hostas and ferns – which are filling in nicely – and adding a few hanging planters to our DIY fence. We started work on a future fire-pit area on the other side of the garage, but didn’t quite finish in time for the change in weather. Maybe next year!

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