Well, we have reached the end of another year. It’s hard to believe we’re already at the end of another year, but here we are. How did I make it on my list this year? Actually, I did quite well! There have been a few years in the past where I got so off track on my list for that year that by the end of the year I had barely crossed anything off my list.
But that didn’t happen in 2025. Most of the time I focused on my master list of home goals for 2025 and crossed off many of those items. Of course I didn’t finish my list. I never do that. As I’ve explained before, these lists are more like a buffet of items for me to choose from, with the overall goal of the list being to help me focus on the big picture. Let’s see how I did it. I started working on…
My workshop:
At the beginning of this year my workshop looked pretty plain. We had it built in the fall of 2024 and this is what it looked like when the shed company was finished.
And after completing these projects, the workshop now looks like this…
I’m not done with the exterior yet. There were a few things on my list that I didn’t get done. I still want…
- Do something to make the garage door look interesting,
- Build a pergola over the garage door,
- Mark the flower bed around the building and add mulch
- Add lighting.
Although I didn’t manage to go through the entire workshop exterior list, I did complete most of the large projects. And I achieved my goal of transforming the plain box of a shed into something that looks like a cute little cottage in our backyard.
Closet and laundry room:
The next project I worked on was the walk-in closet and laundry room. At the beginning of the year, I said that this was the project I was most excited about because I’ve never had a large closet with enough storage space in my entire adult life. I was also incredibly excited to have a proper laundry area and get our washer and dryer out of the sunroom.
And now that the closet and laundry room are finished and I’ve spent a few months on them, I still feel the same way. While I’m definitely excited to completely finish our new bedroom, it still doesn’t compare to how much I love my new closet and laundry room.
At the beginning of the year, the room I wanted to convert into a walk-in closet (our former guest room) looked like this. It’s crazy to look back at these pictures and see the changes that have taken place in this space this year.
To turn this into a walk-in closet and laundry room, I did the following:
- I had a new parquet floor laid and sanded,
- The new wood floors stained and sealed (dark stain, round 1),
- The wooden floors newly sanded,
- The parquet floors were resealed (light and natural stain, round 2),
- Built-in cabinets to create a laundry area in the room,
- Built an entire room full of closets with shelves and hanging rods for storage.
- New lighting installed,
- Built a custom jewelry drawer with a glass top,
- Built a custom extendable necklace rod area,
- An island built
- Installed wallpaper and
- Made a floral chandelier.
I still can’t believe I have such an amazing closet. For me it is really a dream wardrobe.
The master bedroom:
I’m pretty close to finishing our bedroom, but still have a few projects left. This room used to be our home gym, but when we had some pretty major flooring issues that required a whole new subfloor and hardwood floor, I decided to convert it into our new bedroom. Some of the work was already underway at the end of 2024, so this is what the space looked like at the beginning of this year.
While the space isn’t finished yet, most of the major projects have been completed. Here’s what I’ve done so far…
- A new parquet floor was laid,
- The floors were replaced twice, as was the closet.
- The front window was replaced with a door.
- All walls repaired,
- Installed wainscoting,
- Added trim,
- Suspended grasscloth wallpaper,
- Hung curtains on the windows,
- I bought a nice armchair for the reading corner,
- The dresser painted and
- Completed a lamp overhaul.
And here’s the progress so far (minus the one finished lamp).
So even though it’s not quite finished yet, I’ve made a lot of progress on this room. It looks very different than what I started with at the beginning of the year.
I still have a few things to do, like…
- Completion of the second lamp makeover,
- sew cushions for chair and bed,
- Close the hole in the ceiling (I’m still debating whether I moved it to the hallway storage room),
- Making an upholstered headboard,
- Completion of the velvet curtains,
- Have the new work of art for the reading nook/switch box lid matted and framed, and
- Building a new frame for the TV.
Foyer:
I used to call this area a hallway because it was a “public” area of our house and the guest bathroom and three bedrooms were accessible from this hallway. But now that this entire area has been combined into one large master bedroom suite, I now call it the bedroom suite foyer.
This is what this foyer looked like at the beginning of the year…
It’s almost finished, but I still have a few small projects to complete before it’s actually finished. Here’s what I’ve done so far.
- Lay parquet flooring and have it sanded,
- Finished the floor, re-sanded the floor and refinished it (just like the other areas).
- Installed wainscoting,
- Installed trim,
- Suspended grasscloth wallpaper,
- The bathroom/storage room doors painted,
- Found and hung a full-length mirror (as an extension of the closet because I didn’t have room for a mirror in the closet),
- Newly upholstered and painted bench,
- Sewn cushions for the bench,
- Bought and installed a new ceiling light, and
- The chapel picture has been matted and reframed.
And this is what it looks like now…
Although it’s not quite finished yet, it’s come a long way since the start of the year.
I still have a few projects to complete, such as…
- Replacing the two water-damaged pieces of grasscloth wallpaper,
- Sanding and painting the spot on the ceiling where the junction box for the light fixture was removed,
- Finish the closet doors and French doors (e.g. another coat of paint, add door handles) and
- Move the router to another location in the house.
There were some areas on my 2025 list that I didn’t accomplish. I was hoping to at least start with the inside of my workshop, but I haven’t touched the inside at all. This will be a major project in 2026. I was also hoping to do some landscaping and exterior projects on the house, but I just didn’t have time for that anymore either. But that’s okay because there’s always next year!
So that’s it for me for 2025. I’m saying goodbye for now and will spend the next two weeks relaxing, working on some projects whenever I feel like it, spending time with Matt, reading, watching movies and getting ready for the new year. We’ll meet back here on Monday, January 5th and we’ll pick up where we left off. Enjoy your vacation!
