Maybe a better title for this post would be “Things I Neglected to Post in 2011.” Here they are, in the chronological order of a lazy blogger.
The biggest and most drawn out project of this year would most definitely be the kitchen. Almost a year later and still not finished, but we made some significant progress. In early spring we ripped out the old ugly tile backsplash and removed our laminate countertops to make way for soapstone and a crash course in tiling!
Our countertops went in just before Easter and I know this because I got a little crafty with this mold from the Polish Art Center and made a butter lamb! Here he is, all cute, sitting on the new soapstone.
Then, in August, we got brave and ripped out the microwave shelf above the stove which was covered in what I imagine was the grease from a thousand pounds of bacon. Here it is before with evidence of that old tile and countertop I mentioned.
And here it is after, ready for some tile and a shiny new range hood.
A week or two later my lovely sister-in-law came over to help us get started with tiling. She taught us well, because we finally have a backsplash!
The holes you see were in preparation for our new range hood and while the range hood is up and working we still haven’t patched the ceiling. I’ll save that for a later reveal which, fingers crossed, will come sometime soon.
In October we took a break from work for some fun — at weddings, in New Orleans and on Halloween! As an ode to the history of our house here is a 1920s family portrait from our annual Halloween party featuring my lovely, super-crafty and talented friends.
I crafted a magpie costume inspired by this post from Vixen Vintage. And you know I love a chance to creep up the mantel.
After Halloween we were hit with a freak snowstorm that took out our poor lilac tree. Guess we have to wait until spring to see if this one bounces back.
In November we finally hung the curtains that we ordered in June. That’s us, just taking our sweet old time. Good thing I love them because I’m guessing our return window had been long closed. (Please excuse the crappy phone photo.)
And in other bedroom improvement news, remember this ridiculous mess?
Totally embarassing. Well, thanks to the fine furniture finding skills of Sit and Read in Brooklyn, we are now the proud owners of this little lovely.
The improvements don’t stop there! Since we moved in and installed our felt tulip pendant we had been staring at this mess on the hallway ceiling.
Ick. Since painting over it would involve the stairwell and some very high ceilings we took the easy way out. For less than $20 we made what we think is a huge improvement.
Super easy, big payoff.
To round out the year we managed to pull off a pre-Christmas dinner for 11 in our still wallpapered dining room. Not sure if my resolution to get rid of that stuff conflicts with my resolution to put less pressure on myself but if it’s still there in 2013 I may go insane. On an up note, we got to repurpose the jars from our wedding and had an excuse to pull out the fancy dishes and flatware we save for special occasions.
So yes, we still have a lot of work to do. We’re moving along at what seems like a snail’s pace but I hope to make more progress this year while still leaving some time to enjoy the things around me. Until the next post I’ll leave you with a little peek at how painting is going in the kitchen.
OK now, back to work!
Wow. At least when you finally got to it you had a lot to show us. It’s looking fabulous!
You’re like me – you constantly think you’ve accomplished nothing. But from an outsider’s point-of-view, you’ve done A TON! It looks great!