2024 Year-In-Review

This year was unlike any other, and in almost every way, I'm ready to leave it behind.  We started off with a great deal of hope, and went through some pretty big changes personally that made it hard to finish on a high note.  Progress seems to have slowed in more ways than one, but we'll  have to find our way through.  

The house didn't see any huge changes, but we have had some reconfiguring, and that has changed a lot about how we lived.  When we got the cat last autumn, it definitely shook things up!

The Bedrooms

Early in the year, I declared it the “Year of the Bedroom,” and indeed, these were the only projects that really went from start to finish this year.  I started with converting our old office into a bedroom for one of our older twins, and the Dinosaur Garden room is really a major treat.  It’s been a perfect spot for them to work on everything they need from practicing their violin to hosting sleepovers.

The second bedroom was finished as the second part of the spring One Room Challenge, and the Heavy Metal Cat Party has been a perfect landing place for my other older twin and his tuxedo cat.  Both bedrooms suit these kids perfectly, but it’s led to some other changes in the basement.

The Basement

Our basement bedroom shifts have resulted in changing the library and the storage as well.  When we shifted the office into a bedroom, we realized the best way to do so would be to shift the walls in the office entry and closet by taking out a wall in the library.  While the bedroom side is done, we still have some work to do to finish the library.  Though I’m quite happy with the addition of the bookcase doors into the air handler.

With nowhere for the office to go, we are shifting the storage room into the office.  The room is small, but it has enough space for two desks and I can rebuild the buffet from my grandparents’ house (not the house that sold last month!  It was sadly demolished in 2015, and the demo contractor let our family remove some mementos.  I am forever grateful.).

My Sister's Primary Suite

​My Sister’s Primary Suite
The other project we really tackled this year was improving my sister and her husband’s primary suite!  I worked on the bathroom last year, and during the first portion of the spring One Room Challenge, I worked on giving them the closet of their dreams.

This autumn, I replaced the floors, getting rid of the horrendous carpet, and I added a pony wall to the stairs where the flipper-bannister had previously been.  We refreshed the stairs with black and white paint, and all of the walls were refreshed in Sherwin Williams Window Pane (6210). It’s a large space with windows only in the end gables, so the bright LRV helps to move light through the room without removing the intimacy.  With new curtains and an arched valance to camouflage the mini-split air handler, the room ties in perfectly with the rest of the house.

One of my favorites is the freshened staircase with black and white stairs and a wide runner, it really ties together the primary bathroom, the bedroom, and the main floor.  My sister found the runner on Etsy, and she had it printed by hand.  It's the perfect colors.

This was a year of beautifully high highs, and deeply low lows.  I’m really heading into 2025 feeling ready to leave the lows behind, and with a little luck -and a lot of work- hopefully we’ll find some more balance in the next year.