Well, it appears that other than writing 2021’s year in review post I didn’t write anything else this year….oops! It also seems I was going to write an additional post about trips and photography in 2021. We’re just going to skip to 2022 stuff until I can remember what those things would include 😆
SO, what did 2022 have in store? Here are some highlights, kinda grouped by categories…which requires multiple posts. Round 1!
PROJECTS
Finished building a table — I convinced Dad to help me build a farmhouse style table for my dining room in the fall of 2021. It came about as most projects with him do….he thought it was his idea 😂 I planted a seed but it didn’t take root until a couple of months later when he saw a cool table in a photo. That really got him excited so we found and amended some plans and got to work. We started on November 26th, 2021 and finally finished on December 6th, 2022. It took a lot of work, too many hours sanding (hello audiobooks!), and playing with new techniques. Total between the two of us we spent roughly 70 man hours in building the table, although I think there’s a work session or two I didn’t get recorded. Next up is to finish Mom’s rocking horse so we can start on benches for the table (I had to make a deal with Dad to agree to benches 🤷♀️).
Floating(ish) shelves in the dining room — I wanted a way to decorate in the dining room so I put some painters tape up on the wall to get an idea of where and how long shelves needed to be. We repurposed wood from the built-in bookcases and window seat and cut things down to size. I then spent a few days painting them the same gray as the ceiling and found some brackets on Amazon. I finally convinced Dad to spend and hour getting them up! Have I decorated? Absolutely not. Is that a goal in 2023? You betcha!
Painting upstairs over spring break – I convinced Ace to help me once again do some painting. I figured we could knock out the upstairs in just over a week so I took off spring break and we got started right away on a Saturday…..we got about 2/3 (maybe 70%?) of everything done and ended up with just the smallest room and the bathroom left.
When I was deciding on colors I was going to go with some pretty colors again, but Mom and Ace suggested a white to be timeless and easily adjust wall colors in future years. Okay, but what about the trim? Brown, refresh the white…..red! To match the banister!
There’s a banister upstairs that has not ever been painted in my lifetime (or a while before that I don’t think), and it was when I was looking through a bedroom doorway that I suggested we find a red to match the banister. So, with some careful looking and grabbing allllll the close red samples we found one that is almost a perfect match!
The white on the walls makes the upstairs SO MUCH brighter, and makes it easy for me have an indoor studio space with ALLLLLLLLL the ideas haha!
That table…..it warrants more discussion. Like the magic that happened when I suggested we change the planer blades. Or the sanding. So. Much. Sanding. On. This. Table. But it was worth it! And now for the decorating between the dining room shelves and the table that’s definitely wide enough for a table runner and some décor when I’m not using it for a meal (which is like, always). We used some new products with this table including some wood filler and a new type of finish that we had to play with. I’m hopeful this finish will hold up well.
Barn door for laundry room – I had this project in mind for a year before I brought it up to Dad…..the laundry room isn’t super small, but it’s definitely a tight space so a swinging door is cumbersome and in the way. Hence, a sliding door! I had the idea, found the slider materials on Amazon, and just had to find the door. Well, in talking with Ace I learned they were just hanging onto the front door that had come out of their house and they were willing to give it to me! It’s BEAUTIFUL! The door is red with an etched glass window in it. Still a couple of things we have to do to complete it (like put a handle on it because the knob would be in the way), but I love having it there to cut out some of the noise from the washer and dryer. I even found a picture that fits perfectly behind the window for when the door is open.
Painting upstairs…again – I knew I wouldn’t have time to do painting this summer (see Trips and hot weather), so I arranged to finish the upstairs painting with Ace in October. Our timing was good with weather that made it easy to work upstairs (we had warm weather into October this year), and we were able to knock things out in about five days (not full days of painting). I did some painting late into the night (okay, 10pm) but it helped make sure we could move ahead faster. I am so grateful to Ace for spending so much time with me painting and I can’t emphasize enough how much I love our time together visiting and painting away.
Here's Part 2 if there's no "next" option! Or go back and find my 2022 Book Review.
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