As we have been spending a lot of time at home with nowhere else to be and not much to do, home projects have been progressing with lightning speed. Some of these cosmetic make-overs were not planned for another few years, but what you gonna do with those extra hours – you paint some stuff. I do at least.

But first, I did force myself to finally finish the last 5% of the powder rom renovation we did a year ago. After 95% / the big impact of a room make-over is done, I tend to be over it and leave the last bits of finishing work sitting. Like the ceiling paint touch-ups and one piece of quarter round in this powder room. But now it’s finally done and I can share:

When we moved in, we basically de-countrified the decor, but only through this full renovation were we able to put our modern vintage spin on it. The vanity was completely ripped out and replaced with a custom build by Lincoln. I added picture frame moulding to the bottom half of the room, and used a gold Sharpie to paint a wall paper design on the top part. The round mirror, new sconces, and new fixtures completed the look.

Every year, we plan to do one major yard project, one major room renovation, and one minor cosmetic room make-over. This year, we built a taller fence in the back, have plans to renovate the kids bath, and wanted to paint the front room to convert it into my office / studio. After getting the kids their own desks in their rooms, I kicked them out of here and claimed this room for my office and creative space. There is plenty of space now for sowing, painting, and crafting.

I repainted the built-ins, the walls, added curtains, and a picture ledge. The “Now” picture doesn’t really show the difference the lighter paint and the new ceiling light has made, so here are two additional shots:

This was supposed to be it for this year with painting, but then Corona hit and I just kept going. I wasn’t going to make the dining room over at all, because eventually we will move the kitchen into this space. But that was still gonna be years out, and next to my nice studio the dining room just didn’t look good enough anymore even for a little while. Just some quick wall paint, curtains, and a new chandelier was all it needed.

And then, on to the living room. This was also just a full paint job and eventually we will really make-over the fireplace with concrete and move the TV above it. But for now, this looks much more modern than where we started.

Now that most walls are a neutral soft white backdrop, the decor pops a lot more. And I can start putting some designated contrast back in. So, we decided to paint the interior doors gray. This also help disguising all those finger prints. Because who needs door handles when you can just touch the door. It takes about one hour to put two coats on one door, so this project is very easy to break up into small chunks and do it whenever there is an hour to kill. The downstairs is all done, now I just gotta do the doors upstairs.

And then, maybe change out the hallway lights, build a window seat, etc. We’ll see how long this streak continues. DIY helps me take my thoughts off the crazy world outside, gives me the feeling of being in control of at least something, and the end result is a comforting space to help us get through it all.