Looking Back at 2018

Well folks… 2018 was one for the books.

Every year, between Christmas and New Years, I set aside some time to look back through a year’s worth of blog posts and projects and gather them up in one happy/tidy post. Kind of like a recap of the whole year.

In doing so this time around, I was shocked by just how much we squeezed into a single year. Sometimes it feels like we bit off more than we can chew with this new house, but I would guess that most people that are renovating feel that way from time to time. Not only are we living in the middle of a renovation (read: NO KITCHEN), we’re also doing the renovation ourselves now that the framing is done. And we’re also homeschooling and running a business. Oh and the hubs has a full-time job. So the fact that we squeezed in some projects during that time is pretty remarkable.

Some of these projects below are from our previous house (we lived there until Nov ’18), so don’t be confused! I’ll share descriptions of each project under the photos.

Let’s do this!

Attic Family Room Reveal – Remember our attic at the old house? WEEPING TEARS EMOJI …I loved this space and it came together so beautifully. I like to think that it helped our house sell so fast. So much time and love went into make this space special! Read on…

Home Bar – We added this little bar area with stools as a way to add a little more seating and fun options for this family room! Just a couple corbels and a slab of wood, we knocked this one out in no time!

Leaf-Shaped Nesting Tables – These 3 little mid-century tables could be used as end table too, but I love them fanned out and used as a coffee table! These were FUN to make and turned out so cute!

Bypass Barndoors – We never really had a good place to put one of those oh-so-trendy barndoors because you need wall space next to the doorway for the barn door to slide open to, RIGHT? Well when we found out there’s such a thing as ‘bypass barn door hardware’ that allows the doors to slide behind and in front of each other, we decided it was the perfect solution for the two big closet doors in our attic space! Spoiler alert: it MADE the room. 😉

Painted Kitchen Cabinets – You loyal readers might remember my chartreuse kitchen cabinets at the old house, yeah? When we started getting ready to put our house on the market, we knew the cabinet color wouldn’t be in our favor. So we took a weekend and painted them a lovely pale gray color. It was a very controversial post, and the comment section is hilarious.

Farmhouse Dining Table Makeover – My childhood friend, Lindsey, asked me to help give her dining table a new look to flow more cohesively with her farmhouse decor. We did a simple treatment to her reddish-brown table top to give it a shabby graywashed look, and it turned out FABULOUS! This was one of our most popular posts on Pinterest this year.

Convertible Kids Table – This little table was born from the need to have a kids table for crafting, as well as a table that the kids could eat at for our pizza/movie nights. So we dreamt up this brilliant concept where the table opens up to a long/narrow table that are all facing one direction. This table has come in handy on SO MANY OCCASIONS!

Chunky Crown Molding Tutorial – We gave our master bedroom at the old house it’s finishing touch with this suuuuper chunky crown molding that was easier to install than we thought. And the color we painted it was just so perfect for this room. I still miss how welcoming our bedroom was! Time to get cracking on our new master.

Layered Paper Jewelry Craft – The kids and I made these darling layered paper veneer pieces using construction paper, Elmers glue, and clear nail polish. Oh and a belt sander (parental supervision recommended). It’s so fun that you can use different color combos if you want, and make them into any shape you want! I love that they resemble agate stones. We made them into earrings, necklaces, and key chains!

How to Blow Out Easter Eggs – At Easter time, we decided to try our hands at blowing out eggs and using the shells for decoration. It was a wild success and so much fun for the kiddos. Highly recommend!

Upcycled Headboard Fiestaware Rack – We gave this old headboard new life by making it into wall art and the perfect place to display fiestaware mugs! I made this for my dear friend, Angie, and get to look at it every time we have a playdate at her house!

Valentine’s Heart Plaque – I had the idea to make this heart plaque as a really fun beginner scroll saw project! And it’s so fun to finish it off with photos and pretty scrapbook paper. There’s a cute video that comes with this tutorial too!

Gradient Paint Technique – We used our new favorite spray paint to mist some candlesticks and planters to have a beautiful gradient ‘ombre’ look. It was such a satisfying process! And now my head is swimming with ideas to try this technique on. Rainbow dresser anyone?!

Reverse Staining Technique – After processing the fact that stain doesn’t soak into wood that’s been sealed with polyurethane, I decided to try doing a design with polyurethane (which is CLEAR) and then stain over and watch the design come to life! It was so fun to watch this one come together! You could do this technique on anything that has exposed wood.

Upcycled Chicken Feeder into Succulent Planter – I was minding my own business, walking through our local farm supply store (??), when these chicken feeders jumped out at me and practically begged me to make them into a succulent planter. How could I say no?! To be honest I didn’t expect these little succs to live long, because for some reason succulents hate me. But I’m proud to announce that they’re ALL still going strong and are much larger now 8 months later! Proud plant mama!

Alcohol-dyed Wood Turning Blank – We love playing around with our new lathe, and thought it would be fun to try soaking our layers of pine in alcohol dye before gluing them up for our bowl blank. It was so amazing how deep the dye soaked into the grain. And our bowl turned out so unique!

Toy and Book Storage Shelf – Our girls didn’t inherit my ‘tidy gene’. Their room is almost always a hot mess. And my solution was to build them this toy and book storage shelf for their room. The idea is that open storage makes it easier for them to put things away when they’re done, and they can organize their things in the different compartments. Full-disclosure: this was a flawed plan, because open storage just makes them want to play with their stuff more. I digress!

Shoe Storage Cabinet – This project was also born from a need for organization. I’m sure we’re not the only ones with a shoe problem… shoes shoes EVERYWHERE! This handy cabinet closes up tidy when not in use, and holds sooooo many shoes!

3-Tier Basket Organization – This basket storage could be used for so many different things! We use it for games and toys, but you could use it in the bathroom for toiletries and such, or in the mudroom for hats and mittens. The sky is the limit!

Granny’s Bar Cart Makeover – You have to see the before pic of this little bar cart to fully appreciate what it looks like now. The metallic gold and matte black is so chic!

Kitchen Demo

Kitchen Hole – excavating and poured foundation process

Framing – and floorplan/design plans!

Removing Carpet from Stairs – When we bought this house, the only carpet there was was on the stairs and in the entryway. And it was very unfavorable floral carpet that was many centuries old. It HAD to go! We found the quickest and easiest techniques for removing carpet while maintaining your sanity!

Painting detailed trim and window mullions – I share my best tips and tricks for painting chunky, detailed crown molding, trim and those window ‘grids’ called mullions (I think?). It’s a TON of work, but made all the difference in our solarium!

How to paint and stencil linoleum flooring – We aren’t ready to pull the trigger for new flooring in the solarium, so I PAINTED IT! It turned out amazing and is so durable. I share my steps in this post!

Chalkboard Wall Tutorial – This space on the built-ins used to be covered with wallpaper. Our best guess is that at some point there was a fireplace in this room (this is the back side of the wall with the fireplace in the living room) and somewhere along the line they covered it up and just decided to put up wallpaper? We thought we could at least make this area functional with chalkboard paint! And it’s perfect because we use this room as our homeschool room!

Solarium Room Reveal – Furnishing this room and filling it with plants was SO MUCH FUN. Even if this wasn’t the only room that’s ‘done’ in our house, it would still be my favorite!

Triple Bunk Upholstered Headboards – I shared a tutorial on how I made these half-circle headboards out of vintage tablecloths and foam. They’re so pretty and cushy! And the girls love that they each have a unique color/pattern on their headboard.

Painting the Living Room – We finally got tired enough of the fleshy beige walls to DO something about it. And it was soooo worth it! We still have a lot to do in this room, but giving it a fresh coat of white in the meantime gives it a whole new lease on life! We’re also loving our new modular sectional. There will be lots of rearranging in my future!

Back-lit Rainbow Wall Art – We made this wooden rainbow art for our girls’ new room. And the best part is that it lights up from behind! We have it plugged into a Christmas tree timer so it come on in the morning when it’s ok for the kids to come out of their room. Functional AND super cute!

Transformer Table – This chic, modern coffee table opens up to be a full-size dining table that seats 6! When we have company for dinner, it’s so easy to just pop this baby up and put some folding chairs around it! And let’s be honest, it’s amazing even without it’s transforming abilities. The only regret I have is how sharp the edges are. 😉

Magnolia Stained Art End Table – My stained art is still a favorite, and I wanted to try my hand at doing a magnolia flower on this little end table I picked up at a garage sale. It turned out beautifully! And it was the perfect submission for the raffle at my daughter’s school fundraiser. I hope whoever won it loves it!

Turned Root Tumbler – When we had a giant tree cut down in the backyard of our new house, we were shocked by how enormous the roots were! We saw this as an opportunity to try turning a ROOT on our lathe! We decided to make a coffee tumbler, and it turned out 100% more amazing than we could have imagined!

Personalizing Gifts with Acid Etching – Sure we love making gifts for our family and friends, but sometimes there’s something we want to get for our kiddos that isn’t exactly DIY-friendly. So when I bought this jewelry box for our daughter’s birthday, I etched her name on the glass to give it a personal flair! This idea could be used in so many different ways!

3D-Illusion Geometric Wood and Mirror Wall Art – We hosted a challenge with a huge group of other talented bloggers, and each of us made a piece of square art with the main material being wood. Our interpretation ended up with this fun wood/mirror combo! It was fun learning how to cut glass. It’s so much easier than we thought it would be! Click here to see what all the other bloggers came up with for their wooden art!

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Here’s to making new memories and project in 2019! If you’re a really long-time reader of Reality Daydream, grab a cup of coffee and take a lonnnng walk down memory lane by looking through our yearly roundup posts from previous years!

~Bethany