Retrospective on 2011

With 2011 over, we thought we would review our punch list from last January, and see what we were able to cross off. 

• Finish installing baseboards
• Install vent grills
• Refinish built in cabinets in family room to match kitchen cabinets
• Transform sunroom into a home gym (partially)
• Continue working on landscaping
• Paint bathroom windows
• Purchase and install vanity in hall bathroom
• Repaint our home office and family room
• Restore 4 Eames shell chairs we purchased last winter
• Find a table top for the Eames table base we purchased last month
• Maybe get started on Black Dog Bar

We got started early last year with a couple of items that were actually not in our punch list.

Fixed the pressure relief valve in our water heater

Organized utility room (doors were donated to Habitat for Humanity)

Those two minor projects, motivated us to tackle a couple of projects that were actually in our list:

Refinished built-ins in the living room and had new countertops installed.

Repainted the family room, and even managed to get a couple of trees to grow.

LD volunteered our house to host the neighborhood's winter social.  Nothing like a party to motivate us into completing more projects.

Had vents sandblasted, and sprayed on a new coat of paint

We were so pleased with how the vents turned out, that we also got our big UFO light  sand blasted  to remove the multiple layers of paint that were covering up the beautiful brushed aluminum finish.

We got creative with some chalkboard paint and chalk.  We love it, not sure that the KU alumni in our neighborhood appreciate it as much as we do.

Our hall bathroom became more functional with the installation of our new vanity by StudioBuild.

We took a short break from remodeling at the end of May, while LD and Katy responded to the F5 tornado that hit Joplin.

Hall bathroom was still being worked on:

 Our new vanity top got installed, and we tiled the backsplash

 We had our new faucet hooked up, no more dirty hands!

Took a break from the bathroom and finally restored the Eames Shell Chairs.

Then took a really long break, and completely fenced the back yard:

We had vinyl coated chain link installed on the majority of the yard.

With the help of friend Rollin and our "burro", we installed the privacy fence.

In September, we got crafty with a mirror for our hallway bathroom and finally put the finishing touch on the hallway bathroom.

Our upcoming Halloween Party motivated us to:

Finally complete all the baseboards

and repainted our office. 

We found a table top at Room and Board for our table base, and LD gave me a pretty cool chair for my birthday.

After all that hard work, we celebrated by having a Halloween bash.

We slowed down after Halloween, but I am itching to start planning our next project.  Maybe this year we will finally get around to working on Black Dog Bar, and finish converting our sunroom into a home gym.

Here's hoping that 2012 brings you happiness and prosperity!