Hi friends! It feels so great to be getting back to blogging, but I didn’t want to just jump back into things without giving a little life and project update.
I took about 6 weeks off from blogging, but that doesn’t mean all progress halted. So, let’s take today to share a little update, and a look forward, and then you’ll be all caught up and ready to jump back in. Okay? Okay!
Taking Time Off
As you may know, Dustin and I got hit with Covid-19 in September, and while he was hit hard, I was hit for a long time: Jan 15th marked four months of coughing for me.
In November, I started going to doctors to get tests and be sure there wasn’t something deeper going on (there’s not). With that phase of taking my health more seriously, I also decided to take some time off of work and, yes, this blog.
Beyond coughing, I’ve been exhausted, unable to focus, and have had headaches on and off. I also have shortness of breath with activity, and get winded walking up the stairs. The only thing that seems to help much with any of my symptoms is rest.
I took the last month or so of 2020 completely off, mostly just laying on the couch, and then I decided to slowly phase back into working more consistently, which is why I’m just getting back to blogging.
The good news? I am starting to feel better! Two weeks ago I had two days where I really felt like myself, and last week I had the energy to start writing blog posts again!
I’m still trying to take it easy to avoid overdoing it and taking steps backward, but it’s a huge relief to have the energy to sit at my desk again.
Project Updates
With our Covid situation came a pause on every project we were working on. Our bodies just didn’t have any energy, and the idea of painting, drywalling, anything—nope.
That said, Dustin started getting his energy back to some degree in November and began plugging away at a few things (with me helping here and there, and my mom tagging in as well since she’s in our bubble). As we kick off a new year, I wanted to give an update of where we are with a few of our ongoing projects:
Basement
The basement is basically done! All I need to do still is paint the doors and do paint touchups throughout the space—including some spots on the painted ceiling that got scuffs, and some sections of trim.
Once I finish that, the space will basically be done for now. We have a bunch of boxes in there already, and we’ll get Dustin’s space more organized for him.
We actually moved our outdoor table into the living room for now, and Dustin’s been using the office all the time.
Eventually, we’ll get a couch, build a bar, and put some shelves up in here, but since we’re not entertaining right now, it hasn’t been a top priority.
Bedroom
One of the biggest blessings with our Covid diagnosis was the timing—Dustin got sick right as I was finishing drywall and painting our primary bedroom so we could move in.
That meant we could sleep in separate bedrooms once he needed to quarantine. We kept sleeping separately for a while after I got it so we didn’t keep each other up with our coughing, but eventually we did both move into our primary bedroom.
It’s been completely usable as we’ve made slow progress, including finishing up some trim around the new doors, getting baseboards back on, and, of course, shiplapping the ceiling. It looks so beautiful—especially with these new ceiling fans!
The only things left to do in here are to do some caulking on the ceiling, hang the crown molding, and do paint touchups. Then, with some finishing touches, we can call it done!
Bathroom
Our primary bathroom is also basically done and I really owe you a reveal, since we’ve been working on it for…a year?
Again, we’ve been making slow progress since September, but we did get doors, trim, and baseboards done. Last weekend we finally hung some hooks for towels and even a pair of art prints, so it’s feeling really complete.
I’ve been waiting for some delayed items to share the final product but now it’s looking like those wont arrive until March. (Everything in the home decor seems to be backordered right now, huh?)
I think I’ll just finish up the last bit of caulk and paint touchups and share an almost-finished result, and then share updates as things come in!
So, look forward to this reveal in a week or two!
Living Room
I shared on Instagram and a bit on here, but our living room got a HUGE update in October—we got rid of our front door! That was really the kickoff to updating the entire main area of our house: living room, dining room, entry, and kitchen.
Mostly we’re just going to swap lights and paint for phase one, but I’ll share plans and inspiration for these spaces soon so you can have all the details.
We finished up drywall and painting quickly in order to have space for our Christmas tree and then mostly paused in here to enjoy the decorations and coziness of the season.
There’s still some unfinished drywall in our dining room and lots of painting to be done, but these main rooms are the next priority after we can finally call the bedroom and bathroom done.
Looking Forward
A new year is always such an arbitrary starting point to me—especially this year, when I just felt like sleeping through the new year and not making any resolutions.
But, you can’t deny that any fresh start is a nice opportunity to examine where you are vs. where you want to be, and, about halfway through January, I finally felt well enough to do that.
I’m going to be sharing our goals for 2021 more later this week, but we’re excited to finally finish all of these projects that have been on pause while I’ve been sick.
After spring comes, our hope is to really focus on the outside of our home this year. That means we hope to get most of the inside painting and projects done by March so we can really direct our energy outdoors.
Look forward to reveals of all the above listed projects verrrrry soon, and then you’ll see new moodboards and new projects getting started!
Thank You for Being Here
Most of all, I just want to thank you for supporting this blog and our journey. I’ve been trying to avoid feeling guilty about our lack of posting here and on Instagram lately.
Ultimately, we’re real, normal people and our health comes first. But I also am excited to get back to this passion project that I enjoy so much. If you’re reading this, thank you for sticking around!
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