My Favorite DIYs of 2023 and Project Plans for 2024!
January 11, 2024
Share this
My favorite DIY projects from 2023 and my plans for this year!
Well hello! I hope your holiday and new year were wonderful and relaxing! I'm SO excited to tackle a bunch of projects in our home this year, and I'll be sharing a few of those with you here.
But first, I wanted to look back at a few of my favorite DIYs from last year. Most of these aren't huge, in depth projects, but they look great and function really well for us.
You don't have to makeover an entire room to make an impact in your home! More often than not, I find that the smaller changes make the biggest differences.
Painted fireplace
First up, one of the easiest and most impactful painting projects I've done in a long time was painting our white fireplace surround to match the wall:
When I painted and added that trim to the tall fireplace wall years ago, I left the fireplace trim white. One day it hit me how great it would look painted to match the dark blue (Cyberspace by Sherwin-Williams) wall.
And I was right! It's soooo much easier on the eye and looks like it should have always been that way!
Basement LVP flooring
Our basement kitchenette was my main focus for the first part of 2023 -- I don't think I've ever worked so hard on a space ever!
I built this room from the ground up, including laying this awesome and affordable LVP flooring from Home Depot:
I had eyed this flooring for years and was excited to finally get it down.
We're SO happy with it -- I would wholeheartedly recommend this product. You can read all about this Home Depot Lifeproof LVP flooring and tips for installing it here.
Bench makeover with rug
This bench redo was a great "upcycle" using an IKEA rug to recover a worn out bench:
There were a lot of boring parts to the basement room build, like installing the countertops, tiling the backsplash and installing my first sink and plumbing (OK, that was actually pretty cool 😂).
But the part I love the most is the smallest one!
DIY gallery rail
I've always loved the look of a pretty brass gallery rail...they are the delicate metal details that are installed along the front of a shelf. (They are mostly decorative but also help items from slipping off.)
Because they are so expensive, I found a way to make a lookalike "brass" tipping rail on my own:
It's the perfect way to corral things on the shelf above our sink and backsplash: 
It has worked out so well, and I made sure to treat it with a protective coat so we can wash it when needed.
I think it adds a fun little touch in this space!
DIY washable pet tray
Talking about fun...this large DIY pet food tray solved a big problem for us, but also looks pretty darling as well:
I used scrap wood for most of that tray project so that was a super inexpensive DIY.
Built in bookcases on countertops
Our basement space needed some height on the other side of the room, but I didn't want to close it in with more upper cabinets (that we really didn't need anyway).
So instead, I built thin "bookcases" that I installed on top of the countertops:
They make for great storage if needed (our wine glasses hang in each one), and give me a spot to add some decor in this room.
That wall now has a light fixture above the art, and I have a few other plans for that wall as well. You can see a full tour of our new basement kitchenette here!
Now onto my plans for this year! I have so many swimming in my head.
I LOVE my office and the wall of DIY bookcases, but I've always felt like the walls need more:
So my plan for early this year will be to paint all of the walls, replace the baseboards to match the foyer and add a decorative trim to the lower third of the walls.
I think it's going to look SO great!
Our bedroom is another room on my list. We've loved the cozy dark gray color on the bottom portion of the walls (Westchester Gray by SW, same as our basement), but it's become hard to work with in here:
The dark color has limited me a little bit and I've been drawn to a lighter feeling bedroom for the past year or so. I kept hesitating to paint the window and door trim and I'm so glad I didn't!
I'll be keeping our grasscloth wallpaper, but going with a lighter color on the walls and a pretty trim treatment.
And finally, I'm starting the basement bar I've been dreaming up for years now. The cabinets arrived and I hope to start assembling those this weekend.
This will be the final big project in our basement (at least for awhile), and I think it's going to be awesome! I have so many fun ideas in mind for that addition.
After some rest I'm really energized and excited to get started on these new projects! These are just a few of the ideas I have planned, so stay tuned this year for all kinds of fun stuff. :)
Never miss a post by signing up to get posts via email.
The basement bar is going to be so fun! I’m excited to see! Happy new year!
ReplyDeleteYou have a lovely home and thank you for sharing all of your DIY projects.
ReplyDeleteYou had quite a busy 2023 with all of your DIY projects. They look great and I’m looking forward to your next projects. You do an excellent job. Hope you and your family had a nice relaxing holiday.
ReplyDelete