What Will Happen To My Blog When I’m Finished With The House?
I’ve mentioned repeatedly lately (because I’m just so excited about it) that I’m finally starting on the last interior room of our house (my studio), and when this room is done, I will have officially finished all of the interior rooms of our home. And every time I mention that, I get a lot of questions from people asking me what I’m going to do with my blog when I’m finished with the studio. It seems as if a lot of long time readers are thinking that once the studio is finished, I’ll be closing down the blog.
Well, that won’t happen. Let me assure you that while I’m almost officially finished with the interior of our house, there will still be plenty to do after that.
Let me give you a quick rundown of where things stand as of today, and where things will be heading.
The Studio and Studio Bathroom
This room is a big project, and includes not only the main room, but also the studio bathroom. I would really like to get this done by mid-August of this year (our 10-year anniversary of purchasing this house), but I’m not placing bets on me actually meeting that goal. That’s less than four months away, and there’s a ton of work to be done in these rooms.
The Hallway Bathroom
Just because the inside of the house will be officially finished after I finish the studio, that doesn’t mean that I won’t go back and make some changes to some rooms. I recently had a person ask me in a comment, “Don’t you ever get tired of redoing projects that you’ve already done?” My response was, “Perhaps you missed the name of my blog.” 😀 No. I will never get tired of redoing, tweaking, trying out different ideas.
So with that said, I’ve previously mentioned several changes I want to make in the hallway bathroom.
Those include (1) new countertops, (2) new accent tile, (3) new sconces, (4) new shower curtain, (5) new plumbing fixtures, and (6) new vanity color.
The Guest Bedroom
There are still several changes I want to make to this bedroom, most of which I’m pretty sure I’ve already mentioned in previous blog posts.
The main project in here will be the walls. From that view above, I love how the room looks. But I don’t ever see the room just from that view. I see the room from this view…
And after living with the room as it is for over two years, and actually using it as our temporary bedroom, the walls just feel unfinished to me. So I’m going to continue the hand-drawn flower design around on the upper part of the other two walls, and then add white wainscoting to the bottom of all three walls.
In addition to the walls, I also need to build a frame for the bed. The original pretty wood frame that I use in here ended up not working out when we switched our regular bed for an adjustable bed at the suggestion of Matt’s physical therapist. So for two years now, the bed has also looked unfinished, and pretty much looks like it’s floating. You can kind of see what I mean in the picture below…
And finally, I’m just not sure if I’m a yellow person. I tried it out in here because I just happened to have the yellow velvet on hand and decided to use that for the windows. And while I think the yellow looks nice with the blue, I’m just so much more of a pink/coral person. So that might be getting a change, but I haven’t decided for sure yet.
The Kitchen
The kitchen was the first room that I remodeled after we bought the house, so it’s been a while!
That doesn’t mean that I’m ready to completely remodel it again. But I have some things I want to do in here. For example, how long now have I said I want to get rid of the dishwasher? A long time! I still plan to do that, but that project has yet to move up to the top of the priority list. It will eventually, though.
I also want to get rid of the concrete countertops and replace those with quartz. I don’t know when that will happen, but I’m so done with concrete countertops. They served their purpose when we couldn’t afford a higher quality solid surface countertops, but after almost ten years of dealing with stains on concrete, I’m done. I long for the day that I can get rid of them.
The Addition
I know we’ve talked about this for so long now that it seems like it will never happen, but it will. Every time Matt and I start to think it’s time, something happens (like the economy crumbling, or banks collapsing) that makes us very unsure about doing something so big right now. But it will happen. And once it does happen, I’ll have a family room, bedroom, and laundry room to finish.
The House Exterior
I’ve focused quite a bit lately on our front porch, and there are still projects to be done to finish that up. I need to finish up the painting, reinstall the tape lights, and finish the stone skirting.
But there are so many more exterior projects to be done! When I was cleaning out the sunroom a few months ago, I came across some corbels that I bought years ago to make window flower boxes for the windows on the front of our house. That still needs to be done!
I also still plan to build a pergola above the breakfast room windows (which are almost completely obscured by this plant that keeps growing back).
And then I still need to build steps and finish up this area by the side studio door. This is an old picture, taken way back when we had that concrete pad poured, but that’s still all that’s there. There are still stacked cider blocks serving as steps to this door, and I need to build steps to match the style of the front steps.
And then there’s the carport. This thing is still not finished. It’s useful just as it is, but it needs to be finished. This is an old picture, so thankfully, the shutters are no longer there. 😀 They were installed on the house long ago. But the rest still looks pretty much the same. It needs to be painted, and it still needs a finished ceiling and lighting.
The Yard Projects & Landscaping
Even once all of that is done, I still have an acre of land that needs landscaping!! Don’t forget this beautiful landscaping plan that Matt bought me for my birthday last year.
I honestly feel like I could work on that for the rest of my life and never get it finished, and never run out of things to do. There’s no way I could get bored with that landscaping goal.
Then There’s The Small Projects
As if all of those things weren’t enough, I’ve been saving ideas for artwork and small projects that I want to do and share and teach people how to make for literally years. While I lost a whole lot of them when my external hard drive broke, I still have so many ideas saved in other places (Pinterest, Instagram, my laptop) that I’ve been collecting for years and just waiting for a time when I can spend more time on those small, fun projects. I could probably spend an entire decade or two just doing small fun building projects, art projects, sewing projects, etc., and still not get to the end of my creative ideas.
All of that to say that even when the interior of our house (as it stands today) is officially finished, and the studio is done, there is no shortage of creative ideas that I have, and things that I want to do, build, and create, that I can share with you. But yes, once I’ve done all of that, then it’ll be time to shut down the blog. 😉
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
Kristi,
I love that you will continue your blog for all our enjoyment. For those of us with an artistic bent our house is never truly done. I’m 64 and I’m not done with the tweaking yet and we don’t own a fixer-upper but newly built home from 1985. But we still had the cheap formica countertops and 80s builder oak cabinets which I always hated. Cheap floors, new nicer doors…seems there’s always something to change or improve.
As for your bothersome plant. Have you tried smothering it? Cut it back to the base and llay a heavy tarp over it or cover with a sheet of plywood. Just something that would keep both sun and water from it. You could always mulch on top of the tarp to hide it. But this should kill it in a few months time. I did this with bramble bushes and they never grew back.
LOL, I wasn’t worried! I figured you would just circle around and back again! Isn’t that what home ownership is?? Especially when you have an eye for tweaking and making things “just right!”
I’m here for all of your adventures, just sayin’. Pretty sure you will always be tweaking, redoing. exploring and sharing ideas. Sign me up!
For me, you’ve offered SO much knowledge I’ve gained for my own adventures: from your how to start a blog tutorial (which I did entirely thanks to you); to discovering a soft ice machine I never knew I wanted..but DO; to lessons in wall trim (currently underway on my stairs); to just getting off my tookus and trying things!
Glad you’re here for the long haul!
Well, Thank you for reassuring your loyal followers! It’s been an inspiring journey!
I never even gave a thought to you ending the blog anytime soon, I just figured that you’d tweak things and do more small art or sewing projects until you started on the back addition. I’d actually even forgotten about the landscaping I am more surprised by how many changes you want to make to the finished rooms and look forward to reading about and seeing it all.
Good grief have I really been following you that long? Seems impossible. 😋 But I never thought you’d ever go away. Far too many things to do. I don’t understand people who think once and done 😂 House projects are never finished, there’s always things to do, upgrade, change etc. I’ll be with you forever. I’ve learned too much (and still learning) to ever go away. Love this blog!
😂😂😂 You know, I thought once about when you finish the house…but then I laughed…are we ever really finished??? No one ever is, and especially you with your talent and ideas…there will always be some sort of change, project, etc. Also I already thought about the plans for the yard, and the addition, and a work studio outside…I mean we still have lots of things to watch, and that doesn’t even include the art/craft projects that I look forward to as well. I’m kind of shocked that people thought you were going somewhere…I expect to watch you for many years to come!
Thank goodness! I LOVE your blog, your style, your creativity, and your ingenuity. I’ve learned so much!
I love looking at your colorful projects and admire you for all the hard work you have done, hopefully you never finish so we can continue to see all of your projects.
The last line cracked me up, Kristi! Glad you won’t be going anywhere. I look forward to your post too much!
It never crossed my mind that you’d stop blogging. You’ve never seemed to run out of things to do!
I love your plans to expand your blue walls in your bedroom! So many projects ahead for you! I have wondered where you do your laundry now? I would consider moving ahead on the garden path sooner rather than later so you & your husband can enjoy a walk in your yard now. But I am really excited about the pergola outside the breakfast window. I would hire someone to take out the brush or tree that keeps returning though. Those stumps just keep growing back. Do you know anyone with a pickup & come-along to just pull it out? Just love your blog. I started following when you bought your house. Thank yoy!
I have a washer and dryer in the sunroom. That’s the room that will eventually be torn down to make room for the new addition.
Are you still adding a workspace for dirty jobs, or are you going to use the carport for that? I hope I live to see the addition, I’m psyched to see that finished, and I’m 69 yrs. old! LOL! Don’t know how long I have left!
I do plan to build a workshop. I was just looking at them yesterday, in fact! I was looking at the kind that come in a kit. None of them were big enough for what I want, but they sure were fun to look at!
Your guest bedroom sure will be busy with flowers around the walls even with wainscoting under it. Seems to me it would “shrink” down the room. Guess we have a day or two before you retire from the Blog. I sure hope so because it is the only Blog I have ever read or followed ever. I love whatever you say and I hope I can freely give you my opinions. Did you do the porch darker? The picture looks good…….not orange.
And I an looking forward to all of it, I don`t post very often but always look and read your blog, it so full of ideas and inspiration , and certainly looking forward to the Garden project and your new extension Family room and new master Bedroom and your ideas can be adapted to any kind of house, I live in England and our houses are not built the same as your but I can still get inspiration from you that will fit in with our style of houses, I absolutely love your Porch, we don`t have them here on our houses, so thank you Kirsti for all your brilliant ideas and shearing your fabulous house with me,
Buy some Tordon RTU. Cut the plant off and apply Tordon to the cuts. That should take care of it.
I haven’t thought about you not blogging anymore, but I am still relieved to hear that you haven’t planned it either!! There are so many things I’m looking forward to. I recommend you to do small outdoor projects in between because the plants will take their time to grow and become really beautiful – on the one hand you can achieve the required beauty earlier when you start soonish, and on the other hand your outdoor space is so huge that it needs to be done in smaller portions I guess (I would love to have that much ground to work with, but know that my back would require me to pace the activities!). Anyhow, I love to keep on reading your blog – for me, it also is the only one I cherish and have been following for such a long time (since the condo days!) Thank you for sharing!
Kristi, we never get done with projects and we don’t get bored! Something to consider, every time I see your addition plan I see no easy or short way to reach the car port from the back of your house for Matt. I know this plan doesn’t contain details.
Plant any trees and large shrubs using your plan now. That way they have sufficient time to grow to a decent height. Use planting schedule (spring/fall) and select a few to plant each spring and fall. Much easier to plant this way. If elevation changes are needed that would need to be done first. That wouldn’t be too pricey.
Have fun with all your future projects.