*Yawns and stretches*  *blinks*

Well, hello there my lovelies!!  I feel like it’s been ages!  Did you have a nice Christmas and New Year?  Are you all geared up for 2013?  Have you made (or broken) your New Year Resolutions yet? ;)

While I believe fully in looking forward and not dwelling unnecessarily on the past, it’s always good to have a look back and celebrate past accomplishments so that’s what we’re going to do.  Care to join me?

Good, I was hoping you’d say that.

Back Garden

First up, the outside space (not entirely a ‘room’ but let’s just go with it anyway).  We made great progress on the back of the garden and it lead to one of my favourite reveals of the year.

It went from looking like this in March…

 To this in April…

We cleared the rubbish, the sleepers, the overgrown bushes and an old compost as well as about a million large rocks.  In it’s place, we levelled the area, created a patio area with a raised brick wall, erected and painted a shed, added solar lighting, a hanging herb garden and potted plants.

Also, in May, the outside brickwork  near the decking was repainted to gleaming white.  What didn’t we get to?  Well, unfortunately the rest of the summer was a complete washout – in fact, it broke records as the wettest summer for 100 years.  That basically destroyed our plans of extending the decking at the back of the house and adding some new outdoor furniture.  So, that gets placed on 2013’s list.  The weather better sort itself out this summer, that’s all I can say about that.

Kitchen

Moving on to the indoors… the kitchen.  Well, we were supposed to finish it this year.  Did it happen?  Nope.  However, we did make a little bit of progress and there’s not much left to do…

In June, I turned the air blue whilst adding wallpaper to the back of the units… The efforts were well worth it, however as it really added some needed interest to the shelves.  I also added a few splashes of turquoise.

In October, we got a new washing machine as well as a new cooker and added more touches of turquoise by way of a new clock and roller blind.

What didn’t I show on the blog?  Well, we finally managed to get kickstands installed so it doesn’t look like a ‘in progress’ kitchen, it actually looks very nearly complete.

We also finally replaced our ugly old toaster with this sexy bastard.  Can a toaster be sexy?  I think so.

So now, all that’s left really is to get the new countertops in (which I’m still debating believe it or not – more on that later) and get a new sink and tap.  Hey we’re in the home stretch, people!!

Dining Room

Next up, the dining room.  Progress has been pretty good for this room!

In January, I showed off the new Chippendale Faux Bamboo Chairs I scored off eBay for a song…

In May, I added touches of orange to the gallery wall and the whole mantle got a much-needed shakeup with a sunburst mirror in gold, another eBay find.

And in September, the entire gallery wall had a rethink after purchasing an incredibly flat screen television.  This led to one of my favourite posts, 10 Tips for Creating a Fabulous Gallery Wall.

Still to do in this room?  Well, I never got around to creating a roman blind out of my gorgeous Chiang Mai Dragon Fabric.  I need to take my finger out and get that done this year.  I also want to do something with the wall opposite the sunburst mirror.  It needs some life although I’ve not entirely decided on exactly what yet (a console table? a welsh dresser? I don’t know yet.)  And, excitingly, I have FINALLY scored 2 chairs for each head of the table which are dying for a makeover! Woohoo! More to come on that in 2013!

Living Room

On to the living room now!  Again, this room had some much needed attention.

First, in May, after months and months of searching, I found two great deals on eBay (no surprise there) for a vintage brass coffee table and a white cowhide rug.   I also discovered how painting above the picture rail really raised the ceiling height and made the room feel much more ‘done’.

In June, I added artwork including a black and white abstract DIY painting as well as a large canvas print watercolour.

In October, I finally got around to filling the fireplace ‘hole’ with gorgeous decorative logs.  It transformed the space instantly.  However, it wasn’t until November when the room really came into it’s own with the additional seating we so desperately needed, removing the old coffee table and replacing it with 2 vintage hoop chairs and adding a little yellow velvet “love tub”.

And finally in November, I added my beloved (but guilt inducing) pineapple sconces.  I’ve decided they were worth every penny, guilt be damned.

Still to do in this room?  Well, happily, not too much.  I still need curtains in this room, however, so that’s on the 2013 ‘to do’ list.

Let’s go upstairs shall we?

The Master Bedroom

A leap in progress in this room too – happy days.  I took the plunge and painted the entire room black in April.  We got rid of our double bed in June and replaced it with a much-needed king size divan and added some funky zebra print lampshades, trimmed out in black pompoms.  The whole room got an incredible burst of colour, however, in August with the addition of the fabulous yellow velvet Hollywood Regency headboard created by the lovely Emily of Fantoush.  Fresh new artwork added further colour to the black walls.

In November, the room got some more updates with the addition of a warm wood chest of drawers (another eBay find!) and a new vignette.

I also added some new bedding, a new barrel shade and a colourful cushion to tie the whole look together.

I love how different the room looks now to what it looked like at the start of 2012 but there’s still more to do!  We need to tackle the other side of the room with some new wardrobes (freestanding? built in?) as well as replace the bedside tables (Ikea Rast hack perhaps?).  I’d also like to add a small seating area here as well, whether that’s a couple of chairs, a small sofa or a bench at the end of the bed or a combination of these things!  Decisions to be made in 2013.

The Dressing Room

And finally, one of our biggest projects this year and one which I enjoy every single day.  It’s also probably my favourite reveal of the whole year…. the dressing room.

My goodness, there was a lot of work done here.   It started innocently enough in July with the removal of the thick, ugly anaglypta wallpaper but revealed itself to be more than just a bit of paint to put this room right when the dreaded woodchip wallpaper reared its ugly head.  The whole room was stripped back to the bare plaster, a whole wall came down, rebuilt and plastered.

I then added some snazzy Billy Bookcases, shared a tutorial for a DIY skirted vanity.  In August, I shared another tutorial for a roman blind with ribbon trim.  But it was September when the room finally got it’s wallpaper, a new rug and a new chandelier, plunging it into Girlie Paradise.

I also had the clothing rail spray painted gold by my handy boyfriend in November.   What’s left in here?  Well, not too much.  I still want to upholster a cube in a spotty fabric for the vanity and add some shelving above the clothing rail.   More for the list in 2013!

Other noteworthy events?

In January, I launched a little online business selling cushions.  What happened to that, you may be wondering?  Well, despite nearly selling out of every single piece of stock over the course of the year, I just didn’t have the time or focus that it needed to really grow into something more.  We’re going to chalk that one up to experience for now but it’s something I’d really like to revisit again in the future.

What else?

Well, in October, I quit my job and landed an even better one as the new Lifestyle Blog Editor of Appliances Online at Home. And in December, my home was featured in the pages of Heart Home Magazine.  Both of these events were massive highlights of the year for me!

So what other goals are there for the new year?

For the blog, I really want a full redesign and I want to finally move to my own domain.   I need to do a bit of work on this one however so I’m going to give myself some time to do my research and get it done!  Very exciting.

In terms of the house, you’ll be happy to hear that I’m going to be sharing the ‘man cave’ / cellar remodel with you shortly which was another big project we tackled this year but I am a terrible, terrible blogger because I’ve yet to share anymore progress with you.  There are reasons for this but I do mean it when I say it is so so close.  Promise that it’ll be worth the (ridiculously long) wait.

As far as big projects, well, we want to tackle the bathroom this year.  Aside from a lick of paint, we’ve done little in there and it desperately needs some attention (like a complete refit!).  

I’d also love to finally tackle the flooring in the dining room and hallway – the wood flooring in these spaces desperately need to be stripped back, sanded and stained.  It’s a messy job but it needs to happen!

Also on my wish list is a plan for the hallway, both downstairs and upstairs.  It’s never been touched and I feel like it really lets the whole house down!  And lets not forget the carpeting, it’s tragic and it needs to be replaced.

Well, whether we’ll be able to get to everything of course remains to be seen (time and budget are evil mistresses) but it’s good to have lofty goals, right?

So that’s my roundup of 2012 and the plans for 2013.  Thanks so much for following along in this journey and I hope you’ve found some inspiration or encouragement along the way!

Wanna see my roundup for last year?  Just click here.