I remember sitting down last year to plan out my 2024 project list, and thinking to myself “this is unrealistic, but I’m going to write it down anyhow.” There were some big ticket items on that list, including a few I couldn’t manage without hiring out. Then by the time summer rolled around and I did a midyear project report, I felt really behind. But now I look back on the year as a whole and I can’t believe how much I accomplished, and how different my house feels. Really, it finally feels like “me.” So before we dive into the plans for 2025, lets take a look at the final 2024 project recap.
Toilet Room Trim & Door
The first project on the year wasn’t even on the list! Really, I just wanted a bit of an easy project to get started, and it doesn’t get much easier than paint. The primary bathroom was one of the first renovations I did after buying the house in 2018, and I’ve since wallpapered the toilet room with this pretty block stripe print.
The white trim really wasn’t doing much in this space, so I decided to go dark and paint the baseboards, trim and door Inkwell Black by Sherwin-Williams. I added a fresh toilet seat to the room and voila! The tiny space has its own character! You can read all about the makeover in my reveal post here.



Block Stripe Wallpaper | Tile | Soft Close Toilet Seat | Toilet Paper Holder
The Back Entry
The back entry is the bridge between the cozy tv room and the kitchen and is the most used entrance in the house. When I first bought the house I focused on repainting most of the spaces, so I had a clean canvas to work from. This little space had been painted beige ever since and was in some real need of character.
I knew I wanted to literally bridge the gap between the moody cozy tv room which is Lead Grey by Benjamin Moore and my yet to be designed updated kitchen, so it was a tricky design project. I ended up choosing this beautiful wallpaper by Sandberg, which has a similar dark blue as the cozy tv room, as well as some warm beiges which felt safe for the pending kitchen design. I painted the trim and back door Accessible Beige by Sherwin-Williams and added a brass bee door knocker and brass switch plates for some sparkle. A geometric runner rug helped ground the space and add contrast.



Wallpaper | Runner Rug | Brass Bee Knocker | Brass Switch Plate
I love how this space has so much character now, and serves as such a fun “welcome home” for me every time I come through the back door.
Adding Picture Frame Molding in the Dining Room
In 2023 I was very intentional about getting the formal dining room up to speed by adding my dream wallpaper by Cole & Sons, as well as a knockout of a chandelier from Visual Comfort. I transformed my black dining room table to a wood finish (you can read all about it here), found the perfect vintage chairs and grounded the room with a geometric area rug. But it was still missing something.
The dining room already had a chair rail installed; however I thought adding picture frame molding underneath would really elevate the finished look of the space. I purchased my first ever power tool (a miter saw by Kobalt) and after a lot of math I got to cutting trim for my molding.



Molding | Kobalt Miter Saw | Step-by-Step Installation Instructions
The finished result is the elevated look I knew the room needed. Later in the summer I would end up adding custom draperies, some fun brass light switches and a handful of estate sale pieces. I can’t believe I’m saying these words but I think we can finally call the dining room “finished”!



Bubble Chandelier | Wallpaper | Brass Light Toggle | Draperies | Rug | Limelight Hydrangeas
Primary Bedroom Flip
The dining room makeover would end up being a gateway for what was to come, and that would be the primary bedroom. Similar to other spaces I did some work on this room including removing popcorn ceilings, switching out carpet for white oak hardwood floors and painting it a beige color. But I was craving more.


The Primary Bedroom Before | Installing Picture Frame Molding
I set out to moodboard the space with the intention of creating a cozy, relaxing retreat for myself that I would both love waking up to and enjoy coming home to each day. The design included adding more picture frame molding, color drenching the entire room, refinishing the existing dresser and adding a new pretty ivory linen bed, nightstands and lamps.


Linen Bed | Draperies | Duvet Set | Lumbar Pillow | Nightstands (similar) | Marble Lamps (similar) | Chandelier (similar) | Ceiling Medallion
The finished result is the dreamiest space and I’m absolutely in love with it. It’s both calming yet magical, and I feel like I’m in a boutique hotel!
Exterior Makeover
Since buying the house I’ve been working diligently on updating it, but to be honest I’ve really neglected the outside of it. My work outside has mostly been to keep things up to speed from a maintenance and necessity standpoint, and I haven’t had the ability to do much designing outside. I really wanted to make this year different for the exterior.



Front Exterior Before | The New Garage Door | Back Exterior Before
Since most of this work is a bit out of my ability (my house is 3 stories high on the backside!), I decided to split the exterior wish list into chunks and start with updating the main portion of the house. I started by adding a new garage door in the early part of 2024, and then in late summer hired a crew to paint the trim and decking a warm black / brown. The color is Black Fox by Sherwin-Williams and I love how it plays with the darker bricks in my house.



The house feels instantly updated and is truly propelling me to plan the next phase of the makeover which is the landscaping. But first I’ll be adding some copper lanterns out front and along the side man door. Stay tuned for more on that soon! You can read all the details about the exterior makeover in my blog post here.
Kitchen Renovation
As the exterior makeover was happening, I was looking at the calendar and realized I had one project left in me for the year. With the One Room Challenge kicking off in October, I decided I was done waiting for the “right time” and committed to attacking the kitchen.


The Kitchen Before
I have a full reveal post coming soon (with all the pictures!) but I’ll share now that my intention for this makeover was to keep things relatively budget friendly by focusing on all of the cosmetic updates I could do myself. This included repainting the existing cabinets a warm taupe color, refinishing my existing granite counters to look like marble, replacing my glass tile backsplash with wood paneling painted the same color as the cabinets and updating the doors and drawers to be soft close.



Prepped for Painting | Fresh Paint + New Paneled Backsplash | Countertops Transformed to Marble
Then came all the pretty things! The drawers got pretty new pulls from EMTEK, I added in the old kitchen island and topped it with a new butcher block countertop, swapped the old farmhouse light fixture for a pretty milk glass pendant and installed the rolling library ladder of my dreams.


Brass Cup Pulls | Walnut Butcher Block Counter | Milk Glass Pendant | Marble Elevated Bowl
I have some tiny touch ups left to do, and eventually I hope to swap out the faucet for a new one, but all in all the kitchen feels like it’s finally mine. Would I recommend doing a kitchen renovation right before the holidays? Probably not. But it also really kept me moving! This past weekend I worked on some non-holiday neutral styling and took some professional photos of the space, so stay tuned for lots more on the kitchen soon!
2024 Project Recap + Looking Ahead to 2025
When I look back, I’m so proud of my 2024 project recap and all that I accomplished. This year I learned so much about myself, DIY and I feel like I really pushed my design skills.
Stay tuned in the coming weeks for what’s to come for 2025. I’m dreaming bigger and have plans to revisit some spaces that you’ve already seen and might not expect. All I’m going to say is that I’m more excited than I’ve ever been about the possibilities and what’s to come.
xo,
Allison
Perfection!!!
thank you so much!!