2020 Home Projects Report Card

Our 2020 home projects report card – we’re talking about projects and DIY’s we completed and different spaces in our home we did makeovers on.

Last year, I wrote a post about The 8 Home Improvement Projects We Want to Tackle in 2020 where I shared the different spaces we wanted to makeover and DIY projects we wanted to tackle. I plan on doing another one of these posts for 2021 but first, I thought it would be fun to look back on 2020 and see how we did.

It’s quite clear that 2020 didn’t really go as any of us planned and as a result, most of us spent more time in our homes than ever before.

Here’s our 2020 home project progress report!

2020 Home Projects List

Our list from January was:

• The Garage
• Living Room
• Painting the Interior
• Main Bedroom
• Main Bedroom Closet
• Guest Bedroom
• The Backyard
• Bar in the Game Room

Now here’s how we did:

The Garage

Plans:

• complete the home gym set up
• set up a work bench & tool area

The Garage | Before

The Garage | After

Garage Gym: Rogue Squat Rack | Concept 2 Rower | Rogue Echo Bike | Barbell Wall Hanger | Bumper Plates | Weight Set & Stand | Gladiator Storage
Garage Gear Wall: Gladiator Wall Panel | Shelves | Golf Bag Shelf

I think the garage was one of the most dramatic spaces to change in 2020. We went from standard builder grade to a fully functioning space with a gear wall, tool & work bench area and a garage gym. Plus we still have enough space to fit the cars!

We had no idea how truly great it would be to have a home gym especially as all the gyms closed. It was a real luxury and we were very thankful to have a space to stay active.

I will give the Garage an A. I’ll give it an A+ once we epoxy the floors.

You can read about our entire process of our garage makeover here.

Living Room

Plans:

• add shiplap to media niche
• build floating shelves for media niche
• buy a coffee table
• pick out artwork for above the couch
• buy a new ceiling fan
• figure out surround sound
• new floor (but probably not until later)

Living Room | Before

Living Room | After

I’ll give the living room a B.

We did add shiplap to the media niche and build floating shelves for the media niche but we didn’t buy a coffee table, artwork or a ceiling fan. We also figured out the surround sound but I still think this needs to be upgraded in the future.

However, the best thing to happen to the living room in 2020 was new flooring! Last year I wrote that this was something we wanted but would probably have to be pushed back but after living with the shag rug carpeting for a year, it was time to go (especially when you consider that we have a dog with IVDD who has incontinence issues).

Honestly the new floors are one of the best things to happen to the house so far and have made a huge impact so this was a very special bonus.

Painting the Interior

I’m going to give us an F+ on interior painting.

We wanted to have the entire interior of the home painted. But we didn’t, at all. I’m only giving us an F+ because we did get a few new spaces painted: the main bedroom, the main bedroom bathroom, main bedroom closet and the hallway leading to the bedroom.

We’ll have to get to this in 2021.

Main Bedroom

Plans:

• paint the room
• paint / create an accent wall
• buy a new king sized bed
• mount the TV
• art & plants
• build a barn door to the bathroom
• buy new ceiling fan

Main Bedroom | Before

Main Bedroom | After

I’ll give us a B+ on our main bedroom.

We did most of what was on the list, outside of creating an accent wall and finishing picking art. We also bought a new ceiling fan but haven’t had it installed yet (this will happen soon).

The rest of it was completed though and we actually participated in the Fall 2020 One Room Challenge to makeover our main bedroom. You can read about our entire process of the main bedroom makeover here including:

• The Plans
• The Fireplace

Main Bedroom Closet

Plans:

• remove the carpet and replace with tile
• build and install Ikea PAX system
• wallpaper
• new light fixture
• new rug

Main Bedroom Closet | Before

Main Bedroom Closet | After

I’ll also give us a B+ on the main bedroom closet.

We did most of what was on this list and we also did the main bedroom closet makeover as part of the Spring 2020 One Room Challenge. You can read about the entire process of the makeover here including:

• closet plan
• installing Ikea Pax
• installing tile

As a bonus, we also tiled the bathroom floor while we were tiling the closet.

Guest Bedroom

Plans:

• paint room
• replace ceiling fan
• move in bed, dresser from main bedroom
• buy bed frame
• buy nightstands

I’m going to give us a solid F on this one.

We didn’t do anything in the guest bedroom this year except move in the bed and dresser from the main bedroom and get new floors. This one just got put on the back burner as our plans changed and evolved.

The Backyard

Plans:

• remove some existing landscaping
• remove palm trees
• add new landscaping
• add turf to the side yard for the dogs

The Backyard | Before

The Backyard | After

I’ll give us a C+ here.

I shared the design photos of our backyard previously which shows the complete overhaul that we plan on doing back there. It is a big project that will take years to complete so this was just a start. We did remove landscaping and palm trees and we also did add some new landscaping.

Bonus items we did in the backyard that were not planned:

• Created an espalier trellis for fruit trees along our side fence.
• We planted multiple fruit trees including an Arbequina Olive Tree, Pineapple Guava and a Pink Lemonade Lemon Tree along the espalier wall and a Wonderful Pomegranate tree in one of the garden beds.
• Made a rain gutter vertical garden on our back wall. We mounted three long rain gutters to our back wall to grow things like herbs, lettuce and strawberries. Underneath, we removed the existing plants to make way for edible vegetables and fruits.
• Cleared out existing landscaping around the pool and replaced it with drought tolerant succulents and agave.

We didn’t add turf to the side yard for the dogs which is pretty high priority but now we are debating what we want to do there so we will see how that goes.

Build the Bar in the Game Room

Game Room

I’m going to give us an F here.

We didn’t do anything in this room and instead we focused on our other areas in the house.

There you have it. While we didn’t get everything we wanted to done, there were other things we got done that we didn’t plan on.

Bonus 2020 Home Projects Completed

• New flooring in the entire house
• New tile in the main bedroom
• Pool Planters planted with new drought tolerant succulents and agaves
• Espalier Trellis wall with fruit trees
• Vertical Garden and garden beds

It was a crazy year, that’s for sure! I look forward to seeing what 2021 has in store for us and for the house! Be sure to check out my post on the projects we want to tackle in 2021 to to see what’s next in our home renovation!

You can follow along as we makeover the house over on Instagram @mincerepublic!