2025 Recap – How Did I Do On My 2025 Master List Of Home Goals?

My Workshop:

At the beginning of this year, my workshop looked pretty plain. We had it built in the fall of 2024, and this is what it looked like after the shed company was finished.

And after finishing those projects, the workshop now looks like this…

I’m not finished with the exterior yet. There were a few things on my list that I didn’t get to. I still want to…

1. Do something to make the garage door look interesting,
2. Build pergola above garage door,
3. Mark off flower bed around the building and add mulch, and
4. Add lighting.

Closet and Laundry Room:

The next project I worked on was the walk-in closet with the laundry room area. At the beginning of the year, I said that this was the project I was the most excited about because in my entire adult like, I had never had a large closet with adequate storage. I was also incredibly excited about having a proper laundry area and getting our washer and dryer out of the sunroom.

And now that the closet and laundry area are finished, and I’ve had a few months to live with them, I still feel the same way. Even though I’m definitely excited about getting our new bedroom completely finished, it still won’t compare to how much I love my new closet and laundry area.

To turn this into a walk-in closet and laundry room, I did the following:

1. Had new hardwood flooring installed and sanded,
2. Stained and sealed the new hardwood floors (dark stain, round 1),
3. Re-sanded the hardwood floors,
4. Sealed the hardwood floors again (light and natural stain, round 2),
5. Built cabinets to create a laundry area in the room,
6. Built an entire room of cabinets with shelves and hanging bars for storage,
7. Installed new lighting,
8. Built a custom jewelry drawer with a glass top,
9. Built a custom pull-out bar section for necklaces,
10. Built an island,
11. Installed wallpaper, and
12. Made a flower chandelier.

The Master Bedroom:

I got pretty close to finishing our bedroom, but I still have a few projects remaining. This room was previously our home gym, but when we had some pretty major flooring issues that required all new subfloor and hardwood flooring, I decided to turn it into our new bedroom. Some of the work had already been underway at the end of 2024, so at the beginning of this year, this is what the room looked like.

While the room isn’t finished, most of the big projects are finished. Here’s what I’ve done so far…

1. Had new hardwood flooring installed,
2. Refinished the floors twice, just like the closet,
3. Had the front window replaced with a door,
4. Repaired all of the walls,
5. Installed wainscoting,
6. Added crown molding,
7. Hung grasscloth wallpaper,
8. Hung sheers on the windows,
9. Bought a nice recliner for the reading corner,
10. Painted the dresser, and
11. Finished one lamp makeover.

And here is the progress so far (minus the one finished lamp).

I still have a few things to finish up, such as…

1. Finishing the second lamp makeover,
2. Sewing pillows for the chair and bed,
3. Closing up scuttle hole in ceiling (which I’m still considering having moved into the hallway storage closet),
4. Making an upholstered headboard,
5. Finishing the velvet curtains,
6. Having the new artwork for the reading corner/breaker box cover matted and framed, and
7. Building a new frame for the TV.

Foyer:

I used to call this area the hallway because it was a “public” area of our house, and accessible from this hallway were the guest bathroom and three bedrooms. But now that this whole area has been subsumed into one large master bedroom suite, I’m now calling it the bedroom suite foyer.

Here’s how this foyer looked at the beginning of the year…

It’s almost done, but I still have a few little projects to finish before it’s actually finished. Here’s what I’ve done so far.

1. Had hardwood flooring installed and sanded,
2. Finished the floor, resanded the floor, and re-finished it again (just like the other areas),
3. Installed wainscoting,
4. Installed crown molding,
5. Hung grasscloth wallpaper,
6. Painted the bathroom/storage room doors,
7. Found and hung a full-length mirror (as an extension of the closet since I didn’t have room inside the closet for a mirror),
8. Reupholstered and painted a bench,
9. Sewed pillows for the bench,
10. Bought and installed a new ceiling light, and
11. Had the chapel picture matted and reframed.

And here’s what it looks like now…

I have a few more projects to finish up, like…

• Replacing the two water-damaged pieces of grasscloth wallpaper,
• Sanding and painting the spot on the ceiling where the junction box for the light was removed,
• Finish the storage closet doors and French doors (i.e., another coat of paint, add door knobs), and
• Move the router to another spot in the house.

There were some areas on my 2025 list that I didn’t get to. I had hoped to at least start on the inside of my workshop, but I didn’t even touch the inside at all. That will be a main project in 2026. I had also hoped to get to some landscaping and exterior projects on the house, but I just ran out of time on that as well. But that’s okay because there’s always next year!

So that’s it for me for 2025. I’m signing off for now, and I’ll be spending these next two weeks relaxing, working on some projects as I feel like it, spending time with Matt, reading, watching movies, and gearing up for the new year. I’ll meet y’all back here on Monday, January 5th, and we’ll pick up right where we left off. Enjoy your holidays!