With 2011 quickly coming to a close and with everybody and their brother…scratch that…everybody (in the blog world) and their brother, sister, grandmother, cousin, uncle, aunt, neighbor, cousin, and second cousin twice removed are all doing big year end posts, recapping what they’ve done this year. Well, I’m about to join the masses and share with you not only the best, but the worst, from Angie’s Roost in 2011.
First up, the Best Use Of Bar Coasters: I turned my massive, collected over time collection of bar coasters into some awesome wall art for our now complete office renovation. Read about the coasters back here.
Worst Use Of Chalkboard Paint: Spice jar lids back from this post and this one. It was a great idea in theory. But I can’t even begin to tell you how frustrating it is when steam from a boiling stew ruins your spice jar label. They also easily smudge. I’m thinking or using paint instead of chalk to label the jars.
Best Staircase Revamp: LOVE our revamped staircase even though it’s still a work in progress. We still need to paint the risers and trim and add some balusters. Read about it back here.
Best Bathroom Flair: The his/hers/guest labels for the towel hooks. I adore these hooks even though they were a pain in the butt to hang up, and get them to stay up. Read about them here and here.
Worst Project Planning: The ginormous desk we’re still in the process of building. We started it this summer but have still yet to finish it. Read about this project here and here. And I promise that we’ll finish it by the end of 2012…well…maybe in 2013.
Best Use Of Red Paint: Our newly painted, old entry door. You gotta love a red door, especially ours. Read more about it here.
Best Tool Purchase: The Dewalt table saw. I can’t even begin to tell you how much Colby loves this tool. Here is the related blog post.
Best Discovery: The wooden floor found under the sub floor on the porch. We’re still super excited about this discovery, originally blogged back here. Although our porch is still a catch all for random things that don’t seem to fit anywhere in our house, we have big intentions of refinishing the floor this summer and using our porch as a porch and not just a storage area.
Best Use Of Ski Maps: The ski map art gallery in our downstairs hallway. Colby and I are avid skiers…well…I’m a skier and he’s a snowboarder (I know, silly Colby) so this a perfect homage to some of our favorite places like Sugarloaf, Sunday River, and Saddleback mountains. Check out more about this project back here.
Best Flea Market Find: A five dollar bamboo chest. Seriously. Five dollars. It’s a good story too. Check it out back here.
Best Pinterest Challenge Project: Map heart art. Who doesn’t love a good map project? I framed map hearts of my home town, Colby’s home town, and where we live now. I love this project and it was so simple. Read all about it here.
Best Maine Cottage Knockoff: Our sea foam colored, custom built media cabinet. Yes, I designed it based off a similar cabinet from Maine Cottage. And yes, Colby built it specific to our needs. And yes, I painted it sea foam. You can read about it here and here.
Worst News: Finding out we had a collapsed sewer main. Booooooo. It cost a whopping $8,000 but it was the best $8,000 I ever spent. It may not be pretty and you may not see it, but a sewer main is, well, important. Catch the play by play here and here.
Best Yard Sale Find: A $10 mirror that we spray painted white to replace the mirror Colby broke in our bathroom. Check out the post back here.
Best Stencil Project: Technically it’s the only stenciling project, but now I have the stenciling itch. Anyway, I stenciled our dining room floor and even made my own stencil. It’s the sub floor, essentially old pine boards, stained and stenciled. It turned out so much better than I expected. Read about the process here and here and here too.
Worst Oops Moment: When Colby broke the toilet seat. Enough said. Read about it here.
Best Use Of A Gallon Of Paint: Putting a coat of paint on the much neglected, in need of paint shed. The shed was rotting away in some spots because the wood hadn’t been painted in years. Check out more details back here.
Worst Safety Practices: Colby when he installed the new dining room window back here. His scaffolding system included canoe racks from his truck, some plywood, and a step ladder. Doh!
Best Use Of Bead Board: On the ceiling of our bathroom. Colby even left me a little message in caulking, found here, while we were installing it.
Best Homemade Concoction That Saves Me A Boatload Of Money: I learned how to make my own laundry detergent. I’ve saved so much money and I love my homemade detergent so much that I will never go back to Tide. Sorry Proctor & Gamble. Check out the recipe back here.
Best Sense Of Accomplishment: Finally finishing one room in our house, the office. Although we’ve revamped it about a gazillion times since. Check out some office space related posts here and here.
Best Weekend Project: Building a deck. Oh yeah, Colby not only built a deck in a weekend but built it in the rain. Catch up on the deck building shenanigans back here, here, here, here and here.
Best New Light Fixture: The above the sink kitchen lights that we installed back here. Apparently 2011 was the year of the light fixture since we installed six of them but these guys take the cake. Someday, when we do a dream kitchen remodel, this duo is staying. Read about this project back here.
Worst & Most Prolonged Project: Sanding….Sanding the dining room, sanding the staircase walls, sanding the first floor hall, and sanding the second floor hall. And by sanding I’m talking about drywall sanding…ick. And it took us about five months to finish it all. Read about our disdain for this project here. But as much as we hated it we powered through and wound up with some gorgeous new spaces.
Best Use Of Wood Shims: Turn them into a ceiling medallion. Original post can be found here.
Best Purchase Ever…But One Which Taunts Me: The dishwasher. We purchased the new dishwasher a few months ago on super sale but have yet to install it. I even asked Santa to install it for me but I must have been on the naughty list because it’s still sitting in the parlor.
Best All Around Transformation: The dining room. After all the drywall sanding was done, we painted, installed trim, added a light fixture, re-did the floors, painted the trim, made some curtains, and added a chalkboard. Check out some of the projects here, here, here, and here.
Best Duo: The crafted Marilyn Monroe art piece from here and spray painted $5 chandelier from the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store back here.
Not only was 2011 a big year for Angie’s Roost in the home improvement and decor department, but also in regular everyday life. I graduated in May with my masters in business administration from the University of Maine:
Traveled throughout Russia in May (follow my Russia travels back here):
Oh yeah…and Colby proposed on my birthday in July and we’re feverishly planning our wedding.
I have to admit, 2011 was a good year, a really good year. But I’m looking forward to everything 2012 brings.
Pssst…I’ll be back Sunday evening with a post on our goals and resolutions for 2012. So, with this being the last post 0f 2011, HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!
Psssssst…FYI, Santa is installing the dishwasher right this minute! Woo to the hoo! My days hand washing insane amounts of dishes are numbered!
