Our renovation process has hit a bit of a stalemate. George is extra busy with work right now and since we gotta make a living, it’s left me doing small projects around the house. There’s some things I’m comfortable doing on my own, but things like installing doors, I have trouble physically doing on my own. Real wood doors are heavy, folks. While small projects are not nearly as gratifying as large ones, I’m proud of the work I’ve done.

Here’s what I’ve been working on.

I put down clear drawer liners on the pantry’s interior and I installed and painted a chalkboard on the inside of the pantry door. It’s a small project that makes a big impact. I simply cut a piece of wood to fit the upper pantry door, screwed it in and painted it. Easy peasy. Now I have a convenient place to neatly display our grocery list.

The cabinet – Before

I also had been working on a vintage metal cabinet for the bathroom. Unfortunately the cabinet had been painted with house paint instead enamel paint and after trying multiple products and scraping/sanding techniques I gave up on that one. I started looking online for bathroom storage, but I was severely disappointed in the selection for my budget. Everything I liked was $900 or more!

Luckily we had bought another vintage metal cabinet for the office, but I kept thinking it was too big for the bathroom. But I went out to the shed to measure it anyway and guess what?! It was the perfect size. It took a weekend of cleaning, sanding and painting (with the correct paint), but now I have an inexpensive storage cabinet for the bathroom with plenty of character.

The Cabinet – After!

On a less decor-themed project, I also finally got Internet installed at our house. We had been using our phones as hotspots for months, but it was so slow that it made it difficult to download anything or even work on the old blog. I finally gave in and although that’s another bill we have to pay, it’s making my life 1,000x easier.

I also signed up at our local YWCA. Now that I work from home, I desperately need an excuse to get out of the house. The YWCA isn’t the splashiest gym I’ve ever been a member of, but it’s fairly inexpensive and I enjoy the classes. And although it’s a very non-competitive gym, I still feel terribly out-of-shape. I’m getting back into it and I can’t wait to feel stronger. Maybe I’ll be able to lift and install those wood doors on my own one day. 😉

This week I’m working on caulking the windows and hopefully I’ll be ready to paint the trim soon. We still have a million little projects to go, but I’m really hoping to have the interior mostly done by Christmas. Eeek. We will see.

What projects, big or small, are you working on? I’d love to hear about it in the comments! And if you want to follow along with my projects in real time, follow me on Instagram.

-Melanie