Turns out, one of the silver linings of quarantine is that Ted and I were both finally home regularly enough (read: always) at the same time that we were actually able to accomplish a number of projects we’d had in mind for quite a while, but never seemed to have enough time or energy at home or together to do. I honestly doubt, if not for this odd and unexpected period of time in our lives, that we would have ever been able to complete these dream projects at all, much less all in the span of several months. There are a lot of difficult and frightening things about this pandemic, but it’s also important to acknowledge the silver linings where they exist, and the greatest gift of 2020, for us, has simply been the opportunity to live a little more intentionally and relaxed at the same time…to stay active, get our hands dirty, work together, and – ultimately – have time to do things we’d normally just not be able to prioritize like daily morning walks or runs, noticing the intricacies and small details as the seasons change and the habits of the local wildlife in our neighborhood grow and shift along with it, frequently trying out unique or involved recipes, soaking up nature with regular hikes, bikes, and time outdoors exploring the beauty of New York state, an actual return to reading books just for fun, puzzles and games, and of course a number of DIY home and building projects.
Here’s just a few of the builds that we designed and tackled between March and October:
We turned an small area of essentially wasted space in our kitchen into……a dual-purpose built-in seating nook and liquor storage bench that matches the island and pantry that we added to the house after we bought itThe interior has space for liquor and bar supplies, as well as cookbooks, and the back center cubby is extra deep to accommodate tall, skinny bottles. The lid can also be opened as shown, or opened from a smaller lid-door in the top back of the unit to make reaching the bottles in the back cubby super quick and convenient An industrial inspired blanket ladder made of wood and steel pipeHere she is in actionA farmhouse inspired entry bench for our front hallway so there’s somewhere to sit while taking shoes on or off
A rolling work table for the shop so we can have extra working surface space whenever (and wherever) we need it, but it securely stores on the wall for when we need more open space or less items on the shop floor during larger builds. The video shows how it worksWe added a deck! Ted designed the shape, style, and structure of the whole thing and drew up all the build plans, but we opted to hire out the actual construction since building it ourselves would have taken an enormous amount of time. We are so incredibly pleased with how it turned out. It really elevates the space from a house to a home and we loved spending hours upon hours outside in the fall. We also added the firewood rack on the left and purchased and the assembled the pub-style table and chairs on the patio. This is our favorite addition!The front of the house also got some love by replacing the temporary concrete slabs with a permanent stamped concrete walkway in a wood-grain pattern, a wrap-around railing with drink rail that matches the deck, and two stools from the same collection as the pub table and chairs in the backTwo sets of custom designed and built cornhole boards – one set for a neighbor (the pink and silver bulldog set) and one set for us (the green and copper Wisconsin and Texas set)With the new deck and cornhole boards, we spent a ton of time outdoors this fallTaller, wider, nicer, and generally more functional steps from the garage into the houseA Christmas bow wreath from my mother-in-law’s collection of vintage gift wrap bows in fantastic colors and patterns you just can’t find anymore
We’re finishing up a fun winter wreath for our front door right now, and we have a few more projects in the garage, shop, and basement we’d like to get to sometime within the next year, perhaps (and if we can manage with a vaccine rolling out and work starting to pick back up), as well as a larger landscaping re-design to fix a handful of things that need attention and build in a couple of features. But for now, we’re really pleased with how these projects turned out and being able to make the time for them in an otherwise strange and unsettling year was a great takeaway from 2020.
I think Ted’s table is remarkable. And the addition of the deck, etc., and improvement on the front of the house makes it so different than it was and so beautiful.
Lara January 14, 2021
Thanks Fr. Bob! We love it too. It was such a blessing to be able to have it for the fall and spend so much time outside this year.
I think Ted’s table is remarkable. And the addition of the deck, etc., and improvement on the front of the house makes it so different than it was and so beautiful.
Thanks Fr. Bob! We love it too. It was such a blessing to be able to have it for the fall and spend so much time outside this year.