2019 year in review and project goals for 2020

At the beginning of the year I made a list of projects that we wanted to finish for 2019. Generally all our projects fall into 1 of 5 categories: real estate investing, room makeovers, outdoor projects, furniture flips, crafts & DIY projects. The start of a new year is a great time to look back over the last year and see all the projects we’ve accomplished. I’ll also list the project goals we’d like to finish this year so you’ll know what to expect from us over the next year. 

1. Rental Property

Our number one goal for the last two years was to enter into the world of real estate investing. I’ve been listening to podcasts for years and just started reading all kind of business books, and the desire was so strong to buy a house and renovate it. We found a great little house in Morrisburg, Ontario, closed on the deal in August, and renovated the entire house over the next four months. The house is now rented out and we are very happy with how smoothly the whole process went.

2020 house flip goals: buy a duplex and renovate it (August)

 

2. Room Renovations

Girls bedroom

In the spring of 2019 I finished off the girls bedroom. This mini room makeover started because we wanted to get our younger daughter out of her toddler bed, and put the two girls into a bunk bed. I painted the walls a super light pink, finally painted the trim, fixed the curtain rod, and painted the bunk bed to match their light blue dressers.

Basement

Tony built a wall in the basement between the woodstove and the rest of the downstairs to contain all the dust and dirt from the firewood. The rest of the basement is still unfinished, but the kids play down there are lot.

 

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A post shared by Jessica Vanderveen (@thevanderveenhouse) on Feb 8, 2019 at 5:56pm PST

 

 

2020 Room Renovation goals

Finish the kitchen – tile backsplash, valence, under cabinet lighting (February)

Finish painting all the trim (March)

Finish the stairs going to the basement (April)

Maybe – put a bathroom in the basement

 

3. Outdoor projects

Landscaping

We finally got our final top soil and grass at the back of the house! We hired that out in the spring this year, and then worked at growing the grass all summer. The lawn is pretty sparse, but it should thicken up over the next few years.

Vegetable Arbor

I also built an arbor for my vegetables to grow up. My vegetable growing was not very successful this year, but at least I have a really nice arbor. This year I’m going to plant some climbing flowers too so there will be a bit of color.

Maple Syrup

And last year was the first year we made our own maple syrup! That was a lot of fun and we plan to do it again this year.

 

Outdoor Project goals

Still on the list for the outdoor projects are to extend the deck to surround the pool, and also to add a concrete path at the front of the house. I doubt we will get to either of these projects this year.

 

4. Furniture flips

Modern Farmhouse Bed

We upgraded our mattress from a queen to a king so I decided to build an inexpensive farmhouse style bed frame. I used leftover hardwood flooring and paint I already had to build this bedframe for less than $100

Plastic Lawn Chairs

I made over our outdoor plastic lawn chairs using two cans of spray paint

Faux Marble Coffee Table

I used resin to make a faux marble coffee table

River Coffee Table

And I built a river coffee table using cherry wood and blue colored resin

2020 Furniture Flip PLANS

I have zero plans to do any furniture makeovers. I got rid of the unfinished  furniture pieces that I had been collecting. Unless I find a piece of furniture that we need for our own house, I probably won’t paint any furniture pieces. 

 

5. Crafts & DIY projects

Apparently I didn’t do a lot of crafty projects last year (too busy renovating an entire house), but here are some of my favorite projects I’ve done over the last few years: