2017 Recap and 2018 Project List

2017 was undoubtedly a game changer for me, as I embarked on a completely new decor style that's infectious beyond our summer home. Looking back on the 2017 project list, I think it was a pretty fruitful year for me. What's not on that list was our cottage/summer home - in addition to all the smaller projects completed at home, I also bought and decorated a cottage! 2017 was great to me, and 2018 is going to be even more kick-ass! 

Picture below: our cottage living room overlooking the dining room. You can read all about my design boards and choices here. 

I loved that Serge Mouille light so much that I ordered a floor lamp version for home. Infectious indeed! 

Screened-in porch

Scandinavian and MCM styles really speak to me these days. I wasn't riding on any particular design trends. Instead, there's something inside me that craved for simplicity, practicality, and "hygge", a kind of style that's calm, timeless and effortless and suitable for everyday life. What good would a designer sofa do if it's so pristine and only there for show? I want everything in my cottage to have a purpose, to be useful, and can be used every day. 

2017 was a fulfilling year which set me up for clarity and happiness in my life. Over the holidays, I was able to start planning our 2018 projects, and yes, a lot of them involving our summer home. 

On the last day of 2017, we picked up this super cool vintage teak stunner from my favourite MCM furniture shop Furniture 1950. I needed a slimmer dresser for our cottage guest bedroom, so the 15.75" depth of this tallboy was a life saver. 

How amazing is this, seriously? When a room has small square footage, a taller dresser is the only way to take full advantage of the vertical space while providing ample storage. 

On the same day, I also ordered this MCM-inspired cone sconce for our cottage bathroom from Illuminate Vintage. 

So, my 2018 project list goes like this:

For our Cottage:

• Furnish the loft bedroom. This is probably the most exciting project for me, as I've been wanting to design an attic-alike bedroom with sloped walls. 

• Renovate our master ensuite. We have a pedestal sink right now and I can't tell you how much I hated it. I am a neat freak and absolutely can not bear the sight of clutter. They all need to go behind a cabinet door but a pedestal sink doesn't give me any of that. So it needs to go. I will be writing about a design plan shortly. 
• Replace our main bathroom vanity light - the 4-light cone sconce goes here. As you can see from the picture below, the builder vanity light is very uninspiring. 

• Kitchen backsplash: my plan is to add subway tiles all the way up to where the wall meets the vaulted ceiling. The inspiration comes from our laundry room at home. I am still debating if I should go with bevelled subway tile for more visual interest. 

• And if we still have time and energy left, we may do some landscaping around the cottage by putting down paver stones. It can get pretty muddy during rainy days. 

For our Home:

I don't expect to undertake any major renos. There's just simply not enough time for us. But I do have a few projects on my wish list. They are all pretty aggressive undertakings and that's why I probably wouldn't be able to get to any of them in 2018. 

• Kitchen: it will be a complete gut job. 
• Dining room: everything in there needs to go. I don't like it any more. I have wallpaper and more modern furnishing in mind. 

So that's my 2017 recap and 2018 project list. I will be sharing some design boards (my favourite part of a reno) soon. Stay tuned. 

Before I go, I wanted to leave you with this. I received two sets of Saje Ultrasonic Diffuser as holiday gifts (what are the chances you think two friends had exactly the same gift idea in mind!). It definitely gave my 2018 a healthy kickstart. Saje's Refresh Blend is by far the best scent - and I must have tried 10 different blends before! Highly recommend Saje!