What an unforgettable year.

2023 has been one of the busiest years I’ve ever experienced — not least because in January our little Arthur bear arrived amidst the first year of a 5 year long house renovation! Between spending time with Arthur, doing up the house, and working, there’s very little time for anything else… it’s manic but there’s never a dull moment.

Without a doubt, our greatest challenge is finding time. Days are too short but I’m so grateful to have family and friends around me who are so helpful and supportive — whether that’s by looking after Arthur for the day so we can crack on with renovations or, in my Dad’s case, giving his time, skills, tools, materials and everything else to help us move the house on.

Anyway, I’m so proud of what we achieved this year. It’s been non-stop but in total, we completed three rooms: Arthur’s bedroom, the porch and our upstairs bathroom, and installed a new fence too.

I’ve been documenting our progress in detailed monthly posts all year but at a glance, here is everything we did in 2023.

January

After Arthur’s arrival in January, we had one month off, adjusting to life with very little sleep, and caring for a newborn!

February

We picked up the renovations again in February, prioritising getting Arthur’s new bedroom ready for when he would move into his own room later in the year.

March

In March, I eased back into the renovations too, helping out by shovelling bucket after bucket of gravel in the garden.

April

We finished decorating Arthur’s bedroom in April with the new carpet fitted this month and all the final painting now finished.

May

In May, with the warmer weather, we spent a lot of time clearing the garden and digging the fence posts. I also painted the existing fence green over the May bank holidays.

June

June was an exciting month as Arthur’s bedroom furniture arrived, we installed a new fence and we demolished our old leaky shed.

July

July was a quiet month but allowed us to focus on one project in particular: our vanity unit! We bought a console table secondhand off Facebook marketplace and prepped and painted it, ready for the basin.

August

In August we made big strides in the upstairs bathroom. We finished our vanity unit, installed a new skylight, set the pipes for the shower and drilled the holes for the drainage. Meanwhile, I got started on removing the gloss from the framework in the porch. It was a busy month!

September

In September, we set the shower tray, insulated some of the walls and plastered the upstairs bathroom. Meanwhile, in the porch, we finished stripping the paint off the wooden frame.

October

In October we really pushed on with the porch, insulating, installing a radiator, panelling, sanding, filling, painting, … the works!

November

November saw us start tiling the upstairs shower and also finish the porch!

December

In December our priority was finishing the upstairs bathroom which included work connecting into the drains. Once the new bathroom was complete, we started taking out the old one, preparing the room to become David’s office.

And that’s everything we completed in 2023!

David and I were talking the other day about how we’re coming up to two years living in this house and how much has already been achieved in this time frame. To think to what the house used to look like, what it looks now, and then how it’ll look in another two years time is just crazy.

Until next time!