House Projects Completed | 2025

It was a big year for house projects! 

At the beginning of each year, Ron and I sit down with pencil and paper and discuss the house projects that we'd like to accomplish in the coming year. We actually list everything that we would like to do in the future (that list is long!) and then choose a top five for the current year. 

This is flexible.  If we finish the top five, we can choose something else. If one of the five doesn't happen for some reason or another, we can substitute . . . or just not accomplish it all. Sometimes there may be a bit of time in which we can fit a smaller project so we'll go ahead and do that. Or sometimes our priorities change during the year. The main thing is that we keep moving forward with our vision and keep chipping away at our goals. 

Here were our top five house-y goals for 2025!
(Spoiler alert: One of them did not get done.) 

Goal #1: 
Gut Pink Bathroom ✅

I'm not sure why we listed this one as a separate project, because we certainly wouldn't gut a space without the intention of making something new out of it, but we did indeed gut that bathroom. A part of me hated to eliminate this little half bath because it was quite handy when we had guests. But we have guests several weeks out of the year, and we do laundry 52 weeks out of the year. That fact made the decision clear. 

There was still a bit of demo to go in this photo, but I missed taking one of the completely gutted room. 

Goal #2
Convert Pink Bathroom to Laundry Closet ✅

Ron began the pink bathroom demo in mid January, and by the end of April, we were doing laundry!

In that time, he removed a window (and patched the siding outside), ran plumbing for the washer, put in a 220 outlet for the dryer, hung all new drywall, finished it, and painted it. We had the man who tiled our master bathroom lay the tile floor of the laundry closet. 

(Disclaimer: The space is small and tight, and my photography skills are not the best, so my photos are a bit distorted and the colors are not true.)

Ron installed this overhead light. 

We found a narrow rolling cart at HomeGoods on which to put laundry supplies.

I put my old floor cloth  down for a little color. 

Since we had removed the half bath that was so helpful for company, we decided to add peg racks in the laundry closet for guests to hang towels, cosmetic bags, etc.  (All of the bathrooms in our house are small, so the overflow storage is helpful.) 

We have a laundry area in our basement, but having a laundry closet on the main floor is game-changing. I love having this easily accessible space, and so does Bekah (who loathes the camel crickets in our basement). This new laundry space is tiny, but it has all that we need. 

Goal #3
Build a Patio ✅ 

This project was something that Ron really wanted to do! It has been on our list for several years, but 2025 was the year that it made the top 5. The previous year, we had had the back steps into the sunroom extended (to accommodate the double French doors that we had put in the sunroom), so that meant that we could go ahead with laying a patio. 

Ron relocated  some plants, we selected and ordered our bricks, and the work began! 

After the last brick was laid on the patio, Ron laid a brick sidewalk leading to the driveway. 

We chose some furniture for the patio, a teak table and chairs and a couple of benches, and we planted a boxwood hedge around the border.

Goal #4
Paint living room, dining room, hallway, and basement stairway ✅

We painted the living room, dining room, and hallway the first year that we moved into Pineapple House (the basement stairway came later). I chose a neutral color, Linen White by Olde Century Colors, and it was a good choice while we made changes to the house and slowly filled it with things that we loved. A stronger color would have been limiting. But nine years later, we were ready to go bolder and we painted it all Copley Gray by Benjamin Moore. No regrets! We love the moodiness of the color . . . and its colonial-ness too! :)

Ron picked up his paintbrush as soon as he retired and got to work in the living room. We had hoped to have it finished by the end of September when we were having guests, and we made that deadline. 

The painting continued in October as Ron and I (mostly Ron) painted the dining room . . . 

and then the hallway with its seven doors! 

By the end of October, the basement stairwell was also painted, and the job was done!  

Goal#5
Paint Bekah's closet 

This project was the smallest on the list, but it didn't get done. In fact, when we made our 2026 list, Bekah said that she really didn't want it done this year either so we will defer it to another time. 

It is hard for me to believe, but we will have lived in Pineapple House for ten years this spring! We have made many changes, some big, some small. We are running out of big projects (that's good!), but we have a top five selected for this year. I'll tell you about our 2026 list soon. 

Memory-Making Moments: Christmas Days and Beyond

For the past several years, we have had our family Christmas Gathering on the Sunday before Christmas. As the family has grown and the grands are getting older, this concession allows the individual families to celebrate Christmas Day in their own homes. 

(To my children: turn away while I have this little discussion with my readers. 😉)

Even though I would love for our celebration to be just as it was for many years, I believe that it is important - and even necessary - to be able to give and bend and change and concede as the family grows, as life changes and as circumstances are different. To refuse to change is not reality. To refuse to change is to miss out on new joys! 

(Okay, kids. You can pop back in.)

On the Saturday before Christmas, Ryan and family arrived! It was Kati's year to spend Thanksgiving with us, so she and her family were not here at Christmas. 

Some highlights from our celebration . . . 

✨ Our own chamber music! 

Before the meal, Eve and Nora played some beautiful music. It was almost surreal to hear the glorious strains of Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" coming from our sunroom! 

Here is an excerpt:

✨ Some surprise entertainment! 

During the party, there were some unusual things happening. Ryan kept sharing bits of trivia about aliens. Kristin started rounds of applause. Several times, Peter began to make an announcement, and then changed his mind. Ben began singing a Christmas song and everyone joined in. Owen kept making toasts! 

Although some of us wondered, no one said anything. Finally Ryan told us that many of them had one random thing to do and they were waiting for someone to question it! We had many laughs thinking about all of the craziness that had happened while we thought we were having a "normal" party! 

✨ There was a screaming goat! 

I had come across a little "screaming goat," dressed in an ugly Christmas sweater, no less. 

Anyone who wanted the goat put his or her name in a basket and then the winner's name was drawn. 

It was four-year-old Joanna! 

At first, she felt shy and was hesitant to make him "scream," but by the end of the gathering, he was screaming a'plenty! 😂 

✨ A prize! 

Ryan brought a large jar filled with Skittles. The one who guessed the closest to the actual number in the jar won the jar of candy plus a $50 Visa card. Owen's guess was only ONE over the total, so he took home the prize! (And Gran did not get any photos of his victory.) 

✨ The precious faces of my dear ones and the joy of celebrating together! 

And isn't that the very best part of a gathering? 

The days following brought more joys: playing games with the little girlies (before breakfast!), watching Katrina ride her new birthday scooter, party leftovers, simple meals, Christmas movies, conversation. 

After Ryan and Sarah and the children left to return home, there was still Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! 

We went to our church's Christmas Eve candlelight service.

Christmas morning began with our traditional breakfast. 

Where once we had a table filled with family (Ron and I, Kati and Bekah, Ron's parents, and my parents), this year there were four of us. Life continually changes, doesn't it? 

Make the memories! 

We enjoyed watching Bekah, our "only" (only child still living at home, that is, although she is certainly not a child) open gifts. An espresso machine was a hit . . . and all three of us can enjoy this gift! 

And beyond . . .

There was a visit and goodies at Mom's house, slow mornings in the sunroom (sipping coffee from a vintage mug, a gift from my sister), a visit with Kristin and family (in which I took no photos 🤦🏻‍♀️), a delightful New Year's Eve party with friends (although we were home long before midnight), a day spent with our seven-year-old grandson Judah, a trip to visit my sister Linda and celebrate her December birthday.  

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. 

Galatians 4:4-7