I read a blog post the other day over at dulltodesirable.com about what she had achieved during isolation. It has inspired me to reflect on our time in #lockdown and what we have achieved. I feel like we are coming out of lockdown now and life is going to get busy again. I want to document our lockdown achievements so we can look back on this and remember what we got up that time when we weren’t allowed to leave the house.

1. Upholstered chairs

This is something I had been meaning to do for a long time. My first ever upholster project. I will blog about this eventually but for now, if you want a quick step by step guide on how I did it check out my Instagram upholstery highlights.

2. Kept a journal

March 21st was the first day of us keeping ourselves to ourselves and staying in the house for the weekend. I decided to journal about this strange time so I ordered myself a positive journal to document our time in lockdown. It was good for me to check in and see how I was feeling and also document my day and feelings. I actually got to the end of the planner and stopped journaling. I wish I had carried on but I’m definitely glad I documented the first 10 weeks of lockdown.

3. Had a virtual hen and would be wedding day

Like lots of other people we had to postpone our wedding this year. I was very lucky and still had a virtual hen and a small would be wedding party. Now the countdown is on again for next year.

4. Completed toolbox upcycle projects

At the beginning of lockdown I finally got round to upcycling two toolboxes that I had been wanting to upcycle for ages. I wrote a blog post of toolbox upcycle ideas which include a quick step by step guide on what I did.

5. Spent time flower arranging

Not getting married this year means I have more time to prep for our wedding. I have had time to practise flower arranging ready for our wedding next year.

6. Started my propagation journey

I'm very much enjoying my propagation journey. I am having the most success with my tradescantia plant and I have also recently grown succulents from succulent leaves. I have just potted them so crossing my fingers that they grow successfully.

7. Made my first set of shelves

Proud to say I cut and sanded these all by myself and I’m so pleased with how they turned out.

8. Cycled to the beach

I am so lucky to live in Pembrokeshire. It’s an absolute dream. I have always loved where I live but lockdown has made me love it more. During the time when we were only allowed to drive if it was essential we dug out the bikes and cycled down to our local beach. It was only a 10 minute cycle. We love going to the beach and spend a lot of time down there but I never knew it was so close to cycle to! I’ve especially enjoyed my morning beach cycles. Riding down the hill to see high tide and an empty beach might just have been the highlight of my lockdown.

9. Baked a banging banana bread

Were you even in lockdown if you didn’t bake a banana bread?! My sister in law to be sent me an awesome banana loaf recipe so we definitely made a few too many of those during lockdown.

10. Discovered observer books

We all had a bit of a sort out during lockdown didn’t we? I discovered observer books online during lockdown and just before I was about to hit 'Buy it now' on eBay I text Mum to see if she had any in the attic. Much to my excitement she had been sorting stuff out and found them a few days before so she knew exactly where they were. This was very exciting. So now my Dads observer books sit on the mantlepiece. They aren’t really books that I would sit down and read but they look good. My Grandma also had some and I did order a few on eBay.

11. Made a new lamp

Using one of the Needcraft lampshade making kits and an old demijohn bottle I made my first ever lamp. Highly recommend this lampshade kit, instructions are so easy to use and they have videos on youtube too.

12. Upcycled my old toybox

This upcycle project still isn’t finished yet gah! I wanted to upcycle my old tooklbox that my great grandad made (I think). I decided to keep it simple and match it to our furniture in our bedroom that we had already upcycled. I still need to put the hinges and handles back on. I'll get it done soon.

13. Worked from home

Working from home was not something I enjoyed at the beginning of lockdown, in fact I really struggled! But now we are very much in the swing of it I like it. I think I could happily WFH a few days a week in the future. It would be nice to have a few days in the office as I have found email communication hard to keep up with at times but generally I am enjoying it. We are lucky to have a home office where I can shut the door at night and forget all about work.

14. Purchased more plants!

This image is too true! I'm actually concerned that I won't be able to maintain these babies when I go back to work properly!!

15. Started our project garden

Finally, our latest lockdown project has been our garden. We wanted to live in the house for a bit before we decided what to do with the garden. We've spent time thinking about what we want to use our garden for and where the sun is at different times of the day. Here is our moodboard of our initial ideas for the garden. Here is also a link to our Garden Inspiration board on Pinterest.

This project is definitely going to be ongoing but I'm so glad we have made a good start :).

I hope this blog encourages you to reflect on your own lockdown time.

Thanks for reading.

Kath