Funky Junk Interiors

 

Best upcycled projects of 2020 by Funky Junk!

Happy New Year everyone!

I’m finally back after a week of downtime between Christmas and New Year’s which was so greatly needed.

And what a YEAR it’s been. It’s been a VERY long time since I’ve stayed home all summer, never mind a full year! Did this really happen for most of us?! Hard to believe, isn’t it?

But boy, did staying put ever help me focus on the long overdue, undone projects needing attention at home. Which led to a multitude of new projects to share, along with SO many new building lessons learned! How so much good could squeeze out of so much difficulty is impossible to even explain.

But here’s proof… This post shares my best up-cycled junk projects of 2020 with a little story telling of the year in general…

Funky Junk’s best upcycled projects of 2020!

.

 

Marie Kondo 2020 cleaning series

 

Winter projects

.

The year started off normally of course, with LOTS of deep cleaning following along with the Marie Kondo method.

This series walked you through Marie’s book in order. So if you like the thought of lots of support and doing it right, it’s worth a visit. Which of course I need to do all over again. Egads… 

While I don’t think I’ll be doing a series this year but rather, perhaps chat about it now and then, would you believe the week between Christmas and New Year’s resulted in gutting my garage and filling the back of my truck to the rafters bound for the dump? Yup! Sure did! Most productive Christmas vacation I’ve ever had! LOL

Then Valentine’s day approached, so I created a couple of quirky valentine inspired projects that were fun to make! With one being fun to play with after too!

Tic Tac Toe Tray game and coasters

Find Tic Tac Toe stencil HERE

Reclaimed wood Valentine’s Day banner

Ikea Coffee crate station

 During my cleaning, I even got fancy and made the cutest little Ikea coffee crate station to double up kitchen counter space!

Bike shop sign to hang up my bike gear

Spring projects

.

Then March hit. I whipped up this cutie pie bike sign to help organize my own bike gear when the world started crumbling down.

As the crazy new world news was building, I even took a quick train trip to Vancouver for a specialist appointment which I have not shared yet! All I remember is being scared of every sneeze or cough around me, then once I got home, they shut down the train. What?!

I was about to share my trip when my head just got full of the news instead. I found myself hibernating in fear and confusion. It really shut down my creativity for a good long spell.

So while I worried away, trying to figure out the world…

Puzzle and game table

How to remove pet hair from puzzles

… my first creative breakthrough was doing puzzles while watching the news, because it helped me feel somewhat productive. Which led to the need for a puzzle table! Whoop! My first project in what seemed like forever!

And boy was this puzzle table helpful enough to rate as one of the most PRODUCTIVE best upcycled projects of 2020!

Buffalo Check checkers board

After making the perfect game board on the other side of that puzzle table, I then challenged myself to make a Buffalo Checked checkers board by itself. How fun is this?!

As the world started working itself out and I started to feel better about things, I started to focus on what in the world I’d do with a full year at home for the first time in years. Oh, I played around with short escapes when we were allowed to. But it never felt right for me. I found a few new bike trails instead for a little adventure. 

But filling up my time didn’t take long. One quick wander outside had me facing quite a few big white elephants that have been in my way for a LONG time.

With spring now approaching, I decided to start on something easy first… thinking I’d decorate my home for spring you see…

Wild Flower Seeds grain sack pillow

A cute garden-themed pillow was whipped up in short order… and honestly, this ended up being the ONLY spring and summer decorating I did all this year. Can you believe it?!

Because what happened next took over my entire life. And ultimately turned into some of the best upcycled projects of 2020.

Save The Shed series

Summer projects

.

One BIG hurdle was to attempt to save my little rustic garden shed out back. 

This project actually terrified me because I have never saved a structure before. I didn’t know how to tear down, nor even frame. But the alternative was to spend thousands to have it torn down and rebuilt new… so I decided to try it myself. What did I have to lose? If it died, then I at least tried.

This shed-save took EVERYTHING out of me. From tear down to rebuilding to landing new free materials. But I’m SO happy to report, it’s my proudest build I’ve ever done. EVER.

This Save The Shed series covers tons of beginner tips of demo, framing and more. I’d rate this one #1 within the best upcycled projects of 2020.

Split rail fence flower bed and new lawn

Next on my list was to tackle the yard.

Alongside the driveway, I had a grown-in RV driveway and a tree I couldn’t stand. It needed upkeep every month and I was SO over it!

So after a chat with neighbour Janette, together we created a split rail fence flower bed along with new lawn in between our yards. And what a difference!

I still haven’t updated you with the final outcome of the lawn yet… I was so busy building, I barely had time to post. So I’ll try and get that up soon because it’s filled with some really awesome lawn growing tips and equipment I didn’t know about!

How to make a screen door from scratch

How to make a screen for tricky indoor windows

While all this was going on, I picked up a new tool so I could attempt to build my dream screen door I’ve only wanted for about 15 years!

I just didn’t like the screen doors the stores stocked and since I didn’t have a clue how to build a screen door, I went without. Until one day in Home Depot, I spotted the Kreg Jigs and bought one on the spot, determined to figure it out!

And so I did. First I repainted the door a deep chocolate black HERE, then I ended up building the door (twice) finally ending up with a result I loved!

And now that I knew how to build a door, I ended up making a screen for a difficult window HERE I also waited 15 years to cover! Whoop!

Garden themed reclaimed wood walkway

While I was working here and there on larger projects, I took a few breaks and worked on smaller ones in between as well. One of them was creating this scrap wood garden walkway which is my most fav version of all to date! It’s built in such a way where the top boards won’t rot!

How to cover a patio with PVC roofing

But there were also projects I didn’t feel I could complete myself. So I hired a couple of trades and ended up with a brand new patio roof AND repainting of all the trim on the house in the higher places I didn’t want to venture.

My pretty new patio roof came with a few mistakes though, so if you’re in the market for a roof, I suggest to read what NOT to do.

I also tackled some projects in the garage workshop. It’s still a work in progress, but these improvements brought it a long way, increasing storage big time!

Pallet styled garage shelf

General store cubby organizer with DIY paint shelf

Screwdriver organizer from scrap wood

Vintage crock number flower pots

Find Vintage Crock Numbers stencil HERE

Because I was so busy building, I didn’t do a whole lot of stencil designs during the summer. But I did come up with a cute way to recreate the look of a vintage crock through a sheet of numbers with the cutest borders!

These little flower pots took on a whole new look in very short order!

Easy rustic wood garden shed gate

Another fun project was THIS easy garden gate, thanks to the new jig I got! What a difference this little area of the yard took on!

Fall Buffalo Check Pumpkins in a wagon sign

Fall projects

.

And then fall hit. So I came out with a few new fall stencil designs and went full tilt creating with them! Here’s a few of the projects:

Homemade Pie sign with scrap wood

Easy fall directional arrow signs

Rustic fruit crate for fall decorating

Homemade Pumpkin Pie sign on an old window

Removable board and batten wall for a cabin-cozy look!

With Christmas soon approaching, while everyone was putting up their trees, I had my livingroom torn apart and created this unique board and batten wall to cozy up the space.

I just wanted something extra special this Christmas, and this certainly added a whole lot of charm in short order!

Winter projects

.

Rustic Christmas Tree vertical sign

Visit ALL my Christmas projects from THIS page.

Christmas upcycled projects

.

And then Merry Christmas!  I whipped up a new Christmas collection of stencils and got busy creating some new projects to decorate my home with!

Here’s all the Christmas projects created this year… have a favorite? I love all of them but I really think the tree sign with 3D crate and the Christmas trees in presents are my favs!

 

Whew. What a year,huh?

Even though this year started off pretty funky, I think it ultimately ended with a good bang! Lots got done, and I’m pretty proud of the many new things I learned how to do while cranking out my best upcycled projects of 2020!

As for my plans in 2021? It’s all about finishing the house… still. With another BIG shed revamp again this summer… unless travel safety comes into play first… but I’m thinking the shed will once again myself…

Thanks so much for following all my DIY upcycled adventures this past year! It’s been such a pleasure sharing and encouraging you to keep at it too! Creativity is just the best medicine for the heart and soul, don’t you think?

And on that note, what kinds of things would you like to see me blog about this year? Any how-tos or a series that could be helpful? Let me know in comments!

Was your year full of some good surprises too? Which are your main highlights you are grateful for?

Stencils for these projects can be found HERE

Visit all my DIY projects HERE

Visit my other Best Of posts HERE