Well, here we are at the end of another year that flew by faster than I thought possible. This year has been bittersweet for sure. As a family, we’ve been through a lot and faced trials that we certainly never could have predicted, which I talked about in detail here. I have to believe that 2014 will be a better year. (Sidenote: Many of you have asked for updates and the quick answer to that is that we will be visiting a fertility specialist in January and hopefully getting some answers.) On the bright side, we’ve been blessed beyond belief in so many ways. We have two sweet sons whom I am so thankful for. They fill our lives with so much joy. We also have some exciting things happening soon (which I’ll share with you in the near future), and as always I am humbled and more thankful than you could ever know for YOU — my readers. I never could have imagined that this little blog would turn into an actual business that could help support my family. That blows my mind. And none of it would be possible without all of you, so from the bottom of my heart, I thank you. I hope you will stick around as this upcoming year is going to be full of really exciting projects.
What better time than now to take a look back at the past year and everything that went on during my second year of blogging? It was a fun year full of DIY adventures and so much more. I hope you will enjoy my little look at this year in review.
We kicked the year off by making over my sons’ bedroom and having the whole experience filmed for a series of short segments which aired on HLN.
The boys’ room makeover was quite an adventure. Aside from being filmed, I ventured into new territory by trying power tools for the first time when I built custom headboards for their beds. Facing my fears paid off, and now I would be lost without my power tools!
I also made over a few pieces of furniture for our master bedroom. Full room reveal coming soon, I promise, even though you probably don’t believe me since I’ve been saying that forever! It’s not as “done” as I want it to be, but it’s as done as it’s going to get for now.
In the spring I moved onto a few other household projects like building a framed chalkboard and reupholstering some chairs for our bedroom sitting area. You can check out my lazy girl’s guide to reupholstering chairs here.
Summertime was full of fun projects like the farmhouse table and benches I built for our back porch, my wood and mason jar centerpiece, a wood mini-planter, plus I got some new spiffy window treatments for the bedroom.
In the midst of all of the DIY projects, we did find time to do some traveling as a family. We headed to Asheville and to the Blue Ridge Mountains and we had so much fun.
Late summer was filled with heirlooms, furniture finds, smaller projects (like making over these locker baskets), and of course, the Haven Conference. I also started my new Virtual Shopping series.
With early fall came a new wreath, the beginning of a garage workshop makeover (plans have changed — so stay tuned!), as well as a fun trip to the Country Living Fair, where I hung out with several of my fellow Atlanta bloggers.
I built a wood planter, painted it with Chevron stripes, made silhouette portrait art, and shared some fall decorating inspiration. I also shared a Halloween centerpiece and showed you the sitting room area of our master bedroom.
Next up was winter, when I shared all sorts of holiday projects:
Here is a list of links to all of the projects pictured above:
- Thanksgiving Tree
- Hand-Stamped Clay Ornaments
- DIY Gift Tags
- Polka Dot Mini Ball Ornaments
- Sharpie Holiday Place Cards
- DIY Advent Treat Bags
- Easy DIY Tassels
- Duck Tape Holiday Pennant Banner
- DIY Monogram Wreath
- Candy Cane Wall Art
- Fern Leaf Christmas Tree Art
- My Christmas Home Tour
I also served as a co-leader at The Home Depot Do-It-Herself Workshop here in the Atlanta area, and it was so much fun!
Now, for the most popular post of the year! (According to Google Analytics.) My most viewed post of the year is actually my most popular post of all time — it continues to be my furniture painting tutorial. Trust me, if I had ever predicted that would be the case, I would’ve taken better pictures! Ha.
As for my favorite post/project of the year, I would say it is a toss-up between my boys’ room makeover and our outdoor table. My boys love their new room, so the hard work was definitely worth it; and we use the outdoor table all the time during warmer months.
I’d love to hear what type of projects you enjoy reading about the most. And as for room makeovers, do you like the “before and after” and then details on the projects, or would you prefer to see the progress in real-time as I go along?
I hope you all had a wonderful year, and I wish many blessings for you all in 2014!
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