Update: Sorry about that recurring Amazon/B&N.com “out of stock” message. If you’ve been asking about getting our book (thank you!), you can order a signed copy from Fountain Bookstore (they’ll ship to your door) or try calling or visiting a Barnes & Noble near you — they seem easier to find in stores right now.
Happy Friday, everyone. After checking several projects off our list this week — decorating our tree, framing the bathroom mirror, and redoing hardware — plus sharing a craftsman house crash, a DIY link round-up, and a look back at mistakes we’ve made, we wanted to take our usual monthly pause to review November before we fall behind again. Pausing to celebrate progress keeps our momentum up and stops us from feeling like hamsters on a wheel. It’s how we’ve stayed at this for five years: appreciating what you’ve accomplished helps you keep going. Insert random photo of Sherry in love with a life-sized ram here:
This month was especially busy. We spent 14 of the month’s 30 days traveling for book tour events, yet still squeezed in a near-complete hall bathroom update, a buffet refresh, a DIY kitchen shade, basement progress, and a handful of fall decorating projects. We also published four House Crashing posts. If you want to browse previous recaps, there are 22 other round-ups going back through 2012 and 2011 — much easier to skim than digging through hundreds of individual posts. Also, we sneaked a clue about Monday’s giveaway at the bottom — this one’s open worldwide.
Most Likely To Be Used Stuff Salesman: Us — after realizing how much we sell on Craigslist we finally pulled together our tips for selling and buying on CL.
Freshest Face: Sherry refreshed our rustic living room buffet with carefully color-matched paint and sealed it with polyurethane to protect the finish.
Most Inspiring: Nate’s garage workshop motivated me to tackle my own basement. I’m grateful to Nate and Michelle for letting us crash their Northern Virginia home — their space pushed me into action.
Most Secretive: We built a boxy floating shelf to conceal a leftover tile eye-sore after an attempted soap-dish removal in the hall bathroom. Problem solved, and now it looks intentional.
Juiciest: Our behind-the-scenes post that shares page-by-page stories about the chaos involved in shooting the book. It felt great to finally tell some of the stories we’d been sitting on since January.
Most Mouth-Watering: Pretzels — used to prop acorns for a fall project. The acorns ended up molding, so next time we’ll follow readers’ advice and dry them slowly in the oven first.
Most Welcoming: Rich and Jessie in Cincinnati, who invited us to crash their home and even picked us up from the hotel despite flight delays. Gracious hosts with a beautiful house.
Most Granny Chic: Our hall bathroom, painted a muted purplish-gray inspired by the color we used in my granny’s bathroom makeover last September.
Most Likely To End Up On The Weather Channel: Cities on our New England book tour. Between Sandy’s aftermath and a Nor’easter in Boston, the tour was full of weather challenges. We’re sending love to everyone affected by Sandy, including many of Sherry’s friends and relatives.
Most Faux Real: A faux roman shade Sherry made for the kitchen from a yard of fabric, a scrap of wood, iron-on tape, and many pins — one of two quick window treatments she completed this month.
Most Fishy: A sailfish mounted in a guest room at Lesley & Jeff’s eclectic Richmond home — just one of many memorable finds when we crashed their place.
Most Non-Sensical: The mid-point of a project, where things don’t yet look right. We reassured readers that pushing through the awkward middle often leads to a beautiful result.
Most Chaotic: Our playroom, still cluttered after being used for book photoshoots. Even after cleaning and purging, it needs paint and a proper furniture plan to feel finished.
Most Likely To Open A Paint Store: Us — especially after tidying our paint stash during basement organization. To make a dent, I repurposed a leftover color to paint the pegboards in the room.
Moose-iest: A moose-themed moment during our Canadian tour stop — one of the highlights we recapped from Richmond, Chicago, and Toronto.
Quickest Upgrade: New Hobby Lobby knobs in the hall bathroom — a tiny change with instant impact. Frosting the window took a little longer but was worth it.
Most Unused: Our bedroom TV, moved from the living room. We haven’t hooked it up yet. A Facebook poll about bedroom TVs was nearly split, with “no” edging out “pro” by a small margin.
Most Heartwarming: A sweet birthday post Sherry wrote about me. Favorite reader comment: “Great. Now I’m in love with John.”
Most Cringeworthy: Adapting our thanks jar tradition to a chalkboard pushed me past my chalk-squeamishness. Reader tips helped — dipping chalk in water before writing made a noticeable difference.
Shadiest: A quick 15-minute window shade Sherry made for the hall bathroom from bright ikat fabric — now a favorite detail in that room.
Most Serendipitous: Discovering that 5×5 Instagram prints fit perfectly in CD jewel cases, which inspired a cheap, sawdust-proof photo display for the basement workshop.
Most Insightful: You — readers who chimed in with helpful suggestions after we shared tips for what to look for (and look past) while house hunting.
Most Cheerful: Lesli’s bright, casual Charlottesville farmhouse. Readers loved her colorful decor and the paintings she created herself.
Most Potential: Our sunroom, which we started to tackle at the end of November. After a bit of cleanup we’re ready to dive in — painting may already be underway.
Most Entertaining: The comments on a random-fact post. They’re some of the funniest, most entertaining reader threads we’ve seen — truly a highlight.
Most Artistic: A Beavis-style portrait a husband drew of his wife using a tip from our book — it was showcased at our Houston stop and gave everyone a good laugh.
Most Iconic: The images below each hint at a word to help decode the prize for Monday’s giveaway — open to everyone worldwide.
How was your November? Did you travel a lot for work or fun? Finish any major projects? Or simply enjoy the calm before the holiday rush?