For anyone wondering where the March superlatives went—here they are! Happy belated April (I resisted the urge to write “hoppy belated April,” by the way). With a new month already underway, it’s time for our customary yearbook-style look back at what March brought the Petersik household. We even included a few never-before-seen moments for fun. You can browse all of our monthly superlatives going back to January 2011 in one place; it’s over a year’s worth of projects condensed into just 14 posts. This month we begin with a few behind-the-scenes happenings that haven’t been mentioned yet (surprise: they’re mostly book-related).
Most Cinematic: Filming a promo video for our book at the publisher’s request. We had a pro photographer/videographer—our brother-in-law Todd—and his assistant Adam on set. The final edit is still in progress, but we can’t wait to share it. You’ll even catch a sneak peek of some of those oft-mentioned secret book projects featured in the video.
“I Came, I Sawed, Then We Went On Vacation” Award: Prepping for our new floors and getting a head start on the work the day before we flew to Portland and then Hawaii.
Most Portlandia-esque: Portland—no surprise there. The city’s style and personality earned it this personalized award. Thanks for having us, Portlanders!
Most Inspiring: The house we “crashed” while in Portland, which quickly became a favorite—bonus points for that giant map poster.
Most Missed: Our Hawaiian vacation, which already feels like ages ago. Luckily we have plenty of photos to reminisce with.
Hole-iest: The tiles we had to patch after removing two of the brackets from our kitchen shelves.
Grooviest: Installing our tongue-and-groove floating cork floor—definitely a better name than “Tongue-iest.”
Closest Call: Nearly running out of cork floorboards by the time we reached the laundry room. Fortunately, we squeezed the job out with enough scraps to finish.
The Cherry On Top Bottom Award: Completing our new cork floors—the finishing touches, including trim and sealant, were the icing on the kitchen cake.
Our Favorite After: Our kitchen reveal. After months of work, it felt exhilarating to declare the space (mostly) done and watch it transform from dark to bright and inviting.
Widest: Our new 42-inch TV. It’s a huge upgrade from our old 26-inch set—subtitles and news tickers are finally readable. The TV cabinet is still undersized, but we have plans to either build something or rescue a larger thrift-store piece to fill the wall.
Most Gravity Defying: The floating vases Sherry finally hung for her “Dude, Get On That Already” initiative. They’ve found a perfect home in the guest bathroom.
Sexiest Voice: Sherry, who narrated a whole-house video tour while recovering from the flu. She pushed through and still managed to put together our first full tour in seven months.
Most Festive: Our kitchen on Sherry’s 30th birthday, when we surprised her in the morning with streamers and ribbon.
Mood-iest: The mood board we assembled to jump-start a mini-update for our long-neglected master bathroom.
Most Rock-ing: The Rockport Grey paint in our bathroom—feels great to finally have color on those walls.
Biggest Pin-Head: Sherry’s hidden closet pin-board, made from cork board, duct tape, and leftover curtain fabric—simple and effective.
Biggest Pin-Head (runner-up): Sherry’s bean bag pouf for the Winter Edition of The Pinterest Challenge, which she sewed for Clara’s closet.
Boxiest: A happy yellow jewelry box that Sherry spray-painted during her “Dude, Get On That Already” challenge.
Most Fun: A refreshed yellow high chair that got a few coats of cheerful spray paint. It’s as inviting as it looks.
Least Fun: An unexpected leak caused by a leaf dam on our roof. As an update, we inspected the attic and confirmed that insulation, drywall, and wood are dry and there’s no mold or lingering odor—whew.
What did you accomplish in March? Did anyone else hit thirty, complete a long-term kitchen makeover, or revive a high chair with a few coats of spray paint? Do you ever make a list of accomplishments to look back on? Share your highlights in the comments. It’s helpful to pause and celebrate what you’ve finished—it keeps momentum going when it’s time for bigger projects (bring on the shovels!).