It’s that time again — a quick look back at everything we tackled this month, gathered in one place for easy browsing. We also sprinkled in a few never-before-seen moments because we can’t help ourselves. This month was unusually busy: painting, organizing, building, rearranging, crafting, upholstering, changing light fixtures, coding, ORB-ing (yes, that’s a thing now), and breaking a thing or two. Here’s a nostalgic recap with a few playful superlatives.
Most Illuminating: We clipped 320 clothespins to form a laundry-room clothespin chandelier for our first-ever Pinterest Challenge — a true labor of love. Scroll to the bottom of that post to see over 500 other Pinterest Challenge submissions from readers. So much inspiration.
Most Spoiled: Potato-stamping a playful pattern inside Clara’s closet turned reading nook. It’s a tiny, delightful space and she’s loving it.
Most Likely To Win Mariah Carey’s Approval: Simple butterfly art made from a flier picked up on a trip to Natural Bridge, VA — inexpensive and charming.
Most Likely To Win Carrie Bradshaw’s Approval: Adding shoe storage to the laundry room using Ikea recycling bins. Practical and tidy — though Carrie might need a few dozen more for her Manolos.
So Fresh & So Clean, Clean: We wrapped up the laundry room makeover — one room officially done for now.
Most Likely To Be Committed For A Pillow Addiction: New striped pillows scored for $9 each at HomeGoods. Also: making free art from paint chips remains highly therapeutic.
Clumsiest: John, who managed to break a light fixture cover while swapping out the hallway fixture. Classic John.
Most Hard-Working: Our new Effektiv storage unit from Ikea, now housing files, the printer, and assorted office essentials. Small thrills, big organization.
Most Debonair: We dressed up the Effektiv unit with black glass handles for a sleeker look.
ORB of the Month: Our mailbox got an oil-rubbed bronze makeover, along with a few outdoor maintenance tasks to help the yard look a little less neglected.
ORB of the Month (Runner Up): Replacing several door handles, including the front door hardware, gave the house a subtle uplift.
Most Cheerful: Our front door got a sunny yellow coat of paint — it feels like the house smiles when we come home.
Most Likely To Stockpile Swedish Things: After our first Ikea trip since John’s parents moved away, we came home with a few more Swedish finds than usual. That store always sneaks into our lives.
Worst Dressed: A candid video tour of our messy house (and some old photos) — not our most polished moment, but real and honest.
Most Likely To Get Worms: We built a compost bin from leftover shipping pallets. The garden will thank us later.
Most Likely To Rock: The rocking chair that finally got painted and reupholstered after sitting unfinished for nearly a year — worth the wait.
Most Pictures In A Single Post: A photo-heavy comparison of our new house versus our old one — so many photos it briefly took the site down. Lesson learned about loading limits.
Best “Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day” Reminder: A look back at our first house eight months in — a reminder that progress takes time and patience.
Best Moves: We rearranged Clara’s furniture to solve a crib-in-front-of-vent problem — small change, big improvement.
Worst Moves: Rearranging the office furniture before its makeover turned out to be a less-than-ideal solution, but it pointed us in the right direction.
The “Thrill Of The Hunt” Award: Searching high and low for the perfect cabinets to turn into a built-in desk — sometimes the hunt is half the fun (especially with a dog and a baby along).
Petersik’s Believe It Or Not! We scored six cabinets at a Habitat ReStore for the bargain price of six dollars (six bucks plus tax, technically). A rare and thrilling find.
Most Destined For Greatness: The office cabinets we sanded and primed in preparation for glossy white paint — we’re excited to share the finished photos soon.
Most Likely To Be From New Jersey: My fondness for glittery pinecones showed up in some leaf-inspired decorations I made for my cousin’s bridal shower — and yes, I sorted M&Ms by color like a lunatic.
Biggest Jerk: Hurricane Irene, which caused serious damage in our neighborhood. The tree on our neighbor’s roof was finally removed and they’re in good spirits, though the house still needs repairs. We’re grateful for the community support.
Most Overdue: Redesigning our blog theme for the first time in over three years. We tried a few prototypes and ultimately simplified the header and embraced a gray heart background that felt right.
A couple of the initial mockups we experimented with and discarded — glad we kept refining until it felt balanced and clean:
Cutest Couple: Clara and her cousin John, cuddled up after Hurricane Irene — heart-melting.
And that’s August in a nutshell. This recap was just as fun to put together as last month’s inaugural superlatives. Dorks for life.
What did you accomplish this month? Do you ever pause to make a list of wins instead of just crossing off to-dos? Taking a minute to celebrate progress feels good — even small steps add up. We were all over the place this month (nearly every room got some attention), so let’s call it spreading the love rather than lacking focus.
Tip: Check out July’s superlatives for more monthly highlights.