Note: This post was put together retroactively in December 2011 to create a complete set of monthly recaps from our first year in the new house. I admit I’m a bit Type A, so here’s a compact, high-school-yearbook style roundup of what we worked on during April.
Most Outdoorsy: Digging out the liriope that had taken over nearly 80% of the area where our future patio will go. It was a big, muddy job but made immediate progress toward a usable outdoor living space.
Most Domestic: Turning Sue the napkin into Sue the Pillow, a small but satisfying sewing project that added a cozy touch to our living room.
Biggest Crybaby: Sharing Clara’s dramatic and ultimately miraculous birth story, which turned out to be an emotional highlight of the month for our family.
Most Likely to Result in Cursing: Engaging in an epic battle with the sewing machine to squeeze out a party banner. Sewing can be painfully rewarding when the machine isn’t cooperating.
Hoppiest: DIYing an Easter basket for Clara. Simple crafts like this felt especially meaningful during the season.
Most Illuminating: Finishing off the freshly built console table with lamps and accessories to make it feel settled and functional in our entryway or living space (console table reveal).
Most Eco: Installing a rain barrel on Earth Day to reduce water waste and support our garden—an easy, practical way to celebrate the day.
Most Mature: Learning how to make new wood look old and worn with distressing techniques (how-to guide), which adds instant character to inexpensive pieces.
Most Likely to Result in Paint in Your Hair: Helping John’s sister by painting her apartment. We also created a photo wall for another relative and put together a DIY baby book—so it was a paint-and-paper kind of month.
Biggest Relief: Completing the large console table build at long last (completed console), which finally cleared a major item off our to-do list.
Best Editing: Removing one of the most oddly placed lights we’d ever seen (light removal), which instantly improved the room’s flow and appearance.
Most Festive: Designing party invitations and custom Clara fabric using John’s scanned handwriting and Spoonflower’s printing magic—small, personalized details that made celebrations feel special.
Most Well Hung: Completing our hallway’s double-sided frame gallery (frame gallery), which turned a plain passageway into a curated display of memories and art.
Most Type-A: Hanging two mirrors converted into dry-erase boards for our office to indulge my obsessive list-making habit (office organization).
Least Type-A: Confessing a goo-related secret and then fixing it with some elbow grease—proof that messy habits can be overcome with a little effort (the confession and cleanup).
Most Likely to Take a Few Installments: Beginning and continuing our console table project across multiple posts (part one, part two, and part three)—a reminder that some projects are best tackled in stages.
Biggest Metal Heads: Tweaking a large set of iron keys and hanging them with twine as wall art—simple repurposing that adds industrial charm to a wall vignette (iron keys project).
Most Rebellious: Attempting to paint a vintage chair in a hurry (the experiment)—it didn’t turn out as planned, but we learned some important lessons about prep and paint type.
Biggest Procrastinator: Finally organizing our closet after months of delay (closet overhaul). Better late than never—small organizing wins add up to daily calm.
Biggest Slob: Sharing a candid tour of our not-so-perfect, pretty-darn-messy house to show that real life is lived in homes that aren’t always magazine-ready. We even posted a video tour to give readers an honest look at everyday life.
Least Successful: Attempting to save a badly damaged ceramic dog (the repair attempt). It was a well-intentioned project that taught us when to call something a lesson and move on.
April was a month full of finishing touches, do-it-yourself experiments, family projects, and small ecological efforts. From big builds like the console table to tiny, sentimental crafts for Clara, each project helped the house feel more like a home. We tackled outdoors work, organization, decor, and repairs—learning a lot and enjoying the process along the way.