Note: This is a retroactive post I put together in December 2011 to create a full set of monthly recaps for our first year in the new house. I like details, so here’s what we tackled in January — presented like a high school yearbook.
Best Deal: Snagging an energy-efficient front-loading washer and dryer for $638 total after stacking discounts, and another $75 off with a county energy rebate. A sweet score.
Most Likely To Have A P-Diddy Reference: The post about rearranging our built-ins — a surprisingly tough project but one that paid off.
Best Looking: Our tall, dark, and handsome built-ins after a few coats of deep teal paint — they instantly polished the room.
Most Outdoorsy: A leafy new duvet for the bedroom that looks especially cozy with a dog and a baby curled up on it.
Most Hilarious: Realizing we always tackle our biggest, most disruptive house projects right over the holidays — apparently it’s our tradition to DIY during peak chaos.
Most Calming: Removing crowded corner shelves to give the fireplace room to breathe. That post also included caulking tips for patching wall holes.
Most Likely To Do Secret Demo: Me, while John watched Clara. I couldn’t stand the granite lip around our bedroom sink, so I quietly removed it and refinished the surface to look more like furniture.
Most Reflective: Hanging a mirror in front of a window to better use the bedroom sink area so we don’t have to crane our necks looking into a medicine cabinet anymore.
Hardest To Remember: The exact name of the soft blue-gray-green paint color we used in the bedroom — it’s lovely, but the label slips my mind.
Most Disturbing: A mirror that used to hang on the back of the guest room door and reflected the entire person using the toilet — oddly memorable and mildly unsettling.
Most Popular: A post about what we were almost named that unexpectedly generated a lot of comments and conversation.
Most Overdue: A video tour of our new house — finally posted. The tour shows room flow and some finished projects for anyone curious about how everything came together.
Most Welcome Additions: Our new energy-efficient front-loading washer and dryer — practical and surprisingly easy to use (yes, I can reach the controls now).
Most Romantic: Painting the mirror above our sink white; it creates a lovely contrast in the evening light and softens the space.
Best Supporting Napkin: A napkin that inspired much of our house palette — small details can steer an entire design direction.
Sweetest: Hanging things on the wall in Clara’s nursery, including how we safely secured a mirror above the crib so we didn’t worry about it falling.
Biggest Fail: Choosing a poor shower curtain for the guest room — a reminder that not every purchase sticks, and returns are a gift.
Biggest Tools: Laying out all of our tools and DIY supplies and documenting them — yes, we photographed everything on the rug like overzealous tool nerds.
Most Indecisive: Choosing a soft gray wall color for the living room, hallway, and dining room — we painted giant swatches until we found the right one.
Most Cloud-Esque: Painting the large living room and wide hallway a carefully chosen soft platinum gray — lots of rolling and cutting in, but worth the effort.
Best Discovery: Finding an unexpected handwritten note hidden in the hall bathroom from the previous owners — a small, charming piece of the house’s history.
Most Sore: Painting all the wood trim in the living room white — rewarding, but physically demanding work.
Most Likely To Result In A Giant Piece Of Furniture Being Delivered: Our search for the perfect oversized sectional — the hunt ended with a massive, cozy addition to the living room.
Most Swatch-Happy: Bringing home a mountain of fabric samples while choosing the right material for bedroom curtains — sampling paid off.
Weirdest Post I Ever Wrote: A quirky piece about Target pillows — proof that sometimes the smallest things spark the silliest posts.
Most Rambunctious: Burger getting wild on our new bed pillows — pets always add extra energy to a room.
Creepiest Inanimate Objects: The kitchen cabinets — they sometimes feel like they’re silently observing us.
Biggest Surprise: The arrival of our giant Ikea sectional (Karlstad), which required assembly and turned into a memorable moment we captured on video.