Can you believe it’s already December? Before the month speeds by, here’s a quick November recap to collect everything we worked on and share the highlights in one place. We tackled projects across the house—from the kitchen to the nursery, the front porch to holiday table settings—and even sprinkled in a few surprises. Below are our month-in-review “superlatives” to give a fun snapshot of what we accomplished (and what made us laugh).
Oddest Couple: Little ol’ Sherry and this tall built-in we added beside the fridge to give the new kitchen a more finished look. It’ll read even cleaner once we add doors and paint, but the structure already helps the space feel cohesive.
Cutest Couple: Me and the giant number 7 (actually an L from a Dollar Tree sign) that a reader graciously picked up for us in Maryland after we admitted we’d left it behind. Best $25 ever—thanks again, Lesley!
Most Surprising: How green and tidy the lawn looked just a month ago when we did a little mum-ification around the mailbox. Fast forward to today and everything’s decidedly more wintery—faded and brown—but that November glow was a nice memory.
Handiest: The newest addition to Sherry’s ceramic animal collection: Henrietta the hen, now sporting eight hands—ideal for multi-tasking DIYers. We featured her in a fun little post about quirky finds here.
Most Pin-able: The results of our Fall Pinterest Challenge. We shared 38 DIY ornaments, but the best part was the community response—over 800 inspiring projects were linked at the end of the post.
Easiest: Painting a few swatches on the front porch to test colors (see the test swatches). We haven’t painted the whole porch yet—nights got too cold—but at least the color decision is underway.
Strangest: Seeing the new opening between the kitchen and dining room sketched out in green painter’s tape while we were choosing a contractor. Now that the wall is open and finished, it’s hard to picture the space any other way.
Creepiest: My Dexter impression while prepping the house for wall demo. It was all in good (slightly spooky) fun as we got ready to demo and renovate.
Awesomest: This moment of progress we called “Wowza”—a satisfying milestone in the renovation process.
More Awesomest: Another exciting update we shared here, marking more finished details and big-picture progress.
Less Than Awesome: A hiccup during drywalling the doorway. It was a small snag and we smoothed it out—nothing a bit of finish work couldn’t fix.
Back On Track: Installing trim around the doorway made the kitchen start to feel finished, a satisfying detail that tied a lot of work together (see the trim install).
Most Likely To Die Happy: Me. I checked off a surprising number of items from my teenage “Things to Do Before 30” list before turning 30 last month—small victories and nostalgic wins.
Most Likely To Say “Thanks”: Anyone who printed and shared our free Thanksgiving card download. We loved seeing readers use the version to fill out and pass along, spreading a little extra gratitude.
Most Likely To Procrastinate: Our last-minute Thanksgiving table setting ideas, which we put together just in time to head to New Jersey for the holiday.
Most Mischievous: Burger, our resident baguette bandit, who made an appearance in our Thanksgiving greeting post. He always keeps us entertained.
Most Likely To Be Misread: Our headline “We’re Now Officially Sinkless” which some readers amusingly misread as “skinless.” Cringe-worthy mental image—definitely not what we meant.
“It’s The Little Things” Award: Small but important kitchen details—filling gaps beside the stove and adding a back panel to the peninsula—so our counters could be templated accurately and installed properly.
Least Accurate: Our toddler Clara, at least when it comes to measuring for counters. Thankfully a professional from the fabrication company came to template the countertops and make sure everything fits perfectly.
Most Musical: A ceramic pig Bluetooth speaker we found at West Elm, one of the small finds we rounded up in a post about four little finds.
The “Here We Go Again” Award: Just as the kitchen started to come together, we took the upper cabinets down again to prepare for new countertops (details here). It’s part of the cycle of renovating—out of the old, into the new.
Class Crybaby: Our tongue-in-cheek farewell video to the tile we had to demo, and the plywood behind it—sentimental, sarcastic, and a little dramatic. We laughed and cried and moved on (see the post).
Most Awkward In The Checkout Line: Buying a large piece of vintage-style wood paneling drew some curious looks, but we needed it to patch gaps where tile and cabinets were removed. We installed the paneling and can’t wait to paint it to match the room—whatever it takes to move the kitchen toward completion (project details).
Most Demonstrative: Burger showing off his expressive posing in our post about how our book deal came together and the progress we’ve made so far.
Daddy’s Girl Award: A post about expanding our nursery frame collage sparked a lot of comments that Clara resembles Sherry—a compliment I happily accept. We love seeing little family resemblances emerge in photos and memories (nursery update).
Momma’s Girl Award: Clara’s unabashed love of pickles—she once ate an entire oversized uncut pickle at dinner, much to Sherry’s delight and my predictable disgust. Tiny preferences like that make parenting funny and real.
So that was our November in a nutshell. What did your month look like—any big projects finished or memorable holidays? We’re aiming for more progress and more time to enjoy the season in December. Happy (almost) holidays, everyone!
Psst—If you want to peek at past months’ superlatives, we shared July’s here, August’s here, September’s here, and October’s here.