Can you believe December has already flown by and it’s almost 2012? Before the month slips away, here’s a quick look back at what we accomplished, all in one place. We tackled a lot of kitchen projects, refreshed a few other rooms, squeezed in holiday fun, and even shared some new stuff you hadn’t seen before. Here’s our month in yearbook-style superlatives.
Most Improved: Three small changes in the living room—a larger rug, a square ottoman, and a more refined office chair—made a noticeable difference.
Most Memorable: Revisiting our moving day in 2010 as we celebrated one year in the house was a great reminder of how far we’ve come and how much remains to do.
Most Artistic: Clara claimed the title after we repurposed our old desk into a toddler-sized drawing table just for her.
Most Artistic (Runner-Up): A pencil sketch of an owl by Sherry’s dad from the 1970s now looks great framed in our hallway.
Least Artistic: We earned this one while doing minor paint touch-ups in the kitchen before the countertops arrived—nothing fancy, but effective.
Craftiest: The vendors at the Richmond Handmade Holiday market—so many beautiful handmade finds that we didn’t leave empty-handed.
Most Advent-urous: Our homemade advent calendar, created by turning an Ikea scarf hanger into a daily ornament countdown, added a fun daily ritual.
Cheeriest: The ribbon-covered stars on our 2011 Christmas card. And of course Burger deserves a special mention for his impressively photogenic tongue.
Merriest (Tall Edition): Our toddler-friendly Christmas tree, filled with paint swatches, ribbon, and unbreakable ornaments—plus the advent additions that padded it out day by day.
Merriest (Short Edition): The little tabletop tree in the living room, decked out with handmade Pinterest Challenge ornaments for extra sparkle.
Brightest: Our first attempt at exterior holiday decorating—candy cane lights, Moravian stars, a glowing lantern, and a red-themed reindeer display made the house cheerful from the outside.
Brightest (Runner-Up): A few simple tweaks to our hallway frame wall brought seasonal cheer to a small space.
Brightest (Second Runner-Up): Our new bright white Corian countertops, installed with some clever seam-eliminating equipment, refreshed the kitchen instantly.
Most Free Spirited: A practically free microwave: we managed to buy a replacement for $84 after selling the old over-the-cooktop model. Repurposing cabinets to house it let us redirect funds to other kitchen upgrades like counters, backsplash, a larger opening to the adjacent room, and cork floors.
Diciest: Cutting down leftover cabinet doors to fit rebuilt and secondhand cabinets felt risky, but with pocket holes and heavy-duty screws the pieces went together solidly. We’re waiting until paint fully cures to decide if they’re seamless.
Best Backside: Industrial-inspired stools scored for $33 each at a school supply outlet (they’re made for science labs) now anchor our peninsula—functional and a little geek-chic.
Most Tedious: The many pre-painting tasks in the kitchen—rebuilding a windowsill, adding toekick and trim, cleaning the sunroom, and finally choosing a cabinet paint color—took patience but laid the groundwork for a big payoff.
Sandiest (Tie): John and his sanding, putty, and deglossing marathon in preparation for priming and painting the cabinets—lots of grit and elbow grease.
Biggest Tool: A curated list of handy gift ideas for the DIYer in your life—practical inspiration for anyone shopping for tools or gear.
Most Date-d: Our homemade 2012 calendar—still available as a downloadable template for anyone who wants to personalize a version for their family.
Most Resolute: We posted a few 2012 resolutions to help motivate ourselves to tackle upcoming projects—public accountability can be a good motivator.
Most Transformative: Priming cabinet doors and frames—once the primers and paint go on, it really starts to feel like a new kitchen.
Cutest Hat: Clara refused to take off a leopard-print cap she got on Christmas morning—expect to see it a lot in upcoming family photos.
That wraps up our December highlights. What did you finish this month? Do you ever make a list of accomplishments to reflect on? It’s refreshing to pause and enjoy what’s been crossed off the to-do list. Happy New Year to all of you—we appreciate and love every last one of you.
Note: You can also browse our earlier monthly superlatives for July, August, September, October, and November if you want to catch up on past highlights.