Happy New Year’s Eve!
This year was very eventful for our family and I have SO much to be grateful for! We bought our first house, had successful shows both in the spring and fall at Vintage Market Days, vacationed in Florida, attended Haven Conference for the first time, won a $1000 Ryobi Tools contest, and made new friendships which helped my blog grow a huge amount! I remember making goals for this year last January, and some of them I accomplished and some of them I didn’t. Some goals had to change with circumstances out of my control. But I’m proud of all that has been accomplished with the help of family, friends, and of course,
YOU: MY BELOVED READERS!
So after doing some research, I found the top 10 most popular posts on this here ol’ blog, which was no easy feat, since I had to find figures from my old blogger stats, and my new wordpress stats.
Here they are!
Oh, I miss this beauty. I completely stripped ‘er down, re-tied the strings, gave the frame a wash/dry brush finish, and reupholstered (and tutorial-ed the whole thing!). A laborious process that was totally worth it. It was featured by DecorSteals this year, which was the provider of that fantastic grain sack fabric I used. Then, in April or May, I sold it to a lovely lady in Virginia.
Upholstery projects are not my fav (so time consuming), but I really love their end result. This one I gave a weathered gray/Restoration Hardware inspired finish to the frame, then completely reupholstered the base, back, and cushions with a pretty greige linen. It sold in a hot minute at the fall Vintage Market Days.
I’ll never forget this one for a couple of reasons. First, it was for my 2 year blogiversary, with the same color palette used for my first ever MMS feature. Second it was also the first project I submitted on HomeTalk. It was featured by them and received an enormous amount of hate comments. Like, I was laughing with how passionate people get about their vintage furniture! This was not even an antique, nor was it in great condition, but oooooo boy did those haters love to hate on this one! Don’t worry, I just shake that shiz off.
As part of a #swapitlikeitshot Party I participated in with some other bloggers, I was sent some ugly flea market art from Bre with rooms FOR rent. I decided to make NEW art and even how to do it! It really kickstarted my crafty side. Before this, I hadn’t shown much of the crafts I do or the things I make. But this project helped me remember how much I enjoy that sort of thing, and added some diversity to my blog.
6. My Made, Gifted, Thrifted Thanksgiving Tablescape
This was my first ever tablescape post and I realized how much I love making a beautiful place setting. I commented with my husband on Thanksgiving, that having a decorated table for special occasions really makes a difference on how you (or maybe just me?) enjoy the meal. You savor the company, the food, the experience, because you want it to last. I also took great satisfaction in the fact that I only purchased the natural decor on the top, and I scrounged around at thrift stores, made, or found among my collections, everything at this table. It made it not only budget-friendly, but more meaningful, knowing that every part had a story.
5. Weathered Gray Coffee Table
This one has a fantastic before/after. And to this day, I STILL love the end product. It looks even better with our new rug!
This was the first time I used this color by MMS Milk Paint. I fell in love and so did you, apparently! It was featured by Marien on her blog this spring, and I since have done two other chests for clients, replicating the look. Then I did another at the fall VMD and it sold quickly there as well!
In my mind, this one was my #1. It was featured by Annie Sloan Unfolded, which was a huge honor, and I rented it out to a local photographer for some shoots, and it was also was partially featured by The Nester in a shot I did of it for my Christmas Home Tour. I have been living with this Chalk Painted fabric couch for 10 months now, and it is even more comfortable and is still the statement-maker in my front room. It also spurred me to start doing video tutorials! The first of several I did, was How to Paint Fabric, which is my most popular video on my YouTube Channel!
This dresser was my personal favorite from this year, as I mentioned in my previous post of the Best Furniture Flips on the Internets. I loved the design, the ‘conversation’ that was happening with the birds, the color and the variations that occurred naturally, and the chippy texture. This was featured by Thistlewood Farms and I was floored. I met Karianne at Haven and she is a hoot! She also has a gift of making you feel like the most important person in the room.
While I had fun decorating in a meaningful way, trying my best to not spend money, but to make most of my Christmas decor, I had to spill my secret to several of my friends: THIS TOOK GREAT EFFORT! I treated this post that took me a solid 2 weeks to prep for, like my blogging final. It was my chance to showcase my decorating style, but also to push myself to think creatively when decorating several spaces. I had to SEW so many things. I had to PAINT several things, I had to MAKE and and REPURPOSE and KEEP THINGS SIMPLE (in comparison to other bloggers) with natural elements. This was my FIRST EVER home tour, so I think that is part of the reason it required so much effort. I think next year, I will plan a little better and it will be less stressful and more natural. I LOVED having my house all decked out and we truly enjoyed it’s beauty during the holidays. I loved it when Alex, my 5 year-old, would notice something new I would make or create, and comment, “Oh mama! That looks nice!” or the look of content my 8 year-old would have when I answered “Of course!” to his question of whether we were going to keep the house this way, or if he could eat the food I was photographing. Did I do all of it for my blog? Yes. But I did it for them too. And we created some pretty special memories that I hope they never forget!
THANK YOU for visiting my blog, THNAK YOU for commenting, and THANK YOU for sharing.
YOUR generosity is not lost on me.
May your 2015 be happy and successful and meaningful!
Cheers!
LOVE every single one of your top ten! Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. I now want to go make / paint something but it will have to wait til Monday when the house is quiet again. x