As our sixth blogiversary winds down (and we reluctantly put away the t-shirt launchers and airhorns until next year), we want to say a heartfelt thank you for all the support, comments, and shared laughter. This milestone is as much yours as it is ours. Over the years we’ve celebrated small victories, learned from missteps, and built a community that keeps us motivated to publish, experiment, and be honest about the ups and downs of life and home projects. If you enjoyed the little nostalgia trip, you’ll understand why we couldn’t resist closing the party with a grateful nod to everyone who’s been along for the ride.
Last year’s blogiversary ended with a geeky infographic that recapped some of the most interesting statistics from our annual reader poll, and this year nearly 30,000 of you participated in the survey linked at the end of Wednesday’s post. That’s a dramatic shift from our very first blogiversary poll, back when I manually copied and pasted all 199 comment responses into a spreadsheet. The difference is striking: we’ve grown not only in numbers but in the richness of feedback we receive, and we always appreciate hearing what resonates with you.
The statistics tell a recognizable story: on average our readers tend to be 20-to-30-something, married women who love reading blogs and books and who could probably use a little more dancing in their lives. That pattern isn’t surprising, but the details and the comments beneath the numbers are always revealing. What’s even better is that those who don’t fit the majority aren’t treated as outliers — you’re celebrated. We value the diversity of our audience, whether you’re a rare breed like me (a guy in a predominantly female space) or someone with a unique set of interests. The variety keeps our content fresh and pushes us to cover a broad smorgasbord of topics.
Beyond demographics, we’re grateful for the many ways you engage with the site. Some of you follow the day-to-day DIY tutorials, others check in for decorating tips, and many of you enjoy the personal stories we share about juggling projects, family life, and work. Your comments, emails, and social media messages help shape the kinds of posts we publish. They tell us what tutorials were actually useful, which stories made you laugh, and which ideas inspired you to tackle new projects at home. That kind of feedback is invaluable and keeps us grounded in what matters to readers.
We also learn a lot from what we don’t expect. The poll results and the notes we get from readers often highlight small needs or trends that inspire new content. Maybe there’s a topic we haven’t covered in depth yet, or a technique we can show in better detail. Sometimes you request behind-the-scenes explanations about how the blog runs, and when you asked for more on that front, we listened. We’ve been sharing more about the nuts and bolts of blogging — the technical setup, traffic growth strategies, and how a blog can become a full-time job — because so many of you want to know what’s involved and how to make it work for you.
As we wrap up another year of writing and sharing, our goal remains simple: to provide honest, useful, and approachable content that helps you feel more confident in taking on projects, decorating your spaces, or simply finding a minute to laugh at the chaos. Your participation — whether through a quick comment, a detailed email, or completing a survey — is what makes this community thrive. Thank you for reading, for experimenting with ideas we put out into the world, and for making this blog a place we’re proud to keep building.
PS: Guess Who graphic from here.
Update – Some of the most frequent requests we receive are about professional blogging: how we built the site, how we grew our audience, and how we turned blogging into full-time work. In response, we shared detailed information about how we started a blog, grew our traffic, and transitioned it into a full-time job. We hope that guide helps anyone who’s curious about taking those steps or who just wants to understand the behind-the-scenes effort that goes into running a successful blog.