Wow — can you believe it’s already 2012 this Sunday? December flew by, so before the month fades away we wanted to pause and look back at everything we tackled. Below is a quick roundup of projects, highlights, and a few never-before-seen moments from the past month. We spent a lot of time in the kitchen, made a handful of tweaks in the living room and hallway, and squeezed in plenty of holiday fun. Here’s our month in superlatives.
Most Improved: The three simple changes in the living room that made the biggest difference: a larger rug, a square ottoman, and a more refined office chair.
Most Memorable: Revisiting moving day and celebrating our first year in the house. It’s amazing to see how much progress we’ve made—and how much is still left to do.
Most Artistic: Turning our old desk into a toddler-sized drawing table for Clara. She loved having a space built just for her creative messes.
Most Artistic (Runner-Up): A charming owl sketch from Sherry’s dad that found its way into a hallway frame. Family art always feels special on the walls.
Least Artistic: Us, when we did some basic paint touch-ups in the kitchen before the counters arrived. It wasn’t a masterpiece, but a paintbrush was involved—and that’s something.
Craftiest: The vendors we met at a Richmond handmade holiday market. We couldn’t leave without bringing home a few handmade treasures.
Most Advent-urous: Our homemade advent calendar, which transformed an Ikea scarf hanger into a daily ornament countdown to Christmas.
Cheeriest: The ribbon-covered stars from our holiday card shoot. And, of course, Burger won “Best Tongue” that season—if such an award existed.
Merriest (Tall Edition): Our toddler-friendly Christmas tree, festooned with paint swatches, ribbon, and other unbreakable decorations. As we added advent ornaments each day it became even more festive.
Merriest (Short Edition): The little tabletop tree that brightened the living room, decked out with handmade ornaments we created months earlier.
Brightest: Our first attempt at exterior holiday decorating: candy-cane lights, Moravian stars, glowing lanterns, and a pair of boldly lit reindeer made the house feel festive from the curb.
Brightest (Runner-Up): Dozens of small tweaks to our hallway frame wall that added subtle holiday cheer to a compact space.
Brightest (Second Runner-Up): The new bright white countertops that arrived and instantly freshened the kitchen. Installing them involved some interesting equipment—but the seamless result was worth it.
Most Free Spirited: Our practically free microwave. We bought a new unit for less than we sold the old one for, and repurposed an existing cabinet to house it. That small savings helped fund splurges elsewhere: new counters, backsplash tile, a big wall opening, and cork floors.
Diciest: Cutting down a few leftover cabinet doors so they would fit new or repurposed cabinets. It was a bit nerve-wracking, but pocket holes and heavy-duty screws made them solid. We’re waiting for paint to fully cure before declaring them flawless.
Best Backside: New industrial-inspired stools for the kitchen peninsula that we scored at a sweet price. They were originally designed for a lab, but they look right at home here.
Most Tedious: The pre-paint prep in the kitchen: rebuilding a windowsill, adding toe-kick and trim, cleaning the sunroom, and finally choosing a cabinet paint color. Not glamorous, but necessary.
Sandiest (Tie): John and the kitchen, after a marathon of puttying, sanding, and deglossing to get everything ready for primer and paint.
Biggest Tool: Our curated list of handy gift ideas for the DIY enthusiast in your life—perfect for holiday shopping or spending those leftover gift cards.
Most Date-d: The homemade 2012 calendar we put together. It was a fun, personal project and we shared a free template for anyone who wanted to make their own.
Most Resolute: Sharing a few New Year’s resolutions for 2012 with the hope they’ll motivate us to get more done around the house.
Most Transformative: Priming the cabinet doors and frames. Once that step was underway, it truly started to look like a new kitchen was on the horizon.
Cutest Hat: Clara’s new leopard-print cap, a Christmas gift she refused to take off all day. Expect to see it frequently in our upcoming family photos.
That’s the short version of our December. Can you believe it’s already 2012? What did you accomplish last month? Have you ever made a list of wins to look back on? If so, share a few highlights in the comments. It’s nice every once in a while to stop adding things to the to-do list and instead appreciate the tasks we’ve crossed off. Happy New Year to every one of you — we really appreciate your support.
P.S. If you want to look back further, we shared monthly superlatives for previous months: July, August, September, October, and November.