Saturday, December 29, 2012

A Year in Review - Favorite Projects and Posts of 2012

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas this year!  We had a great time around here with a full house for Christmas dinner and out-of-town guests for several days.  Before I start breaking down the Christmas decorations, I wanted to share a recap of some of the favorite and most popular posts of 2012. Since I started blogging regularly during the 2011 holiday season, 2012 is pretty much my first full year of blogging and sharing projects.

Since we had just moved into our new home after moving across the country, I was slowly painting and decorating throughout the year and I started off by sharing my youngest daughter's french-inspired room in January. I'll soon be sharing some changes I've made to her room since then, including hanging those white ruffled curtains and some pretty wallpaper.
After making typewriter jewelry for many years, I finally documented the process last January and posted a tutorial HERE.  This post remains one of my most popular posts yet!
By January and February I had pretty much settled into my new home and was feeling the drive to get back into re-habbing furniture for resale and be part of antique shows, etc again.  After painting furniture with latex for six years, I finally tried Chalk Paint and my love affair with it still continues. I painted several pieces including these popular nightstands (above) and took a leap of faith in February and applied to be a vendor at the Luckett's Spring Market in May and got in!
I continued working on furniture projects for my home and resale throughout the spring including my 8' farm table transformation above, my daughter's art deskand my desk chair makeover...
I took a bit of a blog break throughout April and the first part of May as I focused on getting projects done for the Luckett's sale, but shared my nest-inspired Spring mantel (which is one of my favorite mantels)...
May was all about getting ready for Luckett's, including trying out milk paint for the first time on a large piece of furniture...
This is one of my favorite dressers and went it to a good home at the Luckett's sale.  Here are a couple of pictures from my booth...

I took a short break after the sale, but decided to focus on finishing projects for my home during the summertime...
I re-painted my childhood dresser for my master bedroom and shared my tips and tricks for glazing furniture HERE.  This has recently become my most popular post!
I continued working on my master bedroom throughout the summer with the chalkboard faux fireplace that was featured on Apartment Therapy and my $20 thrift store chairs makeover...
I also painted gray stripes in my laundry room and added vintage touches to make doing laundry much more enjoyable...

When Fall came rolling in, I really started getting the urge to do some more furniture makeovers again and was concentrating on finding just the right shop to consign furniture in Raleigh.  At this point, it had been a couple of years since I've had a little booth to call my own and I missed it!  Since October, I've had the privilege of having a booth at SuzAnna's Antiques in N. Raleigh and I've loved it there!  Here are some of the furniture makeovers that I've done in the past couple of months (You can see more details of these makeovers HERE)...
One of my favorite projects/room makeovers that I completed this Fall was my craft room.  I absolutely love spending time in here...
Another highlight of this past Fall happens to also be one of the more popular posts of the year...
This long wooden planter box got quite a bit of mileage this year with pumpkins, candles, gourds, branches, etc for the Fall Centerpiece and mercury glass, silver and blue ornaments, fresh greenery, etc for the Christmas Centerpiece...
Rounding out the year was various holiday-themed posts including my Thanksgiving Table Setting...
...and some garden-inspired Christmas decorations (You can find the whole Christmas tour HERE)...
As 2013 rolls in, I'm excited to keep trying new painting techniques, finding and sharing some great new finds, and finally get my house complete (as complete as it can get).  I also hope you'll join me for a blog series that I'm working on pulling together for the upcoming months as well.  I'm thinking 2013 is going to be another busy year around here!

Kristen

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19 comments:

Ramblings of a Southern Girl ~ Rhonda G said...

Love your beautiful home and paint projects! I'm kind of new to your blog, so it was so nice to see your year's roundup! I love the faux fireplace, and the gorgeous dresser in your room. Can't wait to see what you have in store for 2013! ~Blessings for the New Year!

Debra@CommonGround said...

Kristen, you've had so many amazing project. LOVE each and every one, but I think the green bulb dresser is my fave!

Unknown said...

So many amazing and gorgeous projects! I am also fairly new and really enjoyed seeing some of the projects I hadn't seen before. I love your glazed furniture and you make me want to try glazing with a light color over dark. I've only glazed a piece once before. Looking forward to seeing what else you have in store!

Unknown said...

Wow - what a beautiful walk through of a year in your transformations - so much beauty that I simply can't pick a favorite!!! Love them all
Happy New Year:)
Can't wait to see what you have in store for this one coming!
Hugs,
Suzan

Shabby chic Sandy said...

You have such a great blog--I love all your projects!

Pieced Pastimes said...

You have had a very busy year! Love all your projects and look forward to seeing what you accomplish in 2013. Happy New Year!

Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions said...

Your home is just beautiful, Kristen, and the projects you have done this year inspiring! You were certainly busy, but I know that is how it is when you move into a new home. You want to make it yours and you've done a wonderful job in your home. Looking forward to seeing your projects in 2013! Happy New Year!

Anonymous said...

Your home is absolutely beautiful! I've been drooling since I discovered your blog this summer. Happy New Year! I'm sure you'll continue to make your home a beautiful place.

Monica said...

I have enjoyed all your post this year. I am new to the blog world this year and I am so excited to read what you have planned. Thank you for sharing your beautiful talent.

Shirley@Housepitality Designs said...

Kristen...I cannot say enough about how wonderful it was to see your spectacular projects this year...I loved seeing your work "on-line" and also in persona at SuzAnna's....I treasure your friendship and look forward to your ever so creative projects that you have in store for us in 2013!!!

reFresh reStyle said...

I love your features and everything that you've done! It was great meeting you at the SB conference! Best of luck in the new year :)
Debbie

Sandi~A Cottage Muse said...

So many beautiful, inspiring projects! My favorite is your childhood dresser!

Meredith @ The Laundry Can Wait said...

Um...Your craft room is like the freaking oval office. I can't BELIEVE how gifted you are. I would go bankrupt shopping at your booth. Consider me a new follower.

Wowwed in Oklahoma,
Meredith

foreverdecorating said...

I dream of shopping Luckett's and especially going to one of their flea markets. Love all your projects and home.

karen@somewhatquirky said...

Damn girl! You had a magnificent year!

STARDUST said...

A very busy and creative year! Love your dining room and the chalkboard faux fireplace.
Love, Olga
www.stardust-decorstyle.blogspot.com

Eclectically Vintage said...

Wow - now I feel inferior! You rocked it this year (my first full year of blogging too)!

Don't even know where to begin - from the fabulous $20 thrifted chair to the Luckett's blue dresser to the amazing chalkboard fireplace and typewriter key jewelry. .. fabulous!!!
Kelly

The Charm of Home said...

Oh, my word. Everything is absolutely beautiful! Thank you for joining Home Sweet Home!
Sherry

Jamala said...

You definitely have the Midas touch. Your house is extremely beautiful

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