Once again it’s monthly roundup time and I believe this is the one year anniversary of monthly roundup posts. Awww shucks…and I didn’t even get the monthly roundup a gift. Hmmm…maybe I should have since I forgot to do the monthly roundup at the end of January like I was supposed to. Sorry monthly roundup…I guess I’m sleeping on the couch again tonight. At least it’s comfy.
Monthly roundup time is pretty much my favorite time of the month…not to be confused with the other, slightly more evil time of the month. But I love to look back at all we’ve accomplished over the last month. It really helps keep up the motivation and that DIY steamroller churning. So I bring you a January in review of all the blog posts and projects captured here on our little ol’ blog.
Bluest…In Terms Of Color And Not Moods: Our freshly painted blue entry. First it was ugly…then it was mint…then it was white…and now it’s blue. Valspar’s deep sea diving blue to be exact.
Heaviest Thing We’ve Ever Built Out Of Scrap Wood: The rustic entry bench Colby built. And did I mention that Colby used old supporting beams (ones he replaced…so no worries that our house is going to come crashing down) to make this bench?! I think it’s sweet that no matter where we go or how many new-to-us houses we end up living in, we’ll always have a piece of our first home with us in this bench. Cue up the awwwwwww!
Most Favorite-est Stain…Wait For It…Evah: The Minwax Early American Stain that we used to stain the bench with. Seriously…where has this stain been all my life?! I feel like I got hosed on my first three years of DIYing and renovating! I just want those years back…sniff…sniff!
Most Likely To Feel Like A Failure: Me…after giving myself my 2012 Annual Review, comparing my 2012 resolutions to what I actually did. Let’s just say…at least Colby and I threw one heck of a party that was our wedding! Which I still need to write up a post about…only six months after it happened…hanging head in shame. Did I mention that I felt like a failure?! No?!
Most Organized: Our re-organized DVD collection after disposing of the bulky DVD cases and replacing them with labeled and organized DVD sleeves. Space saving say what?!
Most Motivated: Me after first picking myself up off the floor after a dismal 2012 review, then declaring our 2012 resolutions. And this year I kept it simple…one resolution for the house (finish the second floor renovations), one resolution for the blog (create a project gallery page), and one resolution for life in general (enjoy it…aka…stop and smell the roses once in awhile). We’re already dominating that first resolution…boy do I have lots to share with you on that one…specifically in the guest bedroom that has looked like this for seven months:
Coolest Thing To Come In The Mail: Razor…our gun slinging, wall hook deer which was a Christmas gift to Colby from his sister, Margot. FYI…Razor is the illusive 10th reindeer who pulled Santa’s sleigh until being kicked out due to his affiliation with the NRA.
Largest Impulse Purchase: Our new stainless steel refrigerator. No…we weren’t in the market for a new refrigerator…someday…down the road when we tackle our kitchen…maybe. But we couldn’t pass up the $400 fridge. It was just too good of a deal and we knew we wanted to upgrade all our appliances to stainless steel eventually. And the funniest part was…that walking into Lowes I asked Colby if we could go visit the appliances to which he responded, “what if we find a $500 fridge?” My response, “we buy it”. Needless to say…we found a $400 fridge that night and bought it on the spot. The rest of our kitchen is still a disaster…but look at that fridge!
Most Dramatic Thrift Store Makeover: The $5 chair makeover. That is all.
Most Proud Of My Husband Moment: When he fixed the broken spring on the $5 thrift store chair. Clamps, zip ties, and nails were involved. No joke, Colby is like the MacGyver of the furniture repair/building world. One time, when we were living in our old apartment, he built me that red china cabinet (it’s beside the fridge right now in our kitchen) using just a hammer and a skill saw. He’s got skills!
The Most Progress: The guest room mudding and sanding party that’s been going on. It’s the most progress the guest room has seen since we pretty much stopped working on it seven months ago. The best part…it’s ready to be painted…swoon!
Most Under Estimated Use Of Time: The thrift store chair re-upholstery process. What I thought would take 30 minutes, an hour tops, took nearly five “Sunday Beers” (about four hours) to complete. But the result (and the Sam Adam’s buzz) was soooo worth it.
Most Likely To Be In A Chicken Barn In Maine: An antique store, The Big Chicken Barn Antique Store to be exact. Colby and I had a ball perusing The Chicken Barn and found so many interesting items that we wanted to bring home with us.
Most Likely To Knock You Out: Our Pottery Barn iPad stand knockoff. The Pottery Barn version…$35…our version…only $5. And here’s the iPad stand tutorial to go with that reveal post.
Most Useful: Our front entry after building a shelf and organizing it. I’m not gonna lie…the organizing and accessorizing part was my favorite. And now we have a cute dumping zone entry space.
Most Likely To Become A Crazy Chicken Barn Lady: Me…after making a few purchases one weekend, only to obsess about what I left behind and going back to The Chicken Barn the next weekend. Check out what we got at The Chicken Barn.
Most Addicting: Instagram…check out our January Instagram Roundup.
So now that January is all wrapped up and we can officially throw in the towel, it’s time to REALLY start rocking February. Lots of good things coming including some SERIOUS progress in the guest bedroom. We’re talking jazz hands serious here.
Pssst…Enough about us, let’s talk about you! What did you guys check off your to-do lists in January? Do you also like to take a moment and revel in all you’ve accomplished? Or break out the jazz hands when you get seriously excited about a project?!
Love the entry space!!!!!!!!!!!! (:)
Thanks Pat!!