First of all, I just want to say a very big thank you for the overwhelming positive response to the new design. I was utterly blown away by the show of support and it genuinely made all the hard work totally worth it. I’m so very pleased you like it! I know that ‘change’ can be a hard thing to accept sometimes, even for something as simple as the blogs we read but my hope is that even if you aren’t thrilled with it, you will get used to the changes and soon it will feel pretty natural finding your way around. I’m still tinkering with a few things and the mobile siteΒ still needs work (it’s functional, just not very pretty) so I appreciate your patience as I work around any issues. Thank again for all the feedback on a few little bugs which I’ve sorted but of course, anything else that I’m not aware of, just let me know and I’ll do my best!
Right! On with today’s post which is a doozy… I always feel a little bit apprehensive when I start these yearly reviews because it never feels like we accomplished enough over the past year but once I start looking back there are always things that I think, ‘Oh yeah! I forgot we did that!’ and then I feel better! I’m going to be talking about our goals for 2015 in an upcoming post so stay tuned for that!
We’ll start in the living room where I accomplished threeΒ of the goals I’d set for myself back in January of 2014 – I finally found my vintage style cabinet for the TV, we replaced our ugly black box with a white model and I finally filled the big blank wall with a fancy schmancy radiator cover and 3 Venetian style mirrors.
I also repainted the wallpapered chest of drawers, finally tracked down a source for fiddle leaf fig trees in the UK, replaced the vintage coffee table (oh compromise, where would we be without you) with a stylish marble topped one that I love.
Moving on to the dining room and another goal accomplished – replacing and moving the tired pendant with a new brassy oneΒ and adding a ceiling rose! I also gave the gallery wall a bit of a shakeup, I got my new white dining table and replaced the tired cotton rug with a plush dark blue and white one.
The kitchen wasn’t entirely neglected this year (although I really want to give it some attention in 2015) with new floral wallpaper backing the shelving and a new label-maker.
Now,Β the biggest accomplishment of the past year has to be our bathroom remodel which we finally completed and revealed in June. I’m pretty proud of that room because it was a true ‘team effort’ between Wayne and I and it reminds me of what we can accomplish when we work together.
The other big accomplishment was the ‘Mini-Makeover’ of the dressing room. The room finally feels complete with a more ‘grown up’ vibe and I love spending time in here every day. WeΒ did loads of DIYs on this one so check out my How To page for tutorials on everything from the Billy Bookcase hack to the ‘Marble Topped’ skirted vanity.
In the Master Bedroom, I added some crisp tailored bedding, replaced some of the artΒ without spending a dime, got snazzy new leopard print cushions, a new ornate mirror and gave the chest of drawers a little zhushing.
On some of the projects we started but didn’t finish…
The back garden got a bit of a attention with the extension of the back deck (another tick on the list of goals for the year) although we want to add railing and finish off the steps this year.
And we started work on the guest bedroom/office (a goal for last year that sadly, never happened!)…
So those were the accomplishments around the house!
Some other highlights for me personally…
- Progress was made with my first (paying) design client
- My home was featured in the book, Home for Now
- I was ‘house crashed’ by Young House Love, my kitchen appearedΒ in Apartment Therapy and styled my coffee table three waysΒ for West Elm
- I was featured in Prima Magazine
- I held my first DIY art workshop
- We held our first blogger event at AO
- I co-hosted my first webinar
- I was shortlisted and attended the fabulousΒ Amara’s 2014 Interior Blog Awards
And finally, some of my (and your) favourite posts this year:
- Let’s talk about that one time I blew the budget
- What do you think of replicated design classics?
- How to Decorate Fearlessly Parts I and II
- On taking the good with the bad
- How to Become an eBay Ninja!
- How My Fashion and Interiors Collide
Well, I hope you enjoyed this little trip down memory lane! Any favourites of the ones I mentioned? Do you review your own year and if so, what are your proudest accomplishments for 2014?
Congratulations on a great year. I look forward to reading your fab posts in 2015 :O)
Thanks so much! It’s been a good year, here’s to 2015 being even better :) xx
Hi Kimberly! What an amazing year. Seriously, you are on fire!!! I am so bummed! I was following you in bloglovin’ and wasn’t getting any of your new posts. Maybe the website change? It says I’m following you on there…who knows. I just subscribed so I get all your posts via email now. So excited to see what you have up your sleeve for 2015!! xo
So funny that 5 minutes before you left your comment, I contacted Bloglovin’ AGAIN about the problem with the change in having a static home page and my feed not coming through! Hope to sort it out soon but thank you for subscribing in the meantime! Mwah! xx
You have so much energy, how much you’ve accomplished in just a year! Keep on keeping on, lovely! You’re fabulously inspiring!
Meera x
Aww thanks so much darling! Hope you are well! xxx
Oh, you’ve packed so much into your year and achieved so much! Your house looks fab, I can’t wait to see the guest room – and stay there ;-) xo
Trust me, you’ll be the first guest!! lol (once it’s done that is!! Good god, you don’t want to be in there now lol) xxx