2013 Year in Review + Link Up

Hello! Happy almost 2014. I’m super excited to show you my 2013 Year in Review today because it was an awesome year for me as a blogger and it’s so fun to see all the progress I made on projects around the house, and how I celebrated the seasons. Do you love looking back? I hope so, because this is going to be a long post! Grab yourself a favorite snack and get ready.

Before you go, don’t forget to link up your 2013 Year in Review post {if you have one} at the end and make sure to visit some of the other links to find the best of the best all in one place. I’m co-hosting this link up with Carrie at Making Lemonade, Jenna at SAS Interiors and Beth at Unskinny Bobby. We thought it would be so fun to see all the highlights from around the blogosphere in one place and give you a chance to share your year with everyone too!

If you want to see what adventures I had here at home, here they are!

Winter

January featured a lot of indoor projects, specifically about curtains. I showed you:

• How to Hang Curtains
• Customize Your Curtains + How to Sew Pintucks
• How to Make Curtains Longer

I also presented my first Habitat for Humanity Workshop, and created one of my favorite everyday mantels. February was when we started demolition on our basement bathroom renovation {and it’s still going on, eeek!}.

While we were doing demo downstairs, I was giving the upstairs bathroom a mini makeover as well. That space has several projects with it, including:

• How to Paint Lighting While It’s Still on the Wall
• Painted Wood Trim
• Bathroom Vanity Makeover with Chalk Paint

Spring

Once the weather got warmer I continued progress on the bathrooms. Upstairs and downstairs we saw:

• How to use Wallpaper for Windows
• How to Sew a Fake Roman Shade
• Primed Ceiling and Painted Heat Register
• How to Use Self Leveling Concrete

But there was also the start of outdoor projects too. That being the front porch makeover plan.

Craft and furniture makeover projects included

• Storage Cube Makeover
• How to frame your travel memorabilia
• Knock Off Ballard Designs Cowhide Pillow
• How to Add a Wireless Light Switch
• How to Clean Hardwood Floors
• DIY Tile Coasters

June was a HUGE month for DecorAdventures.com, as I finally had a professional blog redesign and switched to WordPress, which makes all of this that I present to you a TON easier.

And you got to finally see my full living room!

 Summer

In July we got to see underneath our 113-year old house when the porch got sanded, primed and painted by the pros. And I did some easy outdoor projects for the space including a rug with a painted border and I used oil paint on outdoor chairs. See the full porch makeover here.

Since the weather is so warm, I took advantage and painted our outside door and screen door, plus showed you How to Keep a Duvet in Place and made a DIY Growth Chart for my new nephew.

And July was when I joined Instagram! Find me here.

Each summer for the last two I’ve had a blast at the Haven Conference. Read all about my trip there this year here.

Fall

And then there was fall! Which is always a busy time for projects with the holidays and everything. Each year I think I get a little better at decorating my place and being creative around the house.

Some of my favorite projects from the later part of the year include:

• How to Antique Mirror with Paint Stripper and Bleach
• New Grasscloth Wallpaper in Foyer

We also made a master renovation to do list for the basement bathroom and accomplished the following in there:

• Painted it in Grizzle Grey
• Put up a Plank Wall
• Installed the Floor and Baseboards

September was my first opportunity to participate in a virtual home tour, so I got to show you all of the festive and warm decorations around here this fall.

This fall was also pretty amazing because I started contributing at not only one, but TWO amazing blogs I love. First, you can see me each month at Pretty Handy Girl, where I showcase DIY projects on the first Wednesday of each month and at Redhead Can Decorate on the third Wednesday of the month where I’m the DIY and Decor contributor. I’m so lucky to be able to partner with both Brittany and Julie and have so much fun doing so.

But those are not the only places you can find me. I also started monthly Product Picks at Houzz this November and select 20 amazing items each month for you. Find me at Houzz here.

And I can’t forget all the fun I had creating holiday crafts and decorating my house. See my holiday home tour here.

Other holiday projects included:

• How to Sew Stockings with Cuff
• How to Make Winter Trees
• Decorate Your Staircase for Christmas
• Holiday Crafts with M&Ms
• Holiday Table Runner
• Cork Leaf Trivets

Most Popular Projects

Curious to see what my most popular posts written this year are? Here they are, numbers 1-5 for this year:

1. How to Clean Hardwood Floors
2. Holiday Home Tour
3. Two Color Painted Furniture Ideas
4. How to Sew a Fake Roman Shade
5. Fall Home Tour

Lastly I wanted to say a special thank you to all of the partners I have worked with this year including Blue Sky Design Supply, Cutting Edge Stencils, Fish Window Foam, GoldenAgeUSA, HomeRight, Habitat for Humanity Buffalo, Heart of the City Neighborhoods, Kirklands, Minted, Modern Masters, Moen, RYOBI Power Tools, and Wallpaper for Windows. Many of these projects you’ve seen, but some you’ll get to see next year {did someone say giveaways!?}, so stay tuned!

Now since you’ve seen all I’ve done this year, let me know what you’ve been up to! If you have a blog post round up of 2013, link it below. I’m co-hosting this link up with Carrie at Making Lemonade, Jenna at SAS Interiors and Beth at Unskinny Boppy, so please visit their blogs to see their yearly highlights also.

Sharing this with Heather and the link up at Setting for Four , and Best DIY Projects of 2013 at Southern Hospitality

Best wishes for a very successful 2014!

Do you have any new year’s resolutions you want to share?