Best Posts of 2019

Heelllllooooo 2020! I cannot believe you are here already! 2019 was a crazy year and I did some pretty insane things and some pretty involved renovations. Let’s take a look at the best posts from 2019 before we dive into the new year though!

#1: The Kitchen Renovation!

We all loved the transformation of the kitchen from crazy, grimy, wallpapered mess to moody, early 1900s glam. This renovation won the 2019 Homebody Award for Best Use of Paint hosted by Chris Loves Julia and was featured on the Today Show’s website! So exciting. The before and afters are pretty shocking, if you haven’t scrolled through this reveal post yet, what are you waiting for?!

#2: The Master Powder Room Reveal

Meet the world’s tiniest Master “Bathroom”! It’s really a half-bath or powder room, but it’s located off my Master Bedroom, so we’re calling it the Master Powder Room now. All capitals because that makes it OFFICIAL. I fixed up this space for the One Room Challenge in the Spring and spent less than $600 for the entire gut renovation! This room was featured on Apartment Therapy and even made it on two of their end of year lists: The Best Bold Wall Color Transformations We Saw This Year and The Best Under-$1000 Budget Renovations We Saw This Year. Pretty exciting!

#3 Finally, Finally Finishing the Main Bathroom!

This is one of the first spaces I tackled when I first bought Berrybrier in August 2017. It was such a huge challenge to take on when I had next to no DIY experience, but I was able to turn this space from pepto bismol horror to moody, green, and majestic. Although I knocked out most of the renovation in 2017, I finally, finally, finally, completed the last few items on this room’s to-do list in the Summer of 2019.

#4 The Evolution of My Living Room

My living room has gone through quite a few iterations just two years into this home and I showed you them all in this post about the space. From storage / kitchen to half-way there this room has already had so many functions! There’s more on the horizon as things will get switched out for new (I’m looking at you sofa!), but it’s great fun to see how this space has evolved over time.

#5: No-Fail Whole House Color Palettes

At the end of the summer I did a series of posts on paint (Berrybrier’s Paint Palette, How to Pick a Paint Color, and 6 No-Fail Whole House Paint Color Palettes) and y’all loved the one on no-fail whole house paint color palettes. I had so much fun pulling all the paints and dreaming up these spaces.

#6 Modernizing a Dated Stone Fireplace

One of the most quick and gratifying projects to date at Berrybrier was the transformation of the Living Room Fireplace. This DIY only took an hour and gave the old stone fireplace a completely new feel. Before it was boldly colorful and stained with soot. Now it’s modern and calming, more of a textural element than color!

#7 Kush Rugs’ ReSource Portland Event

One of the most fun blog things I got to do this year was actually an event! Kush Rugs invited me to tag along with them this summer on their ReSource Portland event touring Portland-local companies that produce home and renovation goods. I got to go behind the scenes at the factories at Schoolhouse & Clayhaus, see Alice Sergeant‘s new textile line up close, and meet so many awesome interior designers!

#8 Celebrating Two Whole Years at Berrybrier

It was such fun to look back at the last two years at Berrybrier on the second anniversary of owning this home and see how things have changed in this post. I couldn’t believe the transformations and it was me who DIYed them!!

Okay, so what’s next?!

Oh 2020, there’s still so much to do! I’ve got a ton planned for this year. I’ll be kicking it off with two projects. The first will be DIY’ing a door jamb for the new-to-me antique door I found for the dormer. Then I’ll be tackling the furnishing and decorating of the office. Anyone want to sponsor some awesome wallpaper for that room? Hit me up! After than, I’ll have some small organizing posts for you. I need to whip the closets and basement storage at Berrybrier into shape so I can actually put things away. Then this spring, I’m hoping to rope my godfather into helping me plan the gardens at Berrybrier. I’d love to get the front yard looking good and fully planted this spring and I’m even considering building a backyard shed / chicken coop for the Spring One Room Challenge! We may spend the hot months of summer under the house DIYing a new radiant floor heating system for Berrybrier – if I can suck it up and dive into that massive project! After that, we’ll see. There’s always plenty of projects in the Land of Laurel! Happy New Year! xo, xo – LO.