Happy Blogiversary to Me! Happy Blogiversary to Me! Happy Blogiversary, Blue i Style...
That's right, it was one year ago today that I started this little blog, and what a year it's been! When I started, I had one little boy, and now I have two! When I started, I was working full time as an attorney, and now I'm lucky enough to be staying home with my two kiddos! When I started, I didn't know if anyone would read my blog {except maybe my husband and my mom}, and now I know that I have readers out there {about 15,000 of you each month}... And that is pretty awesome!
I realize that there are only a few of you that have been reading the blog from day one, so I thought I would take this opportunity to do a little roundup from the last year. As I said in my first ever blog post, I anticipated this blog being an ever-growing collection of the decorating, organizing and DIY projects that keep me up and night and make me smile when I walk into a room (or open a closet, as the case may be). And that's is exactly what it has become!
So without further ado...of the 120 posts that have appeared here on the blog in this first year, here are the top 10 most popular posts (as determined by total page views)...
NUMBER 10 - HONEYMOON INSPIRED GUEST ROOM
Scott and I spent our honeymoon in the Greek islands, and it was so beautiful that it inspired the decor of our guest room. This not only gave us a place to display all of the photos we took during our Greek travels, but also allowed us to create a relaxing retreat for our friends and family.
The guest room's en suite bathroom features the same Greek island inspired decor. You can also read more here about how the landscape of the Greek islands and the hotels we stayed in directly influenced the design of these rooms.
NUMBER 9 - RAIN SHOWER THEMED BABY SHOWER
I was honored to be able to host a baby shower for one of my best friends, and since she was living in Seattle at the time, I chose a rain shower theme. The decorations included tissue paper clouds with raindrops hanging from the ceiling and lots of umbrellas, as well as a few Seattle specific details.
NUMBER 8 - BATHROOM STORAGE OUTSIDE OF THE BATHROOM
Organizing is always a challenge, but there are times when no amount of organization can solve the problem of simply not having enough space. This is the case with the small bathroom that our boys will share. The only storage space in the bathroom is a tiny cabinet below the sink, the majority of which is taken up by pipes. So I thought outside the box and came up with a creative solution by placing a cute piece of furniture in the hallway to accommodate items that just don't fit inside the bathroom.
NUMBER 7 - NURSERY REVEAL
I put all of my heart into creating an colorful and fun nursery for our boys, and it's been really exciting to hear so many kind comments from people who love the ombre striped walls and the overall nursery design.
Some people thought we were crazy for taking on this ombre striped paint job by ourselves, but in all honesty it wasn't that difficult (just a bit time consuming). If you have ever thought about painting stripes, you can read my tutorial for getting perfectly crisp lines.
NUMBER 6 - MANAGING KITCHEN PAPER PILES
Paper is my nemesis! After trying numerous ways to deal with the paper piles that were always cluttering up our kitchen counter, I finally found a solution that has been working for us for nearly a year now. Based on the popularity of this post, I know I'm not alone in my paper struggles!
NUMBER 5 - NURSERY CLOSET ORGANIZATION
We all appreciate and organized closet, and my post with tips for organizing a nursery closet has proved very popular!
To keep the nursery closet organized, I rely heavily on the closet rod dividers that I made - the tutorial for which can be found here. I've also received a number of orders for these closet rod dividers in custom colors - so if you are interested in that, please feel free to shoot me an email.
NUMBER 4 - RESTAURANT KIT FOR DINING OUT WITH LITTLE ONES
I like finding new uses for common items, and repurposing a makeup bag as a Restaurant Kit has been a great solution for our family! I made two of these restaurant kits and we keep one in each car. Now when we eat out with our kids, we always have the things we need to entertain them while we wait (like books, crayons and coloring pages) and the things we need to make the meal easier (like bibs and kid sized silverware).
NUMBER 3 - ARMOIRE BABY CENTRAL
Since birth, Cooper has been sleeping in our master bedroom (although he'll soon be moving down to the nursery). Because our master bedroom is on a different floor than the nursery, we had to find a way to store all of Cooper's belongings in our room to avoid constantly running up and down the stairs. The solution was to transform an under utilized armoire into what I call "baby central" - complete with a changing station.
Once Cooper does move into the nursery, this will leave the armoire empty and I already have a new use in mind. In a few months I plan to convert this armoire into a sewing station!
NUMBER 2 - BATH TOY STORAGE THAT TRANSFORMS FOR GUESTS
I am excited that my bath toy storage has been so popular, because it is one of my very favorite projects! I love that it provides us with such a stylish and functional solution to our bath tub toy dilemma, but can also quickly and easily transform to make the bathroom feel luxurious and spa-like when we have guests visiting. The tutorial on how I created the vinyl labels for tub toy storage has also been a popular post {confirming that you guys love a good tutorial}.
And the number one most popular post on the blog this year...
NUMBER 1 - BIG BROTHER KIT
I wanted to do something extra special for Beckett when his little brother, Cooper, arrived, so I compiled a Big Brother Kit for him, complete with a custom t-shirt, and two custom board books. Beckett absolutely loved his Big Brother Kit, and based on the fact that this has been by far the most popular of all of my blog posts - I think it's safe to say that my readers also loved it!
Of course, that's just the Top 10, so if you still want to see more, take a look at my Gallery of Posts and Projects, which is a full compilation of everything that has appeared on the blog this year.
Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me this year! I wouldn't be here if it weren't for each of you who take a few minutes out of your day to take a look at what I'm working on. Whether you're a loyal reader or just stop by on occasion, I really appreciate it and hope you'll keep coming back!
I have to give very special thanks to my husband, Scott, because without him none of this would be possible. He not only supports my crazy ideas, he also has great ideas of his own that always make my projects better. And he stays up with me until all hours of the night to help make them a reality.
Special thanks also goes out to my mom, who is always helping me with projects and letting me bounce ideas off of her. She's a wealth of crafty knowledge, and I always call here when I need to know what product to use or where to find something. In the coming year, you'll see a lot more of the Mom's Style feature that I launched back in the fall.
Big thanks are owed to Jen over at I Heart Organizing! Not only did my love for Jen's blog inspire me to start my own, she also has been a big supporter. Jen featured my ombre striped nursery as one of her "Reader Spaces" when I was just getting started, and she has also included several of my organized spaces in her monthly roundup of reader projects {like here and here}. If there is one thing I have learned in a year of blogging, it's that an endorsement from Jen goes a long way!
And finally, thank you to Wendy at Pretty Well Organized for inviting me to be one of her monthly contributors during her 2014 Organization Challenge. Today I am sharing my pantry makeover on her blog, so if you haven't already, you should check it out!
I have a lot of great plans for the coming year, and I can't wait to share them all with you. We will FINALLY be finishing up Beckett's big boy bedroom, which I started talking about months ago when I shared the mood board and floor plan for his room. I also have lots of other organizing and decorating projects in the works, and I'll be adding a full tour of our home to the blog, including lots of pictures of rooms that have as of yet only made minor appearances, like our kitchen, basement and master bedroom. Until that home tour is up, though, you can get a quick overview our home in this post, where I was finally able to put a name to my personal style.
Thanks again to everyone who made this a great first year! Here's to much, much more to come! If you would, please take a moment to leave me a comment and let me know what you'd love to see on the blog in the coming year! I aim to please!
