A look back ...

Have you seen the Facebook movies that everyone is posting? Aren't they fabulous? A friend of mine posted that they remind her of a line from a commercial, "the fabric of our lives" and I couldn't agree more! I love seeing everyone's photos put to that lovely music. I would love to make my Facebook movie but I don't really post on Facebook except to post my blog posts, so I'm afraid my "movie" would be pretty silly (photos of houses only!). But it did give me an idea...

I thought I would recap my posts from last year. I know a lot of people did that in December but I am a little slow. So slow that I have only put one post up this year so far. I took the month of January to get organized (again), clean out files and drawers and minimize as much as possible. Minimize is my "word" for the year. In everything. Stuff ... eating ... spending money and time spent on things that don't matter. The idea is that if I minimize in the areas that are not important I will have time to maximize in areas that are. Reduce to have more. Well, that is the idea anyway.

I noticed that I did not post in January of last year either. It seems to be a re-occurring theme with me in January to step back and ponder what changes I want to make for the coming year.

Okay, enough said ... here is the "fabric of my blog from 2013" (sans music):

In January ...

I designed two inspiration boards for a client expecting a baby. We loved the nursery plan for the boy so much she said she might need to have another baby just to use it ... that's right, she had a girl!

In February I finished up a client's kitchen (and almost finished my own) ...

These new barstools were delivered to another beautiful kitchen ...

And I started working on a new project:

In March I helped a client stage her mother's home to sell. It was one of the most rewarding jobs I have done - and a beautiful tribute to a wonderful lady and the home she lived in:

I also had time to create a nursery for twins at "Grandma's" house:

In April the "girl" nursery fit for a princess was finished ...  

And I helped another princess client (a self-professed princess on a not-so-princess budget) move into her new home with treasures from HomeGoods and other budget minded stores:

May started out just as it should with flowers ... 

That showcased a client (and my dear neighbor's) newly painted front door.

May ended with a beautiful First Communion party ...

And I finally revealed our new kitchen that I had been working on for months ...

At the end of May I took some time off for a little road trip down Route 66 with my youngest daughter. We flew into Chicago, rented a car and drove slowly back to California. It was a fabulous two weeks and a great change of "decor". 

One of the bathrooms on the "Route"

We had a great time and I posted our adventures on the blog each day. 

 I came home from the trip in June, revived and got started right away on some new projects ...

In July, I styled a beautiful home on the water so it could be used as a vacation rental.

I spent most of August helping my mom with some remodeling in her home ...

I filled in my "spare time" with some smaller jobs like this gallery wall ...

And a "one-day" shopping and styling job:

By the time September rolled around, I was finishing up one large project and preparing to start a new one.

In October I pulled out the paint brushes ...

And didn't put them back until November ...

I painted the walls in my office walls black ...

And some pumpkins and pots as well.

We wrote what we were thankful for and made it into a chain

In between painting, I created a comfortable library where a pool room once sat ...

And in December I flew up north to help my sister with some changes around her house ...

We had a beautiful Christmas shared with family and friends ...

 It was the perfect way to wrap up the year!

{around my house in 2013}