Looking Back at 2015 – a Year in Review

Happy New Year!!

2015 was amazing!

I enjoyed growing as a designer and my blog grew more than ever.

I’ve learned so much about myself, the design industry, and the online world, which has all helped me excel this year.

Here’s my year in review:

January 2015 / February

Added new pillows to my shop and became more active on social media

These two months were pretty uneventful, but I did make a commitment to become more active on social media for my blog and design business. I even launched a lot of new pillows in my pillow shop.

March 2015

I revealed my small, galley kitchen

This was the first room in my apartment that I actually decorated, which is kind of funny, because I spend the least amount of time in there. LOL. I painted my back walls black and added storage over my sink. I’m actually about to make some changes in the kitchen again.

April 2015

I participated in Home Depot’s Patio Style Challenge

Since I don’t have a private outdoor space at my apartment, Home Depot allowed me to transform my mom’s backyard. I seriously had a blast! OMG, you gotta see the before and after. The difference is NIGHT & DAY.

May 2015

I revealed my living room

You guys must have really loved my living room tour, because I’ve gotten lots of views and shares of the reveal post. I made some changes that a lot of people wouldn’t normally do in a rented apartment, like add a really large rug, install wall sconces, and buy extra panels to make my curtains a custom length.

June 2015

I participated in Home Depot’s DIY challenge

I was so excited to be asked to participate in another Home depot challenge – the DIY challenge. I had to create a DIY project by using concrete. I was so intimidated to use it (I’ve always though cement was hard to work with), but took on the project and created a concrete shelf for my bathroom. I seriously LOVE this shelf.

Apartment Therapy featured my living room on their site

My apartment was featured on Apartment Therapy!! I can’t even express how excited I was to see my living room up. This is a really big deal to me, guys!

July 2015

I created the 10 Days to an Organized Home challenge, aka #10DaysOH

Over 60 people signed up to the challenge to declutter and organize every part of their home. We mostly met in my private FB group, but you can also find posts on Instagram under the #10DaysOH hashtag. I created a new blog post for each day of the challenge to help you guys declutter and organize.

September 2015

I revealed my small dining room turned home office

Being the serial entrepreneur that I am (LOL), I have a lot of stuff. I have lots of different stuff for sewing, blogging, designing, and random business tasks, and at one point had this stuff all over the place in my dining room. So, I partnered with Organized Living to do some space planning and designed a custom shelving system (that you usually see in bedroom, closets, and pantries) in my dining room. They sent me the product and I transformed it into a dedicated home office. It’s so much more functional now. Plus, I have a large surface for eating!

I started up my DIY challenges

I started the monthly DIY challenges back in 2014, but took a break in most of 2015. In September, I started them back up and had loads of fun creating DIY projects with other challenge participants. Check out the last few DIY challenges and make sure you sign up if you want to be in on the next one.

October 2015

I was featured on Black Southern Belle

I’m not sure what month I found Black Southern Belle on Instagram, but when they asked me to be featured on their site, I couldn’t contain my excitement! The interview gave a lot of insight into how I got into the design field, so go check that out!

I created an online decorating workshop that starts January 4th

This was not planned. I would have never imagined that people would actually pay me to show them what I know about decorating homes, especially not this early in my career. But, I get so many emails for tips and people often ask if I ever do online workshops. So, I created a 4-week one. It starts soon and I’m so excited to help you guys transform your homes. If you aren’t already signed up to the workshop, click here to sign up or get more information.

November 2015

I was featured on Apartment Therapy – again!

My dining room-turned-home office was featured on Apartment Therapy and had quite a bit of opposing opinions of what people thought I should have done in the space – LOL. I saw the extra traffic to my site and couldn’t believe that another one of my spaces was chosen to be featured again. The high of that feature has lasted the rest of the year and I’m still excited when I get a comment on my post from someone that saw it on Apartment Therapy.

I completed a client’s master bedroom/bathroom project

I completed one of my favorite projects to date, working with one of my favorite clients to date. This master bedroom and bathroom transformation is definitely a head-turner. While I don’t have the professional pics, yet, here are the better photos I was able to take with my cell phone.

December 2015

I revealed a client’s bathroom before and after

A lot of my design projects are WIP, so I don’t get to share reveals very often. I did, however, work on a quick guest bathroom project that came out great! I was able to totally transform my client’s bathroom with paint, a library cart, and decorative accessories.

I created an apartment decorating eBook, the Easy Guide to Decorating Your Rental Apartment

This is my baby, ya’ll!! I used my experience in renting and decorating homes to compile lots of tips to decorate your rental. If you rent and want to turn your boring apartment into a functional, beautiful one (without spending all your money or losing your rental deposit), then you need to get this guide today! Right now you can pre-order it for just $8.99!

So, that’s my year. What happened in 2015 that you’d like to share? Leave a comment below!

Till next time,

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