Looking back and moving forward

Well hello! Hope your New Year’s Eve was great! We spent a very low key evening at home, and it was perfect. (Have I mentioned we’ve become complete homebodies??)

I’m loving all the recaps of the year all over blogland over the past week, and I wanted to chime in with a couple more of my own.

First of all, I have to thank my lovely blog friends – ALL of you who link TDC. I truly, truly appreciate it. I can’t tell you the thrill I get when I’m blog-hopping and I see that you’ve linked to my site.

It’s still surreal. :)

I wish I could link to you all, but in the interest of time and space, I’m listing my top ten blog referrers for the year:

1. 1. Centsational Girl
   2. Hooked on Houses
   3. 320 Sycamore
   4. The Nester
   5. Our Suburban Cottage
   6. Better After
   7. A Soft Place
   8. All Things Thrifty
   9. Southern Hospitality
   10. Ucreate

LOVE THESE WOMEN. This year, I’ve roomed with two of them and met (and had a blast with) four others. I hope to meet the last four this year! (Wanna come over ladies??)

I had fun looking through Google Analytics and figuring out the top posts of the year (not all were written in 2010!):

1. 1. How to decorate your mantel
   2. Dollar store fall wreath
   3. Live like no one else
   4. My biggest DIY project:  The stairs
   5. How to make a headboard
   6. A new dining room centerpiece
   7. Christmas tree party
   8. The hardest easiest DIY wreath ever
   9. Make a sofa table for under $20
   10. DIY drum shade chandelier

FUN! I love this stuff! :)

I’m so excited about 2011 (have to get used to writing that!) and all it will bring. Looking forward, I plan on continuing the Before and After Party the first Monday of every month:

To see all of the parties from 2010, click here.

I failed miserably at my Tool School series last year. (Hangs head in shame.):

But I am determined to be better about it this year! I hope to share my favorite tools, how to use them, and the basic gadgets you should have around the house to accomplish your own DIY projects.

I’ve got some more fun stuff coming in the new year! First of all -- if you are human and breathing, you most likely have an overwhelming desire to throw out half of the stuff in your house and clean every little crevice right now. :) I’m with you. I got you. I’ve already taken two car loads to Goodwill in the past week.

It feels amazing!!!

I’m planning another organization party – it will probably be later this month. I just have to get a button made and then I’ll announce it. I’ll make sure to give you time to prepare, but I’ll be harassing you plenty between now and then so no worries. :) Just be sure to take a before picture before you get all productive, OK? (I luuuurve before pictures!!)

And back by popular demand, I’ll be hosting another Goodwill party as well! It’s been a while since I’ve shared some of my finds, and I’m really looking forward to seeing your treasures and transformations.

Finally, I want to thank you all again – this blog wouldn’t be here without you tuning in and reading my ramblings. Well…it may be here, but I’d be talking to myself. A lot.

It’s been an amazing, unbelievable year for Thrifty Decor Chick. I pinch myself at the fun I’ve had, the connections I’ve made, the opportunites I’ve experienced.

IT HAS BEEN A BLAST.

Thank you so very much. :)

 

P.S. The January Before and After Party will go up on Monday – hope you can join in!

Looking back and moving forward

Well hello! Hope your New Year’s Eve was great! We spent a very low key evening at home, and it was perfect. (Have I mentioned we’ve become complete homebodies??)

I’m loving all the recaps of the year all over blogland over the past week, and I wanted to chime in with a couple more of my own.

First of all, I have to thank my lovely blog friends – ALL of you who link TDC. I truly, truly appreciate it. I can’t tell you the thrill I get when I’m blog-hopping and I see that you’ve linked to my site.

It’s still surreal. :)

I wish I could link to you all, but in the interest of time and space, I’m listing my top ten blog referrers for the year:

1. 1. Centsational Girl
   2. Hooked on Houses
   3. 320 Sycamore
   4. The Nester
   5. Our Suburban Cottage
   6. Better After
   7. A Soft Place
   8. All Things Thrifty
   9. Southern Hospitality
   10. Ucreate

LOVE THESE WOMEN. This year, I’ve roomed with two of them and met (and had a blast with) four others. I hope to meet the last four this year! (Wanna come over ladies??)

I had fun looking through Google Analytics and figuring out the top posts of the year (not all were written in 2010!):

1. 1. How to decorate your mantel
   2. Dollar store fall wreath
   3. Live like no one else
   4. My biggest DIY project:  The stairs
   5. How to make a headboard
   6. A new dining room centerpiece
   7. Christmas tree party
   8. The hardest easiest DIY wreath ever
   9. Make a sofa table for under $20
   10. DIY drum shade chandelier

FUN! I love this stuff! :)

I’m so excited about 2011 (have to get used to writing that!) and all it will bring. Looking forward, I plan on continuing the Before and After Party the first Monday of every month:

To see all of the parties from 2010, click here.

I failed miserably at my Tool School series last year. (Hangs head in shame.):

But I am determined to be better about it this year! I hope to share my favorite tools, how to use them, and the basic gadgets you should have around the house to accomplish your own DIY projects.

I’ve got some more fun stuff coming in the new year! First of all -- if you are human and breathing, you most likely have an overwhelming desire to throw out half of the stuff in your house and clean every little crevice right now. :) I’m with you. I got you. I’ve already taken two car loads to Goodwill in the past week.

It feels amazing!!!

I’m planning another organization party – it will probably be later this month. I just have to get a button made and then I’ll announce it. I’ll make sure to give you time to prepare, but I’ll be harassing you plenty between now and then so no worries. :) Just be sure to take a before picture before you get all productive, OK? (I luuuurve before pictures!!)

And back by popular demand, I’ll be hosting another Goodwill party as well! It’s been a while since I’ve shared some of my finds, and I’m really looking forward to seeing your treasures and transformations.

Finally, I want to thank you all again – this blog wouldn’t be here without you tuning in and reading my ramblings. Well…it may be here, but I’d be talking to myself. A lot.

It’s been an amazing, unbelievable year for Thrifty Decor Chick. I pinch myself at the fun I’ve had, the connections I’ve made, the opportunites I’ve experienced.

IT HAS BEEN A BLAST.

Thank you so very much. :)

 

P.S. The January Before and After Party will go up on Monday – hope you can join in!

The top ten of ‘10

Well, the end is near. The end of the year that is. :)

I had a great time recapping my top ten posts last year, and this year my friend Rhoda is having a whole linky party dedicated to the biggest and best projects of 2010.

So, without further adieu, here’s my top ten of this year, based on your comments! FUN!

First up was the start of our master bedroom redo. It was all about the bedding and I splurged big time on it. Cause we really like to sleep. Like, a lot.

The previous $25 Ebay bedding:

Was replaced with new duds from Pottery Barn and Target:

We did like the old set just fine – it just didn’t fit the bed. Huh. To say we love the change is a HUGE understatement. We quite literally melt into bed every night.

There’s been quite a few more changes to the room since that post, like new lighting, drapes and accessories. You can see all of that here.

And if you want to see how I used to make our bed, click here. (It still makes me giggle to read that. And want to cry just a little bit.)

Next up was our mini family room redo:

A new HomeGoods rug made ALL the difference in the world in there! LURVE.

Next up, a project that was FREE and made such a huge difference in our dining room. I showed you how I removed this hutch:

And found the beautiful buffet underneath:

I framed out the mirror myself, and because everything else was so cheap, I splurged on those GORG lamps. (From HomeGoods. Shock.)

You and I both loved my incredible Craigslist find in the family room – it completely updated a wall from this:

To this:

My new-to-me Drexel dresser was only $100, and it is one of my very favorite pieces in our house now. And it holds a bunch of toys. All the more reason to love it. :)

I finished a long, long, LONG process of taking our builder-grade kitchen island:

To a beadboard-wrapped, cabinet-painted, Ikea butcher-blocked one:

You can see the details of the transformation here, and the updates I’ve made to our kitchen this year here.

Speaking of the kitchen, you all loved when I took our basic, white pantry door and replaced it with a glass-paneled beauty:

The (awful) night shot above shows it with the contact paper installed for privacy, and the light inside (which we wired up and I’ll show you soon!)

We have an unfinished basement that we treat as if it’s finished. We USE it. A lot. I showed you how my craft “room” looked before:

And then with some organization, fabric, and more lighting:

LOVE it! :) You can see more here.

The next one really isn’t a particular project, but it resonated with many of you (and me!). It was a post about STUFF:

My father-in-law’s passing (and the week’s after) changed me. I’ve learned a lot about the STUFF and my emotional responses to it since then, and I’ll tell you more about that soon too.

The final two projects of the year were the ones you loved the most! First, the transformation of the Bub’s nursery to a big boy (airplane) room:

 

It is so clean and classic and crisp – I fall in love with it again every day. You can see the process to redo that room here.

And finally, my biggest DIY project to date, that was also my cheapest. :) I love when that happens!! I took our stairs from this before:

To this, with just about $30:

Well, the stairs were $30 – the molding on the wall was a bit more later, but the whole project was still under $60. It helped that I had the paint, stain, and beautiful curved treads under that carpet. ;)

BUT…all the hard work kind of evened out the money saved. :) It took some major sweat and TIME.

I’d do it all over again though – it’s still my very favorite project I’ve tackled in our home. SO WORTH IT. You can see the whole slew of posts about the stairs here.

Well, there. you. go. The top ten projects here at TDC, determined by your comments. It’s been a GREAT year! Did you have a favorite? What did you tackle that made the biggest impact in your home/life?

Check out Rhoda’s party for inspiration for NEXT year! :) If I don’t talk to you before then, have a very, very happy, fun and SAFE New Year!!

 

Thank you to my sponsor!:

The top ten of ‘10

Well, the end is near. The end of the year that is. :)

I had a great time recapping my top ten posts last year, and this year my friend Rhoda is having a whole linky party dedicated to the biggest and best projects of 2010.

So, without further adieu, here’s my top ten of this year, based on your comments! FUN!

First up was the start of our master bedroom redo. It was all about the bedding and I splurged big time on it. Cause we really like to sleep. Like, a lot.

The previous $25 Ebay bedding:

Was replaced with new duds from Pottery Barn and Target:

We did like the old set just fine – it just didn’t fit the bed. Huh. To say we love the change is a HUGE understatement. We quite literally melt into bed every night.

There’s been quite a few more changes to the room since that post, like new lighting, drapes and accessories. You can see all of that here.

And if you want to see how I used to make our bed, click here. (It still makes me giggle to read that. And want to cry just a little bit.)

Next up was our mini family room redo:

A new HomeGoods rug made ALL the difference in the world in there! LURVE.

Next up, a project that was FREE and made such a huge difference in our dining room. I showed you how I removed this hutch:

And found the beautiful buffet underneath:

I framed out the mirror myself, and because everything else was so cheap, I splurged on those GORG lamps. (From HomeGoods. Shock.)

You and I both loved my incredible Craigslist find in the family room – it completely updated a wall from this:

To this:

My new-to-me Drexel dresser was only $100, and it is one of my very favorite pieces in our house now. And it holds a bunch of toys. All the more reason to love it. :)

I finished a long, long, LONG process of taking our builder-grade kitchen island:

To a beadboard-wrapped, cabinet-painted, Ikea butcher-blocked one:

You can see the details of the transformation here, and the updates I’ve made to our kitchen this year here.

Speaking of the kitchen, you all loved when I took our basic, white pantry door and replaced it with a glass-paneled beauty:

The (awful) night shot above shows it with the contact paper installed for privacy, and the light inside (which we wired up and I’ll show you soon!)

We have an unfinished basement that we treat as if it’s finished. We USE it. A lot. I showed you how my craft “room” looked before:

And then with some organization, fabric, and more lighting:

LOVE it! :) You can see more here.

The next one really isn’t a particular project, but it resonated with many of you (and me!). It was a post about STUFF:

My father-in-law’s passing (and the week’s after) changed me. I’ve learned a lot about the STUFF and my emotional responses to it since then, and I’ll tell you more about that soon too.

The final two projects of the year were the ones you loved the most! First, the transformation of the Bub’s nursery to a big boy (airplane) room:

 

It is so clean and classic and crisp – I fall in love with it again every day. You can see the process to redo that room here.

And finally, my biggest DIY project to date, that was also my cheapest. :) I love when that happens!! I took our stairs from this before:

To this, with just about $30:

Well, the stairs were $30 – the molding on the wall was a bit more later, but the whole project was still under $60. It helped that I had the paint, stain, and beautiful curved treads under that carpet. ;)

BUT…all the hard work kind of evened out the money saved. :) It took some major sweat and TIME.

I’d do it all over again though – it’s still my very favorite project I’ve tackled in our home. SO WORTH IT. You can see the whole slew of posts about the stairs here.

Well, there. you. go. The top ten projects here at TDC, determined by your comments. It’s been a GREAT year! Did you have a favorite? What did you tackle that made the biggest impact in your home/life?

Check out Rhoda’s party for inspiration for NEXT year! :) If I don’t talk to you before then, have a very, very happy, fun and SAFE New Year!!

 

Thank you to my sponsor!:

TDC on The Nate Show!

WHOO to the HOO. I am so excited! I’ve been keeping you in the dark about this fun little news – sorry about that. :) I just didn’t want to say anything till I had an air date, knowing the little I know about TV production…and even now with an air date scheduled, I know it could still end up on the cutting room floor.

But…WHOOHOO!

I’m optimistic and excited so I’m spilling! :)

It started a few weeks ago when I got an email late one night that started:

“Hey Sarah, 
My name is Michelle and I’m a producer on The Nate Berkus Show…”

UM. Hello Michelle!

I woke up hubby from a deep sleep for that one. :)

Anyway, we talked over email and the phone off and on about me coming out, and then I got word early this week that the segment they were thinking about me coming out for was cut.

But they wanted to use my site in a segment called Nate’s Finds – at first I thought it would be just a quick mention, but I think it’s going to be a few minutes worth. (I think. I really have no idea…I haven’t seen what they taped.) So I spent most of the day Tuesday emailing pictures, links, info, and more pictures to one of the producers.

I hear Nate himself was digging one of my project in particular, and did one of his own – can’t wait to see it!

I got word today that the Thrifty Decor Chick segment will be on an episode that airs Tuesday, November 16th.

I have to admit – I was kind of relieved they didn’t need me to come out right now. I’m a planner and the thought of getting the call and flying out the next day was giving me hives. :) At least this time of year -- with the holidays, hubby’s job (three words = marching band season), needing a hair cut, child care, wanting to lose ten pounds. You know.

And now I get to watch and not worry that I look like a total dweeb. It will just be cutie Nate. Showing pictures of my stuff. I can handle that!

Maybe some day I’ll get to go out there and hug swoon over meet Nate in person. ;)

Until then, I can’t wait to see my little “there in spirit” segment! Hope you can catch it!

And as always, thanks for your support! :)

TDC on The Nate Show!

WHOO to the HOO. I am so excited! I’ve been keeping you in the dark about this fun little news – sorry about that. :) I just didn’t want to say anything till I had an air date, knowing the little I know about TV production…and even now with an air date scheduled, I know it could still end up on the cutting room floor.

But…WHOOHOO!

I’m optimistic and excited so I’m spilling! :)

It started a few weeks ago when I got an email late one night that started:

“Hey Sarah, 
My name is Michelle and I’m a producer on The Nate Berkus Show…”

UM. Hello Michelle!

I woke up hubby from a deep sleep for that one. :)

Anyway, we talked over email and the phone off and on about me coming out, and then I got word early this week that the segment they were thinking about me coming out for was cut.

But they wanted to use my site in a segment called Nate’s Finds – at first I thought it would be just a quick mention, but I think it’s going to be a few minutes worth. (I think. I really have no idea…I haven’t seen what they taped.) So I spent most of the day Tuesday emailing pictures, links, info, and more pictures to one of the producers.

I hear Nate himself was digging one of my project in particular, and did one of his own – can’t wait to see it!

I got word today that the Thrifty Decor Chick segment will be on an episode that airs Tuesday, November 16th.

I have to admit – I was kind of relieved they didn’t need me to come out right now. I’m a planner and the thought of getting the call and flying out the next day was giving me hives. :) At least this time of year -- with the holidays, hubby’s job (three words = marching band season), needing a hair cut, child care, wanting to lose ten pounds. You know.

And now I get to watch and not worry that I look like a total dweeb. It will just be cutie Nate. Showing pictures of my stuff. I can handle that!

Maybe some day I’ll get to go out there and hug swoon over meet Nate in person. ;)

Until then, I can’t wait to see my little “there in spirit” segment! Hope you can catch it!

And as always, thanks for your support! :)

Giveaway winner and updates

Well hello there!! Hope you had a fantastic fall weekend!

The winner of the Deeply Fabulous giveaway is (randomly drawn) comment #4 – Terrae01 of Minnesota!:

Congrats! Give me a holla {thriftydecorchick (at) gmail (dot) com} and I’ll get you in touch for your two cutie bags!!

I wanted to mention a couple updates as well – you may have noticed my little consult tab up above is missing, and that’s because as of a couple of months ago, I decided to stop taking on anymore consultations.

I had to let go of something, and that was it. I do have good news though – I’m working with a site that will offer (even better!) online consults for a really fantastic price. I’ll be announcing that very shortly!

If you purchased a consult from me and never sent in your photos, please shoot me an email!

Also – I am trying SO HARD to respond to all of your lovely emails, but I’m not always so successful. :) I am not complaining – I read every single one and love them all! But when there’s a specific question that’s asked numerous times, I’ll be adding it to my FAQ tab. You can find it at the top of my site, on the right, or by clicking here.

I’m hoping this will help get the info back to you, even if I’m not able to answer you personally! (Which I still try to do.)

I’ll be back shortly to share my porch decked out for fall! :)

 

Thank you to this week’s sponsor!:

Giveaway winner and updates

Well hello there!! Hope you had a fantastic fall weekend!

The winner of the Deeply Fabulous giveaway is (randomly drawn) comment #4 – Terrae01 of Minnesota!:

Congrats! Give me a holla {thriftydecorchick (at) gmail (dot) com} and I’ll get you in touch for your two cutie bags!!

I wanted to mention a couple updates as well – you may have noticed my little consult tab up above is missing, and that’s because as of a couple of months ago, I decided to stop taking on anymore consultations.

I had to let go of something, and that was it. I do have good news though – I’m working with a site that will offer (even better!) online consults for a really fantastic price. I’ll be announcing that very shortly!

If you purchased a consult from me and never sent in your photos, please shoot me an email!

Also – I am trying SO HARD to respond to all of your lovely emails, but I’m not always so successful. :) I am not complaining – I read every single one and love them all! But when there’s a specific question that’s asked numerous times, I’ll be adding it to my FAQ tab. You can find it at the top of my site, on the right, or by clicking here.

I’m hoping this will help get the info back to you, even if I’m not able to answer you personally! (Which I still try to do.)

I’ll be back shortly to share my porch decked out for fall! :)

 

Thank you to this week’s sponsor!:

Bloggers in New York!

Well, enough of my bloggy friends have posted their pictures now, so I can finally steal their pics and share my post about our whirlwind NYC trip as well! ;)

I was there for less than 48 hours, but crammed a crazy amount into that time. The evening I arrived, I joined the group of bloggers at the Rue Magazine launch party – it was held at Atelier in the New York Design Center, and I must admit, us DIYers were looking around at the fabulous decor and pointing to things we could totally do on our own:

Doesn’t that look familiar? ;)

I was thrilled to finally meet the infamous Eddie Ross and Jaithan:

(Left to right, Jaithan, me, Rhoda, Eddie, Camila, Marianne and Cristin.)

I was SO excited to finally meet Camila – she is a doll and she worked so hard on pulling so much of the week’s activities together for us!

Many of the Design Star contestants were at the party, and I grabbed a quick shot with Michael:

I have to say – I felt so incredibly out of place at this party! OH my goodness. I’m a t-shirt and jeans kind of girl, and you pair that with having just traveled for five hours, and I just felt SO…thrifty.  ;)

The next day was pretty much dedicated to The Nate Show – but we started out by meeting up with Beth and her friend Kathleen, and were able to take a quick walk over to the beautiful Central Park:

 

Rhoda, Beth and I were perfectly color coordinated!:

Beth was absolutely as sweet as can be – and just like every blogger I meet that I “know” through blogland, I felt like I had known her forever! There are no awkward moments, just immediate friendship!

I LOVE BLOGGERS. :)

Speaking of bloggers I love, we met Megan from Modern Bird before the show:

Um, she is hilarious and FUN! I knew she would be.

I was looking forward to meeting Janell all week!:

I finally met up with her in line before the show and yet again, we felt like instant friends! And did you hear? She taped a segment on the show! With NATE! I’m so thrilled for her – she is such a lovely person and an incredible designer.

The photo shoots continued outside with Lakeitha and Erika:

How cute are they? How is it possible that every. single. blogger there was that gorgeous?

We didn’t have to wait in line for long outside before we were ushered in…but then the real wait started. ;) We waited for about two hours in separate rooms, so everybody was scattered. The staff was SO friendly and kept checking in with us over that time. I was impressed with their patience with us and their professionalism.

Our room was finally ushered into the studio, and Rhoda and I were bummed that we were quite literally some of the last few into the room -- which translated to what were probably the worst seats possible. :)

It ended up being OK, because, of course, the cameras are everywhere, and at one point or another I think everyone ended up watching the big screens above so they could see what was going on.

You may have seen that some bloggers were less than happy with The Nate Show producers and the fact that us, the bloggers, were never mentioned on air. I have to tell you that I never even thought about that – in between segments, Nate thanked us in general and those who had helped to promote his new show numerous times. He was obviously very grateful.

I guess it never crossed my mind that he would say anything about us on air. I mean, the producers did ask us to send in some of our projects, so I wondered if they would highlight some of those, but overall I never expected us to get a shout out.

I found him to be sweet and engaging, and after the show he took time to answer questions from many of the bloggers in the audience. He mentioned that he never does that, so it was a lovely gesture on his part:

Before the trip, I was obviously excited to go to the taping, but the real reason I was so looking forward to going to NYC was to meet and spend time with my blog friends – who are now women I consider friends in real life. The Nate Show was just an exciting extra of the trip!

And seriously – is he not the CUTEST?? Really.

After the show we stopped for some New York pizza:

(My friend Kate and I, deciding between cheese pizza and extra cheese pizza. ;) )

Then walked through Times Square to a subway station:

Darn it, we didn’t see ONE rat!! I was hoping Rhoda would get to see one. ;)

After a very quick stop in at a party sponsored by The Nest, we headed to Little Italy for some dinner, and then a bunch of us went to check out the view at the Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center:

My new and old blog friends: Cristin, me, Kate, Rhoda and Janell.
We had a blast!

I have to give an extra special shout out to Rhoda, for inviting me along with her – she is amazing and a blast to hang out with. And my roomies Emily Clark and her friend Katie (I can’t believe we didn’t get a picture together!) were the cutest and sweetest. Between the three of them I was surrounded by southern accents for days and I was all “y’all this” and “y’all that” when I got home.  ;)

I cannot stress what a blessing blogging has been in my life. I have met so many fantastic, strong, smart women. I have had some amazing opportunities because of this blog. And I am ever thankful and overwhelmed by all of it.

P.S. We have no idea when our episode airs -- we were told to watch online, so I’ll keep my eye out and let you know! :)