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Happy Friday! I’ve skipped the month in review for a few months but wanted to get back to it today with some of my favorite projects from January and February. Gotta admit, it makes me feel very productive when I look back!

I was totally focused on getting our mud room somewhat usable at the beginning of the year and I shared the progress throughout a few posts:

Here’s how I used upper cabinets to build a built in bench, then info about the butcher block top and more details and finally the finishing touches. The room is far from complete but the bench is done and I love it!

This winter was intense. That is an understatement. A friend just told me yesterday that they’re saying the summer’s going to be super hot and dry. I cannot handle the extremes people. The tips I shared to keep our home warmer in the winter will also work to keep it cooler in the summer, so these are always worthwhile:

We have cats and I used to think that meant I couldn’t have plants. Not so! I share a few of my favorite plants that are safe to have around animals here:

I am now the crazy cat lady and the crazy plant lady.

We have a few more areas in our basement to finish up and the kitchenette is one of them. It’s always been a dream of mine to have one so this little area has been fun for me:

I shared how I finished off and installed the countertops and then added some bling with the stenciled wall. A few of you asked how I got the stencil to match the rest of the wall as I moved across. I would overlap the stencil over the parts that were already done and make sure that was as exact as possible and tape it up. Then I would fill in the areas that weren’t painted. Doing it that way kept it from going wonky on the wall as I moved across.

Ever wondered how high to hang art or how long your chandelier should hang? You know, the really important life questions? I shared some of those tips here:

By the way, yes, my boy and I painted that canvas – you can see how we did it here.

Sometimes I use spray paint and it holds up forever. Sometimes it doesn’t. :) I shared how our door handles have held up in this post:

There were lots of different experiences in the comments, check it out before you attempt your own.

Someday I will have all of the doors in our house painted black. I just think it looks sharp. But because it takes me forever it will probably be another year or two before I’m done:

Some tricks and the color I’m using on my doors here.

Did you know you can change the direction your dryer door opens? It’s truly the little things that make life easier:

It took a little bit longer with our newer dryer but it’s so worth it. (And yes, I’m still trying to open it from the other side.)

I finally put all of our paint colors into one post and shared it here:

Six years ago if you had told me my house would have so much blue I would have laughed at you. But now I love it.

I have a new favorite app and talked about it here:

I was mistaken – I don’t think it’s available for Android users just yet. Boo.

And one of my latest projects that doesn’t look like much here but is coming together beautifully – the master closet redo:

It’s working out SO well so far, I’m so excited about it! I can’t wait to show you!

Oh and I added the Pinterest pin to my photos! I’ve always use the pin in button in my bookmark bar to pin from blogs but many of you have asked for it – it does make things easier. I may change it to something smaller soon but I’m just lucky I made this happen so I’m all YAY ME. :)

Have a wonderful weekend everybody and stay safe!