Favorite Projects of All Time

I thought it would be fun to take a look back at some of my all time favorite projects over the years.  I wanted to include "Then" and "Now" (or at least more recent) pictures too so you can see how my home and style has evolved over the years.

First up:  An old window turned picture frame

I did this five years ago back before it was all the rage.  I don't think Pinterest even existed then.  So it's highly possible that I invented the whole window picture frame thing. Ha! :)  I remember feeling like it was such a big risk.  And Tim totally thought I had lost it when I told him what I wanted to do with the old window I had drug home from an antique store.

Then:

And now

My faux fireplace transformation

You must know by now that I love fireplaces.  In my last home, I didn't have one, so I decided to make one…. a fake one anyway.  I bought a mantle off of Craigslist and brought it home to see what I could come up with.  At first it didn't look so great!

After some brainstorming, I ended up putting a chalkboard behind it and drawing a fire on it to make it feel more cozy.

Then:

Over the years, it's had many transformations.  At the moment, I'm not using it because I decided to move my desk upstairs and there is only so much room.  Some days I miss it and want to bring it back up.  But here's a look at some more recent pictures of it....

Do you remember when we needed a coffee table so we decided to build our own chunky distressed coffee table ?

I still love it.

Right now, we have it in our basement because it fits so well with our other furniture down there.

The kitchen coffee bar/buffet

Then:

The turquoise was fun, but it felt limiting at times.  So back in October, I decided to re-paint it a more neutral color. Here's a recent picture.

Painting the Brick Fireplace

When we moved in, our fireplace looked like this

Before:

Painting it made an immediate and dramatic difference.

Then:

Since that picture was taken, Tim put up a mantle for me.

And Now:

Peyton's Barbie Dollhouse

I still love this project.  I had so much fun making it for her.

I'll spare you a "Now" picture because I'm pretty sure that Barbie's house is a disaster and she needs a maid to come clean it up for her.  And most likely, Barbie is naked and would not like me taking pictures of her and posting them on the internet.  :)

Hope you had fun looking back with me.  Does your style evolve too over the years?  What's your favorite project you've ever done in your home?