Hi friends! It’s the end of 2020 (cue cheers!!!!) and wow, this year did NOT go as planned. What a ride! First and foremost, we want to say we’re so proud of you for the struggles you’ve faced this year. We have heard from so many of you who have experienced job loss, losing loved ones, and any of 100 other pandemic-related struggles. On top of that, 2020 was challenging for non-pandemic-related reasons for so many as well. At this point, I feel like I can’t really begin any conversation without at least acknowledging this and offering a (pretend and very safe) group hug. We love you.
We’re grateful to be alive and we’re looking forward to 2021 with a lot of hope. Here are our most popular posts of 2020, as well as a report on the renovation goals I set at the beginning of the year (which is very strongly a “you win some, you lose some” situation).
Most popular blog posts of 2020
Still, after all these years we love blogging. Consistently, writing and sharing blog posts is our favorite part of our workweek! Here are the top posts as far as click and popularity and I’ll share some of our personal favorites in the honorable mentions as well!
1. How I Refreshed My Kitchen Cabinets In One Afternoon
2. Lemon Burst Crinkle Cookies
4. Rainbow Corner Accent Wall DIY
5. Overnight Baked Banana Bread Oatmeal
And some personal faves:
-Laura’s Front Room Refresh
–The Best Paint For Kitchen Cabinets
–Deep Dish Pizza Recipe
–Elsie’s Living Room Reveal
–How We Prepped Our Home To Sell
–Elsie’s Main Bedroom Tour
–Striped Porch Floor DIY
–Elsie’s Coffee Station Tour
Most popular podcasts of 2020:
We’ve been podcasting for over a year now, which is fun to say! We put a lot in at the beginning for close to no income and we just recently started picking up sponsors and traction. Thank you SO MUCH for supporting us by listening and sharing. Because of you, we’ll be able to continue on as it becomes a legitimate part of our business and more than just a hobby. 🙂 Here are our most-streamed episodes of the year!
3. How To Decorate Affordably (and not just from Target)
4. So Fresh and So Clean (Decluttering + Organization)
5. Oops I’m Moving Again (Follow Up Q+A)
Our most popular interviews of the year were Rich Life Chat with Ramit Sethi and How To Design For YOU With Jonathan Adler.
Note: We recently added transcripts to every single episode in our archives.
So … about my “2020 Project List”:
Last January, I published this post full of projects I wanted to complete in 2020.
-It included selling our home, which we did complete early in the year. I recapped that in this podcast episode. We actually ended up selling a lot more than that, but we’ll get to that below.
-The next goal completing our Disney bnb in Florida, which Collin and I had ironically scheduled to travel there and do at the end of March. We kept pushing that back, of course. After months of our home in Florida sitting empty, then the realization that it could easily be more than a year before we would feel safe to travel there, we decided to sell the house. It was sad MAINLY because I really wanted to decorate the Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland and Toy Story inspired rooms. I was really, really excited for those decor and DIY projects. But in my gut I knew it was the right choice to sell the home and move on. No regrets. The stars were just not aligned.
-Another goal I set in that post that I did not complete was to do a room makeover for my friend, who is a single mother. She’s amazing and has been so understand of this delay. And since she has been home full-time with her child almost the whole year, it probably wasn’t the best time to destroy and redo her living room. We will absolutely be moving that project forward. When Collin and I have received both doses of our vaccines we will be restarting this project and, honestly, at this point I think we owe her two rooms if she wants it. Haha! Stay tuned for that.
-Otherwise my whole 2020 list was about remodeling the home we had just bought. We completed ALL these projects ahead of schedule because in about April or May Jeremy and I decided not to build on to that home, and instead to sell it and move to a bigger home that didn’t need any construction projects or any immediate remodeling.
Here’s a recap of the projects that we completed before selling the home we only lived in for five months (by the way, I lived in it and I still DO NOT understand how we got so much done so quickly! We truly only did it that fast because we had to sell it to complete our pivot and move).
–Stairway Makeover
–Deck Makeover and Tour
–Mini Kitchen Remodel
–Main Bedroom Tour
–Breakfast Nook and Living Room Tour
–Paneled Ceilings
–Nova’s Retro Floral Bedroom (by FAR the room I was the saddest to leave behind and my favorite tour of 2020!)
–Entry and Living Room Reveal
–Basement Tour
–My Favorite DIY of the Year
–Dining Room Tour
We’ve now lived in our new-new home for five months. I shared my plans for it here and a video tour of it (empty on the day we closed) here. We hit the ground running with this home, literally ripping down old wallpaper as our movers carried in boxes. So far, I have only shared one completed space, but there are more on the way! Over the past few months, as we focused on sharing holiday content, Collin and I were working ahead and making progress on a lot of spaces. 2021 is sure to be full of room tours and home projects!
Thank you so much for following along and supporting our blog. We’re happy you’re here! Cheers to 2021! xx. Elsie + Emma
I echo the comments of others here. I follow ABM here, on podcasts, and Instagram. I can’t believe how much I look forward to each week’s podcast. Sometimes I do crazy things like check how long it is before listening, hoping for a long one! My husband always chuckles at me walking around the house exclaiming and laughing along with you two! I have been pretty fortunate this year, but it still has been tough, and your podcasts helped give structure and something to look forward to. You have made Mondays exciting! Finally, your content has also helped through all of your recommendations. (Especially books!) So, Thank you to you both, and your team!
I appreciate this recap of 2020 and the hardwork you and your team have put into creating inspirational content for what was a challenging year to say the least. Your blog is truly unique and a bright spot.
Thank you and thank you! I love that you and Emma still love blogging and regularly sharing your creative and newsy posts. Many of my favorite bloggers have gone the way of FB and Instagram… I get that, but for me, the intimate nature of a blog is lost within that type of social media.
Your post today was uplifting and brought back some of the happy highlights of a year I’d just as soon kick to the curb. I’ve made your lemon crinkle cookies dozens of times, delicious!
Elsie’s living room reveal and coffee station tour posts, Nova’s retro floral bedroom and Mini kitchen remodel and …. too many to mention were so much fun and quite inspirational!
Your podcasts…in a word, “Addictive”
Hugs and thanks and best wishes for a brighter New Year to all at ABM! Looking forward to spending 2021 with you girls!
Thank you for the recap! And thanks to everyone on your team for all of the content this year. It was one of the hardest years for most of us! Daily life is still pretty scary and things are not “normal” but listening to the podcast and reading the blog have made me feel optimistic and just calm and happy on some really dark days. Giving you a hug right back!
Hey Elsie!
Thanks for being so hopeful and positive as we look forward to next year! I always feel better after visiting your site, seeing you guys’ enthusiasm, plus whatever fun projects you’re up to. Hoping 2021 will be the best year ever for all of you!
2020 has been the year I started consistently following y’all. I LOVE the podcast and love your blog content. Getting to follow along your lives and “get to know you” has been a sweet little light in this very hard year. Thank you all for all you do at ABM!
Thank you so much for following along Rachel!!! 🙂 We’re so happy you’re enjoying the podcast too!
everyone at ABM has made me feel less alone this year- thank you for everything
AHHHH this makes our day, actually our whole week. Sending you a big hug!
Totally agree, you’ve been a bright spot throughout the year, I feel like I know and loveee you all! Thank you for your kindness, generosity of spirit, fun and joyous posts! PS I am one of those “non podcasters” but I have absolutely loved reading the transcripts! Thank you for them!