2016: A Year in Review
I can't believe it is New Years Eve! Where did 2016 go?! I feel like we were just ringing in 2016 & here we are about to ring in 2017. This has been an incredible year for us a Aratari At HOME!
I wanted to share some of my favorite blog posts from this year. I feel very humbled & grateful with all of the love, support, & opportunities I have received in 2016.
First off on my review tour is my post announcing the purchase of our first home! Check it out here! We still cannot believe this house is our home. We are forever grateful that we own this home. We have learned so much this year & have gained so many new skills. This home has only brought John Paul & I closer together as we learn the ups & downs of home-ownership.
My first major DIY project in our home was chalk painting & reupholstering all of our dining room chairs. Check that blog post out here. They were certainly a labor of love, but they were so worth it. They have so much more meaning to us knowing all the hard work that went into them. They truly complete our farmhouse dining room!
Next up, is our yard tour! As first time homeowners, we had to learn all about the upkeep of our yard. We have a pool & had to learn how to open it, maintain it, & close it properly. I think our yard turned out very pretty for our first go around. Check out the post here.
I started a new category on my blog called My Corner Wednesday where I show little nooks in our home & all the links to the products. This was fun to be able to go in depth into small parts of our home that may be overlooked. Here is the first My Corner Wednesday post.
This year marked our 1 year wedding anniversary! I am truly lucky to have married my best friend who supports me in every way possible. He is "the best thing that ever happened to me." Our anniversary blog post is here.
Aratari At HOME was featured on Grandeur Ideas blog which was so fun & exciting for me! This was the first time another blogger wrote about me & I think they did a fantastic job! You can read all about it here. Later this year, Country Home Tours featured Aratari At HOME on their blog. This was incredible to see. The blog was so well written & I felt so honored to have our home featured on their blog among so many other beautiful homes. You can see the full feature here.
I had the privilege of working with some truly amazing brands this year! Check out Oh So Fancy Holmes here, American Rustic Works here, Legacy Publishing Group here, Dandelions in December here & August & Osceola here.
I was honored when Thirteen & Market chose me as one of their brand reps! This shop has some of my favorite pieces. Thirteen & Market was so fun to work with & I have loved seeing their shop grow more & more each day. Read all about some of their beautiful products here. I was also a brand rep for The Vintage Song Bird. They have gorgeous pillows that I blogged about here. Again, such an amazing shop that has beautiful products!
I am so proud of my partnership with Ashley HomeStore. They were such a joy to work with & so accommodating. I feel this post really put my name on the map. We redid our guest room with the help of Ashley HomeStore & I could not be more excited with how it turned out. Ashley HomeStore has some amazing pieces that can really fit into any style. Come check out the guest bedroom reveal here.
We visited Magnolia Market in September! Enough said, I think!!! John Paul surprised me with a trip to Texas for our 1 year anniversary. Dreams do come true! I did a blog post all about Magnolia here.
One of our biggest accomplishments this year was starting a new business together! At the end of this year we were presented with an opportunity to start an interior design business. Although it is still very small, we plan to really expand this upcoming year by promoting & marketing the business much more. Working with my first client was so fun! I truly enjoyed the whole process. I can't wait to see where this goes in 2017. Here are some of the details of our new business.
A big "reno" we did to our home this year was removing the wall paper in our sun room & painting it. Again, first time home owners over here so this was all new territory for us. I am so happy with the way the sun room turned out! So light, bright & airy! Here is the reveal!
Last, but certainly not least I was part of a Christmas Home Tour blog hop. This was so exciting for me as I have never done one before. The ladies that were involved are so insanely talented, have gorgeous homes, & beautiful hearts. These girls were so encouraging, supportive, & helpful. I hope you'll check it out here.
This post has truly helped me to look back on what an amazing year this has been! Between all the DIY projects, the new products I found for our home, starting a new business, working with amazing companies, being a brand rep, & being featured on some very talented blogs, I would say this was a very successful year! I could have shared so many more blog posts with you, but I wanted to just touch on some of the highlights. I enjoy blogging so much & I can't wait to see what this new year brings.
New year, new ideas, new resolutions, & a fresh start. One of my resolutions this year is to become a better gardener. I love fresh flowers & greenery in our home so I want to really try & have a beautiful garden this Spring & Summer. I will share some more resolutions in the new year as well! I have lots of exciting things planned for our home, blog, & business.
I thank you so much for following along & supporting our journey. Hugs to you all! Cheers to a very happy, healthy, & successful 2017!!!!
XO -LA
{ As always, you can leave a comment in the comment section or find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest at @aratariathome }
