We’re nearing the end of the year – the end of a decade too! – and we did quite a bit on The 256 Project this year. I thought I was going to look back on all the content I produced this year and think, “wow, how little,” considering I had a baby and changed jobs, but I was very happy to see that I actually did stuff! So here’s what I think was the best of the blog this year.

The year started off with some huge news: we welcomed a baby to #thecozycottage! I showed you how I designed and DIY’d the nursery, with the reveal here. The only thing that has changed is we swapped out the garbage can for a similarly colored Diaper Genie. We’ll probably have to move the mirror over the dresser/changing table since he can now touch it and it would be terrible if it fell on him.

I interviewed some pretty cool people in the biz, including Beth Diana Smith and Marie Burgos as part of the Designer Spotlight series; Diane Rath, Jewel Marlowe and Nicole White here because I loved their One Room Challenge projects this fall; and Meeshie Snyder on finding, curating and buying art, here.

I got busy in the kitchen, with a couple of easy recipes, seen here and here; shared some of my favorite cocktails that we make every week as part of #thirstyThursdays (follow me on IG to see what I’m enjoying each week!); and the biggest kitchen thing I did was painting it pink!

We cleaned up the backyard quite a bit, wiping out the hedge and rose bushes, and making it a much more playable, more manageable space. See here and here.

And then I got into the holiday spirit, with gift guides tailored to buying presents and giving back, and showing off how we decorated for Christmas here.

I’ll be back next year with what I hope is more fun content. Speaking of, is there anything you’d like me to write more about? Less about? Let me know!