Looking Back at 2020…and Looking Forward at 2021

January 14, 2021

There’s no use sugar-coating it; 2020 was a doozy. While many of us experienced our fair share of hardships this past year, I overall feel very grateful for getting through it as best we could. I’m trying to focus on the positives that the difficult year gave us, including Cody being with us more than ever before (due to no work travel). And very simply, we are both beyond grateful to still be employed, safe and well in our home. The real heroes of 2020 were all of the healthcare workers, essential workers, teachers/caregivers, and the leaders who actual tried to lead our country during this tough year (I’m looking at your Dr. Fauci and Cuomo!).

2020 also forced a whole lotta reflection and that too, I am thankful for. Any opportunity to learn and grow is a good one in my opinion. I’m in the midst of a lot of changes and I’m excited to bring you along for the ride.

My word for 2021 is consistency. I’m going to strive to be more consistent in every area of my life, including and almost primarily, in my design and blogging work. Help hold me to it! 😉

photo by: Joyelle West

All Things OID

On the professional side, we’re having some internal changes, as our amazing team member, Sarah, is leaving to continue her own venture. I’m so excited for her, but also so sad to lose her. She became a wonderful friend, and was a vital part of OID; I can’t do the work I do without some assistance so stay tuned! I’m finalizing the details on the open position and will be sharing those details soon! OID kicked off 2021 with a bunch of exciting interior design projects and I can’t wait to get the ball rolling.

At the end of 2020, our website redesign went live and I’m still riding the high from it! I’m continuing that fresh approach into the new year by really focusing on core content areas that best serve my readers. Get ready for more home-focused inspiration, design advice and tricks we use, and organizational solutions. But that doesn’t mean my side passions of skincare and travel are disappearing; they are just taking a backseat to the content that I know you all are craving. Narrowing down my content will allow me to be more consistent, and I’m so excited to see where that takes this blog.

In addition to the blog, my newsletter will continue to hit inboxes every other Friday. There are a handful of newsletters (Ashley Kane, The Everymom, mStarr Design…to name a few) that I legitimately look forward to receiving, and I strive to become that resource for you. There will also be an announcement made soon to our email subscribers that you won’t want to miss! There’s a link at the bottom of our website to sign up!

To celebrate 2021 with all things fresh design, I’m also excited to share that I was recently included in a fabulous round-up on Redfin, all about interior design ideas to bring into your home this year! Check it out here – and my personal tidbit? See below 🙂

As our commitment to conscious and intentional consumerism continues into 2021, I foresee a focus on adding well-made, sustainable, and high-quality pieces to our home. Pieces that will last for years to come, and create long-lasting memories.

A couple additional work shifts…

I’m not moving forward as a Beautycounter consultant. Thank you so much to all those who shopped with me; I really appreciate your support. I’m still a BC fan, there are some products that have permanent places in my skincare routine. But I can’t speak to all of their products and it no longer felt like an appropriate fit, due to my preferred wider range of brands and the limited time I was able to give to being a consultant. I’m coming to realize that these smaller side gigs are distracting me from my overall goal to grow my business.  

But as I said earlier, my love for all things skincare isn’t slipping in the slightest! Stay tuned for more reviews and advice.

photo by: Coley Krystyna

Personal Reflections & Goals

Continuing into the personal front, in 2020 I really devoted myself to reading and I’m so proud of that; I read 10 books (which is huge for me!)! I’ll be sharing all of them soon along with the books I plan to read in the next few months! I hope to continue reading and am always down for chatting recommendations so send them my way!

Evie started her big girl school last year and I’m excited at the thought of her actually attending in person (possibly) in March. I’m also hoping to enroll Harvey in the same school Evie went to when she turned four, though we will see how things play out this year; I don’t want to get too ahead of myself.

Cody and I are very much looking forward to traveling when it’s safe again. We are missing our family and friends more than ever and I’m sure you are too. 

On an exciting note! We’re finally diving into renovating our Vermont home’s main floor this year and we can’t wait! We had hoped to do it last year but #covid…and we want to do it the right way and not put a “bandaid” on it, to then have to redo it in a few years. We are looking at the bones of our Acorn Deck Home for inspiration and I’m in full brainstorming mode and loving it. A lot more to come here!

I can’t wait to experience another year with you all, and thank you again so much for following along! The community here is one of the brightest parts of my days! Please let me know if there’s anything you’d like to see here including any design questions you may have. Wishing you and yours a happy January!

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