Reader Favorites of 2015

Can you believe that 2015 is nearly over? I can hardly believe it. I'm still trying to figure out how Halloween wasn't just yesterday, and when and how Thanksgiving and Christmas already passed. To be honest, 2015 was simultaneously one of the hardest and happiest years of my life. Mark and I got hit with a lot this year. If it was anything, life was certainly not easy for us in 2015. Yet, I learned so much this year about myself, about others, about marriage, and about life.  
I learned that your own real opinion of yourself is more important than others' opinions of who they think you are. I learned, no matter what comes tumbling through life, my marriage can be the foundation I cling to; but that this means that sometimes I have to do my part by being a steady rock and not always just the one clinging to it.  I learned that often the world is dishonest and wrong, but that those things don't have to cross the threshold into your home. I learned that peace and kindness is more valuable than asserting yourself and proving that you're right. I learned that burdens will be lifted if I just pray for them to be so. 
Most importantly, I learned that, even though life cam seem impossibly difficult, it's still blessed, happy, and full of things for which I should be thankful. Sometimes, it's still easy to forget this one. To be honest, I'm still working on this lesson and probably will be for my entire life. But I'm thankful to have at least  small understanding of thankfulness. 
In the spirit of thanksgiving and nostalgia at the close of another year, I thought it might be fun to look back over this year's posts. To create a "Greatest Hits of 2015," if you will. This little space experienced some growth this year -- something I thought might have happened but that I didn't really realize until I sat down and looked at a year's worth of posts. Thanks to all who have followed along on our renovation journey this year; I hope you'll continue reading as we tackle all that 2016 holds!
Without further ado, here are your greatest hits and reader favorites of 2015. If you missed one of these posts when it was originally shared, you can click on the title and catch up. 
Patina & Purl Reader Favorites of 2015

10. Warm Industrial-Inspired Vintage Desk

9. Birch Tree Statement Wall

8. Bathroom Makeover

7. Chalkpaint Pumpkin Pillow DIY

6. Creating a Capsule Wardrobe 

5. Our Home Work-space Tour

4. Dining Room Tour

3. Patio Makeover

2. Deciding to Change This blog post was hugely personal to me. Deciding to leave my M.A.T. program was a huge step that made me insanely nervous, but to this day I haven't regretted it. Which lets me know that it was the right life choice for me. I was overwhelmed by the kind response everyone had to this post. Thanks for being so supportive! And a HUGE thanks to all the teachers out there-- I am amazed at your strength and intelligence and ability to do what you do. 

1. Our Kitchen Reveal This post by far was my favorite of 2015-- and yours too, apparently! Our kitchen renovation was a long time coming and took the whole family to complete. But I'm so thrilled with the result. We were lucky enough to  have this project featured on Apartment Therapy as well as Unfolded. 

Thanks to all who followed along this year. We hope you'll stick around and visit us on the flip side. It looks like 2016 has a lot in store, and we can't wait to share it with you. 

Reader Favorites of 2014

image credit: Sarah Nelms

This week, I thought it would be a fun project to quickly scroll through our blog posts and see which stood out as the "Top Ten." These reader favorites were selected based on comments, views, and shares. Going through and seeing which posts y'all seemed to enjoy most was very interesting. Ironically, none of the ones that I expected to be the "most popular" even were among the 2014 Top Ten! Let's see if you were as surprised as I was by the results.

10. Reno and Garland: How We Met Two Dead Generals 

9. un, deux, trois

8. The Necessity of Kindness

7. Living Small

6. Dill House Diary: Bedroom Reveal

5. Who's Against Feminism? 

4. Our Cozy Guest Nook

3. Finding Your Place

2. Dill House Diary: Rail Works

1. The top post of the year was definitely Why I Chose to Change My Name, which was lucky enough to be featured on HelloGiggles' "From Our Readers" column! 

So from this list, I gather that you all like two things: when I provide home renovation updates and when I wax philosophical.... with the occasional cookie recipe thrown in for good measure. I hope to be providing more home renovation news in the new year; so be sure to stay tuned for additions to the "Dill House Diary." 

Thanks to all my readers for your interest, advice, and support! I appreciate every one of you! Happy 2015!!