My Top 10 favorite posts of the year!
This year has flown by! It is common to look back and reflect as the clock resets for another 365 days. I’ve never really tracked my contribution here on the blog before because it was just a natural occurrence to be sharing and creating articles for a client’s need or use.
For a couple of years the posts on here had grown scarce as I navigated a new job that was high demand with little free time for creativity. This year was unique in the sense that I was able to put time and energy into what I always enjoyed about this space- my love of writing and photography to create a journey and to share things I notice and experience. Surely not all the content will resonate with everyone, but I write the type of blog I would want to read: some design, some travel, lighthearted observations mixed with a few deeper essays on life, loss… love.
As I looked back over the year at the new series I created, the standard posts I love to do and the design opinions I just had to share- I counted over 40 entries as of the beginning of November. With ideas for at least a dozen more before the end of the calendar year I decided to set my goal at 52 so I could finish 2023 with a round number of posts that align with the number of weeks in a year. Although this may feel like one of those flashback episodes seen on tv sitcoms, I wanted a chance to revisit my favorite pieces from a year that represented a lot of change in my life. I also wanted to take a moment to celebrate hitting my goal at at time when we are usually preoccupied by creating new ones.
Here are my top 10 favorite posts I created last year!
#10
This post was merely a favorite photo post in essence- short and sweet- but it was written in my head on a drive home from a late work appointment. It was really foreshadowing to the shift and change that was going to happen in my outlook on life and work.
#9
Fall Travel Series: An abandoned town you can visit at Fayette State Park!
The fall travel series is always one of my favorites to add to every year. There are currently over 20 locations represented through this original series that has been present on the blog since it’s beginning. Despite this article’s summery representation for an autumnal travel suggestion, this trip and location is on my list because it also stays true to what I try to keep in mind with this space- Katie Jane Interiors is an interior design and construction blog. Showcasing a travel location that also includes historic houses fits nicely with the objective!
#8
I introduced a new series in May: The Small Business Summer Series. This was inspired by my need to share and encourage more in-person shopping experiences that we have taken for granted now that most people shop online. As a designer I feel more inspired when I can walk in and experience merchandise with all of my senses. Most of my posts represented places that make great use of old buildings (keeping that objective from #9 in mind!) but this one veered into more of a personal post. I wanted to celebrate the years of work behind my family’s business by telling a small piece of their story. It could have easily been a Sunday Night Supper story- which is a series I have neglected this year.
#7
How to invite a nostalgic summer feeling into your house!
“How to” posts are tricky because there is an implied promise of usefulness to their content. I can compare and contrast design trends without having to prove their relevance to the reader. “How to” posts need a little more substance in editing. This post is a personal victory for me as it stems from a draft started when I started the blog. I could have deleted it but once I start something I can’t help but see it through. So I worked on it again and I like what evolved. It’s not the most brilliantly written but I took myself out of my own backyard- where I have daily access to nature, lightening bugs and general wonder- and tried to imagine the easiest way to give a little sense of that to someone with a less free range environment.
#6
If you have ever struggled with feeling like you can take on more than you should then the following paragraph illustrates why you should read this post- “As I carefully snipped each curling tentacle off the struggling lilac I reflected on my mistake. I had assumed the lilac could handle the stress of the vines. I had assumed that because the lilac had done it before it could do it again. I had assumed that when I got around to taking care of it, it wouldn’t be too late.”
#5
The story of how our bonus room got a bonus room
This is my favorite Before and After post of the year because the during pictures perfectly illustrate the evolution of an empty space to a cozy retreat. It’s another example of a “tiny but mighty” room idea that I plan to highlight as a new series for 2024.
#4
This post was almost renamed “There is wisdom in their Rust” after I wrote it, but somehow my original title stuck. It was the first thing that popped into my head as I was photographing them on that beautiful August Day and I couldn’t let it go. An excerpt-
“A somber walkway of rust and ruins hiding behind the clean and organized storage buildings. A startling juxtaposition from preserved history to discarded memories.”
#3
Easiest holiday hacks to try all year!
This made it so high on the list because it is fresh in my mind and was a completely unplanned post that snuck it’s way into 2023 after Christmas. The photos of the cake were just too good not to use!
#2
I love this post- but I loved the original post too. To see this area transformed, I couldn’t wait to share it as another Fall Travel Series, so I fit it right in with the spirit of the other summer stories. My favorite line if you haven’t read it-
“From reclaiming the park to preserving architecture, what one decade saw as a blight on nature, another was inspired to began a quest of salvation. And this is history. The study of the ever changing ideas of the people and how it shaped their worlds. For most of us left standing in awe of a town like Elkmont, we are contemplating how our future will be shaped by ours.”
#1
A few thoughts on my Birthday this year!
This post says it all- everything I also feel about the New Year- the bittersweet time of year that represents renewal but also letting go-a time that reflects on change and our fears of aging. I remember writing it in my head as I was walking this road years ago. When I finally put it in a journal this year it came together more beautifully than I had remembered. This is common for me. I often speak my mind or recite a story to the moon or the road or the sunset without ever writing it down. Sometimes those words are gone forever, other times they find me again and beg to be put down on paper. Some days this blog just happens to be that one big digital piece of paper!
Thanks for being witness to all my thoughts and stories of 2023!
Happy New Year!
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