Wow. It was a HUGE year of room reveals, and looking back at it, I’m so impressed with my team for executing so many (and I’m realizing I’m already WAY behind for 2026). There are “renovation years” and “reveal years,” and I much prefer the reveal years (and so do you – or so traffic tells me). While some of us love getting into the granular construction stuff, it’s just not as visually pleasing as these styled-out rooms. So let’s recap it in chronological order.

The river house laundry room. Timed exactly for January when people need to stare at clean spaces and fantasize that their life, too, can be neat and tidy (it me!). Eventide is still one of my favorite paint colors – so soothing and fresh but with a lot of depth.

The river house closet. Closets are the only rooms that take ALLLLLL day to shoot. Like we can shoot a living room, dining room, and family room in the same time it takes to shoot one closet. Finding the angle, lighting everything since there is typically no natural light, and making sure nothing is reflected in mirrors.

And then the styling. OH BOY. I know that I’m a perfectionist when it comes to styling (not any other part of my life, BTW, which is weird), so these shots likely took 2-3 hours each to get perfect. This was for a partner, California Closets, so it’s literally my job to care to the extremes, so I do 🙂 And no, no one really lives like that. Technically, I didn’t design this closet, though. Emily and the California Closet Oregon team worked directly with Ken and Katie to design it. I just styled the hell out of it.

Ah, my laundry closet, which is painfully cute and gets so much use. This was my first DIY wallpaper job (pre-pasted FTW) and so satisfying. This is also where I revealed my love for “dumb” appliances (i.e., the Speed Queen that is historically the most long-lasting washer, that cleans the best despite looking so old school). She’s a solid appliance! I also love the little rope detail on the shelves.

Ugh. My best friend Robyn’s living and dining room was so special. It turned out so much better than I thought it would (not that I didn’t think it would be good, but I don’t know, it just came together at the end to be incredibly cozy, personal, and cohesive).

Every time I go over there, it’s perfectly clean and styled. They love it and have a lot of house pride and keep it almost exactly how we left it (table not set).

Such a pretty dining room. I’m so jealous of its coziness.

This guest bedroom in the river house was a sponsored room that I think took us a matter of days to concept and execute, and I think we really nailed it. I love designing bedrooms (despite not really dialing in mine yet!). And while tonal bedrooms aren’t for everyone, they are for me – it’s just really easy to execute, warm, and yet feels designed. Choose different hues and just layer, layer, layer.

Finally, my kids’ bath was completed with the addition of that wallpaper. I love it so much. It feels original, personal, unrepeatable, cohesive, and still me (and hopefully them?).

We also papered my water closet, which at first I was like “whoa, it’s a lot,” but quickly got used to and really like it.

The river house guest bath was a quick one, came together last, and is right off the pink bedroom above.

This was a bonus room of a friend of mine in LA who has an extremely eclectic style. She did the same Spoonflower pattern on every surface (and I had a partnership with Spoonflower at the time, so I convinced them to let me shoot it). Wild stuff and so fun (this hit with the younger crowd, but was controversial to a lot of readers).

My brother’s kitchen patio had to be shot in February to hit our early spring deadline, but we managed to get like 2 days of non-rain to do it. I love those swings so much.

My OTHER best friend’s living room is one of the most gorgeous rooms I’ve ever been in. I’m also jealous of this room and glad I get to stare at it in photos (and in person when I go over).

The dining nook is so special. I must use “Dead Salmon” somewhere in my life at some point (the Farrow & Ball paint color they chose).

We did a one-day styling situation in their basement using mostly what they had (I bought a few things like the sconces and the poufs), and it reminded me how much I love just coming in and solving other people’s problems.

Man, was it fun to have friends who were willing to invest in cool pieces and push it color-wise a bit. They are both creative execs and just love design, making them pretty much the ideal “client”.

Ah, the outdoor kitchen! Man, is it epic. It has four hanging copper lights now that didn’t make it in time for the shoot, and the landscaping has grown in so much. We are extremely pleased and grateful for this and have been enjoyed by, like, hundreds of neighbors.

The landscaping project with Dennis’ 7 Dees came and went in a blur (in the best of ways). They did such an incredible job, and it even looks pretty in the winter (less pretty due to the rain, mud, gray clouds all day lately, but still lots of green to keep it at least colorful).

My brother’s powder bath was just a little mini-reveal, but she’s pretty dang cute.

The studio/prop garage is absolutely life-changing for the Portland EHD team. It still gathers stuff, it’s still a place to pile props or returns after shoots, but it’s dry, no spiders (haha, I’m sure there are), warm, with proper lighting, so organizing things on a cold, wet day is still so pleasant. Thanks to my brother and Nick for executing this so perfectly!

And shout out to the prettiest garage doors ever. I know this seems odd, but we (and all our neighbors and friends) see these garages far more often than the front porch (below), based on how people enter the property, so having these look pretty actually made our curb appeal so much better.

The front porch is so pretty though, and I was so excited to finally get these big wides of the house. If you haven’t seen the before and after of the house and want the full tour, go check out this post.

And I think topping the “unrelatable home project” charts, we did in fact finish the pickleball court in time for summer, and we really love it. What once was a broken tennis court is now a pretty dang useful sports court. Let’s just say I’ll get mad at myself if we don’t have at least one huge party every month from April – September to enjoy the property. So come on over…

Mal really nailed her first reveal in her apartment, but spoiler! She is moving, and she’s going to document her new place as well (some for the blog, some for her channels). It turned out SO GREAT, and my 27-year-old self, who had nothing but mismatched thrifted furniture, was so jealous of her super dialed-in apartment. Seriously talented.

I mean, the most epic speakeasy… This went viral on her channel and for good reason.

Back to the river house, we started doing the bigger reveals of the first floor. We actually shot the living room, kitchen, dining room, office, etc, first, but we had to hold those reveals for the big house feature. So this family room was revealed first (and boy, do I love it). The coziest Bennet sectional FTW.

Mal then revealed her dining room in her Los Feliz apartment, which was so cute.

The foyer off the entry of the river house is one of my favorite vignettes. The contrast of the clean, round sofa against the busier striped warm wood just felt perfect.

The kitchen is such a dream to be in, cook in, and hang out in. We did an early Thanksgiving here with my family, and it flows so well.

Kinda crazy that someone actually gets to live here… 🙂

Then, in October, we headed out to The Carly to shoot round one of holiday content. Gretch produced it and did such a good job and styling that the space was such a dream. You can rent it for luxury group getaways (or small elopement weddings).

OK, so here is where we played sofa roulette, and yet we still don’t know where we are going to land! The Alice sofas in here looked great, but the color palette just didn’t feel like it was balanced. You all had opinions which I really, really love.

Then Jess won for “longest, best, and most personal makeover takeover“. We were all so smitten with how much love and thought she put into her apartment. Such an inspiration.

Stunning. Quiet. Personal. Interesting. I LOVE what she did in her apartment.

Back at the river house again, I got to finally reveal likely my favorite room – the game room (which might be more like a library). Def less “pop a shot” than “rummikub” but it’s just the best room to be in.

Gretch did a fantastic last-minute room change for a partner that turned out so cute in time for the holidays. That’s a sofabed!

Then the last river house reveal (for a while!), which I think turned out better than I imagined. Why am I so good at designing other people’s living rooms but struggling so much with my own???!!!! This one is so comfortable, cozy, warm, and yet big. The Baby Barb is Baby Barbing hard over there.

Kaitlin then tackled her bathrooms in her 1970s house that looked so good, so her and so appropriate. She doesn’t know which one she loves more – their bathroom (above) or her girls (below).

It’s hard not to vote for the girls because of that tile, but I loved how she combined her colors in ways that I hadn’t before. Bravo, Kaitlin!

Ok then, I played furniture rearrangement (with my sofa line, to shoot for marketing purposes) and turns out Brian and I both LOVED IT. Now that opinion was not universal, which I love. Many of you loved the below version better…

And I love this sectional and how the room is so simple and streamlined in this version, but with the Oregon mud/rain, I just don’t think we can have a sectional on the first floor (unless we get rid of our dogs). JUST JOKING.

You guys, it was a HUGE year, and perhaps my Q4 brain is done. I actually want to do more of a personal and business highlight post with some self-indulgent reflections :). Thanks for reading, as always. We appreciate the heck out of every day you come, read, comment, or engage. Thank you, thank you. xx