Saylor Street Cottage: Final Post for the 31 Day Blogger Challenge

Well, I made it. I made a daily post for the last 31 days. Now some bloggers may not think that's a big accomplishment but for me it definitely is.

I took on the challenge because I needed something to jump start my blog. I started this blog to put me back on track with decorating my home. I work full time and as I've gotten older I just don't have the energy I use to have to do fun things around the house when I get home from the office. I try to cram everything in during the weekend but something always comes along to take up those days and I just get further and further behind.

I decided that my 31 day challenge would be 31 days of Fall inspiration. It worked. At one point my son said "it looks like fall around here, it hasn't looked this nice in a long time". I think part of the reason for my lack of interest in the décor is our house. This is our second home and it's never quite felt like it belonged to us the way our first home did.

We sold our first home to a builder and they knocked it down and put up a mini-mansion on the lot. I think that was a good thing because we have no home to drive past now and get melancholy. Our first house was old and needed a lot of work. It had old paneling and old windows and old floors, it was only two bedrooms and one bathroom but had a full walk up attic and a large old kitchen. The kids were babies when we moved in, my son was only 7 months and my daughter was just turning 2. Their childhood memories were created in that house and even though it was old and worn it was a cozy and safe place with warmth and love.

When we moved into this house we thought it would be only temporary. We bought when the market was high so we got a lot less house for our money. This house was smaller than our old house but was newer and in much better shape. It has two bathrooms and 4 bedrooms, it has a finished basement and large garage. But the kitchen is small, too small and the dining room is small and when I have people over I always feel like we're climbing over one another. I wanted a cape cod style home because of their quaint look but I didn't realize that it would feel cramped and it just hasn't won my heart.

The 31 day challenge helped me turn that around. Now I'm looking for ways to decorate, it has motivated me to think about painting and changing some things like window moldings and interior doors.

So, I'm going to continue the blogger challenge into November with 31 days of cleaning and organizing for the holidays. I'm also adding another topic, so I'll be blogging on two topics per day in November.

Topic number two will be 31 days to a better body. I've been over weight most of my life and I think that by blogging some successes each day it will force me to get on and stay on track.

In recapping October I'm happy to say I've gotten quite a lot accomplished. I made some cute Fall and Halloween decorations, I had an Operation Christmas Child gathering, I've made some wonderful fall inspired recipes and I've rekindled my love of home décor.

I can't wait to see how successful my November blogging will be!