Happy New Year, friend! When one year ends and another begins, I always love to look back and see which projects and posts were the most popular with readers. It’s a great review for long-time followers and also brand new readers who probably missed them the first time.
This year, we moved into our vintage-French-meets-Transitional-style home that we spent 2 years planning and 1 year building. So, many of my projects were pieces that I planned to keep and use in the new house. It’s definitely a different feeling knowing you’re keeping certain projects versus updating pieces solely to sell and make a profit.
This post may contain affilliate links to products I use and recommend. Discover all my favorite brands and tools for doing DIY makeovers here.
I also launched Girl in the Garage – The Shop, where you can find printable guides of most of my popular DIY tutorials – how to do easy upholstery, how to decoupage, how to stencil furniture, how to whitewash, how to do image transfers, and more. Go here to browse everything in The Shop.
Finally, my book Amazing Furniture Makeovers: Easy DIY Projects to Transform Thrifted Finds into Beautiful Custom Pieces has sold over 8,000 copies! Woah. I am so very thankful for everyone who’s purchased a copy or given one as a gift. The world always needs more creative inspiration for repurposing items – to save yourself money from buying new, and for keeping unwanted pieces out of landfills. Again, THANK YOU. Learn more about Amazing Furniture Makeovers here and check the best sale price.
Now let’s count down the Top 5 Most Popular DIY Posts of the year…
5. In May I gathered so many fun bookcase makeovers I’ve done over the years and put them all in one place at GITG. Paint, decoupage, stencils, new backs – a little of everything. See all the creative ideas for painting bookshelves here.
4. I also adore painting desks! In July, I curated a list of 25 amazing painted desk makeovers (mine and others) to inspire anyone who needs fresh inspiration for working from home, studying for tests, or even just paying the bills. Your workspace deserves to have some personality and sass. Discover all the fantastic painted desk ideas here.
3. This popular project from November was only $1 at an estate sale. I had big aspirations for this dirty plastic bucket though, and was able to give it a faux-metal finish with a simple painting technique. I’m actually using it for my winter decor, but it could be part of any seasonal decorating. Learn how to make plastic look like metal here.
2. The 2nd most popular DIY post this year (and probably my personal favorite) is this thrifted plastic mirror. Apparently painting plastic was a recurring theme last year. This very fake-looking mirror was painted to look like real wood and it turned out even much better than I imagined. See the steps for how to paint a plastic mirror to look like wood here.
1. Finally, it’s time for the most popular DIY project of the year, and I know some of you won’t be surprised by this one. It’s cute and functional, and totally doable even for someone with only basic DIY skills. Back in May I shared this repurposed drawer to jewelry display project that I made for my new closet. Along with it, I included lots of other creative jewelry display ideas. You can never have enough jewelry organization options! See all the DIY jewelry display projects here.
And there you have it, the most popular DIY projects and posts at GITG for this past year. As always, I hope these ideas inspire you to create your own unique projects. And I’m looking forward to another amazing year with you here at Girl in the Garage! <3
