Top Decoration

A while back we entered our Board and Batten Project that we did in our family room into Apartment Therapy's Do It Now! Small Projects Contest.

We uploaded all of our photos, wrote out all of the instructions and after we hit the "submit" button we received an email telling us that we would receive yet another email letting us know if our entry was selected as a participant. Just because you entered, didn't automatically give you a spot in the contest. We didn't hear a peep. I was disappointed, but chalked it up to being a different kind of project than what they were looking for. No biggie. We'll try again another time.

I woke up this morning to find this email in my inbox:
(This email was sent to six of us that entered)

"Congratulations to all!! It is my pleasure to inform you that you are the six winners of our "Judge's Choice Awards" for Apartment Therapy’s second annual DIY small project contest. You have received Honorable Mention in your category. As with all our contests, every submission was a winner and had something valuable to offer. Still, your outstanding submissions really stood out to our panel of judges!

This year we posted about 80 amazing submissions across five categories that showed how inspirational and creative small DIY household projects can be. Thank you for your remarkable contribution.

Our six judges will each be awarding an honorary prize of their own, which is completely at their discretion...

Once again, thank you so much for being a part of our AT community."

YEAH!!!!!

Judge, Christina Batch-Lee (from Etsy) representing Apartment Therapy chose ours as her favorite project! Here is what she had to say:

Why Christina Chose It: "My pick for the best in decor is How To: Board and Batten. I'm still so impressed by this project! When I first came across the after photo, it took me a moment to "find" the project itself, because the finished results fit so seamlessly into the space and now defines the whole character of the room..."

"Karla and Will's thorough instructions really make this feel doable — and at such a low cost for materials — an easy investment with a big return.

I also love how they've interpreted a nautical theme for this room, with subtle details and material elements that add up to the experience of being in a cozy seaside cabin, or the berth of a ship."

Someone pinch me now!

Thank you so much, Christina! Your words mean more to me than you can know! I appreciate it so much!


How exciting!
I wish I would have known that we were in it!
But, lesson learned...when you enter a contest watch it like a hawk because you may, in fact, be a participant without even knowing it!

What an awesome way to start the day!

Here is the link to our submission:

How To: Board and Batten
Karla and Will's February Jumpstart Project 2009

and the link to what Christina had to say about it:

Christina's Favorite

I'm on Cloud 9...and I just might not come down...

Now we wait to see what our prize is!