If you’ve been around here for awhile you know I share a favorite things list every year. Because when I love something, I really love it, and I love sharing about it with friends! (Funny how I’m pictured here coincidentally wearing my red adidas that made my favorite things list last year.) My 2025 favorite things list is comprised of the things that made the year sweeter, cozier, and more fun. These finds earned permanent real estate in my home, my routine, and my repeat-buy list. Let’s get into it!
1. Seeing If These Walls Could Talk in your beautiful homes!
While the rest of this list is in no particular order, without question my absolute favorite thing of 2025 was receiving photo messages from you all showcasing my book in your homes! I seriously can’t thank you enough for your encouragement, kind messages, and enthusiastic support of If These Walls Could Talk! Working on this book was a true labor of love and a dream come true. But seeing it in your hands, on your coffee tables, and tucked into your bookshelves was truly the highlight of my year!
2. Putting up one of my Christmas trees a few days before Halloween.
This is the earliest I’ve ever started decorating for Christmas, and I have zero regrets! I spent the entire month of November listening to Christmas carols while slowly decking my halls, and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute. It’s made this season feel so much more enjoyable because I’ve not felt pressed for time, and I think this may just be my new tradition going forward. Am I nuts?
3. Using ChatGPT to try on paint colors.
This has easily become my new favorite hobby. Turns out AI isn’t all that bad. It’s just too easy and so much fun to play with paint colors this way, and my bedroom will be getting a refresh in 2026! Stay tuned!
4. Painting my powder bath walls black.
Speaking of using ChatGPT to play with paint colors, this is exactly what inspired my decision to paint the walls in my powder bathroom black. And I love this dramatic change so much. The power of paint remains undefeated! If you’re itching for a color change, my advice? Go for it!
5. Adding cafe curtains to my kitchen windows.
Why did I wait so long to do this?! These cafe curtains added the perfect, cozy finishing touch to my kitchen! And my code OURFIFTHHOUSE is still active if you’re in need of curtains (you can save 26% off sitewide).
6. Giving a couple lampshades a holiday makeover with wrapping paper.
This could not have been easier (see the video tutorial here), and I have no idea why I’ve never thought to do this before! It’s so simple, so festive, and so inexpensive. I will definitely be doing this again next year.
7. The skincare heroes that are helping me avoid Botox.
At 47 it takes a village…
These aren’t the only Oliveda products I use, but these are the ones that are absolutely incomparable.
F59 serum – This powerhouse serum combines the incredible antioxidant power of hydroxytyrosol (which comes from the olive leaf) with smoothing paracress extract (known as nature’s botox due to its ability to relax muscle tension and smooth expression lines). While there’s technically no such thing as botox in a bottle, I feel like this is the next best thing. I use this every night and love it!
F81 serum – This gentle but effective serum blends alpha hydroxy acids with hydroxytyrosol to deliver glowing, radiant skin by exfoliating while protecting. I use this every other night. Exfoliation is SO key to a good skincare regimen, and this serum is chef’s kiss.
F92 Face Balm – This moisturizer is unlike any I’ve ever used. It’s thick (almost like a mask) and deeply nourishing. It’s been so great for my dry, winter skin. I layer it on after my serums at night and wake up with the softest, smoothest skin in the morning.
8. The body products saving my dry skin, and the one I get asked about all the time.
Versed Retinol Body Lotion – Just trust me. Your arms, legs, hands, and feet will thank you. This is the best night time body lotion! However, while it doesn’t smell bad, it also doesn’t smell great. So I layer it with….
Pipette Baby Lotion – Again, trust me. If you like a soft, slightly sweet synthetic-free scented lotion you can use day and night that nourishes but never leaves your skin feeling greasy, you will love this!
MixBar Vanilla Bourbon Hair & Body Mist – My daughter turned me onto this spray, and I get asked about it all the time. It’s not overpowering or overly sweet, and it’s just $9.99!
9. The makeup and hair team that truly do the heavy lifting around here.
Natural beauty? Never heard of her. 😉 My glam squad is mighty!
Merit lipstick in Classic – While I love a bold, red lip (Vermillion), a neutral lip is my daily go-to. And this one is perfection!
Live Tinted Serum Concealer & Unity Balm – The kind folks at Live Tinted sent me some products to try and their concealer and tinted lip balm have become fast favorites. Somehow the concealer glides on lightly but provides great coverage and doesn’t settle in fine lines. And the lip balm is the perfect barely there neutral that feels so so good on lips.
Colorescience Face Shield Flex & Color Balms – These gems I’ve been using for years and have yet to find anything better! Seriously, the Face Shield Flex is like a magical miracle worker. I don’t understand how it works so well, but I’m grateful!
RMS Blush Brush – If you use cream blush or a cream bronzer, you need this brush.
Alleyoop Mascara – As many of you know I went on a journey this past year to find a mascara that doesn’t transfer, flake or clump yet adds some drama and is still easy to remove. And after many duds, I found a winner!
Kosas powder & Brow Gel – This powder is a gamechanger. Sets your makeup, sweeps away shine, yet gives your skin the most beautiful glow. And this brow gel has been a favorite for many years now.
Ilia Lip Crayon – I literally use this in the Banquette shade every single day. It pairs beautifully with every color but is also great all on its own.
Oliveda Lip Balm – It’s part balm part mask, and I just can’t accurately convey how incredible it is. You really just have to try it. I put it on every night before bed and first thing in the morning. It feels incredible on, and it absolutely saves my lips! They’re never dry, chapped, or peely thanks to this balm!
Sephora sharpener – Have you ever used a bad sharpener and ruined a makeup pencil? Ugh. Why are so many sharpeners so awful?! This one is perfect!!!
Madison Reed Root Touch-Up Kit – I’ve been using this kit since 2020 to deal with my greys. Love that it not only saves me time but money, and it’s fool-proof (which is perfect for me ;)).
Aveda Volumizing Tonic – This gives you just the right amount of volume. I’ve been using it for months now, spraying it on after a wash and it gives me a salon quality blowout. Love!
Kristin Ess Working Texture Spray – I switched to this from Oribe because I was tired of paying a ridiculous $50 for a hair product, and this is just as good. Admittedly it doesn’t smell as good as Oribe, but the $14.99 is so much kinder to my wallet that I’ve chosen to overlook that fact. Big fan!
10. Leaning hard into personality over perfection.
Last but certainly not least, this year more than any other I really lived what I preach from a design perspective. I’ve always shared about creating a home full of personality and letting your home tell your unique story, so I’m sure it wasn’t a surprise that personality over perfection was the mantra of my book. But in 2025 I really and truly leaned into that more than I have in the past. And some of that you didn’t really see….but it looked like letting the dishes pile up in the sink without stressing, having friends over when the house isn’t “perfectly clean”, and prioritizing creativity over productivity.
And my soul (even through some really difficult things that went down this past year) truly felt this shift.
And it felt so good…to choose feeling over finish, experience over results, and creativity over all!
Somewhere along the road to adulthood I stopped trying things that I’m not good at, and this year I decided to just play more and not worry if the end result is “good”. (Went for a lips print in here and tried my hand at painting….and I really like it!)
I’m excited to do more of this in 2026, and I’m also excited to finish styling this mudroom closet!
2025 was a year of leaning into what works, what feels good, and what adds a little joy to daily life! Now I’d love to hear about your favorite things of 2025!
