It’s that time again: a quick month-in-review where we gather everything we tackled over the past few weeks and collect the links in one convenient spot. We also tossed in a few never-before-seen moments to keep things interesting. This month was a mix of kitchen demolition and planning, office updates, landscaping changes, and a touch of Halloween crafting. Here’s a roundup of highlights, complete with some fun superlatives.

Most Destructive: Demoing our fridge cabinet, which officially kicked off our kitchen makeover. It was the messy start that set everything else into motion.

Best Timing: Finally buying appliances at just the right moment, saving nearly $1,400 and reducing a lot of future stress.

Best Moves: Swapping the locations of our fridge and pantry to improve kitchen flow. It’s amazing what a little rearranging can do—Sherry’s determination was on full display during the heavy lifting.

Best Removes: We removed our wall oven, its cabinet, some countertops, and the cooktop to make space for the new appliances. It felt aggressive but necessary.

Thriftiest: Great secondhand finds from a trip to Brevard, NC for a family wedding—proof that road trips can double as treasure hunts.

Cutest Couple: Clara and her BFF Gee (a name she chose herself), all packed up for the weekend. It’s adorable, and the cabinets are apparently part of the entourage.

Cutest Couple (Runner Up): A tie between Sherry & Katie’s giggly performance and my & Jeremy’s lighthearted cameo in the Q&A with the Bowers during their visit to Richmond: watch the video to see the antics.

Worst Looking: Our kitchen during electrical work while we prepared outlets and connections for the new appliances—definitely not the prettiest phase: see the update.

Most Killer: Stenciling our office walls took several long sessions but produced a dramatic, rewarding result.

Most Likely To Include Ceramic Animals: Curating a small collection for Joss & Main—the “Curator’s Collection”—where we happily indulged in whimsical finds like dog lamps and map art: see the collection.

Cheekiest: Our office chairs got a bold refresh with green paint and new upholstery. They now bring a playful energy to the space.

“Gone To the Dark Side” Award: The bottom half of our office walls went darker to anchor the room—painting them grey added depth and contrast.

Least Likely To Take Themselves Too Seriously: Simple, colorful, sentimental art projects for the office that cost only about $13 but deliver a lot of personality: DIY art ideas.

Sloppiest: Clara’s exuberant finger-painting on our kid-friendly Halloween pumpkins produced delightfully chaotic results: see the colorful pumpkins.

Spookiest: A collection of mildly creepy Halloween décor—bloody candles, white wooden snakes, and green apples and gourds—added atmosphere without going overboard: Halloween decorations.

Most Hair Raising: A spider that interrupted a quick mum upgrade on the front porch. We spared you the close-up, but the story is memorable: the tale.

Most Open: The refreshed view of our front yard after removing the overgrown bush fence—goodbye, hedge.

Most Open (Runner Up): Sharing some of our kitchen decision-making, including plans for a few open shelves and other layout choices: kitchen decisions.

Most Grounded: Choosing dark cork flooring for the kitchen—on sale at Lumber Liquidators—which feels warm and substantial: flooring update.

Most Well Rounded: The penny tile we selected for our backsplash is classic and charming—Clara approves: penny tile pick.

“The White Stuff” Award: Instead of granite, we chose white Corian countertops for a clean, durable surface: countertop decision.

Deal of the Month: Saving over $300 by buying cabinets at the ReStore instead of a big-box store—smart sourcing matters: cabinet find.

Most Likely To Catch Flies: KB & SP announcing the return of the Pinterest Challenge, complete with surprised faces and open mouths.

That’s our October in a glance. Can you believe it’s already November? What projects did you finish last month? If you haven’t tried listing accomplishments, consider using the comments to share what you completed—taking a moment to appreciate finished tasks feels good before diving back into the next project. For us, the kitchen continues: by this time next week there should be a large new opening into the dining room, so stay tuned.

Psst—check out July’s superlatives here, August’s here, and September’s here.

Pssst—this week’s giveaway winners were announced. See the post to find out if you’re one of them.