Every year I take a day at the end of December to celebrate all the exciting things that have happened in my life and career over the last 12 months.  Last year was so exciting that it seemed as if I just couldn’t top it.  But I also thought that the year before. And what’s exciting is that every year seems better and more blessed than the one that came before it.

So please take a journey with me across 2011 while I reminisce about the things that I am most grateful for this year.

January started off with a bang as I followed my beloved Razorbacks to the Sugar Bowl with my family. With my birthday thrown in this month and lots of resolutions and strategic planning, January seemed to fly by. My favorite thing that happened that month is I added sponsors to my blog and I was so thrilled with the vendors that came on board with us to showcase their products. A special thank-you goes out to everyone who advertised with us this year.

February was full of fun with the launch of my new Design Camp website and a trip to L.A. to be a keynote speaker, along with my friend, the great Jan Showers, at the inaugural Design Bloggers Conference.

In March, I took my consulting business to the next level and launched my very first Mastermind coaching group. It went so well we are just about to launch into year 2.

Then Luxe Magazine included me in their Winter issue which was amazing.

April was absolutely crazy with an invitation to the prestigious Design Leadership Summit with the World’s Top Designers in Copenhagen shown here with my friends Ronda, Phillip, and Rob and my new friends Malcolm, Tammy, Jay, Oliver, and Joel. Then I headed straight to a panel discussion at High Point Market, participating in “My Market” for the High Point Market Authority. 

April also meant doing a tabletop design for the second year in a row for Lenox Hill. This year I used my new fabrics and this great candlabra designed by my friend Stacy, for the New York City Charity the Lenox Hill Gala chaired by my friend Christopher .

This month as I continued my Design Time with Tobi Fairley segments for the second year, I launched my first-ever Room Rescue Contest.

Also in April was a beautiful feature in Southern Living of a kitchen project I designed.

My DIY design service InBox Interiors was featured in the inaugural issue of Trad Home, the hot new digitial magazine collaboration between Traditional Home and Lonny Magazine.

Nate Berkus was kind enough to include one of my projects on his show in April.  Thanks, Nate! And another great big thanks goes to one of my very favorite magazines, Canadian Home + Home, for naming me to their list of “Design Sites We Love“.  I love you to CH+H!!

May was definitely a highlight of the year as my home debuted in Traditional Home magazine.

In May I also attended Kravet’s first Blogfest 2011 which was fabulous by the way.

As a result I discovered that I was featured on 7 pages of House Beautiful’s new Blue Book.

May also was the month for lots of blog features including the great interview by HGTV Design Star winner Kim Myles, a feature with blogging great Emily A. Clark, and a fun rustic feature on Bubble and Squeak.

June marked the launch of my gig writing for Williams Sonoma’s Designer Marketplace. You can see all my articles with Williams Sonoma to date over here.

In July I had my very first (and very successful) One Kings Lane Tastemaker Tag Sale and a fun feature on the Huffington Post. 

I spoke at the Atlanta market to some fabulous designers and retailers. I then had dinner with HGTV designer Courtney Novogratz and all the ladies from America’s Mart which was great fun.

I designed a room in the prestigious Traditional Home Magazine Hampton Designer Showhouse with lots of gorgeous furniture from Hickory Chair, lovely fabrics from Schumacher, “killer” lamps from Swank Lighting, and artwork by Soicher Marin. A big thank-you to my sweet friend Lisa at Hamptontoes for her gorgeous feature of my showhouse space and all these great vendors who helped me bring my showhouse space to life.

August started off with a speaking engagment at the Las Vegas market for Luxe Magazine with my friend, NYC designer Amanda Nisbet and the fabulous designers of Brown Davis. Since President Clinton was also speaking at the market, our topic was Presidential Style.

Then I rolled into September with more than I could keep up with including a great feature on eBay’s Inside Source called Fairley Fabulous, my first guest post on my friend P. Allen Smith’s new blog, and lots of travel.  But the big news for the month was my Cover and fabulous feature in the September issue of At Home in Arkansas.

And let me not forget the lovely spread in Southern Lady Magazine, and the thrill to win 3 Gold Awards and the coveted Ovation Award for the second year in a row at the ASID South Central Chapter conference.

October didn’t slow down a bit with a fabulous trip to Blackberry Farm in Tennessee with the Design Investors.

I had the privilege of helping my dear friend Kathryn Greeley launch her new book in New York at the fabulous Archivia Books and we had great friends join us at the signing like Michael and Thomas.

Then I headed to High Point Market for a panel discussion and a keynote address sponsored by ASID and the High Point Market Authority.

But especially exciting was my launch for the centennial celebration at Hickory Chair Furniture of my fabrics, pillows, and lighting. (photo courtesy of Hickory Chair and their Albert Sack Collection)

 And celebrating my launch with many friends like Barry Dixon was so special.

I was very excited to win the top spot as a High Point Market Style Spotter on Pinterest.

After months in the making, I launched my all new e-commerce site Tobi Fairley Home in October. And this month,  I started a regular guest spot on The Collected Room with Kathryn Greeley.

I also received some very exciting press in October including being the Elle Decor Design Registry Designer of the Day and this fabulous press on HGTV.com of my new fabric, pillows and lighting.

In November I launched my holiday pillows on Tobi Fairley Home.

InBox Interiors was featured on Elledecor.com in a great article on e-Design Products.

Plus I launched my all-new, all-inclusive Design Camp A to Z which brought almost 40 campers from 13 states across the U.S. and even a camper from Canada plus a pink limousine.

December brought this amazing year to a close with another fantastic feature in Southern Living of one of my very favorite dining rooms. 

And At Home in Arkansas also gave me another great feature showcasing my mom’s holiday decor  which included a give-away for my new holiday pillow line.

In December, At Home also introduced my brand new monthly blog column Color Confidential:Top Tips from Tobi Fairley where I will be writing about color each and every month. Wow! Thanks At Home for all you do for me.

I also concluded another great year of column in print with AY Magazine this year and if the year wasn’t fabulous enough already, I just got two fab new Design projects that I can’t wait to reveal to you in 2012. What a way to end the year! It certainly seems like the economy even here in Arkansas is  finally opening up a bit. Now if that isn’t a Christmas wish come true, I don’t know what is!

Whew! And we sometimes think we aren’t getting anything done at the office.

So at the end of this very exciting year, I want to take another moment to thank once again all my sponsors, all the vendors, bloggers, and magazines that have featured me this year and each and every one of you, my faithful readers, who support my blog and all that I do.  I am continuously amazed at how many of you follow me and encourage my efforts so unconditionally.  There is no way I could ever thank you enough.

I look forward to a glorious 2012 with you all. I have so much in store that I can’t wait to share with you including my second One Kings Lane Tastemaker Tag sale coming in just a few weeks.

Happy New Year! xo, Tobi