Happy holidays, everyone! We have a little gift to celebrate: the show notes for Episode #29 of Young House Love Has A Podcast. This week we talked about hiring out renovation work — the thrill of seeing a project come together, and the frustration when things don’t go as planned. We share several red flags to watch for when hiring pros, tips to minimize stress, and a few strategies we’ve used to simplify the holidays (and curb gift overload). We also chat about favorite design books, unearth John’s old journal, and enjoy some holiday tunes from a special guest.
You can download this episode from iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and TuneIn Radio — or listen to it below. Use this page to find the links, notes, and photos we referenced.
What’s New
- Above is the photo of John in the “baby chair” we promised — it’s about 12″ off the ground and he’s 6′ tall.
- Below is this year’s Christmas card, which we purchased from Minted.
- Here’s a recap of holiday gift themes we’ve used in our exchange:
- Travel Junk — souvenirs and finds picked up on trips.
- Say Cheese — photo- or cheese-related gifts.
- Back In The Day — vintage items, like retro-style game sets.
- On The Road — travel-friendly gifts such as portable art kits.
- The Year of Granny — gifts that honor a beloved family member.
- Be A Good Sport — sports-related memorabilia or games.
- Feeling Green — eco-friendly items or things that are literally green.
- Across State Lines — local goods from the gift-giver’s town.
- We’ve also used broader themes like “Music” and “Entertainment” in other years.
- We referenced a poll about devices like smart speakers in the show notes for Episode #25.
What’s Not
- Here are the holiday-inspired paint colors we mentioned: White Christmas, Sleigh Bells, Holiday Wreath, Reindeer (which can read more pink than peach), Santa’s Beard, Egg Nog, December Eve, Elf, and Winter Snow.
Listener Call
- We linked a post that addresses common questions about when to DIY versus when to hire professionals.
- We also shared tips for negotiating with contractors.
- If you have a DIY, decorating, or home question, leave us a voicemail at 571-4-YHL-HAP (571-494-5427).
We’re Digging
- Design books Sherry mentioned:
- Absolutely Beautiful Things by Anna Spiro
- My Prescription for Anti-Depressive Living by Jonathan Adler
- Styled by Emily Henderson
- Domino: The Book of Decorating
- Domino: Your Guide To A Stylish Home
- Young House Love and Lovable Livable Home (our own recommendations)
- We also recommended the podcast Grown-Ups Read Things They Wrote As Kids for plenty of hilarious nostalgia.
Psst — if you’re trying to track down something we mentioned in a past episode, check our master list of everything we’ve been digging from previous shows.
Visit westelm.com/yhl to learn more about their Design to Impact program, and enter YHL15 at checkout to get 15% off your next purchase.
*This post contains affiliate links*