What started as a simple swap—trading an old sectional for a new sofa—has completely reshaped our living room layout (and sparked more excitement in one of us than the other). This week we’re sharing how we’re rethinking the floor plan to make the space work harder, plus a clear pro-and-con breakdown of countertop materials based on our experience living with three different kitchens. We loved aspects of each option, but also encountered regrets we hope will help you avoid the same mistakes. Also, my meal-kit delivery experiment ran into a few hiccups that may have me rethinking them for good.
You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, and TuneIn Radio — or listen using the player below. Use this page to find the links, notes, and photos we reference. Note: If you’re reading in a feed reader, you may need to click through to the post to see the player.
What’s New
- The photo above is a sneak peek at our updated living room featuring our new sofa from Crate & Barrel. We chose the 93″ length in the steel fabric (it reads darker in person than it does online). We’ll share a full post with more photos and details soon — daylight savings cut our photo time short.
- The chairs we added to round out the seating are from Target (they’re on sale now), and the marble side tables also came from Target. We may eventually swap these for a larger end table with room for a lamp and relocate the marble pieces to the beach house.
- Below you’ll see one of the Plated meals we managed to salvage during my meal-kit experiment: Roasted Vegetable Tikka. It was delicious and surprisingly filling.
Kitchen Counters
- Above is the Cambria quartz we used for the kitchen island in the Brittanicca design—one of their most marble-like patterns. We still love it and have had no maintenance issues since installation.
- Our perimeter counters are a matte-finish quartz from another manufacturer in a concrete-like shade called Ice-Zement. The matte finish looks great but can show subtle water marks that are hard to capture in photos.
- You can find the full kitchen reveal and more details about our remodel in the dedicated post, and most items in our home are listed in our shopping page if you want sources for fixtures and furnishings.
- Here’s one of the best photos showing the bright white Corian counters from our second home’s kitchen. They read extremely white—brighter even than the cabinets.
- If you’re curious about installation, we documented the process that included a machine that blends seams between slabs so they almost disappear.
- In this older high-resolution photo from when we moved out of our first house, you can see the granite we used in our first kitchen remodel. Granite has its pros—durability and natural variation—but it can stain if not sealed or treated properly (we once removed a blueberry stain with bleach).
- At the beach house we’ve begun installing butcher block countertops. The perimeter pieces are nearly finished; we still need a larger island slab with a sink cutout and an overhang for stools. Butcher block brings warmth and character, though it requires regular oiling and careful maintenance around water.
We’re Digging
- The photo above shows one of two beds we raised using six-inch risers. Raising the beds improved the scale with the side tables and added usable storage space underneath. The risers are sturdy and effective while we finish the room with a headboard and curtains.
- We added 18″ bed skirts to hide the raised frames and give a clean, finished look. They’d benefit from a quick press, but the beach house doesn’t have an iron yet.
- We recently watched The Five, a British drama/mystery on Netflix. The trailer gives a hint but doesn’t fully capture the show’s depth.
If you want to revisit things we’ve recommended in past episodes but can’t remember which show notes to open, we keep a master list of everything we’ve been digging across past episodes for easy reference.
Finally, thanks to CanvasPop for sponsoring this episode. Use code YHL50 for 50% off CanvasPop orders over $100 on canvases, frames, photo magnets, and pillows.
Thanks for listening, everyone!
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