Renovating our beach house hasn’t been all rainbows and pink siding. This week we’re getting real about a few projects that have been particularly stressful, and we share one simple thing we did to slow down, calm our nerves, and remember why we started this renovation in the first place. We also sit down with Clean Mama for pro tips on keeping a home tidy and organized—her favorite tools, routines, and tricks. Plus: the Instagram account that surprised John, the outdoor gear Sherry is considering, and a playful test of our Ikea knowledge.
You can download this episode from iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and TuneIn Radio — or listen to it below. Use this page to find links, notes, and photos we referenced. 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
- That photo was taken during a day trip to Cape Charles, VA—our little reset from renovation stress. We love this beach for how calm and shallow the water is (you can see people far out and it’s still just shin-deep). When the tide goes out, the kids have a blast hunting snails and sand crabs in the tide pools.
Update (Sort Of)
- For background on our “Family Yearbook” tradition, see the original post describing how we capture each year in a printed book.
- We asked for recommendations after MyPublisher closed and got tons of helpful feedback—thank you to the 600+ people who shared their experiences and suggestions.
- The two top recommendations that kept coming up were Blurb and Mixbook. Shutterfly was mentioned often but provoked mixed reactions. We’re still deciding which service to use for our final book.
What’s Not
- We referenced Apartment Therapy’s roundup of IKEA’s best-selling items.
- Here are some IKEA pieces from our home that we mentioned (and a few we forgot to mention):
- Wood-wrapped Expedit (now Kallax) in our son’s room
- White planters we use for both real and faux plants
- White duvet in our bedroom
- Big metal shelves in our office
- Mega-sofa and cabinets in our bonus room (including a discontinued living room sofa)
- Cabinets in our laundry room and the built-ins in our bonus room
Clean Mama
- You can visit Becky’s site, CleanMama.net, for free cleaning printables and recipes for DIY cleaners. Her book Simply Clean is also available.
- She offers advice on choosing the right vacuum; her personal favorite is a Miele upright for pet owners.
- Becky recommends microfiber dusters over feather dusters and offers a range of microfiber cleaning accessories.
- She also has a useful post about cleaning and caring for your mattress using baking soda.
- If you missed our earlier cleaning episode with Melissa Maker, you can catch Episode #39 for more tips and techniques.
We’re Digging
- We rounded up outdoor gear we’re considering to get the kids outside more this summer, including swings, climbing accessories, and imaginative play pieces. We also found straps for safely securing gear over large tree branches and a product called Sky Island.
- We mentioned the book Simplicity Parenting again—if you missed it, we discussed it on Episode #45 along with ideas for reducing toy overload and simplifying family life.
- One local Instagram account surprised John: our neighbor’s fast-growing slime account has a viral video with over 1.6 million views. That inspired us to explore other satisfying and calming video creators and hashtags, like #satisfying, #soothing, and #calming.
- Some creative Instagram accounts we enjoy: @sam_cik (printmaking), @sand.tagious (kinetic sand), @seblester (calligraphy), and accounts showing paint mixing that are oddly hypnotic.
If you’re looking for something we’ve featured in a past episode but don’t remember which show notes to open, we keep a master list of everything we’ve been digging from past episodes.
Finally, thanks to Modsy for sponsoring this episode. Their realistic room renderings helped us reimagine our home office as a modern living room and made it easier to see scale and layout. Check the sponsor message in the episode for a special offer.
Thanks for listening, guys!
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