Our week took an unexpected turn when we received a last-minute invitation to appear on The Rachael Ray Show. Within 24 hours we were on a plane to New York, and the next morning we were DIY-ing in front of a live studio audience. We’ve got plenty of behind-the-scenes stories — including the truth about Rachael Ray and a certain non-hug — plus the trip was framed by two major beach house milestones: moving furniture in and sleeping there for the first time. Below we share how the week unfolded, what woke us up at 6 a.m., the IKEA pieces that tested our patience, our favorite Halloween inspiration, and a surprisingly good source for mass-produced art.
You can download the episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, and TuneIn Radio. Use this post as a companion for any links, notes, or photos we referenced. Note: if you’re reading in a feed reader you may need to click through to the post to access the player.
What’s New
- We posted a video and photos of the beach house last week — check those for a visual tour — but here we’ll narrate how the whirlwind week actually went down and what we learned along the way.
- It was a whirlwind. By the time the beach house weekend wrapped, we half-wondered if the whole Rachael Ray show invitation had been a dream — but it was real, and we have the photos and stories to prove it.
Quiz
- We referenced Apartment Therapy’s list of the most difficult IKEA pieces to assemble and the Reddit discussion that inspired it — both are helpful if you’re bracing for a complicated build.
- This week’s IKEA challenge for us was the Edland bed — the piece we bought and later modified by cutting the bedposts. If you’re dealing with that model, expect some patience-testing steps.
- We also griped about the Kassett storage boxes, which have seemed oddly complicated compared with other IKEA storage items. We even wrote a full post about that frustration back in the day.
The Rachael Ray Show
- If you missed our TV segment, you can watch the clip on the show’s site. The aired video highlights our whitewashing demo, but during the in-studio portion we demonstrated two additional projects: installing a stair runner and building an upholstered headboard. For step-by-step instructions, see our older posts that walk through those projects in detail.
- That photo above captured Rachael at a rare subdued moment — we joked that anyone taping their third show of the day might look the same. Backstage you saw Sherry prepping the stair runner, and in the green room we squeezed in the headboard build despite tight quarters and finished it in time.
- For reference, the stair runner we used and the shibori upholstery fabric for the headboard are listed on our site and in our show notes.
We’re Digging
- We called out Brooklyn Limestone’s elaborate, themed Halloween displays as one of our favorite seasonal inspirations. This year’s “Eternal Rest Motel” installation is a standout, but her archives include a long run of creative themes — everything from Ghostbusters to Sharknado to a haunted carnival. If you’re planning a big Halloween display or just love creative decor, her work is a great reference.
- Sherry has been leaning on some great, affordable wall hangings and mirrors from Target lately. We’ve shown a few of these pieces around the beach house — including a glass-mounted beach photo in the back bedroom and a round gold mirror in the foyer — and they add a lot of character without breaking the bank.
For a complete list of beach house sources — lighting, bedding, furniture, and more — see the original post linked at the end of our furniture photo tour.
If you want to revisit something we’ve recommended in a past episode but can’t remember which show notes to open, we maintain a master list of things we’ve been digging from all past episodes.
Finally, thanks to Cardboard Safari for sponsoring this episode. Use code YHL20 for 20% off your first order at CardboardSafari.com/YHL. Below is a photo featuring Leah Yellowbird’s detailed artwork on cardboard, which we mentioned during the show.
Thanks for listening!
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