We all know that deflated feeling when the excitement for a big project or renovation fades away. How do you revive the energy you once had? Lately we’ve been facing that exact slump at the beach house, so in this episode we talk through practical ways to combat project fatigue and stay motivated. With spring being a major season for home maintenance, we also share a simple system to prevent routine tasks from slipping through the cracks and a fresh tactic for powering through the smaller lingering items on your to‑do list. Along the way we rediscovered a fun date night idea and addressed why some readers are calling us out for promoting a decorating trend they dislike.
If you want to listen, the episode is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, Spotify, and other podcast platforms — or you can play it from the podcast player where this post appears. Use this page to find photos and notes we referenced in the show. Note: if you’re reading in a feed reader you may need to open the post in a browser to see the player.
What’s New
- We buy our HVAC air filters in bulk from Amazon — a typical 6‑pack runs around $34 — and we keep different sizes on hand for each floor. We use a basic dust filter because we don’t have significant allergy or pet hair concerns (Burger barely sheds), but you can choose a different model if your household needs call for it.
- On the show we mentioned a subscription filter service as a convenient option. Another easy approach is to use an automated delivery feature from major retailers to have filters shipped on a schedule with a built‑in discount. Availability varies by filter size and pack counts, so it may take some trial and error to time single‑filter deliveries correctly.
- And just to be clear: those filters pictured don’t actually fit in the decorative vent shown. They live inside our system in the garage, but that location wasn’t as photo‑friendly.
Updates
- You can hear our full discussion about open‑concept bathrooms in Episode #88 of the podcast, where we also ran a listener poll about the idea.
- We also revisited the curious “backwards book” trend in Episode #85 — a trend we somehow included in our first book, Young House Love, published back in 2012. Below are a couple of the pages that led to the teasing: yes, the back cover features backward books. When I showed Sherry the spread she laughed for several minutes.
- We also discussed Consumer Reports’ paint brand review in Episode #81 — a useful conversation if you’re deciding which paints to use on your next project.
Project Fatigue
- The kitchen photo above comes from a remodel at our home that stretched on for many months and tested our patience more than once. Long projects often create peaks of excitement followed by low periods; that’s normal, and we share how we navigated those dips in motivation.
- You can catch up on the beach house progress and the bumps we’ve hit along the way: the built‑in pantry and bunk beds were big wins, while other moments — the near‑removal of the bunk beds and a bathtub leak — reminded us that setbacks are part of renovating an older property.
- One effective morale booster was pulling up the original “before” photos to see how far each room has come. Comparing before and after shots makes progress tangible and helps you appreciate the improvements instead of fixating on unfinished tasks. The bathroom pictured above used to look very different — the transformation is a good reminder that slow progress still adds up.
We’re Digging
- Sherry has been loving a pair of shoes that feel almost like socks — comfortable, machine‑washable, and surprisingly versatile. She almost chose a couple of different colors but kept to black for flexibility. There’s also a round‑toe option if that suits your preference. A quick look at the photo shows the fit and silhouette we mentioned on the show.
If you want a single place to revisit items we’ve enjoyed and recommended from past episodes, we keep a master list of everything we’ve been digging from earlier shows, which makes it easy to find episode notes and links.
Finally, big thanks to our sponsor for this episode, Agility Bed. They supported the show and we mentioned a mattress discount code during the episode. We always appreciate sponsors who help keep the podcast running and enable us to continue sharing projects and ideas with listeners.
Thanks for listening and reading — your support, comments, and project stories keep us motivated and inspired to keep improving our homes.
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