Renovating a house is rarely calm — often it’s downright stressful. In this post we share three practical ways we’re managing stress during our bathroom renovation, especially around common pain points like budget overruns, extended timelines, and decision fatigue. We’ll also explain how we stop second-guessing ourselves, reveal one surprising part of the project we haven’t talked about much (and are secretly excited for), and pass along holiday life-hacks submitted by listeners. Plus: a charming and slightly spooky throwback from Sherry’s childhood that’s made a nostalgic comeback in our home.
You can also listen to this episode on your favorite podcast app, including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Stitcher, and Spotify.
What’s New
- If you recall last year’s post about Sherry’s minimal wardrobe, this is an updated look at our closet. The photo above shows Sherry’s side, and the image below shows my side — both before demo. Also: hi Burger!
- Right now it’s essentially an empty room with no finished floor as we prepare for new systems and storage solutions.
- We used Ikea’s Pax Wardrobe planner to create a rendering of our new closet layout. That mock-up guided our in-store adjustments before we placed the order; we’ll share detailed photos once everything is installed.
- Our configuration will be a 29″ wardrobe in the center flanked by two 19″ wardrobes with doors. Ikea doesn’t offer doors for the 29″ size, and we like that the center section—half made up of drawers—will remain open for easier access.
- We mirrored the exposed portions on each side for symmetry but customized the interiors of the doored 19″ units for each person’s needs. We’ll walk through our organization strategy after installation.
- We’ve used Pax wardrobes before — in our very first house we expanded storage by adding two wardrobes beside the bed. You can see how we organized those in a previous post; it’s wild that was nearly 11 years ago.
- For more closet inspiration, we linked to how our closet looked in our second house — it shares a lot of visual similarities with what this closet used to be.
Updates: Holiday Life Hacks
- Here are some annual holiday gift themes we’ve used with extended family to keep giving fun and focused:
- Hey Hot Stuff! – spicy foods, warming items, or gifts tied to hot destinations.
- Book It – books, reading accessories, or items that inspire trips or active pursuits.
- Travel Junk – souvenirs and travel-related finds.
- Say Cheese – photo gear or cheese-related gifts (we once gave a Wisconsin-shaped cutting board to cousins in Madison).
- The Good Ol’ Days – vintage-style gifts like retro board games.
- On The Road – travel-friendly kits and entertainment for long drives.
- The Year of Granny – gifts that honor a family member’s life and memories.
- Be A Good Sport – sport-themed gifts or memorabilia.
- Feeling Green – eco-friendly items or anything literally green.
- Across State Lines – local goods from the gifter’s town or region.
- You can also hear more listener-submitted (non-holiday) life hacks in Episode #153.
Managing Renovation Stress
- To catch up on our bathroom renovation — with before photos, floor plans, and full lists of tile and fixture selections (including Sherry’s beloved tub) — see our renovation post here. That post is a good single-stop resource for what we’ve chosen so far.
- Last week we finished most of the tile prep, which means tiling the shower floor, shower walls, and the bathroom and closet floors should begin after Thanksgiving. The progress photo above shows how far we’ve come compared to the earlier before shot below.
- We also referenced a recent conversation with Miranda Anderson, which you can hear in Episode #152. Miranda discusses the importance of enjoying the process of renovation, not just the finished result — a perspective we find really helpful for managing anxiety around timelines and outcomes.
- On the kitchen front, the quartz counters we installed have a matte finish that tends to show faint “ghost” water marks from splashes. While those marks can be removed with buffing, we would choose a polished quartz finish in hindsight because the polished surface is much lower maintenance and doesn’t show the same ghosting.
- We still appreciate the look and durability of our counters, but we wanted to share that finish detail so others can weigh the pros and cons. You can see more photos of our kitchen in this post: Bright White Kitchen Remodel.
We’re Digging
- The vintage troll dolls pictured are a gift our daughter received from a friend. If you want to reconnect your kids with toys you loved, you can often find similar sets on auction sites — many kids adore the tactile, quirky feel of these retro toys (though a few of them are admittedly a little creepy in a cute way).
- Other throwback toy ideas that tend to bridge generations include:
- Vintage Beanie Babies — sentimental stuffed toys that kids still love to cuddle.
- Classic Lego bricks — open-ended play without franchise ties.
- Old action figures like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or He-Man.
- Retro board games — older editions of Clue, Guess Who?, or Battleship are fun and familiar.
- Collectible cards and toys — Garbage Pail Kids cards or Pogs are collectible conversation starters.
- Sherry also mentioned the popular “Save – Spend – Share” piggy banks that many readers ask about; we’ve linked to them for convenience.
- And for those curious about what I wear practically every day: the stretchy jeans shown are my go-to pair. They’re currently priced very affordably, so I picked up an extra pair as a backup. The slim fit is my favorite since I find “skinny” cuts too restrictive.
If you’re trying to find something we mentioned in a past episode but aren’t sure which show notes to open, we keep a master list of everything we’ve been digging. You can also browse all of the books we’ve recommended on our Book Club page.
Finally, thanks to Agility Bed for sponsoring this episode. During their Cyber Sale you can get $200 off any size hybrid mattress plus your choice of a free Cool Foam Pillow or a free Sateen Sheet set by visiting their offer page before December 6th.
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