Welcome to the show notes for Episode #4 of Young House Love Has A Podcast. In this week’s episode, interior designer Orlando Soria shares practical advice for common decorating challenges — from discovering your personal style to confidently mixing patterns and deciding where to begin. We also update you on how our building projects are moving along a bit faster, reveal a whole-house upgrade that truly brightens our days, and admit our garage could use a serious overhaul. Plus, we have a playful look at some provocative paint color names and revisit the work of one of Trading Spaces’ most unforgettable designers.
You can listen to this episode on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and TuneIn Radio — or play it below. Use this page to find the links, notes, and photos we referenced during the show.
What’s New
- These are the LED light bulbs we use throughout our house, sold as a six-pack on Amazon.
- You can see the one garage wall we “prettied up” beginning on page 216 of our book, Lovable Livable Home.
- Photos and a video tour of another chaotic space from our previous house — our messy basement workshop — are available on the blog, along with a follow-up post showing how we eventually organized it.
What’s Not
- Some paint color names that felt particularly flirtatious: Divine Pleasure, Seduction, Hot Lips, Secret Rendezvous, and Snugglepuss. (Full disclosure: while assembling these notes we discovered that my made-up answer, Love Note, actually exists — one brand lists it as an off-white in Australia and another as a soft pink in the UK.)
- Guides from PopSugar and Real Simple about how often various types of clothing should be washed, plus a Wall Street Journal piece profiling a man who washes his jeans only every six months.
- A BuzzFeed roundup featuring some of Hildi Santo-Tomas’ most notable and eyebrow-raising makeovers from Trading Spaces.
Orlando Soria
- Check out Orlando’s blog, Hommemaker, for more of his design work and commentary.
- Orlando’s condo renovation — affectionately known as the “Orcondo” — includes striking before-and-after photos of his living and dining areas as well as his kitchen and bathrooms.
- For a dose of humor and behind-the-scenes glimpses, see Orlando’s Instagram account @mrorlandosoria.
We’re Digging
- I purchased a factory-refurbished Ryobi Airstrike nailer that’s a great value compared with a new model — remember to grab a compatible battery and charger if you don’t already have one. You can see it at work in our post about the built-ins and floating shelves we added around a bonus room window niche.
- Stitch Fix remains a helpful service for mixing up a wardrobe — Sherry’s relationship with it has ranged from love to dislike to love again, and it’s helped her diversify a mostly black closet.
Psst — looking for something we’ve recommended in a past episode but don’t remember which show notes to open? Here’s a master list of everything we’ve been digging from past episodes.
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