Your search for the Episode #12 show notes of Young House Love Has A Podcast ends here. If your relationship with area rugs is best described as “complicated,” this episode will help. We share five straightforward rug rules to help you choose the right size, shape, and style and to decide how rugs should work between adjoining rooms. We also chat with Jenni Pulos from Flipping Out, who’s weathered renovations and reality-TV drama while helping Jeff Lewis keep things in check. She offers practical advice and even trades a rhyme with Sherry. Plus: John’s latest tool crush, what it’s like to go on a book tour, and alternatives to the ubiquitous fiddle leaf fig.
You can download the episode from iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and TuneIn Radio — or play it directly from the embedded player on this page. Use this post to find any links, notes, or photos we mention.
What’s New
- Greenville, SC is stunning. I took dozens of photos — the one above was impossible not to share — and we posted another on Instagram that perfectly captured a dramatic root system.
- If you want more information about the Haven Conference, another event is scheduled next summer. We’re hoping to attend; in the meantime, search #havenconf on Instagram to see attendees’ photos from this year’s event.
What’s Not
- I’m not a fig tree expert. For the botanical details mentioned in the episode I referenced general sources such as Wikipedia and a helpful About.com overview that shows various fig species and photos (useful if you want to see what a cluster fig looks like).
Take Five: Rugs
- Below are photos of rooms in our home (office, dining room, living room) that we mentioned while discussing rug sizes, colors, shapes, and styles.
- One quick tip: use a larger low-pile or woven rug underneath a smaller rug to make the overall rug feel proportionate to the room. This adds texture and anchors the seating area more effectively.
Jenni Pulos
- If you’re not watching Flipping Out (Bravo), it’s worth checking out — the show airs Thursdays. Jenni brings humor and perspective that make the renovation chaos entertaining and insightful.
- Jenni has written a book called Grin And Bear It and also released a kids’ rap album titled Old School Kids Beats, both of which we mentioned in the episode.
- If you want to revisit some of our past musical bits, we referenced two throwback posts that showcase past rap interludes from April Fools’ Day 2013 and another from 2014.
We’re Digging
- The saw and stand that sparked my recent tool envy was shared by Chris Loves Julia; it’s a compact setup that makes miter work much easier. A specialty stand similar to Jeremy Bower’s model is often used with miter saws for better stability and portability.
- If you haven’t seen Bad Moms yet, we mentioned the trailer as a quick teaser to hold you over.
Psst — if you’re trying to remember something we’ve recommended in a past episode, we compiled a master list of everything we’ve been digging across past shows to make it easy to find.
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