Last week marked a year since we stepped away from the blog. We didn’t know exactly what would happen after taking that break, and we certainly didn’t expect the steady stream of support, curiosity, and kindness you’ve shown us over the past year. So first and foremost: thank you. We appreciate every note, comment, and message.
We’ve gotten a lot of questions about what we’ve been doing, and we debated the best way to share a single, honest update. Sherry joked about a Real Housewives–style freeze-frame with captioned updates, but that would have required more than a few thousand words. Instead, we recorded an episode of Jess Lively’s podcast, The Lively Show, where we talked through the last year in a way that felt natural—hearing the stories in our voices captures tone and nuance that written words sometimes miss.
The podcast is about an hour and covers a wide range of topics, so it’s a solid catch‑up if you want the whole story. We tried to be candid about what we’ve been up to, including:
- why we stepped away from blogging
- what our current jobs look like
- how our design approach and style have changed
- how our family is doing
- what we’d do differently looking back
- how this transition affected our family life
We’ve embedded a link graphic below to the episode page where you can press play. You can also find the episode on your favorite podcast platform or download it via iTunes or Stitcher.
There are some fun behind-the-scenes details in the episode, like why we’re juggling five new houses right now…
…why I’ve taken to wearing spandex more often…
…and why Sherry is unexpectedly behind some new dance moves (no photo—she wouldn’t let me post one).
We also talk about how our post-blog room updates came together differently and ended up being some of our favorite spaces in the house, like our dining room…
…and our living room.
We also updated the guest room, garage, hall bathroom, and a half bathroom that might be our favorite of the bunch. Many of those projects appear in our new book.
We’re really proud of the book and excited to share it. You may have seen sneak peeks on social media—we’ve been sharing highlights on Instagram and Facebook—and we’re looking forward to reconnecting with readers in person on the upcoming book tour next week.
We hope to see some of you on the tour and to keep sharing snapshots of our projects on social media—and maybe occasionally here on the blog. I don’t want to promise a posting schedule, but our home projects are continuing, just at a slower pace these days (we explain why on the podcast). We still haven’t tackled the kitchen renovation yet, but we finally agreed on a floor plan and hope to begin after the tour.
Since recent posts and the podcast have been a bit heavy and reflective, here’s something lighter to end on: a short video that leans into the Housewives idea and reminds us all to have fun sometimes. Enjoy.