What’s all that stomping you hear? It’s just us doing the happy dance. We’re thrilled to share the second installment of our home makeover featured in Do It Yourself magazine. The team photographed our house last October (we even shared a behind-the-scenes look) and invited us to write a three-part series about transforming our modest brick ranch for the Spring, Summer, and Fall issues. We still pinch ourselves that we’re contributing editors for a national magazine—hence the celebration.
The previous issue focused on step-by-step transformations in the kitchen and living/dining room. This new issue moves into the sunroom, den, laundry nook, and mudroom. In the feature we show how each space evolved over time, with clear “Stage 1” before photos and “Stage 2” progress shots that help illustrate that these changes didn’t happen overnight. Every room slowly developed into the comfortable, livable spaces we love today—although, of course, no room is ever truly finished.
Here we are relaxing in the sunroom. The funny thing about this image is that we were just sitting there trying to stay out of the way when the crew decided to capture a few candid moments. We had no idea that shot would make the story. And doesn’t Burger look like a little zombie with his arms out? It always cracks us up.
We were fortunate to have two days of great weather for the shoot, and the art department added sweet little props to warm the rooms for the camera. Can you spot the tiny touch they added to the sunroom? It’s a small glass dish of gummy bears on the coffee table—so charming. And yes, we happily polished them off before the first day was over, with generous help from the crew.
We also loved being able to present the makeover as a series of stages. Showing the “before” as Stage 1 and the midpoint as Stage 2 made it easier to explain our process and the decisions we made along the way. Each room’s story reveals what we learned and how the spaces gradually became what they are now.
You can see me wielding a hammer and crowbar taking down the half wall that used to sit above the laundry center behind some tired bi-fold doors. And a little behind-the-scenes secret: those sweet ribbon shoes in front of the mudroom bench belong to Beth, the editor of Do It Yourself magazine, so I can’t claim the shoe-shopping credit. The jacket hanging on the hook is hers too, but the purse and scarf on the floor are mine—another example of how collaborative the shoot was.
So that’s part two of our three-part series in one of our favorite shelter magazines. We had an absolute blast shooting with Beth, Cat, Erik, and Piper back in October. Stay tuned for the third installment in a few months—and for a big announcement about what we’ll be writing about after this last house story hits the presses. We’re incredibly excited and can’t wait to share the news. Stomp, stomp, stomp—sorry, we’ve still got the happy feet.