As usual, I’m running a bit late with my gift guide (and yes, our tree went up just two days ago), but I love gathering fun, thoughtful gift ideas from across the web—including many small businesses and handmade finds—and collecting them all in one post for you. Here you’ll find picks for grown-ups, favorites for … Read more

I warned you I was excited to go all out for our first real Christmas in the new house, so it’s no surprise I got giddy and decided to decorate an unexpected spot: the hallway. I swapped out 22 frames in our little hallway frame collection to give the space a festive feel — and … Read more

On this week’s podcast we count down five top tricks to create better flow in any room so it feels larger and less cluttered. We also share a surprising financial upside to buying a beach house in poor condition (it’s saving us thousands). Plus, we talk about organizing items that annoy professional organizers and what … Read more

Giveaway Closed — Entries No Longer Accepted This week’s prize celebrates handwritten greetings for every season. Whether you send holiday cards, party invitations, thank-you notes, or baby announcements, the winner will have custom stationery ready to print whenever they need it. Emmy Lu Design Studio offers customizable stationery delivered as high-resolution, ready-to-print PDF files. After … Read more

This week’s project started with a small request from Clara, overheard by John’s mom: Clara didn’t have a clock in her room. That tiny detail sparked an idea—I’d never made a clock before, but why not create something playful and interactive for her? Clock kits exist, so I figured it wouldn’t be too hard. Here’s … Read more

Whenever someone asks about my clothes, I joke that I wear basically the same thing every day. Still, after years of saying that — and even admitting I owned only one bra for a long time — a surprising number of people reacted strongly when they saw the hanging bar in my closet on Instagram. … Read more

Let’s talk about DIY haircuts, shall we? I never expected to write about cutting hair at home, but after a surprising number of requests, here we are. If you like saving money and doing things yourself, DIY haircuts are worth considering. I have no formal training — I learned by experimenting in high school and … Read more

“Aloha” means both “goodbye” and “hello,” so goodbye, Hawaii—and hello, half-finished cork floors. We’re back in Richmond (try to contain your excitement) and ready to share more about our trip. Even more exciting for us: returning to DIY and working on the cork floor project we started right before we left. For anyone who missed … Read more

It’s been far too long since our last “Save It” post (see earlier examples on the blog), so the other night I started jotting down everyday things we simply don’t buy anymore. After years of living a streamlined lifestyle, many of these omissions don’t feel like sacrifices — they feel like sensible, simple choices that … Read more

Clara has officially completed the move from crib to bed. We never expected her to stay in her crib this long — we’d had a “big girl” bed ready for over a year, since many of her friends made the switch earlier — but she adored her crib and surprised us by hanging on to … Read more