File this under fab and nearly free mini-makeovers anyone can do. We had two yellow chairs—leftovers from a brief apartment stay with a balcony—that matched our old yellow door but clashed with the current red one. Two cans of Rustoleum Universal All Surface spray paint solved the problem in no time. This spray paint is … Read more

We’re thrilled to take part in the 48-Hour Challenge with Better Homes & Gardens and The Home Depot. For this event, Home Depot and BHG selected five of their favorite home and garden bloggers to design clever weekend projects for outdoor living using $500 in materials from The Home Depot. We’re honored to be included … Read more

I have mixed feelings about the back-to-school season, but one bright spot is the sales it brings. Right now, Wayfair is offering a $500 gift card to one lucky reader, which is a great opportunity to shop their Back to School sale, stock up on items for next summer, or pick up furniture, décor, tools, … Read more

That’s right — call me T-Boz. Let’s talk about the new shelf in the laundry room, finished with a waterfall edge and a light natural stain for a butcher-block look. It was a straightforward DIY using solid wood panels and stain/sealer to get that warm, textured feel. We moved away from our usual mocha stain … Read more

As our fifth blogiversary week wraps up, we want to send a huge thank you to everyone who took part in the festivities, shared laughs, and—most importantly—completed our little annual poll that appeared in Monday’s post. This year more than 30,000 of you responded. Wow. Thank goodness for Google helping to crunch the numbers (a … Read more

After weeks of waiting for three dry days in a row to grout, the weather finally cooperated and John is finishing the tile in the sunroom as I write this (and yes, he’s singing “grout, grout, let it all out”). He’ll share the full tiling recap tomorrow, but in the meantime I’m more excited than … Read more

Note: If you’re reading this during happy hour, feel free to make a game of it—take a sip each time you see the word liriope. Or a half-sip. No need to get carried away. We’ve officially started work on the side patio (previously mentioned in earlier posts) that we want finished in time for Clara’s … Read more

It turns out there are some surprising places in the kitchen where germs seem to congregate. In this episode we explore those spots and share practical cleaning tips to keep your kitchen healthier. We also explain why we ultimately stopped using meal delivery kits and what solution worked better for our family. Plus, we talk … Read more

You guys — you’re varsity. Once again I was blown away by the 500+ clever ideas and impressive Photoshop mock-ups you shared for Jamie’s design roadblock last week. Group brainstorming is the best, and Jamie is excited to explore all the options (she promised to share after photos when she’s done). Now let’s jump into … Read more

Q: I have a HUGE question for you! My husband and I have now lived in our first house for close to a year. We share your motivation, but are very intimidated by the projects that we’d like to tackle. Neither one of us is super handy, and I guess we’re afraid of “breaking” our … Read more