Today I turned 30. My parents didn’t make me pose in front of an “I AM 30” banner this year, but they did invite us to a surprise brunch that Sherry helped organize. I knew family was coming — cousins, an aunt and uncle, and my little sister had driven in from DC — but … Read more

It’s been more than a month since we last wrote about our gardening efforts, but that doesn’t mean nothing has been happening. We’ve just been a little slow to share updates (partly because we wanted things to fill in a bit so we could take photos). Time for a catch-up. Remember when we transplanted some … Read more

We finally painted the office. It happened out of order—after building the wall-to-wall two-person desk—but sometimes DIY works that way. We delayed choosing a color because we didn’t want to commit to a shade and then have to repaint after the desk was finished. After a lot of discussion (and indecision), we chose a soft, … Read more

To the tune of Katy Perry’s “Hot N’ Cold”… WE’VE BOUGHT AND WE’VE SOLD! Well, not quite yet — but we’re headed in that direction. As of 5:57 p.m. yesterday we received word that the final negotiations with potential buyers of our house have gone through, so our home is officially under contract and listed … Read more

Yesterday we wrote about deciding when to DIY versus hiring professionals, using our decrepit sliding doors as the example. They were stuck, had a torn screen, wouldn’t lock, and the frame was rotting (you can read more about that in the original post). We finally decided to replace them with a pair of matching French … Read more

First, a free download for all of you—thanks for reading. We’ve made a homemade calendar each year and, even though the kitchen renovation is in full swing, we took a moment while the wood putty dried to put this year’s together. In previous years our calendars were mostly text-based. For example, our 2010 calendar collected … Read more

If you’ve spent any time online over the past few years, you’ve probably seen the rise of mail-order mattresses like Casper, Leesa, and Tuft & Needle. These affordable foam mattresses arrive compressed in a box, expand on your bed, and promise better sleep or your money back. After months of that message—maybe years—we finally decided … Read more

We thought our big kitchen reveal week was the perfect time to showcase a reader’s kitchen makeover. This redesign comes from a male blogger who writes as “Beard” (he’s joined by his daughter, “Pigtails”). Beard’s voice is entertaining and his kitchen transformation is impressive. Here’s his note about the project: I recently gutted and rebuilt … Read more

Note: This post started as an updated Before & After page that readers had trouble finding, so we turned it into a single chronological post to make it easier to reference. We’ll continue updating our Before & After page over time, while this post remains a snapshot of the house at a particular moment. We … Read more

The upstairs hall bathroom had been mostly ignored for the past nine months — aside from hanging a shower curtain after we moved in and the occasional toilet cleaning. From day one, those builder-basic mirrors were on our list to replace. We took nearly two years to update the mirror in our last hall bathroom … Read more