There are a few more holiday projects underway (aka: getting crossed off the list — woot!), so let’s dive in. Last year I picked up four 3-packs of white felt tree ornaments from Target. I grabbed them about a week after Christmas when they were marked down to ten cents a set instead of a … Read more

When we last updated our deck saga, I was battling the heat and drilling screws across the middle of the deck. Since then I kept at it and made steady progress, methodically attaching the deck boards until the central area was fully covered and secure. Once the middle section was all laid and screwed down, … Read more

Filming the video tour of our showhouse progress prompted us to realize we were long overdue for an updated tour of our own home (and a lot of you have been asking for one). Since the last tour we posted was the “before” video of this house, saying we were overdue is actually an understatement. … Read more

If you have a tiling project coming up, do yourself a favor and remember Mapei Flexcolor grout. floor tiles: pink, white, and taupe It might sound dramatic, but after grouting multiple bathroom floors, showers, mudrooms, and backsplashes over the past two years, Mapei Flexcolor has genuinely been a game changer for us. This is an independent recommendation based on … Read more

1. A few months before starting this blog we had never painted brick, ripped up a carpet, upholstered a chair, made a headboard, caulked anything, changed out hardware, or tackled most of the projects now featured on our How To page. We learned by doing, and that willingness to learn is what led us to … Read more

Ever since we updated the light fixture in our bathroom back in April, one thing has been nagging us: how close it sat to the shower curtain. Okay, two things: that, and the fact that we didn’t have the energy back then to move the fixture box a few feet to the right (we swapped … Read more

And now for a bonus Friday-afternoon post. Every day I get roughly five people asking if I’m pregnant or confidently declaring that I am—via comments, email, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, or even carrier pigeon. That adds up to answering the question (and disappointing those who guessed correctly) about 150 times a month, and nearly 1,800 times … Read more

Last week’s Halloween fun didn’t end with that post. We had a few more simple, inexpensive ideas to share, and one of our favorites was an easy lamp makeover inspired by a Martha Stewart trick: black bat silhouettes tucked inside our living room lamps. It was quick and virtually free. We completed the project in … Read more

Drywall mudding and taping in the laundry room is progressing well. We’ve completed two coats and finished the first round of sanding — we tried wet sanding this time and I’ll share the results soon — but I’m still holding my breath until the third (and hopefully final) coat and primer are done. The last … Read more

As Sherry mentioned in her Pinterest Challenge post this morning, we made simple DIY wood frames for her homemade artwork. We did it partly because we wanted to save money and partly to see how basic we could keep the project while still getting a clean result. To keep the cost at zero, we used … Read more