We painted our front door a new color when we refreshed the brick on our house in October. For the doors I used a specialty product made for entryways: Benjamin Moore’s Aura Grand Entrance in the shade Tranquility. It’s available in satin or an ultra-high-gloss mirror finish, and I opted for the high gloss. Photos … Read more

From the moment we painted that brick wall in our sunroom, we couldn’t wait to get art up. After a whirlwind trip that had us taking six flights in four days, we finally found time on Friday to hang everything. It’s surprising how much more “lived in” a room feels once you put art on … Read more

We knew from the moment we decided to add secondhand cabinets to our kitchen that matching the doors would be a challenge. Although only five doors were missing, achieving a seamless look was important—no one should be able to tell we had thrift-store cabinets mixed in. These are the five doorless spots we needed to … Read more

When Kim sent dramatic before-and-after photos, we were eager to share her bedroom-to-bathroom conversion. Here’s her letter: Okay, Youngsters… I’m biting on your quest for before and afters. I’m not sure if it’s quite drool-worthy enough, but I wanted to share my favorite room makeover in our house – our upstairs bathroom. We bought a … Read more

***This giveaway is no longer accepting entries – see who won below!*** And our lucky (and friendly) winner this week is… Jennifer M (her best friend is her husband — they met in college studying architecture and now work together). Congratulations! If you read the title and thought of the Bestå storage system from Ikea … Read more

Whether you plan to paint a chair, a table, or any wooden furniture, the basic steps remain the same. For example, this table we built and later painted, along with the matching white chairs (which were once a golden blond wood), transformed quickly with a few simple techniques. A fresh coat of white paint took … Read more

Short story: we bought a bedroom rug! Now for the long version. Our new bedroom is huge and needed a large rug to anchor the main pieces, like Ed the Bed and our oversized pendant light from Ikea. A small 4 x 6′ rug with faux sheepskins beside the bed no longer worked for the … Read more

Some of you might remember that we planned a no-sew adaptation of a crib skirt—a fitted band of fabric that hides the gap beneath the mattress and the drawer below. Here’s a straightforward, step-by-step guide to how we made a removable, washable crib skirt without picking up a needle. All I used was fabric, scissors, … Read more

This update covers a lot of changes to the exterior of our house since we painted the brick white with breathable masonry paint last year. It remains my favorite makeover so far, but the exterior has continued to evolve — new path, an awning, porch lights that were lowered when the awning was installed, and … Read more

It’s the season for watermelon slices, corn on the cob, and everything good from the grill. To celebrate, Char-Broil is giving away one of their top commercial-grade gas grills this week. This four-burner model normally retails for nearly $500 at Lowe’s and features Char-Broil’s exclusive Tru-Infrared cooking system, which offers more even heat distribution, juicier … Read more