“Smart home technology is cool, but is it actually worth it?” That question lingered for us for years as the trend grew. My current answer: it’s not a necessity — it’s a want, not a need. Still, a handful of smart devices have genuinely simplified life at home. Some improve energy efficiency and reduce costs … Read more

I never imagined painting a wall black in our house—let alone doing it at 5 a.m.—but that’s exactly what happened two weeks ago. Here’s the story. When our postcard wall was installed last week, our beloved wallflowers above the desk needed a new home… Some of the pieces stayed put when we decided we liked … Read more

Coupons.com offers a wide range of savings — digital and printable coupons, social and mobile discounts, and loyalty card deals for retailers like Target, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and many others. To help you refresh your home for the season, they’re focusing on fall decorating and showing how a few simple changes can transform a … Read more

Nope, we’re not cooking in the bedroom— that’s simply the name of our new paint color. You may have already caught a glimpse of it in a previous post about the color palette we’re leaning toward for this house. We’re really happy with the pick. For the master it came down to Sparrow, Knoxville Gray, … Read more

Based on the pet name questions I’ve been getting in DMs, many of you are as obsessed with naming pets as we are. To finish this series, we’re covering the last category: boy cat names. We’ve already shared ideas for girl dog names, girl cat names, and boy dog names, so now it’s time to … Read more

Our recent road trip to visit Katie and her stunning home kicked our DIY motivation into high gear once we returned. You know how progress on a project sometimes comes in bursts—full steam ahead for a while, then a pause for recovery (often fueled by a little getaway)? That’s exactly how it goes for us. … Read more

We’ve shared a few behind-the-scenes posts about taking on side gigs, like one about how our lighting collection came together and others about the longer paths of book-writing and publishing. So we thought it would be useful to share a different kind of story: a side gig that didn’t work out, despite lots of time … Read more

Behold the refreshed middle bedroom at the beach house—finally finished and already proving to be a game changer. The new board & batten paired with soft, watercolor-like peel-and-stick wallpaper looks so good against the original heart pine floors and doors. Those doors and floors are 115 years old, and while the wallpaper photographs a bit … Read more

I thought it would be fun to walk through the house with the Flip cam and show how each room looks on a typical day — you know, before we pick up clothes, put away Clara’s toys, and fold the oversized blankets we snuggle under on the sofa. So here’s a spontaneous house tour (while … Read more

Things are getting steamy in the foyer. To recap, we have five rooms covered in wallpaper and we’re testing five different removal methods to find out what really works. For our first attempt we used hot water in a spray bottle, which surprised us by working quite well. This week’s Wallpaper Exposé focuses on a … Read more