One of the things we love about the home and DIY community is that great money-saving stories surface at every budget level. Whether people salvage materials, hunt for bargains, negotiate with contractors, or simply tackle projects themselves, there are inspiring examples of creativity and thrift. With that in mind, we’ll periodically share practical budget-saving tips … Read more

You may remember we’ve been slowly transforming John’s sister Emily’s nursery on a tight budget, and we’re back with another update. We’ve already painted modern vertical stripes, added large mirrors to open the room, made a simple no-sew bed skirt, created free artwork, and installed hooks for function and fun. The next task was solving … Read more

Oh, to live in paradise. Thanks to readers like Clara (love the name), we can live vicariously through their projects. Clara and her family live in the Dominican Republic, and she sent us photos of the stunning makeover she completed for her daughter Nadia’s bedroom. Here’s her note in her own words: I’ve been reading … Read more

We have nothing negative to say about the Price Pfister faucet we installed during our kitchen remodel in 2007—especially since we scored it on eBay for just $71. But sometimes a change is welcome, and we were excited to try Delta’s new Pilar Pull-Down Faucet with Touch2O Technology. Delta kindly let us test the Pilar, … Read more

The deed is done. Everyone on Team Paint The Mirror White (not to be confused with Team Edward) can rejoice. Our mirror above the sink went from this: To this: And for context, here’s how it looked the day we moved in: After much back-and-forth we followed our first instinct and painted the mirror frame … Read more

We’re house-crashing again, this time visiting the home of a local tastemaker. Lesley owns Clementine, a popular consignment shop in Carytown, and she and her husband Jeff kindly invited us in to photograph their home. Here’s a look inside their relaxed, thoughtfully curated 1940s house. Right away the cheerful yellow door caught our eye. Lesley … Read more

We’re back to share the results of our big cabinet clean-out, which we announced late last week and tackled over the weekend. If you remember our chaotic starting point, it wasn’t hard to forget: two overcrowded double cabinets that held nearly every non-refrigerated edible item in our kitchen. After a few hours of sorting and … Read more

Q: You’re putting time and energy into this “temporary” job for your bathroom (not to mention some money), so why not just go ahead and do the full gut job? I know you guys watch money really well, but isn’t this not the most cost-effective in the long-run? 🙂 – Karen A: Great question. We … Read more

I’ve mentioned before that Katie B and I spent a ridiculously long time together—staring at each other, giggling, and generally acting like teenagers for about 48 hours. She wrote up the visit on her blog, including the highlights (and the occasional lowlight—like when Will had an unfortunate tub moment while bathing with Clara). Jeremy and … Read more

Despite not being finished, our beach house made an unexpected television appearance on HGTV this past Sunday. If you spotted it on the right side of the screen, you saw our sad, rotting siding — which somehow earned about 5% of the episode’s airtime. We had no idea it was going to air, so Sherry … Read more