We all know that deflated feeling when a big project or renovation loses its momentum. How do you rekindle the excitement you once had? We’ve been dealing with this at the beach house lately, so we’re sharing five practical tips to fight project fatigue. With spring bringing lots of home maintenance, we also offer a … Read more

Send out the ravens! (Yes, that’s a Game of Thrones reference.) Wallpaper stripping is officially underway. I was actually excited to tackle the half bathroom’s wallpaper removal. Strange hobby, I know, but I enjoy projects like this. We have wallpaper in five rooms—the foyer, the half bath, the kitchen, the dining room, and the main … Read more

It’s finally here: the first of our three before-and-after features in BHG’s Do It Yourself Magazine has just hit newsstands. You might remember we mentioned the two-day photo shoot last October and later shared the lessons we learned from watching professional stylists transform each room in our home. Now we’re excited to share the results … Read more

Our recent sunroom floor staining experiment steered us away from semi-transparent finishes (great for raw concrete but not ideal over previously stained surfaces) and toward a solid, glossy, opaque treatment. Below is how we achieved that look. We discovered that oil-based porch and floor paint was the best choice for this project because latex floor … Read more

As John mentioned this morning, Do It Yourself Magazine’s 48-hour whirlwind photoshoot of our home was eye-opening and, of course, incredibly exciting. They say the best way to learn is to dive in, so we jumped right into the process—holding equipment, listening to styling lingo, and absorbing every detail. We took plenty of mental notes … Read more

This project started out feeling a bit chaotic: we were attempting to hang IKEA cabinets in our laundry room while also re-hooking the washer and dryer. Midway through both tasks we were stalled, and the best progress shot we had looked like this: Fortunately, in the last 24 hours several last-minute pieces fell into place. … Read more

Just when the duplex renovation seemed to be moving along, we hit an unexpected snag that led to an emergency trip to Cape Charles and a tense appearance before the Historic Review Board. Here we share the full story, an update on our month-long shopping ban (temptations, beware), and a practical discussion about transporting large … Read more

First things first: thanks for being such good sports about our little April Fool’s Day prank (seen here). Sherry couldn’t stop giggling while she put together that over-the-top nautical doggie mood board (at one point Katie Bower called and I heard a laugh-snort as she described it). Every comment—whether people fell for it or recognized … Read more

We recently updated our House Tour page with new progress photos and realized we hadn’t posted a full update on the new house since Day One and Day Fifteen. So here’s a look at where we are after roughly three months (around Day 101). On moving day this was the original formal living room that … Read more

Renovating our beach house hasn’t been all rainbows and pink siding. This week we’re getting real about a few projects that have been particularly stressful, and we share one simple thing we did to slow down, calm our nerves, and remember why we started this renovation in the first place. We also sit down with … Read more