In the words of Eminem, I’m cleaning out my closet. But first, a closet-themed dance break for the Marshall Mathers fans out there (full disclosure: I can do a pretty decent Eminem impression). Now that the interlude is over, on to the real story. The closet is already cleaned — not just mine but ours. … Read more

Composting brings us joy. It may sound a little nerdy, but that small satisfaction you feel when you find the perfect gift or send a donation — that’s the same feeling I get when I drop a banana peel into the compost bucket under the sink. It’s a tiny everyday action that keeps useful material … Read more

Okay, here’s a somewhat gross but honest confession: our master bedroom mattress was ancient — a true hand-me-down relic. John’s sister kindly passed it along when we moved to Richmond three years ago after years of her own use. Over time, the mattress had stiffened into something resembling a brick, offering about as much comfort … Read more

***This giveaway is no longer accepting entries*** Our giveaway sponsor this week is Valspar Paint, a well-known name in high-quality paints. They are offering five gallons of their Ultra Premium interior paint—one gallon each for five lucky readers. Whether you’re planning a small refresh or a full room makeover, this is a great chance to … Read more

***This giveaway is no longer accepting entries – see who won below!*** Random.org had quite the task of sifting through so many entries this week, but it has randomly selected our winner as… Kelley (who has so many ideas for how to use the gift card, including a fireplace surround, kitchen backsplash or master bath … Read more

If you’ve ever thought about designing a whole room around a photograph or a single piece of art, Lifehacker highlights a helpful tool that does just that. The Color Palette Generator allows you to upload an image and automatically creates color palettes that match the tones in your photo. While you’ll still want to compare … Read more

This morning, while Clara was busy with her routine, I tackled a few cosmetic repairs in the bathroom. I set out to fix some small imperfections on the walls: A few days earlier I applied spackle to some cracks and uneven areas in the drywall (we used Dap Crackshot). Although we were thrilled with the … Read more

When it comes to how long, how many, and how often, we don’t usually quantify our blogging. For our blogiversary, though, we wanted to share some numbers and milestones to give you a clearer picture of what goes on behind the scenes. 380: The number of posts we’ve published to date. 2,592: The total comments … Read more

It’s been a busy, productive week in the nursery built-in department, so this post covers a lot. Crank up your favorite Swedish electropop and get ready for a detailed look at how we turned free‑standing Ikea dressers into built‑in dresser/bookcase bases (the right side in the first image is a Photoshop mockup, not the final … Read more

Since Photoshop is our primary tool for editing blog photos and we’re often asked for tips, here’s a concise guide to the basic workflow and tricks we use. A few caveats first: 1. We’re not Photoshop experts: We learned the basics through a few classes and a lot of trial and error. Most of our … Read more