Ever move a piece of furniture and find a deep dent in the rug or carpet where your couch, chair, or table used to sit? We recently discovered several such impressions after moving our rug from the living room (where it had been under the couch and coffee table) to the guest bedroom. For years … Read more

We knew it would be hard to top last year’s giveaway, but this blogiversary we’re thrilled to offer an adventure- and luxury-filled Virginia vacation valued at about $3,000. Virginia tourism organization Virginia Is For Lovers invited us to take part in a new series highlighting real Virginians, and they asked to profile our trip. We … Read more

Eighteen football fields — but not a single pigskin. That’s because I’m referring to the eighteen football fields’ worth of showroom space at Green Front Furniture, a huge discount furniture and accessories destination in Farmville, VA. Since Farmville is only about an hour from our Richmond home, we decided to take a short road trip … Read more

In keeping with our annual tradition, we wanted to share Clara’s invitation and a few of the party supplies, just like we did last year and the year before. Many of you have been guessing this year’s theme (after Clara chose worms last year) — so here’s the reveal: a dragon-themed celebration. The dragon idea … Read more

We aimed to have all the nursery’s extra-chunky crown molding painted, cut, hung, caulked, and touched up by the end of the weekend—and we just made it. Crown molding is one of those “nice-to-have” details that always blows us away once it’s in place. Even basic, boxy rooms instantly look taller and more finished. That’s … Read more

In this long-overdue update on our beach house renovation, we share progress: some walls are going up while others come down, and we’ve revised the floor plan again. We also revisit the bathroom renovation, which is still in progress. This episode features a conversation with Joy Cho of Oh Joy! about growing a blog into … Read more

We’re back with another update on John’s sister’s nursery, just like we promised. After sharing the play-by-play of our wall striping project and revealing a few fabric choices, we moved on to the biggest design challenge: the room had zero windows. That’s right—none. Emily’s modern new construction positioned this interior room behind a sliding barn … Read more

***This giveaway is no longer accepting entries – see who won below!*** We used random.org to pick our winner and they chose… Sarah (she could name ten small projects that have added up and could make use of this prize). Congrats, Sarah! Since the early days of YHL, we’ve been friends with the team at … Read more

Our new washer and dryer have arrived! That means our old set is gone — and selling them on Craigslist worked out perfectly (thanks for buying them, Leslie Ann!). We were appliance-free for a few days, which you may have noticed in the video house tour. By selling the old machines for $250, our already-discounted … Read more

Happy Friday! I wanted to share a quick Memorial Day sale roundup because there are tons of home items on discount right now. I’m shopping for both our house and the beach house, so I’m on high alert for good deals. A few years back I learned the hard way to wait for holiday sales—buying … Read more