When Anna sent photos of her family room redo, we were excited to share the dramatic before-and-after transformation. Below is her note describing the project: I thought you might like pictures of my 1960s step-down family room re-do. The best changes were removing the textured ceiling and replacing the carpet with wide-plank wood flooring. Because … Read more

When Brieanne shared her incredible nursery before-and-after photos, we were excited to showcase the transformation. Below is the letter she sent describing the project. Last year my sister asked me (her younger sister with an architecture degree) to help design a nursery for my future — and now completely adorable — niece Claire. Because my … Read more

We did it—an oversized DIY light fixture for the office that cost just $32 from start to finish. It gives the same impact as that $412 designer version, so we’re pretty excited about saving roughly $380 with a homemade solution. Here it is in all its glowing glory: To rewind a bit, this was the … Read more

In the words of Rose from Titanic… “I’ll never let go.” As we prepare to move on, we can’t help but pause and celebrate the dozens of small things we’ll miss about our very first home. These are the details that made this house feel like ours, and we wanted to capture them so we … Read more

My recent trip to IKEA left me giddy — they’ve rolled out a lot of new pieces — so I took photos to share. This wasn’t sponsored; it was just a fun shopping excursion. Here’s a quick virtual tour of what caught my eye. First up: this gorgeous chair. I’m obsessed. It’s the Storsele at … Read more

Meet my incredibly smart little brother, Dan. Growing up I was always labeled “the creative one,” which in our family translated to “not the prodigy,” because my brother owned that role. It wasn’t that I wasn’t bright — I often made the honor roll and was accepted early into a competitive art program in New … Read more

Cha-cha-cha-cha-changes. Some of you may have noticed that after Friday’s new house announcement, we updated the tagline in our blog header. Calling the site “two young people falling in love with their first house” no longer felt accurate. A longer alternative like “two young people making the emotional decision to leave their first house so … Read more

We’re back with another practical tutorial—this time showing an easy way to refresh an old chair by reupholstering the seat. The point: this is a simple, fast project that can completely transform a piece of furniture. Let’s get started. The original white fabric on this antique chair had yellowed and picked up stains over the … Read more

It’s October 15th, and once again we’re sharing eco-friendly tips from Almost-Doctor Dan for Blog Action Day 2009. Since we regularly cover practical ways to live greener and give back to the planet (we even have an Eco Living section on our How To page), this online event was a natural fit. But instead of … Read more

We’ll admit it: we were relieved when the holiday season finally ended. December is fun, but it also brings last-minute shopping, long-distance travel, family gatherings, and unpredictable weather — all of which add stress. So yes, many people thought we were a little crazy for moving into a new house during the holidays. It was … Read more