Apparently collecting more than 100 items to purge didn’t take nearly as long as we expected (see the full list of purged items here), so we got ambitious and held a last-minute moving sale this past Saturday. We wanted to get rid of things while our no-nonsense resolve was still strong — you know, before … Read more

After months of behind-the-scenes work (seriously—this kind of redesign takes forever), we’ve finally launched our blog refresh. Like any big project, there were hiccups: strange coding bugs, unexpected site crashes (thanks for bearing with us), an earthquake and even a hurricane. But rather than wait for the perfect moment, we decided to push it live. … Read more

Wondering which American accent you have? Below are three online quizzes that identify regional dialects based on pronunciation and vocabulary. After trying a dozen different tests, we picked the clearest, most useful options — one even narrowed results down to the correct state. Some sites were inaccurate or confusing — one incorrectly labeled me British, … Read more

Our house has never looked more festive. We decorated the living room, the den, and the front door with sparkly accents, and even though it was 82 degrees yesterday, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. The silver-themed tree turned out beautifully. A few strategically placed silver baubles around the house helped tie the … Read more

After our big kitchen reveal yesterday, the question everyone asks is: how much did it cost? It wasn’t millions — and it came in well below the national average for a major kitchen remodel, which realtor.org estimates at $44,000. We went back through every invoice and estimate to calculate the real cost from start to … Read more

With more than 6,000 original artworks to explore and $500 to spend, UGallery is offering one lucky person the chance to refresh their walls in a meaningful way this week. The site makes it simple to find the perfect piece by allowing visitors to filter by medium, price, color, size, and style. Every purchase ships … Read more

We’ve installed very few upper cabinets in recent kitchen projects, so under-cabinet lighting hasn’t been part of our last few renovations. That said, we did add under-cabinet lighting in our laundry room back in 2014, and I recently found photos of the install that I never shared. The process is straightforward, making this an easy … Read more

Q: Is there any way you can do a basic room-painting tutorial? Y’all seem to get such good results in just a few hours, but most internet tutorials would have me believe I need to put in a whole weekend for good results. I’ve noticed y’all don’t cover the floors and don’t prime–I’d love to … Read more

Two Sundays ago we visited the Richmond Craft Mafia’s Handmade Holiday craft show. As one friend quipped, it was like Etsy—only in real life. We love supporting and meeting local artisans, so we went expecting to see some interesting work, run into a few people we knew, and maybe pick up a gift or two. … Read more

A couple of weeks ago Sherry and I spent an afternoon house hunting in some of Richmond’s lower-income neighborhoods. We weren’t searching for a perfect fixer-upper, but were trying to spot the work of Richmond’s Better Housing Coalition. The results were obvious—and encouraging. The Better Housing Coalition has been creating quality, affordable homes in Richmond … Read more