Looking for a fresh, stylish twist on pumpkin carving this year? Try these two stencil-based ideas: a couples’ monogram jack-o’-lantern and a detailed damask-pattern pumpkin. Both designs are simple to create at home with printed stencils and a few basic tools, and they yield a modern, unexpected result—especially on white pumpkins. Choosing The Right Pumpkin … Read more

Does anyone else think of Will Ferrell’s Robert Goulet impression from SNL when they hear the word “nature”? Maybe that’s just me. A small outdoor discovery with my daughter turned into a quick, ten-second project (free and fast = my kind of craft), and it made me smile enough to share. Consider this a tiny … Read more

Surprise — we’ve been on the road for the past five days and rolled into our driveway last night at 7pm after a nine-hour drive. Did we unpack and settle into the couch right away? Not a chance. We threw this post together instead. Classic “procrastinate-unpacking” behavior. I’m way too excited to relax — I … Read more

Please sing this to the tune of The Brady Bunch Theme Song. Here’s the story… of two cheap black framies… … found at Target and then spray painted bright white… … then they both looked pretty sleek… like twin brothers… … they make me want to twirl. Okay, that little jingle was a stretch, but … Read more

You down with ORB? Yeah you know me. Finally — after nearly two years of planning — we upgraded every brass doorknob in our house to an oil-rubbed bronze (ORB) finish. It felt great to get it done. We replaced 19 knobs in total and couldn’t be happier with the transformation. Before tackling all the … Read more

*Thanks so much for all of the kind words and the love you shared after yesterday’s post. Reading your stories and memories was incredibly touching. A few weeks ago Clara saw a canopy over a friend’s bed and instantly fell in love. She asked for “daddy and mommy to build a canopy with a hammer … Read more

Good news: we made solid progress on building the deck. Huzzah! Bad news: we didn’t finish as much as we’d hoped. Harumph. It reminded me of our long-ago bathroom remodel, when we’d plan a big weekend with my dad and still only just get started by the end of the third day. That’s just how … Read more

This week we help a listener whose home flooded after Hurricane Harvey by offering practical advice on finding the right professionals to restore her kitchen. We also share a new “smart” platform we’re enjoying for buying and selling secondhand items, celebrate some recent faux-plant wins, and John introduces a free tool that’s finally helping him … Read more

Sherry is officially halfway through Clara’s canopy wall update, so thanks to the 900+ readers who voted and shared ideas! We showed Clara several photo mockups and she picked a few favorites to combine. The result is whimsical and clever—she might get to choose the design in every room from now on. I, however, decided … Read more

The closet beside our front door seemed like the natural coat closet when we moved in. But because our idea of a coat closet included cleaning supplies (vacuum, dust buster), files, and random bags, we quickly realized the deeper closet under the stairs was a better fit. It’s slightly closer to the garage, so it … Read more