Ok, we planned to tackle our sunroom mini makeover next, but we had to share this quick rug switcheroo first. Readers often ask how we pick room-defining elements like art or the perfect rug. Our answer: there’s no single “right” or “perfect” option. Decorating is more like a buffet—many appealing choices can finish a room … Read more

Hootie hooo! The cork floor in both the kitchen and the laundry room is finished — well, almost. We still need to add shoe molding, thresholds, and apply a protective sealer, but the big installation is done, and it’s great to finally see the whole space come together. Photographing the floor accurately has been a … Read more

We’re almost a week away from December, which makes looking back at the start of October feel a bit odd. Between a few book tour stops that threw off our normal schedule and Thanksgiving break, this month’s yearbook-style wrap-up of October is arriving a little late. As always, you can read past monthly roundups dating … Read more

Sorry for the late post — we ran into some technical issues. We’re excited to finally share the cottage we mentioned on Friday. Many of you wanted more details and photos, so here’s the full scoop: the cabin is about 45 minutes west of Richmond in Columbia, Virginia. It’s part of Rassawek, a property that … Read more

If you follow our Instagram stories, you may have already seen that we recently welcomed a new member to the Petersik family. I wanted to properly introduce her here on the blog — say hello to Penny! After Burger, our chihuahua of 15 years, passed away in October, we were devastated. Losing him left a … Read more

We had a blast sharing the exterior layout of our house back in June, so now we’re showing Casa Petersik’s actual interior floor plan. Photos are great, but they don’t always make it easy to understand how rooms flow from one to the next. To help clarify the layout of our three-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bath brick ranch, … Read more

We found these frames at a yard sale and haggled them down to $10 each. Let’s call them our twig & berries. The tall, narrow shape immediately felt perfect for flanking our bed, placed above the glass-based lamps on our temporary side tables (they’re too small and lack drawers) in this unfinished corner of the … Read more

My dad is an artist — not professionally (he’s a brilliant math teacher), but both he and my mother sketched and drew for fun while I was growing up. Art was my favorite subject, and I eventually earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in New York City. I remember being amazed by my mother’s graceful … Read more

We did our best to keep things from getting painfully awkward. Did we succeed? You decide. As part of this year’s blogiversary celebrations, we asked readers to submit personal (non-decorating) questions on our Facebook page last week. More than two hundred questions poured in, so Sherry and I answered as many as we could while … Read more

Want to turn Ikea Besta cabinets into custom built-ins? We used three simple hacks to make our Bestas read like higher-end storage without the hefty price. The result is extra concealed storage and added architectural detail in our bedroom. table | white chairs | wicker chair | ottoman | lamps | glass vase | sconces … Read more