Today we’re sharing how to strike the right balance when deciding between artwork and family photos for different walls. We’ll reveal where we tend to place personal photos in our own home—and why those spots feel right. You’ll also find creative ideas for personalizing walls beyond the typical smiling-at-the-camera snapshot. Plus, we’ve gone truly shed-crazy … Read more

Well, our new washer and dryer have arrived, and we promised to share how installation went, what we did with the floors underneath, and how we like them so far. Over the years we’ve lived with several laundry setups: in our first house we had front loaders with a counter… In our second house we … Read more

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