Today we’re celebrating a doggie birthday: Hamburger “Burger” Petersik turns two. We spent the day treating him to a few special things, including a stop at Three Dog Bakery for a birthday treat and a new harness that’s gentler on his small neck than the collar we’d been using. Here’s the birthday boy enjoying his … Read more

Remember when I wrote about the cheap yard sale painting we picked up for $20 — the one with the chunky frame (and a little dent that made it feel characterful) and the artwork that looked a bit generic and hotel-like? We liked the size and the frame, but the art itself didn’t speak to … Read more

As I mentioned earlier this week, we finally brought home a real mini tree. I put up twinkle lights and hung a few ornaments, and I’m honestly smitten—it’s a total game changer. Clara and Burger love it too—play a little Where’s Waldo in the dark and see if you can spot them: The tree feels … Read more

It seems like every room in our house goes through a slow, often ongoing transformation, and the bedroom is no exception. In past homes we chronicled the gradual changes in our master bedroom and our daughter’s room, and our current bedroom has been following a similar winding path. bench / rug / plant / similar … Read more

The last four days have been absolute chaos in Patio Land (not to be confused with Temptation Island—remember that show?). The good news is it’s nearly finished. About 90% done. I’m a bit low on energy right now and we’re waiting for better light to take final photos, so here’s a recap of our four-day … Read more

Psst—We usually post on Fridays, but Sherry will be back with a small bonus post in a few hours. We get a lot of requests to share kid rooms, and since our family has a girl and we recently showed her big-girl-room makeover, we wanted to highlight the bright, playful big-boy room that Jesse designed … Read more

Long ago we promised more details about how we made the reclaimed wood shelves we installed during our big kitchen remodel, so here’s a complete rundown with measurements, staining methods, and hanging tips. We hadn’t planned to add shelves at first. A large piece of art didn’t give the wall enough dimension, so shelves became … Read more

Last week we shared how we painted our cabinets. Today we’ll walk you through how everything is organized. This kitchen has roughly one quarter of the cabinetry and countertop space of our previous kitchen, and we worried a bit about adapting to so much less storage. The good news: it’s working really well. We can … Read more

Here’s a small tradition John and I started last year: in the depths of winter we make a list of things we want to do in the summer. We hide the list somewhere we won’t look until the weather warms up again. We usually tape it to a bottle of sunscreen, but you could tuck … Read more

Glad that’s finally behind us. Painting the trim turned out to be even longer and more tedious than we expected, but it’s done — and it feels great. There were more than one happy dances: one late Friday when we finished, and another the next morning when we saw the room in daylight. Certain home … Read more