Believe it or not, we’ve lived in our new house for over six months now. Half a year. That felt like a good milestone to review the goals that motivated our move and downsizing, highlight what met or exceeded our expectations, and outline the biggest challenges we’ve faced along the way. This recap is long … Read more

We’re thrilled to share the finished built-in bunk beds in the small bunk room at our beach house. The room is only about 7 feet wide, but by building custom wall-to-wall platforms we made room for two Twin XL mattresses. The bunks quickly became the kids’ favorite place to sleep, play, and hang out. I … Read more

Succulents are among the easiest houseplants to propagate because they respond well to several simple techniques. In this guide you’ll learn how one succulent can become many—sometimes a dozen or more. Whether you want to expand your own collection or create gifts for friends, propagation is a rewarding and approachable process. Propagation also helps keep … Read more

“We just couldn’t figure out why you weren’t tearing out the kitchen.” That’s what one of our contractor’s guys said when we moved in last year. I get his confusion. We replaced floors, moved doors, vaulted ceilings, and more — yet we left the small original kitchen largely intact, mauve laminate countertops and all. You … Read more

***This giveaway is no longer accepting entries*** We recently visited LaDifférence to select an item for a giveaway, and we had so much fun exploring their showroom. For anyone who hasn’t been, LaDifférence is a sprawling 45,000-square-foot space filled with modern and contemporary home furnishings. It’s a great place to browse for inspiration and design … Read more

***This giveaway is no longer accepting entries*** We’re keeping this short and sweet: a $200 Home Depot gift card is the prize for this giveaway. This week’s prize is provided by Home Depot as part of their “What’s Your Pro Project” campaign. Home Depot isn’t just asking about your projects — they’re helping you complete … Read more

Hello Pinterest friends. I hope you enjoyed some baking, crafting, painting, organizing, sewing, building, or knitting lately — because it’s time to participate in this season’s unofficial Pinterest Challenge (a fun idea from Katie to stop pinning and start doing). The only rule is simple: pick a pinned project you’ve wanted to try and actually … Read more

Nothing like a little weekend chaos. Guess what we did this weekend? Here’s a hint: And another hint: And another hint: And one last hint: Yep — all that weekend activity was for this: Specifically, we painted Clara’s closet. While standing on a chair to hang the little ribbon chandelier I made last week, I … Read more

As is our tradition each year, we grabbed a video camera and walked the exterior of the house to document what’s been finished and what still needs work (spoiler: there’s plenty left at our new place). You can see last year’s tour here and the 2011 tour here. When I say “we take a video … Read more

You may have seen the before-and-after bench photos in our recent column for R. Home magazine. Here’s a clear, step-by-step look at how we transformed a cheap, wobbly thrift-store bench into a fresh, polished piece using paint, fabric and a little elbow grease. We found this bench at Love of Jesus Thrift for just $7. … Read more