Our recent Chicago meet-up with fellow bloggers Chris Loves Julia, Yellow Brick Home, and Making It Lovely left us with warm memories (and very full stomachs). Seeing one of their homes in person changed our minds about a “design rule” we’d confidently declared for our own house on the podcast. We also share what surprised us most about the final phase of getting our duplex ready to rent, the results of Sherry’s latest staging project, and a lively decor idea that’s more interesting than simply hanging another picture frame.
You can also find this episode on your favorite podcast app like Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, TuneIn Radio, Stitcher, and Spotify.
What’s New
- Here’s the crew from our blogger meet-up/vacation in Chicago a couple of weeks ago. From left to right: me, Nicole Balch from Making It Lovely, Sherry, Julia Marcum from Chris Loves Julia, Kim and Scott Vargo (our hosts) from Yellow Brick Home, and Chris Marcum.
- You can relive parts of the trip through highlights on Sherry’s Instagram profile (look for the “Chicago” circle). Julia also saved highlights showing a few shy camera moments.
- Here’s a quick list of places we visited and where we ate while in Chicago:
- Lula Cafe
- Lost Lake
- Garfield Park Conservatory
- Dove’s Luncheonette
- Toni’s Patisserie
- The Modern Wing, Art Institute of Chicago
- Revival Food Hall
- Chicago Athletic Association (bocce!)
- Lonesome Rose
- Cafe Marie-Jeanne
- Same Day Cafe
- Pretty Cool Ice Cream
- Summer House
- Little Goat Diner
- In Episode #134 we explained why our walls don’t feature many family photos. Visiting Kim & Scott’s Chicago home made us rethink that stance. Their rooms demonstrate how smaller, thoughtfully framed photos can have strong impact without taking over a space.
- We especially loved the framed Polaroid-style photos. They’re not large pieces of art, but the way they’re framed and arranged gives them real presence. Kim even shared a DIY post about how she framed them.
- If you want to follow their latest work, they recently posted a before tour of a new renovation project called the “Two Flat.” There’s a lot of potential in that one.
Update
- If you want the original story or a before & after from Sherry’s recent staging project, check out last week’s show notes for full details.
Finishing The Duplex
- Back in Episode #125 we talked about kitchen progress made over the holidays and I optimistically hoped the duplex would be finished by summer. After the last few months, I underestimated how long furnishing would take.
- The calendar we kept highlights in red the 16 separate days we drove to Cape Charles to work on the duplex over four months. Each trip was a 5–6 hour round trip, often completed in one day. Those visits involved lots of unpacking, assembly, and planning for the next trip—more than we expected for the furnishing phase.
- Many early trips involved long hours of furniture assembly and creating lists of things to bring next time.
- It took longer than we expected, but we’re now very close to the finish line. A few kitchen items and minor outdoor projects remain, but we’re roughly 98% done with this nearly two-year project.
- If you missed last week’s links to the duplex listings, they’re live on Airbnb for both the Left Side and Right Side. Within 24 hours of sharing, every summer week we listed was booked—an exciting and relieving outcome. At the time of this post, there was one cancellation for the last week of August on the Right Side, so that week is available to request.
- We’ll release off-season dates for fall later this summer (these stays won’t require week-long bookings), and we’ll open reservations for summer 2020 after this summer concludes. More dates will be added seasonally.
We’re Digging
- In the photo above you can see a mobile we hung in one of the duplex bedrooms to add movement and interest to a bare corner. That mobile originally came from Pottery Barn but is no longer sold; it used to hang in our bonus room near the TV.
- Since we borrowed that mobile from our bonus room, Sherry is searching for a replacement and has a few options she’s considering. Many retailers have sales right now, so she’s watching for the best find.
- We also hung another mobile in the beach house’s middle bedroom. That one came from Target but is no longer available either.
- We’d love your input—please take our short survey embedded below.
- Also, a compact car battery jump starter we tried was highly recommended. We haven’t needed it yet, but it’s reassuring to have on hand after experiencing a couple of dead batteries in the past year.
If you’re trying to find an item we mentioned on a past episode, we maintain a master list of everything we’ve been “digging” across episodes, plus a Book Club page listing all the books we’ve recommended.
Finally, a big thank you to Rothy’s for sponsoring this episode. They offer free shipping and returns on every order.
Thanks for listening!
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