This week I’m admitting to a kitchen design choice at our beach house that, in hindsight, wasn’t our best idea. Thankfully it’s an easy fix, so we’re sharing why we changed our minds and how we corrected it. We also weigh in on a divisive design trend that seems to provoke strong reactions, plus tips for recreating that cozy, magazine-worthy bed—along with a few bed-making tricks that are better left to professionals. Oh, and yes: Young House Love almost has a board game.
You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, and Spotify — or listen to it below. Use this page to follow any links, notes, or photos we referenced. Note: If you’re reading in a feed reader, you may need to click through to the post to see the player.
What’s New
- The photo above shows how close the mini fridge was to the pantry that holds the full-size fridge — a layout choice we debated at length.
- You can hear more about the original beach house fridge debate and why we considered two fridges in Episode #74.
- Our post about buying appliances outlines some of the thinking that led us to nix a full-sized fridge in the main kitchen and convert the breakfast nook into a walk-in pantry.
- This weekend we actually swapped the fridge and a cabinet, so that nook looks much better now (we still need to add hardware and finish some trim).
- We also built pantry shelves to flank the full-size fridge — you can read about that process in our pantry shelves post.
fridge / white bins / similar woven baskets / similar pendant light
- If you want to visualize the pantry and kitchen layout, our end-of-year beach house tour includes a video walkthrough that shows how everything fits together.
Can We Just Talk About…
- There’s a passionate Elle Decor piece on the backward-books trend that got a lot of people talking.
- For our bookshelves we landed on loose color groupings rather than a strict rainbow—functional and imperfect, which suits us.
living room chairs / similar wood dresser / similar rug / kitchen pendants
- Here’s a shot from the other side of the room taken around Christmastime, complete with tiny ceramic Mr. & Mrs. Claus in front of a ceramic succulent.
Listener Question
- We looked at examples of those extra-comfortable layered beds from catalogs. West Elm and Pottery Barn often show the relaxed, “lived-in” bed style that feels immediately inviting.
- Other brands offer a more tailored version of the layered look: still voluminous, but cleaner and more formal, like the Ballard Designs example.
- Even the neater Annie Selke catalog spreads rely on overlapping layers and oversized headboards to achieve that styled depth without seeming stiff.
We don’t pretend our beds match professional styling perfectly, but we’ve found a simple formula that works in everyday life. On a queen bed we use: a king-sized duvet and insert, two king-sized decorative pillows with shams in front of the two sleeping pillows, and one accent pillow in the center. Extra: a king-sized blanket folded at the foot of the bed. That combination creates volume and coziness with minimal effort. In the episode we explain why we size up bedding pieces and offer tips for mixing textures and choosing headboards.
duvet / blue pillow / white blanket / art / headboard / sconce / night stands / sound machine
- We don’t have a lot of direct “bed shots” from the beach house, but the photos we do have show how we mix patterns and share sets across beds—one room might get the duvet while another uses the shams to keep things cohesive but not matchy.
headboard / rug / blue blanket / side table / lamp / curtain rods / sound machine
- We also created a tutorial for making your own upholstered headboard; the one pictured is the same tutorial headboard recovered in a neutral fabric.
lamp / duvet (flipped) / similar night stand / gold frames / similar mobile
- If you’d like a list of paint colors and all sources from the beach house, we compiled a Shop the Beach House page. We’re also working on a Before & After page to show the progress after a year and a half of renovating—stay tuned.
We’re Digging
- For the board-game excitement we shared on Instagram, Sherry saved the InstaStory to our profile so it won’t disappear. Open our profile on the Instagram mobile app and look for the highlight that says “YHL Game?” to watch the clips.
- Games we recommended include Exploding Kittens (plus the Imploding Kittens expansion) and Bears Vs. Babies. We’re always open to more game suggestions from listeners.
- Sherry’s new basil hand soap also comes in a dishwashing liquid version. And the special-edition Mrs. Meyer’s Iowa Pine scent is still available in sampler and multi-packs.
If you’re trying to find something we mentioned in a past episode, we keep a master list of everything we’ve been digging from past shows for easy reference.
Finally, thanks to Agility Bed for sponsoring this episode. They’re offering $150 off any Agility Bed mattress with the code YHL150 at AgilityBed.com.
Thanks for listening, everyone!
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