Our week took an unexpected turn when we received a last-minute invitation to appear on The Rachael Ray Show. Within 24 hours we were on a plane to New York, and the next morning we were DIYing in front of a live studio audience. We’ve got a few behind-the-scenes stories to share (yes, Rachael Ray was NOT trying to hug Sherry), plus the whole trip was framed by two major beach house milestones: moving furniture in and spending our first night there. Below we recap how that went, what woke us up at 6 a.m., the IKEA pieces that tested our patience (yes, we learned the hard way), a favorite blog for Halloween inspiration, and a surprisingly good source for mass-produced art.
You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, and TuneIn Radio — or listen to it via the embedded player on this page. Use these show notes for links, photos, and references mentioned in the episode. Note: If you’re reading in a feed reader, you may need to click through to the post to view the player.
What’s New
- We posted a video and photos last week that show more of the beach house. In these show notes we’ll focus on how the week actually unfolded and what happened between flights, tapings, and late-night furniture moves.
- It was a whirlwind. By the time the weekend at the beach house ended we wondered if the Rachael Ray Show appearance had actually happened — but it did, and we’ll tell you more about it below.
Quiz
- Apartment Therapy compiled a list of the three most difficult-to-assemble IKEA pieces, which was pulled from a Reddit thread. That list includes several items that routinely frustrate builders.
- Our personal nemesis this week was the Edland bed, which we bought and later modified by trimming the posts.
- The storage boxes that felt unnecessarily complicated to assemble were the Kassett boxes — we even wrote an entire post about that frustration years ago.
The Rachael Ray Show
- If you missed the Friday clip, you can watch some of the segment using the embedded player above. The full online clip doesn’t include the in-studio demos where we showed how to install a stair runner and how to make an upholstered headboard. For step-by-step instructions on those projects, we linked our original posts with details and photos.
- The photo above captured Rachael at a rare low-energy moment — filming multiple shows a day will do that to anyone. Earlier you saw Sherry prepping a stair runner backstage; below is a peek at us building the headboard in our green room. It was tight quarters for a large project, but we finished it.
- For reference, the blue stair runner we used and the shibori upholstery fabric for the headboard are listed with their product names in our episode notes.
We’re Digging
- One of our favorite sources for Halloween inspiration is Brooklyn Limestone. Their themed exterior displays are imaginative, elaborate, and worth studying if you love seasonal decor. Examples include the “Eternal Rest Motel” (2017) and a memorable Sharknado-themed display from 2013.
- Brooklyn Limestone’s archive shows many impressive past themes: Eternal Rest Motel (2017), Brooklyn Witch Supply (2016), Twisted Charlotte’s Web (2015), Ghostbusters (2014), Sharknado (2013), Wizard of Oz (2012), Insane Asylum (2011), CarnEVIL (2010), Climbing Skeletons (2009), and Infested (2008).
- We also highlighted four Target wall hangings, mirrors, and art pieces that Sherry has been loving lately. Photos show some of them hanging in the beach house, including a glass-mounted beach photo in the back bedroom and a round gold mirror in the foyer.
For a full list of beach house sources—lighting, bedding, and more—check the end of our furniture post. If you’re trying to track down something we mentioned on a past episode but don’t remember which show notes to open, we maintain a master list of everything we’ve been digging from previous episodes.
Special thanks to Cardboard Safari for sponsoring this episode. Use code YHL20 for 20% off your first order at CardboardSafari.com/YHL. Below is a photo showcasing Leah Yellowbird’s detailed cardboard art using their products as a canvas.
Thanks for listening!
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