Keeping your children safe at home is essential, and balancing a stylish house with a practical, livable one is the ultimate goal. This week we share straightforward strategies we used to childproof our home without buying every foam edge and cabinet lock in the store. We also had the pleasure of meeting Vern Yip in person — he taught us lots of useful design tips (including our new favorite term for choosing the right lighting) and had us laughing non-stop with his legendary hotel trick from his Trading Spaces days. We talk about furnishing the beach house quickly while still trying to include pieces that feel meaningful, not just convenient.
You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, and TuneIn Radio — or listen to it below. Use this page to find links, notes, and photos we mentioned. 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
- We met Vern Yip at his event in Richmond — and yes, we were those people chatting too long in the book-signing line until staff gently moved us along.
- You can hear Vern on our podcast in Episode #15, where he phoned in with design tips. The founder of U‑Fab (who hosted the Richmond event) also shared fabric and upholstery advice with us on Episode #10.
- Vern’s book, Design Wise, is beautiful and packed with practical design guidance.
- If you’re curious about our new favorite lighting term, “lamping,” look up the technical definition or the fun write-ups on slang sites — plenty of ways to understand it.
Updates
- If you missed any of the episodes we referenced, here they are:
- Episode #61 — smarter pricing strategies on sites like Craigslist and eBay
- Episode #64 — paying off our mortgage
- Episode #68 — the iPhone’s “Do Not Disturb While Driving” feature
- Episode #69 — Sherry’s worry about sweating on TV
Quiz
- We liked MyDomaine’s piece on 9 Things All Insanely Stylish People Have in Their Homes — a quick read with useful styling ideas.
Listener Question
- Above is the baby gate we used at the top of our stairs for a couple of years (bought from Babies R’ Us), and here’s the gate we used at the bottom of the stairs.
- You’ll still spot outlet covers in many of our photos, including our recent foyer update. We prefer covers that blend with white outlets, are easy to pop off, and can clip to a vacuum or lamp cord so they don’t get misplaced while an outlet is in use.
- We bought anti‑tip straps for furniture pieces that didn’t come with them — a simple, effective safety upgrade.
- Covert cabinet latches are handy for inside bathroom or kitchen cabinets, especially under the sink where cleaners and soaps are stored. They give peace of mind without altering the cabinet’s appearance.
- We wrote about babyproofing when our daughter was little on BabyCenter years ago. Some practical posts we shared there:
- Using 3M Command strips to secure low-hanging picture frames
- Anchoring a large mirror to the wall to prevent tipping (we linked the hardware we used)
- More details on the outlet covers we still use
- How we protected the crib from teething marks — a short-lived phase, thankfully
We’re Digging
- We swapped some bulbs recently and found one that performs beautifully in exposed fixtures — it mimics an Edison bulb’s look without the overly warm, orange tint. It’s LED, long-lasting, and sits at a pleasant color temperature that isn’t too warm or too cool. We’re excited about this find for open-bulb fixtures while still keeping our tried-and-true soft white LEDs for enclosed fixtures around the house.
- Below are the shirts we wore on Rachael Ray: Sherry’s Old Navy top and the Target shirt I wore. Sherry also bought an alternate top that skirted the show’s no-black guideline, which she wore to meet Vern, plus a leopard-print sweatshirt she’s been wearing a lot during chilly days.
- If you want to revisit something we’ve recommended in past episodes but can’t remember where to find it, here’s a master list of everything we’ve been digging from prior shows.
Finally, a big thank-you to The Annie Selke Companies for sponsoring this episode. Use code YHL15 to get 15% off any order at AnnieSelke.com/YHL on bedding, rugs, furniture, and more.
Thanks for listening!
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