Nothing ruins a good stretch at home like discovering a pest infestation. In this episode we share the whole itchy story: why we had to leave the house for a few days, how we handled the cleanup, and what ultimately solved the problem without the long, expensive process we expected. We also vent about the state of readily available front doors, show a clever detail we borrowed from a luxury hotel to elevate our beach house, and celebrate our 100th episode with a very special guest.
You can download the episode from popular podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, and Spotify — or listen directly through your favorite podcast app. Use this page to follow along with the show notes and images we mentioned. Note: if you’re reading this in a feed reader you may need to open the full post to see all the images and notes.
What’s New
- After we found the pest issue, we created a “quarantine” zone in the bonus room. The photo above was taken after we returned from a short trip out of town to give treatments time to work — so it looks calm now, but at first it was thrown together in a panicked rush.
- If you want the backstory on my prior bed bug experience in New York City that I reference in the episode, there’s a detailed post recounting how difficult that ordeal was. In that story you’ll see photos of clothes stored in sealed bags and the “sleep uniform” I started wearing to avoid bites—yes, even in summer. Design choices aside, it was one of the worst infestations I’ve gone through and a big reason we reacted quickly this time.
Can We Just Talk About
- Front doors. Seriously — the selection of doors at big box stores is frustrating. We saw countless over-complicated styles and very few classic, simple options that felt appropriate for a duplex or a modest beach house entry. It was surprising how many excessively ornate designs are labeled “in stock” while clean, timeless looks are rare.
- On our hunt we encountered doors carved with elaborate motifs — everything from diamond panes to whimsical animal scenes — which made finding a straightforward diamond-paned door unexpectedly difficult. In a funny twist, tracking down a door with a carved bear family turned out to be easier than locating the simpler option we wanted.
- We also shared a little Instagram moment where Amy drove a lovely door from King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, right through Richmond on her way to a soccer tournament for her daughter. That act of neighborly help saved us a lot of time and was a big part of getting a door in place for the duplex.
We’re Digging
- For the beach house bedrooms we picked up compact white sound machines that sit on the nightstands. They’re affordable, small, and offer a range of white-noise and nature sounds that help mask street or ocean noise and make sleeping easier when you’re not used to a new place.
- We’ve also been listening to true crime podcasts lately and recommend checking out a regionally focused show called Southern Nightmare if you like deeply reported stories tied to the local history of Richmond, Virginia.
If you’re ever trying to find an item or recommendation we mentioned in a past episode but don’t remember where it was listed, we keep a master list of things we’ve been “digging” from previous shows to make it easier to locate past recommendations and links.
Finally, a note of thanks to the sponsor who helped support this episode. Sponsors make it possible for us to keep producing the show and sharing stories and project details with you.
Thanks for listening and for being part of our community. We appreciate your comments and enjoy hearing your own renovation and home-life stories — especially when they involve unexpected pests or triumphant door finds.
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