We recently realized we don’t need nearly as much space as we thought. How did we end up buying a house that’s too big? What made this so obvious now, and what square footage would actually suit us better? In this episode we walk through all of that—plus the exact moment we now see when our house-hunting went off the rails. We also take you behind the scenes of a charity makeover we did for three incredible kids, share updates from a trip to the beach, and reveal the exterior gadget that left us speechless. Sherry is on the hunt for a perfect Mother’s Day gift while John gushes over a jaw-dropping little gizmo. It’s fun, sincere, and a little mesmerizing to witness.
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What’s New
- Those three photos above are sneak peeks of the three kids’ rooms we designed for a local showhouse as part of the ASK Childhood Cancer charity program. Designing for real kids—rather than imagining them—was incredibly rewarding. We’re putting together a full blog post with lots of photos and details that should be up in a few days.
- This project was part of the annual Richmond Homearama event—the same festival where we designed an entire house back in 2014. If you’re able to attend, Homearama showcases multiple homes and is a great way to explore design ideas in person.
- If you’d like to learn more about the ASK Childhood Cancer Foundation and how to support or volunteer, their website is a good place to start. They do tremendous work for deserving families.
- Below are photos from a productive and fun weekend trip to Cape Charles, the same trip when we mostly finished the beach house laundry room. The first two images are from a very large estate outside of Cape Charles that we visited during Historic Garden Week on the Eastern Shore.
- The gardens date back to the 1800s and the house itself has a long history—visiting felt like stepping back in time.
- The next picture is of a house in town, just a few blocks from the pink house and the duplex. Interior photos weren’t allowed on the tour, but the curved wraparound porch was too beautiful not to capture.
- We also attended the “Blessing of the Worms” at the youth garden. Each child dropped a small cup of dirt—each containing a blessed worm—into raised beds. It was a crowded, joyful kids’ event and a great example of community gardening in action.
- We somehow fit in a trip to the beach—nearly 80 degrees and the shallow bay made it feel like summer—and stopped by the new candy store in town. Also included below is a snapshot related to an HGTV episode that featured the beach house before we owned it; the couple from that show later opened the candy store.
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Our Too Big House
- The photo above shows the bonus room in our current house. We finished this previously unfinished space and officially added square footage, and now we realize it’s one of the rooms we could probably do without—along with a couple of other oversized spaces.
- Below are photos representing our first house (top left), the house we lived in next (top right), and our current house (bottom). Each change taught us something about what we actually need versus what we thought we wanted.
- It’s surprising how deceiving photos can be: one of our earlier homes appears compact in pictures but actually had nearly the same square footage as our current place because of an addition that was out of frame.
- We’d love to know how you feel about your current home. Do you find yourself wanting less space now, or is more still better for you? Did you equate “more value” with “a bigger house” when you were shopping?
We’re Digging
The little tool that really impressed us recently was a lightweight expandable hose that’s easy to store when not in use—perfect for the beach house where space and convenience matter. It’s compact, stores easily, and so far we haven’t had leaks or issues. That said, customer reviews can be mixed for many such products, so we’ll keep an eye on it and share updates if anything changes.
- Sherry ordered a special necklace as a Mother’s Day gift to represent her four grandchildren. The piece we chose has a delicate, meaningful design and comes in a few variations—something thoughtful and personal if you’re shopping for a parent or grandparent.
For a consolidated list of products and ideas we’ve recommended on past episodes, we keep a master list of everything we’ve been digging. A quick note of thanks to West Elm LOCAL Experiences for sponsoring this episode and for their efforts to highlight local makers and community-driven projects. Thanks for listening and following along—your support means a lot.
Note: This post originally included references to organizations, events, and products. All images are retained here for reference. Some contextual links and embedded scripts have been removed for clarity and performance.