In this long-awaited update on our beach house renovation, we share what’s been happening lately: some new walls have gone up while others have come down, and once again we’ve reconsidered the floor plan. We also revisit the bathroom renovation briefly — it’s still in progress — and highlight a few small upgrades that have made daily life easier, like a simple bathroom improvement and a quick sticky fix that solved an annoying cord problem. We recorded this around Valentine’s Day, so happy Valentine’s Day to everyone following along.
You can download this episode from iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, or TuneIn Radio — or listen using the embedded player on the original episode page. Use this post to find links, notes, and photos mentioned in the episode. 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’re working on a comprehensive post that will include updated photos and detailed floor plans for the beach house, but in the meantime we wanted to share a few recent snapshots. The new side of the house is now constructed, and below you’ll find progress photos that show the current state. These are progress shots, not finished reveals, but they should give you a sense of where things are headed.
Also: Sherry is Kung Fu Panda*
Updates
- If you missed our earlier conversation about Roomba problems, or if you want to vote in the Roomba poll, check out Episode #32 for the full discussion.
- Episode #32 also includes the story about a realtor who recommended keeping our closet footprint rather than losing it to make space for a tub — a useful perspective as we weigh design choices.
What’s Not
If you were hoping for more Valentine’s Day trivia about roses, we didn’t cover that here. There are plenty of dedicated articles and round-ups that explore rose facts and the meanings people attribute to different rose colors, which cover that topic more thoroughly than we do in the episode.
Conversation with Joy Cho of Oh Joy!
We sat down with Joy Cho, the founder of Oh Joy!, to talk about growing a creative business from a blog into a full lifestyle brand. She shared practical advice and honest stories about persistence, handling rejection, and scaling creative work into new product lines. Joy’s energetic approach to design and business is both inspiring and actionable for anyone interested in creative entrepreneurship.
- You can find Joy’s work across her website and social platforms, where she shares bold patterns, bright palettes, and lifestyle projects.
- She’s authored books that include colorful creative projects and guides for entrepreneurs, and she has released product collections that make her designs accessible to a wider audience.
We’re Digging
- One small thing that’s been extremely helpful is an outlet with a built-in nightlight installed in the kids’ bathroom. It’s a simple, inexpensive upgrade that turns on and off automatically and provides just enough light for late-night bathroom trips.
- We also fixed a fraying charging cord using Sugru, a moldable adhesive that sets into a flexible rubber. It’s a quick, durable fix that’s kept the cord from worsening and avoided the need to replace the entire cable. We used a primary color pack, but Sugru is available in several color options.
If you’ve heard us mention items we’ve featured in past episodes but can’t remember which show notes to check, we maintain a master list of “We’re Digging” picks that collects our favorite products and resources from across episodes. It’s a helpful reference if you want to revisit something we recommended previously.
To see the Smartstuff nursery makeover and the viral video that inspired it, visit the Smartstuff site’s Young House Love feature.
*This post contains affiliate links*