As our freshly painted stools dry in the sunroom (pics tomorrow!), we wanted to finally share our May superlatives — sorry to those who have been asking. Below is a recap of the projects, moments, and small victories we checked off in May. We even included a few never-before-seen bits for fun. You can browse … Read more

How about a post on hunting for door knockers? Not that kind of knocker—this is the follow-up we promised yesterday about replacing and refreshing our door knocker and doorbell. Here’s the situation we started with: a charming but clearly aged door knocker. Its biggest issue was that the previous owner’s last name had been etched … Read more

Every day we get about fifty spam comments that promise everything from naked pictures of Lady GaGa to free payday loans (all of which get caught in a spam filter and then get deleted). Most of these are boring, repetitive, and easily ignored: the same offers, the same broken English, the same suspicious URLs. The … Read more

Here we are — after more than a year of planning, second-guessing, last-minute scrambling, and stuffing our car with vases and chairs, we’ve reached the end of the Homearama Showhouse tour. To celebrate finishing this whole-house marathon, we opened the post with a relaxed, room-by-room video tour — nothing fancy, just me walking through the … Read more

Ever wondered what goes into writing one of our posts? Even if you haven’t, here’s a behind-the-scenes look at our process. We tend to take post writing seriously—partly because it helps pay the bills—so this is how we typically work, though it’s by no means the only way. Most of our project posts follow a … Read more

Last week Sherry and I saw the freshly refinished floors at the duplex for the first time. Even though we went through a similar process at the pink beach house last year, we were still surprised by how dramatically the refinished floors transform a space. One surface can take a room from “construction zone” to … Read more

Our family loves the classic Jack‑O‑Lantern pumpkin carving tradition, but when our kids were toddlers we leaned heavily into toddler‑friendly and even baby‑friendly decorating ideas. Below are six simple, creative, and kid‑safe pumpkin decorating projects we’ve used over the years—easy enough for little hands, and plenty of room for grown‑up tweaks. Each project includes materials … Read more

We weren’t sure how many people would be reading today with the big turkey holiday upon us, but we wanted to share a quick kitchen progress update. Our new countertops have been templated—measured precisely so they can be fabricated and scheduled for installation, likely within the next two weeks. That means our sinkless chapter is … Read more

When Christy sent us photos of her stunning backyard transformation, we were equal parts inspired and a little jealous. Below is her story in her own words and a polished write-up describing the project and outcome. Our backyard used to be mostly dirt, patchy grass and weeds, with an existing in-ground pool and spa. The … Read more

Note: This is a retroactive post I pieced together in December 2011 so I could create a full set of monthly recaps for our first year in the new house. I admit I’m a little type A, so here’s everything we tackled during May — presented like a high school yearbook. Most Improved: We tackled … Read more