Ruthy’s kitchen makeover immediately caught our attention because the style of her home — and therefore the kitchen — is something we don’t often see around Richmond. Their Tacoma, WA, mid-century modern house brings a refreshing Pacific Northwest vibe that felt both familiar and unique. We especially appreciated their bold choice: dark lower cabinetry with … Read more

I was digging through old posts looking for a link when I rediscovered a long-forgotten mood board I made about a month before we moved into our second house in 2010. At the time I captioned it, “we have no idea what our future living room will actually look like, but today this is what … Read more

As many of you know from our Instagram and Facebook posts, Katie B and I went thrifting in Destin last week. It’s become something of a tradition for us. We didn’t have the video camera with us, but we did take lots of photos. Here are my thrift store finds, and you can see Katie’s … Read more

How We Finally Organized Our Closet We finally tackled our chaotic bedroom closet and, after a little elbow grease, it feels refreshingly functional. For months we lived with piles of socks, pajamas, and miscellaneous clothing on the floor because our old dresser had a broken drawer and offered practically zero storage. Once we replaced it … Read more

John and I recently had the honor of designing bedrooms for three incredible local children who are currently undergoing cancer treatment. We shared a few sneak peeks on Instagram and in our podcast, but here’s the full, photo-packed post with details about each room and the thought that went into them. We’re thrilled to finally … Read more

We’ve refinished hardwood floors in five of the six homes we’ve owned. That doesn’t make us professional refinishers, but as homeowners and hands-on DIYers we’ve learned what to expect, which pitfalls to avoid, and roughly how much the work can cost. This post answers common hardwood floor refinishing questions and shares before-and-after photos from our … Read more

Things got steamy in the foyer. As a quick refresher: we have five rooms covered in wallpaper and we’re testing five different removal methods to see what works best. For our first attempt we used hot water in a spray bottle, which actually worked pretty well. This week’s Wallpaper Exposé focused on the foyer and … Read more

We had a stroke of luck at a neighborhood yard sale: a huge framed painting, more than three feet wide and over two feet tall, for only $20. The frame had a small dent, but that didn’t bother us. Even if we didn’t love the artwork itself, the size and the sturdy wooden frame made … Read more

Let’s talk about what we hope to accomplish before our second baby arrives. When we prepared for Clara’s arrival in our first house, we spent those nine months finishing a few remaining rooms—mainly the full bathroom and the nursery—because much of the house was already complete. This time we’re expecting again, but this house is … Read more

As I mentioned briefly in a previous post, Clara chose her own party theme this year. Of all the things a two-year-old could love—monkeys, ice cream, firetrucks, and the mailman—she picked worms. That decision set the tone for invitations, decorations, food, favors, and activities, and we had a lot of fun pulling everything together. First … Read more