“We just couldn’t figure out why you weren’t tearing out the kitchen.”

That’s what one of our contractor’s guys said to us right as we moved in last year. I understood his confusion. We were redoing floors, moving doors, vaulting ceilings, etc – but we left the small old kitchen relatively untouched – complete with mauve laminate countertops. You can see what I mean in this post.

But to know us is to know that we strongly prefer to live with an expensive-to-renovate room like a kitchen first, just so we don’t rush into spending major money on big permanent changes that we might later regret or wish that we thought through a little longer. So we spent the last 16 months debating various big ideas for this room, all while peppering in some simple smaller updates to get a feel for how they help improve the space and what we might want for our more long-term plan.

Continue reading 9 Ways We Made The Most Of Our Small Kitchen at Young House Love.

It’s been a full year in the making, but OUR POOL IS DONE*! Here’s where I imagine someone saying “and the crowd goes wiiiiild” (and the crowd, in this case, is the five members of our household – including Burger shaking a tiny pom-pom). Today we’ve got one HUGE post full of info about the entire process, the budget, and, of course, the finished result. We’re also answering some of the most common questions we got throughout this project.

*Well, mostly done. More on that later

towels / hooks / wall scuppers / chair / drum stool / sconce / doorknob / tan pots / white pot / lounge chairs / solar path lights

Neither of us have ever lived in a house with a pool or even in an area of the country where residential pools are very common.

Continue reading Putting In A Pool: The Process, The Cost, and All The Before & After Photos at Young House Love.

We’ve been enjoying this fire pit hangout spot for months now, but it hasn’t been on the blog… until today. This is basically a lesson in how a fence can make a HUGE difference in defining an area, which can lead to adding some simple outdoor furnishings (in this case, it was four adirondak chairs and a fire pit – which hit the ground and instantly created an entirely new “outdoor room” for our whole family to enjoy).

We hang out here and make s’mores at least once a week (and sometimes a lot more than that), so it has been a very welcome addition. Especially during a time when everyone is spending A LOT of time at home, so something novel and new like this bonus hangout zone feels extra special We even made s’mores for dessert on Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve, so it’s quickly becoming quite the family tradition.

Continue reading How We Created A Cozy Fire Pit Area at Young House Love.

This year we got our gift guide post up a lot sooner than usual, because we’re highlighting tons of small makers and Black-owned businesses that we love, and we want to give those shops as much lead time as possible (heck, large stores seem to need more lead time than ever these days too). We also included a handful of tried & true items from larger companies that we’ve bought and loved (like a favorite tool or family game).

There’s stuff for grown-ups, kids, and a ton of budget-friendly ideas that are under $20, and even under $10 that would be great for teachers, neighbors, coworkers, or white elephant exchanges!

Gifts For Grown-Ups

Here’s what we’re loving, either firsthand items that we’ve personally bought and enjoyed – or things that we’re getting for friends & family (or hoping to find under the tree ourselves).

1. This plant lover’s doormat makes me laugh so hard ($52)
2. We’re eying this favorite daughter t-shirt for all three of John’s sisters ($24)
3. John & the kids got me two surprise mail-order plants like this for Mother’s Day (this pothos & this fern) and they’re still going strong (from $25)
4. Santa is bringing me Bobbi’s black & white earrings & I’m THRILLED ($45)
5. We own and love this wave basket which works as a large tray for magazines on a table or you can hang it on the wall as large textural art!

Continue reading Holiday Gift Guides For Everyone On Your List (With Stuff Under $15, and even $9) at Young House Love.

Downsizing from 3200 square feet to 1400 means storage is a big deal to us these days, and a couple of weeks ago we got two major upgrades in that department. We still have some “hacking” to do to the simple Ikea cabinets that we bought, but we’re stupidly giddy over just having them assembled and installed. They basically add up to 8 more large cabinets worth of storage – and our kitchen only has 7 cabinets, so the excitement was palpable when those flat-packed boxes arrived (they had about a 4 week wait time, but otherwise delivery was smooth and uneventful for those wondering how the ordering experience was during this time period).

ottomans | similar woven bench | TV | media cabinet / blue basket next to TV

They make a HUGE difference in how much we can store – literally, it’s like we added a closet… except it’s in the form of three different large cabinets around the house.

Continue reading How We Added Some Much-Needed Storage To Our Smaller Home at Young House Love.

It has been about five months since we first introduced you to the outside of our house. That was our very first week of living here, and our outdoor spaces have been getting a lot of use ever since. You’ve already seen how our second-story deck has come together, so today we wanted to update you on our front porch as well as the covered area that we call the side porch and some new landscaping that we’ve added too.

We’ve made some functional and organizational improvements, some strictly aesthetic enhancements, and have some other upgrades that are still in the works. So won’t you join us on the front porch? Here’s how it’s looking these days:

house numbers | white plant pots | porch light | similar woven egg chair | similar blue-green planter

This next picture was a photo from back in May, when it was basically just our existing furniture and a couple of plants plopped down to make the space feel occupied.

Continue reading Our Front Porch: Big Plans & Even Bigger Plants at Young House Love.

Sherry recently hinted on Instagram Stories that we were up to our old staple-coloring antics. And by that I mean we were installing another stair runner (admittedly one of the less popular definitions of “antics”). But after installing one in our old house 7 years ago it has become one of our favorite projects – just because we truly believe anyone can do it, and whatever runner you choose can give you a totally different look (and a nice grip underfoot, but more on that functional upgrade in a minute).

Why We Wanted A Stair Runner

Before we get into the “how” of adding this runner, let’s talk about the “why.” We’re not people who automatically default to covering our stairs. At our beach house, for instance, we decided against a runner because the original wood was so charming. We eventually did add some temporary stick-on runner treads to help our chihuahua, Burger, navigate the stairs more easily (we used this removable tape to hold them down, and it came up cleanly later when we sold the house).

Continue reading How We Installed A Stair Runner at Young House Love.

Hoo boy, today’s post has all the good stuff: murder, mystery, INTRIGUE! Just kidding it actually has none of that. But it does have a riveting step-by-step tutorial that involves ten test pots of paint and a whole lot of lattice. So let’s get right into how we created this colorful wood wall treatment in our son’s room.

Last time you saw this room in July, we had installed this easy upholstered headboard and built-in bookshelf. It made his room so much more functional (and extra cozy), but we mentioned that we were all looking forward to adding some more color & personality in there for him over time – especially on that wall at the foot of his bed which, because we vaulted the ceilings in here, is over 9 feet tall.

After we added this large colorful wall mural to our daughter’s tallest wall, our son became even more eager to have something bold and fun in his room too.

Continue reading How To Make A Colorful Planked Wall Treatment at Young House Love.