It’s wild to think that this is our second year of decorating this house for the holidays (what even is time?!) but first a ton of you were asking to see what happened to the kitchen side of the space once the new door went in. Our last post covered all the photos and angles of the new kitchen porch we created outside – just steps away from our cooking area inside. So let’s take a look at what went down inside. Here’s what the kitchen is looking like these days:

table | chairs | sconces | pendant | floating shelves | wall shelf | hardware | cabinet color: SW Artsy Pink

It’s always fun to rewind, so if we take a step back in time, this is the kitchen as it looked when we bought this house in Feb of 2020:

We talked about our initial updates to the room waaaaay back in this post from May of 2020 (before we moved in).

Continue reading How The Kitchen Changed With A New Door (And Our 2021 Holiday Decor) at Young House Love.

Every year it feels like we’re the last bloggers in all of blogland to get our gift guide up (is it me or are they coming out earlier and earlier?!), but the deed is done! We just do one post with three categories (adults, kids, and under $25), so here it is. We love including small makers and Black-owned businesses as well as some tried & true items from larger companies that we’ve bought & loved (like a favorite book, family game, etc) so let’s get into it.

Gifts For Grown-Ups

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

1. These rose gold birthstone rings feel so special and her reviews are stellar ($50)
2. I want this “Distracted By Plants” shirt & know 7 friends who’d also want it ($14)
3. Oprah put this chic Linen Wireless Charger on her fav.

Continue reading Holiday Gift Guides For Everyone On Your List (With Stuff Under $19 & Even $9) at Young House Love.

We mentioned in this year’s holiday decorating post that we wanted to get some sort of fireplace mantel built this month and, well, Santa delivered! ::pats self on back::

art | frame for art | rug | ottoman |chairs | crystal fireplace logs | storage cabinets | curtains | rods | large light blue vase

Yes, setting a goal to have a place for hanging our kids’ stockings is a little random, but we were happy to have the motivation to check this project off our list sooner rather than later.

If you recall, our fireplace looked like this when we moved in:

Here’s a wider shot of that area right after we got here, just for kicks. Ah, those packing blankets as curtains are #MEMORIES.

Continue reading How We Built An Easy Modern Fireplace Mantel… Just In Time For Stockings! at Young House Love.

*Aka, the moment I’ve been waiting for since, oh, the day we moved in.

There’s something extra special to me about decorating a house for your first holiday season spent there. It’s right up there with seeing whatever pops up outside during your first spring at a new house (I basically scream out the window like I’m the announcer at a football game: “over on the left it’s A PATCH OF DAFFODILS! NOBODY SAW THAT COMING!!” But back to our holiday house tour. It’s looking very sweet & festive around here.

Since this move also involved some serious downsizing & simplifying (last week John shared an update on that), it promised to be an interesting exercise in what would go where in our smaller home. As you heard on the podcast a while back, we donated our beloved Christmas tree AFTER squeezing it into the pod and getting it all the way here, because we realized that such a wide tree (it had a 5’5″ base – so it was THICK) didn’t really have a spot that it could be set up in a single room of our house that wouldn’t severely impede the flow of things.

Continue reading How We Decorated Our New House For The Holidays* 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.

As is the tradition, I’m always the last blogger in blogland to get a gift guide up (did I mention we just got our tree up two days ago?!), but I love searching for fun gift ideas all over the interwebs (including tons of small businesses & handmade items) and smashing them all into one big post for you guys! And this is that post, so let’s get down to business. There’s stuff for grown ups, finds for kids, and a ton of budget friendly ideas that are under $25, and even $15! Hope you find something you love for someone you love… even if that someone is you (I’m totally asking Santa for a few things on this list ;)

GIFTS FOR GROWN-UPS

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

• 1.

Continue reading Holiday Gift Guides For Everyone On Your List (With Stuff Under $20, and even $7!) at Young House Love.

As is the tradition, I’m a little late with this. Ha! But here it is! (I’m also late with my actual gift buying, so I better get cracking). We like to put all of our gift guides in one place, so below you’ll find the one we made for grown-ups, another one for kids, and (my personal favorite) one full of stuff that’s under $15. 

Gifts For Grown-Ups

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

• 1 / Adulting Award Ribbons (4/$25): It would be so much fun to have an “award ceremony” at a family gathering, complete with victory laps & acceptance speeches.
• 2 / Black Robe with Pockets ($78-98): I bought this robe to wear around the house & I’m OBSESSED.

Continue reading Holiday Gift Guides for Everyone On Your List (With Stuff under $20 – And Even $5!) at Young House Love.

Wanna see how we decorated our house (and the beach house) for Christmas? We have a ton of photos for you, so let’s get right into it. Since we got an entirely new exterior for Christmas (literally all I wanted for Christmas was a white brick house, ha!) we had so much fun trying some new things out front.

We did some simple warm white exterior LEDs (why are those so hard to find?!) on the trees on each side of the door. Remember I upgraded those to these larger faux ones because I can’t kill them and the taller height looks nicer on the porch with all the white brick. Those pots are actually the same ones we have had for 4+ years… I just spray painted them “Copper Rose” by Rustoleum (built in primer for the win – took about 30 minutes tops).

Continue reading Holiday House Tour 2018 & How We Decorated The Beach House! at Young House Love.