Now that we’ve checked off the basic needs in each of our bedrooms (you know like beds, window coverings, clothing storage, etc), we’ve shifted our focus towards… adding even more function (hello, I’m John “Practical” Petersik). Last week we shared the current state of our bedroom and today we have a few projects that we did to make our son’s room work a lot harder for him. We still have some plans to bring in more color, pattern, and fun – but things have definitely gotten a lot comfier & more convenient in here in the past few weeks. For reference, this is what his room looked like when we first laid eyes on the
What Our Bedroom Looks Like Now & What We’ve Got Planned
Yesterday marks two months since we moved, and our bedroom was probably the last room to make the transition from “dumping ground of things to unpack” to “comfortable space that feels like ours.” So here’s where things are currently – and what’s still ahead of us (including some bad photoshop to give you a peek inside our heads). If you recall from our before tour, this space was originally a living room (with another much larger living space upstairs with a nice big deck off of it). Since we quickly realized that we’d rather share that larger room & deck as a family, and sleep on the same level as our kids, we knew this
Some Quick & Extremely Functional Laundry Closet Shelves
We mentioned on our podcast a few weeks ago that we had to quickly implement some storage systems in our new house just so we had a spot to unpack everything. Like there was a point on Day 3 or 4 of unpacking where we were faced with the reality that nothing else could get put away until we added some shelves to the narrow hall closet next to the bathroom and this laundry closet. As soon as these shelves & our new counter were up, we were amazed by how much we could store. This closet is a complete workhorse (and dare I say a showhorse? I mean look at those bottle brush trees).
#180: Decorating In The Era Of Zoom
The sudden boom of video conferencing in all of our lives is giving us a new window through which to view our homes (and the homes of others – from coworkers to celebrities and news correspondents). So what does your Zoom background say about you? And what lengths will we go to when it comes to altering them to make sure nothing weird gets seen by everyone else on the call? We also realized in hindsight that a family trip earlier this year had a pretty major effect on our decision to move to Florida. Plus we explain the big shiny object on our kitchen counter – and Sherry divulges an embarrassing story from her
Breathing Life Back Into Our Quirky Outdoor Shower
Our Cape Charles beach house quickly taught us the value of an outdoor shower. By giving people a spot to rinse off before coming inside, it keeps sand off your floors and out of your plumbing. It took us a couple of summers to get that outdoor shower fully enclosed and functional (you can see it here in this post), so it was a nice perk that our new Florida house already had one ready to go. Well, if you consider non-functioning plumbing and grime-covered walls “ready to go.” This space kind of baffled us at first. It looked like some sort of open-air sauna thing. And maybe it was just all of the dirt
#179: A Funny Byproduct Of Having To Buy Fewer Products
The perks of downsizing continue to show themselves, including a recent realization we had while shopping for curtains and blinds. It was a pretty dramatic contrast of how shopping for this house is different than our previous ones, and it highlighted some exciting freedoms that come along with that. We also take a look at how pandemics of the past have shaped the way our homes look today, including the origin of things like powder rooms, white kitchens, and higher bed frames. Plus, what we really think of our fancy new Frame TV – and can your birthday really help you pick the right plants? What’s New Here’s a photo of our new curtains in
Our Upstairs Family Room, Four Weeks In
Last week we showed you how things landed in our kitchen, just using the furniture and things that we already own. And this week we’re sharing how it’s looking upstairs. This is quickly becoming one of our favorite rooms because it has windows on ALL FOUR SIDES. Not only does it get tons of great light, but it also gives us views of the greenery outside at virtually every turn. We knew we wanted this room to be a nice big shared family space that we could all spend lots of time in together (instead of breaking it up into a bedroom/bathroom for us or two bedrooms/bathroom for the kids) and it has been working
#178: Settling Into Our New House: Expectation Vs. Reality
We’ve been in our new house for one whole month, and there are definitely some things that are shaping up differently than we had pictured. So today we’re sharing why some house projects have been easier than expected, but getting settled in a few other ways took some turns we didn’t anticipate. We’re also diving into the history of three popular and persistent design trends – like the true origins of subway tile and why the fiddle-leaf fig isn’t a recent phenomenon. Plus, a curtain hack that Sherry secretly tested out for an entire year, and what happens when Alexa commands get lost in translation. What’s New We talked about how we’ve been pleasantly surprised
#177: Bathrooms: A Slippery Slope?
Today we’re talking about how it has been as a family of four who is sharing one bathroom, and what plans we have for adding onto that number down the line. And while we’re on the subject (this podcast always seems to turn to bathroom-related things…) we look into the uniquely American obsession with bathrooms and learn why the heck in the past 50 years the number of them per American has DOUBLED. We also finally have real beds in our house after weeks of sleeping on mattresses on the floor, and it feels good! So we’re sharing how they each serve different functional purposes in our smaller house. Plus, we learn what decor styles
#176: The Part Of Moving To A Smaller Home We Didn’t Expect
We’re in Florida (!!!) and we’ve got LOTS to tell you about all that went down on our moving day and throughout our first couple of weeks in our new home. We’re covering a lot of ground, like how we made the 13-hour drive feel faster, which of our moving predictions from our last episode came true, and what we really thought about using those travel pee bags. Plus, getting unpacked and settled into a smaller home has presented some challenges that we didn’t anticipate, so we’re sharing what those were, and why they’re giving us a whole new appreciation for this part of the downsizing process. We’re also recapping what items we overpacked (even
#175: Our Big Move Is Officially Underway (& We Have Some Predictions)
While we’re getting settled in our new house in Florida, we’ve got one last episode for you that we recorded in Richmond. In fact, we took a moment as “Past John & Sherry” to make some predictions for what our moving day might look like, along with our hopes-slash-fears for our first night in our new home. We’re also talking about temporary, affordable, and easy-to-change decor ideas that are great for renters and homeowners alike, thanks to interviewing an expert on the subject named Medina Grillo. She was full of smart solutions and also took the opportunity to bust some myths about being a renter. Plus, the Instagram account that has us in stitches, and
A Look At How Far Our House’s Exterior Has Come
We’re currently still in Richmond (not for much longer though!), and in order to share a huge progress post about our Florida house’s exterior, we want to be there in person so we can take tons of progress photos that’ll explain a lot more and make that post exceptionally exciting. So that’s coming your way next week (yes, by this time next week we’ll definitely be living there!), but buckle up because this post is not a consolation prize. It’s just as dramatic as the before & afters of our current house’s interior, which we shared a few weeks back. In fact, our Richmond house’s outside transformation could probably be filed under: “Biggest update we’ve
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