Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials
Every year, people ask us for theme ideas from my family’s annual Christmas gift exchange. We first mentioned this tradition on a podcast episode in 2016 and now, nearly a decade later, we’re putting the full, updated list in an easy-to-reference blog post. So if you or your family are feeling stuck or overwhelmed by your holiday shopping list, see why introducing a theme might do the trick!
I love an iced something for my daily coffee. And most days that’s a cold brew I make at home. For over 2 years now, I’ve relied on this cold brew maker to keep a delicious batch at the ready in my fridge. I’m going to show you exactly how I make homemade cold brew and why it’s my method of choice. Sherry and I aren’t expert baristas or even persnickety coffee connoisseurs. We prioritize simple & straightforward brewing methods that can be successful without treating coffee like an intricate science. No shade if you have time & energy for it, but this guide is for the average home coffee drinker who wants good, reliable cold brew without stressing over the details.
From its name, you might expect Sherwin-Williams Extra White (SW7 7006) to be the brightest, whitest paint on the market. And while it is a crisp, clean, slightly cool-toned white color – that doesn’t mean it’s the perfect white for every application in your home. So let’s answer some common questions about this popular white paint color so you can decide if it’s right for you. What makes SW Extra White a popular white? Extra White is one of the most popular white paints out there. Lots of these whites have names that lead you to believe they are the best, brightest, or “whitest” white around. You’ll see names like Extra, Super, Ultra, Pure, and
We love having friends over to our backyard firepit, which means we eat A LOT of s’mores. That means A LOT of opportunities to try unique twists on traditional s’mores. There’s nothing wrong with the tried-and-true recipe, but introducing new ingredients and combos keeps things fun, interesting, and even better tasting. So here are 5 of our favorite “upgraded” s’more ideas for your next firepit gathering.
Our kids are very much into the traditional Jack-O-Lantern-style pumpkin carving, often trying to make a scarier, grosser, or goofier face than last Halloween. But we still remember a time when toddler-friendly (even baby-friendly!) pumpkin “carving” was the name of the game over here. So we wanted to highlight six simple, fun, but unconventional pumpkin decorating ideas for kids that we’ve used in the past. Including a “romantic” one we made pre-kids (yes, I’ll pause while you ponder what exactly can be romantic about a pumpkin…). We’ve included a brief description of each below, but you can also follow the link to the original posts for more photos and details about each pumpkin-carving project. “Baby’s
We got lots of questions about the “miracle” cloning paste we showed on Instagram recently. What is it? What does it do? And why the heck is it called “keiki”? Short answer: keiki paste is an easy-to-apply growth hormone for your houseplants that can help fill out bare spots on pothos, orchids, and more. It’s a smart solution for any plant parent, but we’ll tell you why it may fall short of being truly miraculous.
“Greige” is that sweet spot between gray & beige, giving you a paint color that’s both trendy and timeless. In fact, we’ve been on the greige bandwagon for nearly 20 years – well before we’d even heard that term! But finding the perfect greige can be daunting. There are 100s of neutral paint colors that could be considered greige, so we’ve waded through dozens of expert round-ups to see what colors come up over and over again. Yes, I made a spreadsheet. And yes, I liked it. It’s no surprise that our favorite greige paint showed up on these lists. But the greige color that ranked #1 was a bit of a shock to us!
I’ve daydreamed about buying a backyard movie set-up (projector, screen, etc) for several summers now. But the logistics and potential expense always stopped me… until last month! And now I feel silly for waiting, because we pulled it off with just 3 pieces of equipment that cost less than $200 total! That’s cheaper than the cost of some projectors… or a few family trips to the theater! And now we can host unlimited movie gatherings with friends (we’ve already had two in the last two weeks!).
Want to know the most universally loved white paints? Well, we scoured 100+ white paint colors featured on more than a dozen “best white” lists to figure this out. I even made a spreadsheet! These are the 12 white paint colors that came up over & over again. They’re trusted by everyone from interior designers & architects to builders & bloggers alike. So let’s dive into why experts recommend them and how you can pick the right white paint color for your home. Why Designers Love White Paint White is a classic choice for trim, ceilings, and even cabinets. But white paint on your walls? That’s when the strong opinions come out! Critics write off
We’d never really thought of Dallas as a “vacation” destination, but there’s so much to do there that we barely scratched the surface on our recent trip! We ate lots of good food, explored fun neighborhoods, and found more kid-friendly activities than we had time for. So here’s a quick recap of some of our favorite Dallas destinations. Plus some things we want to come back and see next time!
Wallpaper may be trending again, but many of us still deal with dingy, dated, or downright ugly old wallpaper we didn’t pick. Our old home has wallpaper in 5 different rooms, which gave us a chance to test several different wallpaper removal methods. Today we’ll share what worked, what didn’t, and what we recommend you try. Removing wallpaper doesn’t require special tools or lots of money, but it can take elbow grease and some patience. But here’s a before-and-after of our wallpapered bathroom to give you some motivation to stick with it! And if you’re looking to add wallpaper to your home, be sure to check out our tutorial for installing removable wallpaper. The good
You may think pressure washers are complicated, expensive, or hard to control. But good news – they’re not! Pressure washing is an easy, affordable, and TOTALLY AWESOME way to keep your outdoor spaces looking clean and fresh. This is a comprehensive start-to-finish guide for anyone ready to get their pressure washing feet wet (maybe even literally). We’ll cover set-up, spraying tips, surfaces it works on, and more. Trust us, even we were intimidated the first time we tried pressure washing over 10 years ago. The cumbersome gas-powered machine we rented for a day was so big it didn’t even fit in our car! So I TOTALLY understand anyone with PWH (pressure washing hesitation). Our Favorite
