You could have knocked us over with a feather back in December when we won the Remodel, Blog & Win contest. And not only did we score a few clams (5000 of them to be exact), we also won a coveted interview with none other than AskTheDecorator.com’s Meghan Carter. And since Meghan is such a jet setter, we weren’t at all surprised that her schedule was packed until this June (which happily meant that we had six months to whip our house into prime shape just in time for its close up). And then this past Saturday, the fateful interview day finally arrived. We realize now that we could have taken more exciting photos if
Father Knows Best
My dad gave me a toolbox when I was in high school. I think it had four things in it: a hammer, a handsaw, a set of screwdrivers and a photo of his dad (to show me that being handy was in my blood). But not even my ancestry could interest me in tools as a teenager. Yet I dragged that toolbox along to college, then to New York City and even back here to Richmond. With each move my need for (and skill with) those tools grew. And I added plenty to my collection along the way – levels, drills, wrenches, etc – eventually outgrowing the toolbox itself. But to this day we still
Our Glass Floating Wall Vases From CB2
After countless readers asked what was hanging to the left of our living room fireplace, we thought our cheap teardrop vases from CB2 warranted a post of their very own. With 15 framed works of art in the expansive living and dining room (yup, I counted) the last thing we wanted to bring in were a few more hard edged rectangles. So for less than $12 (actually they were a gift so they were F-R-E-E), we added instant interest. Some wild grass “borrowed” from a Target parking lot completed the look (and has surprisingly held up for the last 12+ months). Observe: These vases are versatile. If you have a wall at the end of
Making DIY Vacation Jars For Your Travel Keepsakes
Inspiration can come from the strangest places, so I wasn’t even surprised when I saw some cool old canning jars in a recent Pottery Barn catalog and needed to take a closer look. Upon closer inspection I realized they were antique bell jars filled with shells, sand, and even just ocean water with fancy labels that said things like “Mikonos” and “Fiji”. Adorable. So I looked around and realized I had at least one or two keepsakes from each and every vacay that John and I have spent together. Why not put them on display instead of in a box in the closet? So after a trip to Michael’s to pick up 6 canning jars
Landscaping Around Our Paver Patio
We landscaped our back patio and remembered to take a few pictures along the way. See how it went from bland and bare to lush and landscaped in only a few months.
How To Make A Window Look Larger
We used breezy Ikea floor length curtains and bamboo blinds to make our living room’s picture window look huge and elegant. It’s easy!
Painting The Front Door Fabulous Red
When two of our lovely readers sent us pics of their very own transformations that we inspired by our blog, we couldn’t have been more excited. So without further ado here’s Erin’s new CB2 pendant hanging proudly above her dining area. She went with the green version of the linen colored light fixture that we hung above our very own dining room table. Perfect, no? Elvira in DC also sent us a few pictures of her fantastic front door transformation. Here’s her entryway before a little color intervention: And her punchy new door thanks to a few glossy coats of Fabulous Red- the same Valspar hue that we used to makeover our brick rancher’s front
Five Moving Tips To Make Things Easier
This weekend we helped John’s sister and brother-in-law move into their fabulous new home (that they just happened to design themselves) and along with some obligatory back pain we took away some pretty fail-safe moving advice. And now that we’re in the know, we figured we’d share the wealth. After a picture of their breathtaking new kitchen of course: Moving Tip #1: Clean top to bottom. When you’re cleaning something in your new home (like the kitchen cabinets before you load in all your dishes, or a closet before you add the linens), it only makes sense to start from the top. This way any spare dirt or dust that doesn’t stick to your rag
Digging In A Slate Path That Leads To Our Front Door
It’s been so long that I betcha forgot about our front walkway project, didn’t you? You can get a full refresher here, but the gist is that we ripped up our shoddy old path and used leftover slate to piece together a bigger and better walkway to our front door. It was a weekend full of work and we left off with the simple task of digging all the slate into the ground. Here’s a pic to jog your memory (before the big dig): That simple task of digging in 48 pieces of stone turned into a four-day back-breaking adventure, all in hopes of engineering a wobble-free perfectly-graded welcoming walkway to our house. Which is
A Little Anniversary Love
Dear house, We remember moving in exactly two years ago like it was yesterday. And boy were we head over heels for you from the start. God knows why when we look back at the first exterior picture that we took… But you had us at hello. Even when you greeted us with that crazy shelf divider in the living room complete with a stained glass square and a faux stone linoleum landing. And who wouldn’t have been charmed by that dated dining room wallpaper and the ancient kitchen cabinetry that shouted “Paul Bunyan wuz here”? Sure the master bedroom was kinda nondescript, but we were positively over the moon about our first pale blue-gray
Decorating A Coffee Table
Always one to spice it up around the house, I wasted no time giving our living room’s $30-thrift-store-find-of-a-coffee-table a lighter look for the warmer weather. Here’s the old bookish, low-profile version: And here’s the new lighter, more reflective version: I like exposing more of the glass tabletop for a simpler (and easier to dust) silhouette. And two stacks of books on the bottom shelf really balance the oversized vase that might otherwise look too big for the table. For a finishing touch, the sculptural white shell ball and antler candlestick add some interesting lines without overwhelming. And I even got to have some fun with a knife to pull the whole thing together… When I
Adding A Firepit To Your Home
This is the most amazingly easy way to add a little fun to your yard (no matter how small) and spruce up your space in mere minutes. Two chairs + a metal firepit = the best seats in the house. Check out our new set-up. And you don’t even need to have grass. You can set ’em down on pavers, concrete, a deck, a patio, or even a clearing in the woods. So carve out a corner and surround a firepit with as many chairs as you’d like. Firepits have never been more affordable- take home this basic version for $69.99 or adopt this copper beauty on sale for $119. Then it’s time for a
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