Hey guys! Thanks for stopping by for the transcript of Episode #149. If you’d rather listen to this episode than read 8,000 words, you can click the player below or learn how to get our podcasts on your phone (for free) here.
[Intro theme music begins.]
John: I’m John.
Sherry: And I’m Sherry.
John: We like home stuff.
Sherry: We like talking.
John: And we like the occasional game show sound effect. [Pulsing sound effect] So welcome to Young House Love Has A Podcast where we have deep and not so deep conversations about DIY design and life at home.
Sherry: Today we’re sharing what’s next for our long awaited bathroom renovation and I get to ask a houseplant expert a ton of questions about how to keep plants alive. Plus a surprising twist and our color of the year predictions.
[Intro theme music ends.]
John: So did you all hear me jinx myself a couple episodes ago when I said we wouldn’t be demoing the bathroom anytime soon?
Sherry: I believe the quote was it won’t be days or probably even weeks. Fast forward to that episode coming out and the next day we were demoing the bathroom [laughs].
John: Well, Sherry and I realized after recording that, that we could sort of actually half demo our bathroom. Like we could knock out the linen closet wall, and the wall that was separating or two vanities and still have a functional bathroom. Like usually when you think about demo, you think that suddenly the room is becoming like completely gutted and completely non useful to you. And that was not the point I wanted to get to because I still want to be able to shower in there and have access to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Like I didn’t want that bathroom to be gutted yet, we half gutted. We got a starter gut.
Sherry: It’s the best of both worlds because all the functions of the bathroom still exist, but we can picture it without those walls in the way. And that’s a really important process to the layout, like what we didn’t want to do is order a tub and a vanity and fully demo everything and then try to place the tub and the vanity and realize dang I wish I had gotten a narrower tub or a shorter vanity. So in taking that wall down it’s weird, I did not give it enough credit. Like I didn’t think that this half measure of demo would make it so clear about the layout. But it almost was like immediately clear.
John: Yeah, that was the funny thing about it for me too. And if you haven’t seen the pictures, I’ll put a link to the blog post we did with them in the show notes at younghouselove.com/podcast. And you’ve heard us before kind of do all this hand wringing about how we’re going to figure out the layout in there, like how will we squeeze in Sherry’s bathtub? How will we like have a walk in shower still? Like all these things, we weren’t sure we could “cram in this small bathroom.” And the moment the walls came down, we’re like, “Oh yeah, this is where things go.” Like it was so obvious.
Sherry: We were both like “this is a huge bathroom! Why were we worried?” There’s room for not a 60 inch double vanity but a 72 inch double vanity. One of the largest double vanities that can go in a room will fit perfectly!
John: Maybe we’ll do a triple vanity.
Sherry: We could if we wanted to.
John: An extra sink for beard shaving.
Sherry: It’s amazing. A full tub that’s separate from the shower will fit. You’ve heard us for years say is it worth it? Will it feel crammed we separate those? Do we just want a tub shower combo?
John: I think I was one who said after the demo like, “This would look dumb without a bathtub.”
Sherry: Right. It’s such a big room as soon as you take the wall down, and the light streams through, and your eyes can continue instead of stopping in so many places, because it was a very narrow doorway with walls on each side. Once we took that down it was very easy to picture exactly where things will go. So it was extremely illuminating and totally worth that day of demo to get to this point where we are super confident about what we ordered. We know it’s going to fit, we know where it’s going to go. We kind of have like our marching orders now.
John: Yeah, and the best part is like we actually don’t even have to move all that much like the shower and the toilet are pretty much staying put.
Sherry: And the vanity is just getting longer, and it’s going to fill up the space that used to be a wall separating two vanities.
John: Right, so I’m hoping it means this whole renovation will be a bit more straightforward than we thought it was going to be like remember, even a month ago we’re in this place of like “do we bust out the wall to the bedroom? How can we elongate it into the hall?” Like we had all these what I can now call harebrained ideas about how to make this space work when it was kind of in front of us the whole time.
Sherry: Right. We even talked about stealing some space from the closet because we don’t need such a big closet and it was like, “Oh my gosh, it would look ridiculous if we stole more of the closet.” It’s a very large room as it is, but it’s going to have like beautiful tile and lots of light. So there’s a lot of exciting transformation coming up, but it’s not going to happen overnight. We do have things on order. I think the vanity takes like four weeks.
John: Well and we still have to decide main elements like the tile and we have an idea of what we want it to look like. But if you remember the duplex bathrooms kind of our strategy was like fun colorful pattern floor tile and then keep everything else really kind of simple. Because that was an easy and quick way to make the rooms feel cheery and bright and interesting by just putting that pattern on the floor. But I say all that to point out we’re not taking that approach for this bathroom. I think the vision we have for this is something that is a bit more classic and timeless looking and very light and airy. So we probably won’t have a lot of intense color or intense pattern in it.
Sherry: Yeah, to me it’s going to be a lot of tone on tone texture and interesting intricate things you notice when you look closely, but it’s not going to be something where like from the hallway you see this like, “Wowee wa-wa, look at those tiles on the floor. They’re zany.”
John: Well and I think the other strategy to that is because if we don’t rely on the tiles to be the bold element in the room, then it gives us the flexibility over time because this is a bathroom we see ourselves using for years. So if we do crave some color or pattern down the road, we could paint the walls different color, or put up wallpaper…
Sherry: We could even paint the vanity. There’s a lot of flexibility in here. Even items like putting up floating shelves over the tub with lots of blue glass or a big colorful painting. There is room when you use very classic choices you’ll love in 10 years, in 20 years, in 30 years to make the interesting details with accessories or art or paint.
John: Right.
Sherry: And it’s less about redoing the tile frequently.
John: So again, if you check out the show notes at younghouselove.com/podcast, we’ll make sure you can see the demo pictures and some of the inspiration pictures for what we are using as a jumping off point as we finalize our tile.
Sherry: Oh and I’ll link the vanity, the tub, and the toilet I ordered because I’m very excited about them.
John: You’re very excited about the toilet.
Sherry: Well the toilet is my favorite toilet of all time. It’s the same toilet we have downstairs in our powder room.
John: You know you’re an adult when you have a favorite toilet.
Sherry: I do. This is the only toilet I’ll ever buy. It’s wonderful. You can’t buy it everywhere like the duplex and the beach house don’t have it because it’s expensive. But in your own home when you only have to buy three toilets over 10 years, I save up for this toilet.
John: And you know it was actually that same episode about the bathroom where we talked about the colors of the year. And little did we know that exact same day Sherwin-Williams would release their 2020 color of the year. And little did we know we would be dead wrong.
Sherry: Dead wrong. It was navel. A deep blue.
John: Yeah, like a navy blue was their color of the year. And that was not what we had guessed. I had known it was going to be something dark. At least I suspected it was going to be something dark, but I thought it was going to be a dark green.
Sherry: Right and I guessed like a brownish nature-y color like the color of a twig, a brown-gray color.
John: Yeah, so it was like, not even, I think 12 hours after the episode had come out that we had struck out on one of our guesses.
Sherry: And then like four days later, something weird started to happen. I started to get messages from people that were like, “OMG, you were exactly right. Look at Sherwin-Williams color.” And I was like, “What do you mean it’s blue. We lost. We didn’t even say blue. We joked maybe it’ll be the color of our bathroom tile, which is blue. But that wasn’t the official guess.” And people were like, “No, no, no, HGTV HOME Sherwin-Williams color.” So this is the Sherwin-Williams line that’s carried by Lowe’s. They came out with a color of the year and you will not even believe it.
John: Before you say the color. I think we should play for people your guess. Like the audio from that episode so they can hear how you described your guess.
Sherry: Okay.
[Recording starts]
Sherry: I feel like that Sherwin-Williams is going to do a very peachy light pink. Not millennial pink because it’s going to be even blushier than that. Like it will be called like First Blush or Nature’s Kiss or-
John: Bleached hot dog.
Sherry: No, not a bleached hot dog, like quartz.
John: Okay.
Sherry: Quartz. You know the like light, light, pink color.
John: I know what you’re saying.
[Recording ends]
John: So what was the color that they picked, Sherry?
Sherry: I’ll just read this press release quote, “And while millennial pink mania has died down in some respects we’re all a bit more open to exploring our softer sides. And that’s just what HGTV HOME by Sherwin-Williams is hoping for. Their 2020 color of the year is Romance – a soft and dreamy blush hue that evoke serenity while simultaneously making a statement. Romance is a beautiful, colorful neutral. It’s a soft blush tone with a slight apricot influence. It can be used as an overall wall color. Perfect backdrop to highlight your favorite piece of artwork or treasured family heirloom.”
John: I would like to start describing myself as having a slight apricot influence.
Sherry: I just think it’s funny because I literally was like “Nature’s Kiss”, “something blushy” and the thing is called Romance and they’re describing it as lighter than millennial pink.
John: I think we’ll put this in the win category for you.
Sherry: Right. Right. And I did say “well if we think Sherwin-Williams is going to be dark, I’ll just guess this for Benjamin Moore.” So now my Benjamin Moore guess is going to be wrong because I threw this over there.
John: I don’t know. I mean they could pin it as well. Who knows? We haven’t seen Benjamin Moore’s yet so you could be doubly right if they choose something similar.
Sherry: Can I tell you what Benjamin Moore’s is going to be now?
John: No, you can’t change a guess now.
Sherry: I want to guess. This is just an add on. [Laughs] You know, not change my bets. I thought about this the other day, it’s like a color of clay. Like a greenie gray-
John: Cavern clay.
Sherry: No, not hot dog. A greenie gray, like almost mineral color. Do you know what I mean by that?
John: I don’t.
Sherry: A light greenie gray, like pottery soft color.
John: Like a Behr’s Back To Nature?
Sherry: No, like this mug.
John: Okay, we can put that in the show notes too if people want to see but I’m not counting it as an official guess, just so you know.
Sherry: I’m just calling it again now that I’m on a roll.
John: But you know what, this is good news because when we do this next year we know that Sherwin-Williams want two colors so we can throw out some more guesses.
Sherry: Yeah, this was a big surprise. And I’m very excited that you guys told me because I never would have known. So thank you for saying, “I think you got it right.” And clarifying that Navel was not the only one that there also was this HGTV HOME one.
John: Okay, so next we’re going to give a call to Carmeon Hamilton, and she is a designer and blogger and more importantly for our purposes today, a house plant expert.
Sherry: Yes, we need her help. And anyone listening I’m going to ask her a bunch of specific questions like about good plants to use if you have trouble with plants. Don’t worry about taking notes when you listen, we’re going to put it all in the show notes at the end of the episode. So I want you to just be able to listen without anxiety that you have to write things down. It will all be at younghouselove.com/podcast later.
John: I don’t know if anyone ever takes notes while they listen to our podcast. [Sherry laughs]
Sherry: I have an agenda here. I’m going to figure this out. I’m going to demystify a lot of questions I have and hopefully everyone else out there who feels kind of like a plant dummy will walk away feeling a little bit more empowered and maybe even excited to bring plants into their house without worrying that they’re going to kill them all.
[Skype ring tone]
Sherry: Hello.
Carmeon: Hi, it’s Carmeon.
Sherry: Hey, Carmeon. We’re so excited to talk about plants with you. You might judge me for my questions. I had to just like put my pride aside and say, “She might think I’m crazy that I even don’t know the answer to this.” But I’m hoping that people listening might not know the answer either. Because sometimes we can keep plants alive and sometimes we can’t. It’s a mixed bag.
John: Yeah, like what is a plant?
Carmeon: [Carmeon and Sherry laughs] I was going to say there’s no such thing as dumb question, but I’m going to have to skate by that one, John.
Sherry: We’ll just leave that one right there.
John: Okay, I’ll Google that later. So let’s start by asking, what is your favorite starter plant? Or are there a few good starter plants that you’d point people towards?
Carmeon: Absolutely. So I have three that I suggest to every single person, whether they’re beginning or pros because they’re just awesome plants. So the first is what’s called a pothos. And it’s P-O-T-H-O-S. And it comes in a million varieties, but it’s one of the easiest plants to take care of. And also it’s super pretty. It’s a vining plant, so it can survive in just about any lighting situation. It’s super tolerant of negligence. Basically, the plant itself will tell you when it needs water, its leaves kind of go to sleep and it will wilt a little bit. So even if you don’t remember to water it on a routine basis, if you see it kind of drooping, then it just needs a little a little water. So pothos is number one.
Sherry: I’m a pothos mama. I can keep them alive.
Carmeon: It’s my favorite plant. It reminds me of my mom. I have a million of them in my house. I propagate it. That’s a big word for us plant beginners.
John: Well, and it’s also good to hear that it’s not like ugly. It’s not like a consolation plant that you only get if you can’t keep things alive. You said you have them all over your house.
Carmeon: It’s top of the list for me for sure.
John: Well, now I feel like I’ve learned all I need to learn. I’m good, thanks.
Carmeon: Just get a pothos. End of conversation, you’re done.
John: Okay, no, but you said you had two others right?
Carmeon: Yes, there are two others. So first is pothos. The second two are the snake plant and the ZZ plant. They’re both very tall and linear. So they’re great for styling but they’re also very tolerant of any light condition and watering situation. So all three can be put in a bathroom, you can put them in a bedroom, they can go on your kitchen counter, they can go pretty much anywhere. They will completely survive even if a room has zero windows. So those three, pothos, ZZ, and snake plants are great for everybody.
John: And are those plants that you suggest people just buy at like their local home improvement store? Or do you need to go somewhere special to find them? Like where’s your go to place to buy your plants?
Carmeon: My favorite place, especially for pothos are grocery stores. Grocery stores have some of the biggest buying power for plants, especially Kroger. I don’t know what they’re called in Virginia.
Sherry: Oh, we have Kroger. I live at Kroger.
Carmeon: Kroger is probably one of the biggest grocery chains and like they’re the largest flower purchaser in the world, I believe.
John: Wow.
Carmeon: Yeah, you get really great plants at really great prices. So I’d check your grocery store first and then go to a big-box store. Nurseries are wonderful. You have a lot more people on hand to give you information about things that you need, but they can be a little bit more expensive. So you’re paying for the experience and the knowledge of the people that are helping you but nurseries are also great.
Sherry: And how do you deal with not knowing if you’re over watering or under watering?
Carmeon: I have a ton of plants but I don’t have a ton of types of plants. So I found what type of plants love my house. There are probably 10 types of plants in my living room, but there are probably 40 total plants. They all love the same type of lighting, they all have the same kind of watering tolerance. So I have a routine where I water my plants weekly or attempt to, but the easiest thing to do is just stick your fingers in the soil. If the first inch or two feels dry, then your plant needs some water. If it’s still a little moist, then you can skip those.
John: And so you’re saying that kind of the variety or you know, packing your house with so many different types of plants that would end up on a different schedule is the thing that might drive you crazy.
Carmeon: Yes, so I try to keep it simple. You can still have a plant jungle. A lot of people love to experiment with different types of plants. And that’s wonderful for people that are plant aficionados that have really made it their lifestyle to care for plants. But if you want the plant jungle, it’s easy to do with just a few different types of plants. That way if you decide to cover your house in pothos plants you can have a pretty good idea of what each of those plants needs without having to do a lot of guessing every time it’s time to water.
John: What are some other clues that plants give us that they’re not happy? I mean, I know like, if you see it kind of drooping or wilting or going to sleep, like you said, like, that’s probably a clue that it needs some sort of change. Are there other things that people should look out for?
Carmeon: Yes, so drooping is one of the main visual factors that people find, and it usually either needs more water or more light. If you have a plant that has leaves that are turning yellow or turning brown, sometimes when leaves turn yellow, it could just be the aging of that particular leaf and it’s just time for it to go. Just like skin cells fall off the human body plants have to let go of a few leaves every now and then. So that’s normal. But if you have new leaves that are coming in, that are yellowing or they’re brown, then your plant is probably either being overwatered, or it’s got some kind of infection which actually comes from overwatering. What happens when you overwater, you essentially are suffocating the roots of the plant. Since they’re sitting in the water, they can’t get any oxygen. So they just rot and die off. And that’s what kills all the nutrients that make it to the leaves. And that’s where you get your browning. And then of course, if you see little white spots or little critters crawling around then that’s another issue, you have an infestation in your plant.
John: That does sound like another issue.
Sherry: That sounds like that plant earns a spot on the patio for a little while.
Carmeon: Yeah, like I have a spray bottle on hand all the time. It’s mostly water, like a Windex size bottle. It’s just a cap full of either apple cider vinegar or neem oil, N-E-E-M and a drop or two of dishwashing liquid. I use that to take care of any pests related issue in my plants, whether it’s a spider mite or mealy bug, but yes, you take them outside, spray them down, wipe down the leaves to get rid of any of the pests and just let it sit for an hour or two and you’re able to bring it back in but just keep your eye on it. But I keep that solution around for any pest related issues. And it works every single time.
Sherry: A new use for apple cider vinegar.
Carmeon: Another one, yes, add it to your list, Sherry [laughing]
Sherry: Am I a pest if I apply it to my own face? Probably.
John: I’ll put you outside for an hour or two. Should people be fertilizing their indoor plants? I never really thought about this till Sherry said we should ask Carmeon about that.
Carmeon: Yes, very good question. So plants just like in nature have their growing seasons and their dormant seasons. And typically plants do all of their growing in between March and October when it’s warm. So those are the months as it’s growing. All the new growth is being pushed out. That’s when you want to fertilize to help keep fuelling that growth. Now when they go dormant, or when their growth slows down you want to stop fertilizing because the plant can’t process that fertilizer. He wants to go to sleep, he wants to get some rest, like hibernating bears. So if you keep fertilizing you’ll can burn the roots because it can’t use up that fertilizer since it’s not growing. But yes, you want to fertilize your plants and I use a liquid fertilizer. I love Miracle-Gro. It’s really easy. You can find it in your grocery store, big-box store like Home Depot. You just mix it in your water when you’re watering your plants and I fertilize probably every other watering and sometimes that’s every other week.
John: Oh, we are really under fertilizing, Sherry.
Sherry: Our poor plants.
Carmeon: It’s okay.
Sherry: They’re like it’s been years since I’ve tasted that delicious Miracle-Gro.
John: They’ve been hibernating for a long time.
Carmeon: It’s totally okay. A lot of people feel like they’re neglecting their plants. But I mean plants are equipped to take care of themselves essentially. What the fertilizer does is if you really want to boost the growth in that plant, then you give it steroids, basically.
John: Right.
Sherry: It makes it get all like fluffy and happy though. That sounds compelling to me. Like if every other week along with the water I could dump a little liquid into the water and pour it on the plant and suddenly all my plants looked great I feel like that’s worth remembering.
Carmeon: It is indeed worth it and having a liquid fertilizer just makes it that much easier as well. Like Miracle-Gro, it’s a couple teaspoons for two gallons of water and that takes care of a lot of your plants. So your fertilizer actually last quite a while too.
Sherry: Okay, that’s doable. I can do this. And how do you know if your plant needs to be repotted? Because I’m really famous for just ignoring any symptom of that and just leaving them there and telling myself they get really mad when I repot them, things die. So how can I be sure that it’s time to make the move?
Carmeon: I tell people don’t repot it immediately when you get home. Leave it in that nursery pot. Like it’s grown in this medium for its entire life. So it’s probably happy in this little pot. You usually have quite a while before it needs to be repotted out of that nursery pot. So just let it live in that pot for at least a good six months or so.
Sherry: Oh, I do it for like… until the plant dies [laughing]
John: Yeah. We got that part covered.
Carmeon: So leave it in its nursery pot because that’s the home it’s used to. You’re already taking it out of a nursery and bringing it into your home which has totally different atmospheres and conditions and things like that. So you don’t want to totally disrupt its systems and things that it’s used to. Typically when it needs to be repotted you start to see some of the roots on the surface of the potting soil, or that nursery pot feels really tight like it has zero give anymore, so it means it’s root bound. You can always pull the plant out of that nursery pot and if you see a lot more roots than soil on the exterior, then it’s time to repot it too.
Sherry: So let’s just say I had a fiddle leaf fig and I noticed some roots like coming out of the dirt on the top, would it be bad to dump dirt over those roots that are popping up? [Laughs]
John: I feel like you’re not listening.
Carmeon: Well, no, because fiddle leaf figs and rubber tree plants are ficuses and they have very fibrous roots that basically eat soil. So you’ll start to see roots on the surface before that plant really needs to be repotted. So those are actually the two where it’s really good to just cover the surface with more potting soil. So that’s actually correct, Sherry.
Sherry: Look at me taking the easy way out that ends up being the right way. But at some point, I’m thinking my big fiddle you know, it’s like, as tall as I am.
John: It’s a Sherry.
Sherry: Should I be thinking like after a few years, it’s probably time? Will it give me some signal like it stops growing as quick?
Carmeon: For fiddles, they actually are okay in a smaller pot. I would say yeah, every couple of years for a plant that size. But if you can feel around the base, and see that those roots are super compact, then yeah, you just don’t want to put it in a pot that’s too big, because that’ll completely shock your plant and it won’t be happy.
Sherry: So it’s kind of like go up like a few inches but don’t go like double the size?
Carmeon: Exactly. Never go overboard when repotting pretty much any plant.
John: Again overboard is not our issue here.
Sherry: We’re like bare minimum plant people [laughing]
John: You know speaking of the fiddle leaf fig since it’s sort of like The It Plant, do you have any secret or like favorite titbit you love to give people about caring for fiddle leaf figs?
Carmeon: I will say even as the plant lover that I am, the fiddle is not my favorite. And I tell you this because of how finicky the fiddle is. Like I tell people it’s one of the highest maintenance plants – like they need filtered water, they don’t like it when you turn the air conditioning on, or if they’re sitting too close to a vent.
Sherry: Everything you’re saying, I’m like, “Yup, I feed my fiddle from my filtered tap. I have closed the air vent next to it so it’s not too cold. And you better not move it ever.”
Carmeon: Exactly. So I’m all about living the easiest life I can or just not letting things like my plants stress me out. So I have a fiddle and it’s perfectly fine – I’ve even propagated it, it does well – but it is not my favorite plant because it will drop 10 leaves every time I move it from one surface to the other. So fiddles, I will say need bright, indirect light. Do not put them in a window where the sun rays hit the leaves. They don’t like that. Be careful of the type of water you use for them. Tap water is okay but can have chlorine in it that can singe to the leaves. They don’t like that either. And then rotate it since fiddles tend to grow towards the light. So you’ll have a leaner if you leave it in one direction for too long. So just rotate it every couple weeks. That’s about it. It’s super hit or miss – they either like your house or they don’t.
Sherry: I’ve decided I just can have three, I have three spots that support one. Two are in the same very sunny room, our office. Anytime I try a fourth, fifth, sixth location it doesn’t work because sometimes if you bring home real plants and they don’t look great all the time you’re kind of like I’ll just stick with fake ones. But this is very encouraging because I’m like, I can have fake ones and I can have real ones that look great.
Carmeon: Yes, and don’t do what one of my friends did and buy a real one thinking it’s fake and just not water it ever.
Sherry: It’s a very sad demise for that plant.
Carmeon: Yes, how do you not notice the soil? She’s like, “I thought it was fake soil.” I’m like, “You literally picked this plant up, checked out, brought it home and you watched it turn brown.” [Sherry laughs] “Like it had to change colors. I’m not understanding how you didn’t realize.”
John: That’s how convincing of a fake it was. Even turned brown.
Sherry: It’s so funny. The moment she realized it and she was like, “Wait a minute, this is real?”
Carmeon: I love her to death but I always say try a real plant first. Faux are okay. Absolutely. I have a few faux but try a real plant. I promise they will bring you so much happiness just to see it grow and then just the quality of life that you bring to your home because plants are great for cleansing lots of toxins and carbon monoxide and things like that from your house so get you a real plant.
John: Well and I have to ask if figs are not your jam, what do you think deserve sort of the fig status? Like what do you think should be the replacement it plant?
Carmeon: Oh, it already has a replacement. It’s the Monstera.
Sherry: Oh, I love the Monstera. Dude, like five years ago I wrote a post that said the Monstera is the new fig and then my Monstera died.
John: Just like a fig.
Carmeon: Yes, they can do that. But I started with one. I have one, what I call my mama Monstera and I’ve taken cuttings from it I think about six times now so I have six more. They are definitely not as picky as a fiddle and they actually to me look better than the fiddle.
Sherry: Wait, now I’m like… was mine a Monstera?
John: I think you were thinking about something else.
Sherry: Hold on. I need to look this up.
Carmeon: If it has palm fronds you might have had like a majesty palm or something. Those are kind of finicky too.
John: See I feel like I-
Sherry: Woops. It’s a hope philodendron.
John: That’s it, it’s a philodendron.
Carmeon: Oh yeah.
Sherry: So the Monstera is the one that looks like the leaves are almost like an oval with little slices taken out of them?
Carmeon: Yes.
Sherry: Okay, so I can picture it.
John: Oh, kind of like what you see in a lot of the like tropical wallpapers.
Carmeon: That’s exactly it.
John: Okay.
Sherry: That is so funny.
Carmeon: So Monsteras, they’re tropical plants so they love having moist soil. Not completely wet, but they’re used to living on the ground. And think about the amazon rainforest. Like any plant that lives on the ground probably doesn’t get a lot of direct sunlight. It’s really in the shade because of how dense the canopies are. So yes, they do well in low light situations and indirect light situations. They don’t like direct light when the sun blast directly on the leaves, but they’re really adaptable and could survive just about anywhere.
Sherry: So when you say you have a bunch of plants and you water them all once a week, does that mean you might just water the Monstera more because it likes the damp soil and the pothos less because it likes dry soil but you still are on a weekly schedule with both of them?
Carmeon: Exactly.
Sherry: I feel like I’m getting this. You’re making me feel very confident.
Carmeon: I’m so glad. I tell people it’s really not hard.
John: Any parting words of advice that you wish every plant parent knew?
Carmeon: Treat your plants just like the living things that they are and not styling props, then your relationship with your plants will go a whole lot smoother. So just love your plants.
Sherry: I love those parting words. Well thank you for talking to us.
Carmeon: You’re very welcome and thank you for having me. I’m so excited.
Sherry: Bye.
John: Bye.
[Skype call end sound]
Sherry: So like I said we’re going to put links to everything we just talked about with new pictures. Pictures and links to the plants she recommended, that Miracle-Gro and the mixture she created to get rid of pests. All of that will be at younghouselove.com/podcast.
John: Yes, and there will also be a link to her book, because Carmeon has written both an E-book and you can get it as a printed copy. It’s called Nubi’s Guide To Plant Parenting. So that will be in the show notes as well. And next up we have we’re digging. I am digging something that really blows guys. Really, really blows.
Sherry: Does it blow your mind?
John: We’ll find out. So the thing I’m digging is actually a tool that I have here in our garage but I like it so much that I got one for the beach house as well and it’s under 30 bucks.
Sherry: Everyone’s thinking you’re talking about a leaf blower…
John: No, it is not a leaf blower. It is an inflator. Specifically the Ryobi inflator. It’s like kind of an electric bike pump, I guess is maybe the way to think about it. It’s not as big as a bike pump though this is off to a bad start. I’ll put a picture of it in the show notes. How about that?
Sherry: You can use it to blow up like basketballs and tires of bikes. And at the beach house it comes very much in handy for…
John: Floats. It is basically a small handheld tool that can be used to inflate a variety of things. It works off of the same 18 volt battery that all my Ryobi tools work off of. So it’s very convenient for us to have because it is a lot faster than all of the like hand pumps or literally blowing things up by mouth at the beach, which is never a fun process. So I got one a couple years ago to have here at home because we use it for like blowing up basketballs and it does work on like Sherry said bike tires and even car tires. I’ve not tried it on car tires, but they say that is a perfectly acceptable use of it. It even has a pressure gauge built into it so you can make sure you’re not over inflating things. But I realized it would be helpful to have one at the beach as well because we have floats every once a while and you can literally bring it to the beach because it’s battery operated and have your like novelty float blown up in just a matter of minutes.
Sherry: Right? You’re looking for a flamingo? Boom flamingo. What about an ice pop float? That’s happened. John has used this tool over and over again at the beach. You might even say it’s like his party trick.
John: I wouldn’t say that but you guys are welcomed to.
Sherry: I’ll go ahead and say that about him.
John: So I will put a link to it the show notes again, I think it’s just about 28 bucks. So I feel like it’s a really handy thing to have around in your garage and sort of your, like, bag of tricks.
Sherry: Okay this week what I’m digging is a surprise to John. I just said I’d talk about it on the podcast and he have to wait and see like everyone else. It is not a thing I have bought. It is a concept I have used for about six months on my phone under people’s names who text me, like my very good friends. Sometimes for fun I put like a funny picture of them in and I’ve noticed when my friend texts me and I have taken the time to program a little funny picture of her, I’m filled with like goodwill and warmth towards that person. Like I see my friend Heather’s face pop up. It’s a really funny picture of her posing. I’m like, “Oh my gosh, how is Heather? I miss her.” And I like feel like it reminds me and gives me more connection than just seeing the name Heather and a number.
John: So what you’re saying is you just stole my concept of putting really awkward weird photos of people as their profile pictures in your phone.
Sherry: Well, John does it like as a joke, like people with moustaches like joke costumes.
John: Yes when all of those filters were going around Snapchat, I incorporated several of those into my phone contacts.
Sherry: Right so John does it as like a funny thing. But I basically took it one step further for John. John doesn’t know this, it’s why I’m telling him. I mean, maybe you’ve noticed, but under John’s name, it used to say, “Husband John,” and everyone laughed at me because they were like “Do you forget your husband’s name?” And I was like-
John: Or do you have a different husband?
Sherry: Well, no, it was back in the day when you were supposed to label emergency contacts by name, like you’re supposed to say like “Mother Diana” in case of emergency – you know, like your ICE contact?
John: Right.
Sherry: And now, you know, newer phones do that for you. You can just program that into your settings. And so I felt freed to not have to write “Husband John” anymore. And I was like, “What should I do?” And I just wrote John and I put a little emoji heart. I know that sounds silly but now whenever John texts me something, it can be like, “Do we need bread from the store?” I see it with a heart. And it seems more sweet, like any sort of transactional thing that we’re doing, I-
John: It was very sweet when I asked you about the bread.
Sherry: Exactly. But like, it makes me think, “Oh, I love him.” And like, I don’t need to be reminded that I love my husband, I love my husband no matter what. But throughout the day, when you’re exchanging these like household or task related texts, there’s not much romance in them, right? You’re just running your life together. And so by putting a little heart and picking a cute picture of John I love, it’s a picture of him with our son, I just feel like I have this excitement when I get a text from him, even if it’s about bread. It gives John just like bonus credit that he’s not even aware of.
John: I don’t have to do anything guys.
Sherry: [laughing] But I just feel like it makes our interactions sweeter and I highly recommend it because I think anything you can do when you’re exchanging just like basic information to make it slightly more sweet or romantic is worth it.
John: Are you saying I need to change mine so doesn’t say, “Wife Sherry” anymore?
Sherry: Probably should say Sherry with a big old heart.
John: Heart, heart, heart, heart, heart.
Sherry: Maybe heart, crystal, sorcerer, wizard. [Laughs]
[Outro music playing.]
Sherry: Thanks for listening to Young House Love Has A Podcast.
John: And it’s been a while since I’ve mentioned that it’s a really big help if you take a moment to rate and review our show on Apple podcasts or whatever podcasting app you use. And if you’ve already left a review for ours, maybe spread the love around and leave one for another podcast you’re loving lately.
Sherry: Yeah, and please tell us what you do while you listen, like Maka on Instagram who’s three year old overheard our chat about our kids helping us cook and excitedly asked from the back seat if she could help her mom with dinner that night. I think that is so sweet.
John: And don’t forget to head over to this week’s show notes at younghouselove.com/podcast for lots of good plant info and links and a peek at some of our bathroom inspiration pictures.
Sherry: And links to the vanity in the tub we ordered along with my very favorite toilet.
John: The best.
Sherry: It’s a Royal Flush.
John: [laughs] Later.
Sherry: [laughs] Bye.
[Theme music ends.]
[Blooper bleep.]
Carmeon: However if you consider them as alive then you care about them a little bit more. So talk to them they love to be talked to, you can name them.
John: Do they like podcasts?
[Carmeon and Sherry laugh]
Carmeon: They definitely love the Young House Love podcast.
Sherry: She’s a plant expert guys. You heard it from Carmeon. [laughs]
[Blooper bleep]
