If you caught this Instagram photo we posted back in July, you could probably tell it wasn’t your average trip to the beach. We were actually participating in a photo and video shoot for Virginia is for Lovers, the fine folks who promote tourism in our home state. They were starting a new series featuring real Virginians taking new adventures in the state, and they actually asked to feature us (!!). It’s pretty obvious that we love Virginia, so we couldn’t wait to sing our home state’s praises and check out a few places we’d never been. We were invited to explore Virginia’s Eastern Shore for the day with them, which, for those unfamiliar with
What Our First & Second Houses Taught Us
Q: Now that you’re in your third house, I’m sure there are things you’ve learned about budgeting, decorating, house hunting, etc. having been through the process a few times now. Would you ever consider writing a post about what your first and second house taught you? -Alison A: Sure we’d consider it. In fact, here it is! Like anything in life, you hope your previous experiences will help make you smarter about your next one. And I think having our first home influenced the selection and design of our second and now the same thing is happening again – plus we now have the extra benefit of comparing the first two. We talked in this
Showhouse Floor Plans
Remember we mentioned the show house that we’d be working on to benefit Habitat For Humanity over the next ten months? Well, we’ve been itching to give you guys an update but we haven’t broken ground quite yet. It’s not that we’re behind schedule (the goal is to be under-roof by Christmas) but it turns out there’s a whole lot of prep before a house is even built. So as people who have never built a house or been part of that process before, it has been really interesting to see what goes into it. Over the last few months we’ve been having lots of planning meetings and have even made some site visits to
House Crashing: Four A Good Cause
Some of the same folks behind Richmond’s Homearama (who are working with us on our Habitat For Humanity Showhouse – which we’re planning to update you guys on ASAP) invited us to similar-but-new show called the Massey Street of Dreams. Like Homearama, it features custom built homes that are decked out inside by designers & decorators who collaborate with each builder and their team. But this show’s the brainchild of cancer survivor George Emerson, so it’s got a charitable slant in that all proceeds benefit our local VCU Massey Cancer Center. So just like we had fun sharing these eight homes with you guys, we’re psyched to share the four pretty places that make up
How To Install A Wood Plank Ceiling
When we decided we wanted to do a wood planked ceiling in our sunroom, I think I kind of just envision walking into Home Depot, strolling down the beadboard ceiling aisle, and loading up our cart. Piece of cake. Easy as pie. Insert third dessert related idiom here. Well, turns out there are lots of options for achieving the beadboard look. Historically, beadboard was made up of individual tongue-and-groove planks – kinda like a hardwood floor. Except between each board is a little ridge or indentation, aka the “bead.” Just look at this assortment of choices… There are also lots of panel options. You know, those full 4ft x 8ft sheets of the beadboard pattern?
First Day of School, 2013
It happened again. Our little lady is back in preschool. And the difference from last year’s first day photo nearly put our jaws on the floor. We knew she had grown, but wow. Since her monthly photo project stopped at her 3rd birthday, it was fun to break out this other photo tradition and snap some pictures. Although I had forgotten about the weird results when you say things like “smile big!” “No, like you’re really happy and excited.” She’s going back to the same preschool she went to last year, though now for three mornings a week instead of two like last year. She’s excited to be back with her friends, to get to
Fab Freebie: Fall For Coupons
Coupons.com covers the gamut – from digital, printable, social, mobile, and loyalty card program discounts for spots like Target, Barnes & Noble, Amazon and lots more. In addition to wanting to help you save some green, right now they’re also celebrating the change of seasons and diving into fall decorating (sometimes all it takes is swapping out a piece or two to transition the mood in your home). So they’re kick-starting that change with a $300 e-gift card to Sears, which you’ll be able to stretch with the dozens of Sears discounts that Coupons.com offers. Please use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter (it might take a second to load, but it should eventually
Prepping A Vaulted Ceiling For Wood Planks
If those three things don’t sound like a great time, then I don’t know what does. Amiright? Anyway, we’ve shared a few peeks at the ceiling progress in our sunroom, but have yet to explain how we got there. Hold on to your hats and break out your graphing calculators! Just kidding about the calculators, because we actually left the engineering part of this job to a professional. The pro we referenced in this post was the builder we’re working with on the show home. He offered to pop by to give us his expert opinion, which boiled down to “those cross beams aren’t supporting the roof, they just created the framing for attaching the
How To Hang A Gallery Of Frames Around A TV
First things first. Weren’t we talking about how foxes might be the new “it” animal (as in, move over birds and giraffes)? Well, I think this video might be proof that we’re all on to something. Now that that’s out of the way, on to our regularly scheduled program… Sherry and I have always been fans of the idea of hanging art around a TV just to soften the big black rectangle that it creates on the wall. And since we have quite the collection of frames to wade through (128 to be exact) it wasn’t exactly a speedy selection process. But after more noodling than I care to admit, we officially hung this house’s
A Beautiful DIY Secret Garden
Something has us gravitating towards outdoor spaces lately. Maybe it’s being mid-makeover on our freshly lofted sunroom? Maybe it’s wishful thinking that summer isn’t ending? Whatever it is, we loving Stacy’s transformation of her backyard into a quaint and cozy green space. Here’s her letter: There were several books from my childhood that affected my view on life and how I wanted my home to be when I grew up. One of them was a book titled Mandy, and another was The Secret Garden. I have always wanted a space that was all mine. A space that maybe didn’t function as anything other than a retreat and a place to image and dream. Welcome to my secret
How To Turn A Coat Closet Into Toy Storage
The closet next to our front door was an obvious place for our coat closet when we first moved in. But since our definition of “coat closet” seems to include random stuff like cleaning supplies (vacuum, dust buster, etc) as well as miscellaneous files and bags, we quickly realized that it was smarter for us to use the deeper closet under the stairs for that stuff instead. It’s slightly closer to the garage anyways, so it’s actually a more convenient spot for daily coat access (not that I’m ready to admit summer’s over yet). But that left this lonely guy next to the door without a job to do. And what’s the opposite of having
Deciding Between Painting Or Tiling A Concrete Floor
Last you saw our sunroom, it looked like this: Well, now it’s looking a little something like this: Forgive the poor iPhone pic, but it’s the only one I snapped (just to text to my parents, actually) before Richmond turned into rain city yesterday. But you get the point, we’ve made some good progress lofting the ceiling (with the help of a professional framer who came out this week to make sure our roof wouldn’t collapse). But we’ll get into the story of the ceiling next week once the electrician has come and turned the (now loose) wires into junction boxes for two fans. Today we’re talking about a floor plan. As in, a plan
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