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 are the most popular in each state and we bring our Instagram conversations around Black makers & voices to the podcast.
You can also find this episode on your favorite podcast listening app, like Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, TuneIn Radio, Stitcher, and Spotify.
What’s New
- There’s a peek at the simple wood platform bed we got for our room so we could finally get our mattress off the floor. We can easily add a headboard to it down the road (we’re leaning towards building or upholstering one) and it gives us room to stash stuff underneath (currently it’s full of picture frames & art for the little guest house/shed that we want to add down the line). We also like that it’s real wood, so we can stain it if we ever want to tweak the color (ours is definitely a little more oranger than they show on their website).
- And those are the two beds we ordered for our kids rooms. The top one (which can be found on Target and Overstock) has given our daughter 3-sides of under-bed book & game storage. And the bottom bed pictured below is the one we bought for our son (those two huge drawers wrangle toys and extra clothes in his room).
Top Trending Design Styles By State
- Here’s the full article from Angie’s List that shows the results of their Instagram deep dive into what design styles trend the highest in each state (just ignore the labeling of CT and NJ)
- We didn’t mention this on the episode, but they also looked at which states post photos of their homes the most, and I’m not sure if it’s adjusted for population density, but apparently just 3 states make up 40% of all interior design posts on Instagram!
America’s Bathroom Obsession
- Here’s the full article from The Atlantic entitled “America Is Overrun With Bathrooms” which contains that really interesting overview of how the bathroom had a real glow up – going from the smallest, most avoided room in the house to the one that we practically value the most when buying a home.
- And we’ll do a more detailed post at some point describing our future bathroom plans, but the kids are sitting where we plan to add an ensuite bath right off of our bedroom. We love that kitchen window behind them so much that we’re currently leaning towards just using half of the porch so we can keep half of that double window.
- We also said we’d include a link to two of our recent bathroom projects, so here’s our big bathroom overhaul in our last house and the smaller demo-free refresh of our hall bathroom (shown below) in case you missed those earlier this year.
We’re Digging
- Please be sure to check out our Instagram profile page to view the Make Change highlight circles (when we recorded this podcast there was just one, but now there are 3 – and they’re packed with tons of links to amazing Black-owned businesses that you can support).
- We’re working on a blog post to catalog these 300+ shops and small businesses, so here’s what we’ve currently pulled together. We have more to add, so this catalog will just grow and grow – plus we’re planning to highlight shops we love for Father’s Day, the holidays, etc, etc. This is more than just a one week project for us.
- And if you haven’t read Trevor Noah’s autobiography Born A Crime, I highly recommend it. It somehow hits deep and also makes you laugh out load within the same page sometimes. Oh and I shouldn’t be surprised by this, but it also seems to be back-ordered lots of places too.
- In the episode outro we also mentioned some podcasts you can add to your feed with Black hosts or that feature Black stories, so here are a few to consider:
- NPR’s Code Switch
- Best Friends With Nicole Byer & Sasheer Zamata
- 74 Seconds (the Peabody Award-winning story of Philando Castille’s shooting)
- Journeys In Greenery With Hilton Carter
- The Read
- The Nicole Walters Podcast
- Still Processing from The New York Times
If you’re looking for something we’ve dug in a past episode, but don’t remember which show notes to click into, here’s a master list of everything we’ve been digging from all of our past episodes. You can also see all the books we’ve recommended on our Book Club page.
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