The 3 Smartest Ways to Build a Raised Patio Yourself!

We're sharing all the tips, tricks & details of building a raised patio with retaining wall—along with our raised stone patio design and cost! Do you have a sloped area in your yard that seems unusable? Or perhaps you want to avoid a deck off the back of your house and have started envisioning your own way of building a raised patio with retaining walls? Whatever your need, you're in the right place, my friend!…

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What Influences Your Design Style?

We all like something. Even those who are the hardest to please, who claim they don't care about design, still have preferences. At the very least, we all know what we don't like. And when you don't like something, that means you do like something else. What we do like is either based on a part of our personality and who we are, or circumstances and memories we have of things that impacted us, or—which…

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Vintage Pieces.

I turn 40 this week. How do I feel about it? Well, let’s first acknowledge that the culture around us seems to give 39.9-yr-olds the message that we should be flipping out in some way. (Or completely ignoring it and pretending we’re still 27. :) ) Growing up, 40 was the age I’d hear talked about as “the big one.” You know, when mid-life crises hit & you were now going downhill. 40 wasn’t just…

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DIY Glass Dry Erase Board Frames: Our Genius Hack!

I've never seen anyone do my DIY glass dry erase board frame hack anywhere before (although maybe they'll start now that I've been posting it on social media and here on our blog?). This is one of my favorite easy home hacks of all time! If you’re in need of an attractive write-and-erase surface somewhere—meaning you want to be able to write messages or information and be able to erase and reuse it—you do NOT…

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The Best 15 Woven Pendant Light Ideas Under $150.

Whether you're looking for rattan, wicker, or bamboo pendant lights, we've pulled together 15 of the best woven pendant light ideas for you—all kept under $150! And now it's time for our first installment of the new series, "Go Internet Shopping with Jess!" Whether you actually need a new woven pendant light, want a new pendant light, or don't need or want any lights of any kind, come along and see what we can find…

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12 Life-changing Entryway Solutions: New Mudroom Storage!

What do you do when you want an entryway or mudroom bench or cubbies for storage but don't think you have the space? We figured out how to create a mudroom out of seemingly nothing, and the storage we now have is incredible (and includes our favorite woven mudroom baskets)! My neighbor asked me, when I mentioned we were working on creating mudroom storage, "What's a mudroom?" I refrained from answering what I really wanted…

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When Fire Threatened Our House (Seeing Life By Fire Light)

A few weeks ago, a fire threatened our house yet again. Two years ago, because of another wildfire, we had to evacuate our home with a four- and one-yr-old at 2am. Last year, a fire moved so close to our house that we had to actually pack and be ready to evacuate again. And then for the third time, this year we were so close to a wildfire that we could see the fire trucks…

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The Most Stunning DIY Bookcase Makeover On The Internet.

Today, we're making some big claims with our super-simple but crazy-high-impact DIY bookcase makeover! Those of you who have taken the private tour of our upstairs may remember some unsightly looking built-ins. (And no, it wasn't these linen cabinets! Although they're close.) We're talking about these bad boys. To the left of our fireplace in the master bedroom. Can you spot them? How we created a stress-free master bedroom sitting area! There they are again.…

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Painted Brick Fireplace Before & After: Should You DIY or Hire Out?

Today we're sharing pictures of our painted brick fireplace before & after...but are we finished? When we first toured the upstairs of our current house, we were pleasantly surprised to see there was a red brick fireplace in the bedroom. (Well, technically it's in the master bedroom's raised sitting room.) While a bedroom fireplace wasn't something we were looking for, I wasn't going to kick it out of bed in the morning. (Bad metaphor, but…

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Let It Go: 3 Refreshing Reasons to Declutter Sentimental Items.

Decluttering sentimental items can be one of the hardest projects to tackle—but also the most pleasurable in the end! Today we're sharing what we've learned from our personal experiences of purging unnecessary items—and the benefits we've enjoyed! (And there are more than 3!) Over 15 years ago, when Matt and I had just gotten married and had very little furniture, he made us our first bed. Furniture making being his dream job, Matt was chomping…

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