Latest Stories

The Almost-Free Gift I Made for Everyone When We Were Broke
I discovered a couple of years ago that having zero cash to spare can actually simplify things during the holidays.
Dec 2, 2019
I've Reached the Limit of Renovations Making Financial Sense—But I Can't Stop
I know perfectly well that there's a point when enough is enough and a home becomes functionally obsolete... but I just can't help myself.
Oct 24, 2019
I'll Never Buy a House Built After 1949—Here's the One Reason Why
It all comes down to the doors.
Oct 5, 2019
This Architect Has a Warning: Embrace the "Missing Middle" Or Get Priced Out
Why should you have to choose between a single-family or multi-family home?
Sep 27, 2019
This Financial Planner Swears by the “90/10 Rule” to Help You Improve Your Relationship With Money
"I've made the shift and helped others make that shift and when you do it's like you're on the autobahn.”
Sep 3, 2019
Why You Should Never Add Essential Oils to Latex Paint
File the tip under “just because you see it on Pinterest doesn't mean it's a good idea.”
Aug 16, 2019
5 Times When Painting Over Something Is a Terrible Idea
Sometimes painting something can be just as quick a route to “I love it!” as “I wish I hadn't done that.”
Aug 14, 2019
Clever Ways to Avoid All That Labor-Intensive Taping Before You Paint
While painter's tape promises clean lines, it can come with issues. And, of course, there’s the time requirement: It takes forever to apply.
Aug 9, 2019
5 Surprising (and Costly) Ways Smoking Can Ruin Your Home
Smoking doesn't just ruin a smoker's health—it's ruining their home, too.
Jul 9, 2019
Amazon Has a Hidden Feature That Will Add Up Every Cent You’ve Spent on There To Date
They don't make it exactly obvious or easy, but Amazon does let you review your spending totals. Just in case you're not into combing through credit card statements or digging through email receipts.
Jul 3, 2019
If You’re Going to Wear Your Shoes In People’s Homes, At Least Follow These 5 Rules
I don't ask guests to remove their shoes. But!—yes, here's the big but—there are some golden rules.
Jun 20, 2019

Latest Stories

8 Quick and Easy Cleaning & Laundry Tips that Airbnb Hosts Swear By
Those of us who survive and thrive in this world of letting strangers tell the internet how tidy we are have learned some mad skills when it comes to cleaning and laundry.
Jun 16, 2019
Here’s the Truth About Fixed Shower Panels
Sometimes you see something you just need in your space, no matter what. You know there will be a downside, but it’s just too perfect. For me, it was the window-style fixed shower panels. I started seeing this look last summer when we were renovating the bizarre and so-ugly bathroom in our Victorian home. Honestly, anything was an upgrade from the teeny, low-ceilinged, stained-beyond-all-hope stall shower that came with the house that I might have just gone with the first shower I saw.
May 25, 2019
The Surprisingly Luxe Sofa I Got at Walmart for Less Than $500
You know how you can just easily pick out a great looking and affordable sofa with no hassle whatsoever? Yeah, right. When I started furnishing my newest Airbnb project, a studio style apartment we renovated over the former stable behind our Victorian (aka Little Carriage House on the Alley), I knew it needed a gorgeous sofa. With the bedroom and living room all in one, the sofa had to be pretty enough that you wouldn’t mind looking at it when you’re in bed.
May 22, 2019
A Financial Planner Shares 3 Steps to Creating a Realistic Budget that Helps You Reach Your Goals
You know you need a budget. But there's knowing you need one, and then there's actually doing it.
May 20, 2019
Try This Old-School Method to Get That White, Weathered Brick Look
What’s cooler than an exposed brick wall? An exposed, weathered, white brick wall!If you’ve been pining for that distressed, vintage look, read on—and don’t fret. It’s totally DIY-able and costs next to nothing… as long as you’ve got plenty of time. When my husband and I uncovered the original brick in the apartment over the former stable behind our Victorian, I knew I wanted to go with a random, weathered white look for our newest Airbnb.
May 16, 2019
This $4 Hack Keeps Your Kitchen Cabinet Doors From Slamming
If I admire one home design advancement, it just might be the advent of soft-close. You never realize how annoying slamming toilet lids and cabinet doors are until you experience the calm relief of closing those things quietly. This invention is so ubiquitous now that you can even get refrigerators with soft-close drawers—which, frankly, is a little gimmicky… but I still like mine.What if you have cabinets that date back to the time before this common upgrade?
May 16, 2019
What They Don’t Tell You About Exposing Hidden Brick
It’s hard to resist the siren call of exposing hidden brick. When you know it’s tucked away under drywall or plaster, just begging to make a big statement, you’ve just got to do it… right?It sounds so easy when you tell friends your plans: “Yeah, we’ll just tear out the plaster and expose the brick. It’ll be amazing.” And if it were a TV show and you could fast forward to the finished product, it would totally be amazing.
May 14, 2019
Treat Yo’ Self: 10 Luscious Gifts to Give Yourself This Holiday
Who says you can’t sneak a gift to yourself in the midst of all the selfless shopping for everyone else? Before you choose that next perfect, thoughtful gift for your second-cousin-once-removed, head over to Etsy for a sweet little treat for yourself. For a tiny treat with big impact, pick up this luscious-smelling tube of coconut-oil infused bath salts and soak away the holiday stresses. Is this meant for kids? Maybe. But come on.
May 3, 2019
10 Insanely Good-Looking Products For the Design-Loving Pet Owner
We love, love, love our pets, am I right? Life wouldn’t be the same without those sweet furry faces. But real talk: the accoutrements of life with cats and dogs does not a #designgoals home make. The lovely, would-be formal dining room in my Victorian home stars a wonderful, original fireplace—annnnnnd one 54-inch heavy-duty dog crate that my half mountain dog Cassius Thunderpaws adores for nap time.
May 3, 2019
This Pinterest Must-Have Can Help You Get Fit at Home
If you’re curious about the slick-looking wheel popping up on the Pinterest boards of your yoga friends (saves for this fitness prop were up 72 percent according to this year’s Pinterest 100), welcome: you’ve discovered the world of the yoga wheel.
May 3, 2019
Here’s What Happens to Your Body When You Don’t Move All Weekend
It’s a brutal winter. The world outside can be a horrible place. Can you blame anyone for wanting to cancel their plans, stay in, sleep late and watch TV all weekend? It’s self care, after all, and we can all get behind that. I mean, it feels good to get cozy and binge on, well, pretty much any shows out right now. And who among us doesn’t need some more shut-eye?
May 3, 2019
The Surprising Health Benefits of a Clean Closet
Have you ever noticed that stepping into your cluttered, messy closet makes you stressed? Understatement of the day? Well, you’re not alone. It turns out that exposure to a greater density of “stuff” – like a jam-packed closet – can lead to higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Assistant professor of psychology Darby Saxbe, Ph.D., worked on an intriguing study at UCLA where married, dual-income couples gave researchers a video tour of their home.
May 3, 2019

Latest Stories

Should You Let Your Pet Sleep With You? We Dug Up the Answer
Pets belong on the bed. At our house anyway, and at many of yours, I bet. In fact, surveys on the topic show that around half of pet owners let them sleep on the bed. As for us, our little guy Truffle starts out wedged between my pillows and my husband’s, but at some point in the night moves to curl up to my back, a solid, warm little brick that’s surprisingly immovable for 16 pounds.
May 3, 2019
11 Shopping Secrets From Menards’ Famous 11% Rebate Week
For fixer-uppers who crush on Menards – the big box home improvement chain clustered mostly in the Midwest – there’s one time to shop. Okay, it’s several times a year, but that time is the 11% rebate week. I’m late to the Menards game, with a history of bouncing between Lowe’s and Home Depot, until a handyman who worked on our old Victorian gushed to us about their prices last year.
May 3, 2019
Hey “Dog Friendly” Hotels, What’s With the Big Dog Ban?
More of us than ever before are hitting the road with our furry families. Stats show 37% of pet owners travel with their pets (up from 19% about 10 years ago). And savvy marketers (naturally) want to get in on this action. Hotels are fond of plastering “dog friendly” on everything, luring pet families with promises of treats and dog bowls and beds to pamper their pooches.
May 3, 2019
Would You (or Do You?) Forbid Your Dog from Walking on the Rug?
Someday I’ll learn to stop asking questions on social media. I forget sometimes that well-meaning folks will offer advice I find… puzzling. This is how I recently found myself explaining that no, thank you, I’m not interested in banning my dogs from the rug. Here’s the story: There was this tattered old Persian rug in that I fell in love with when I saw it in the window of a little antique shop near our old house.
May 3, 2019
These 8 Time-Saving Under $25 Buys Make Paint Jobs Easier
Oh, goody, you’re about to start a paint project! There’s nothing more dramatic than an amazing color change in a room, so of course it’s well worth the work and cash money. That doesn’t mean we all enjoy the actual work, however, and while it’s still on the low end of budget spectrum, any redo costs can still mount quickly—especially if you splurge on the good paint. After painting many (many!
May 3, 2019
The Best Budget Fixes for Your Really Bad Countertop
Nothing screams ‘Sad Kitchen’ like shoddy old countertops. Okay, a bad floor or rickety old cabinets are probably right up there, but a decades-old, grungy, cracked, and damaged counter can turn an otherwise perfectly decent kitchen into something to cringe over. When my husband and I prepared to put our previous home on the market, our realtor encouraged us to replace the dated laminate counter.
May 3, 2019
Why I Will Never Switch to an Open Kitchen Floorplan
I can get behind a design trend just as fast as the next person. Exposed brick? Sliding barn doors? Reclaimed wood? Check, check, and check! I dream of a farmhouse sink and a subway tile backsplash and am about to do the all-open-shelving thing in our kitchen. But there’s one seemingly mandatory design decision that I have zero interest in making: adopting the open kitchen. In our 1890 home, the kitchen is at the back of the house in a textbook-style late-Victorian floor plan.
May 3, 2019
You Aren’t Cleaning Your Pet’s Bowls Often Enough
How often do you clean your pet’s bowls? Are you washing them daily in soapy water as hot as you can stand it, followed by air-drying them, and also sanitizing them once a week? No? Well, according to Dr. Jerry Klein, an emergency and critical care veterinarian in Chicago and chief veterinary officer for the American Kennel Club, it’s time to up your pet bowl game. Here’s the thing. Pet bowls are disgusting. DISGUSTING.
May 3, 2019
The Scary Reason I’ll Never Cook with Glass Pans Again
Chief among the sounds you never want to hear in your kitchen is an explosive shattering of glass. I’m here to tell you that the stuff of urban legend sometimes is true. Picture a cozy Sunday supper underway: my husband, Brian, is making his mom’s Yorkshire pudding to go with a beef roast and carrots and buttermilk-poached cauliflower. Our neighbors are over with their sweet toddler.
May 3, 2019
The One Valuable Lesson I Learned from HGTV
Does anyone else have a love/hate relationship with HGTV? Ever since I got hooked on Christopher Lowell’s show ages ago and took his advice to hang a sheet on my bedroom wall as decor (don’t ask, I have no idea) I’ve dipped in and out of home and design shows. After swearing off the genre for months I’ll find myself watching again. Weeks will go by in a blur of binges, usually around the time we’re planning a big change to our own home situation.
May 3, 2019
Here’s the Trick to Picking the Very Best Paint Color For Your Walls
I used to live dangerously, buying paint willy nilly without ever trying it out on the walls first. Who needs samples anyway? Be bold, be daring, and trust your instinct, right?! Once, I even made a choice just by looking online and letting the painter pick it up at the store. Surprise! I made some regrettable choices. In fact, it’s kind of amazing how many times I was happy with my decision without trying out paint first. But how many ways did I find paint disappointment?
May 3, 2019
This Ubiquitous HGTV Trend Might Already Be Dated
When do you know when a trend is over? For me it’s when there’s a knockoff of the real deal at a big box store. Sadly it wasn’t long after I had a kitchen island built of reclaimed wood (Kentucky barnwood, and it wasn’t cheap, you guys) that I saw a faux reclaimed version at Lowe’s and sighed. As much as we all like to be on-trend, at the same time, who wants to be just like everybody else?
May 3, 2019

Latest Stories

What Everybody Forgets About Elegant Pedestal Sinks
See a bathroom pedestal sink and you can’t help but think things like sleek, streamlined, graceful. And they are undeniably handy in tight quarters when there’s no room for a full-fledged vanity, and they do tend to be much less expensive than a sink and vanity. Also? There’s just something romantic about them.
May 3, 2019
The Source for Cheap Tile Everybody Should Know About
If you’ve ever looked into tile prices, you probably know that materials can destroy your renovation budget in no time. My jaw hit the floor when I saw the prices on some of the beautiful tiles popping up in Pinterest. Honestly, who is out there paying 50, 75, or 100 bucks and up, per square foot? (And when the manufacturer website doesn’t even tell you the price, you know the old saying is true—if you have to ask, well, you can’t afford it.
May 3, 2019
The Biggest Mistake I Made During My Budget Kitchen Renovation
Anyone who’s ever done a renovation on a budget knows that you have to find places to cut costs. Everything can’t be a splurge, after all. When my husband and I redid our home’s third floor to make it a full-time Airbnb, we were starting from scratch, so expensive things like HVAC systems ripped huge chunks out of our budget. I knew we had to restore the gorgeous original wood floors, and that meant another big expense.
May 3, 2019
4 Big Facepalms from My Recent Bathroom Renovation
Have you ever met anyone who finished a renovation with zero regrets? If so I’d love to know their secret. It’s a daunting task to take a room, especially a high-stakes one like a main bathroom, and totally redo it. Somehow I thought I could easily manage our recent bath renovation (down to the floor joists and wood lathe) without a contractor—while simultaneously doing a full kitchen reno—but I was wrong on a couple of things.
May 3, 2019
Amazon Warehouse Is a Hidden Resource for Discounted Stuff
It’s hard to imagine how we did things before Amazon, which brings us anything we need in a very short timeframe. But there’s more to the site than super speedy delivery. For several years now, I’ve been indulging in my champagne taste on a beer budget, thanks to Amazon Warehouse and third-party sellers. See that price right next to the item you must have? That doesn’t have to be the price you pay.
May 3, 2019
The Kitchen Splurge I Totally Regret Buying
Kitchen renovations are basically one long series of compromises. Stumble upon a Ferrari red Bertazzoni range at half price? Obviously you have to slash the budget elsewhere (many elsewheres) to make that the star of the new kitchen. More often than not, these compromises are focused on the savings and not the splurging. Those splurges are oh-so-tempting, though, and wait for you around every corner—and on every Pinterest or Instagram refresh.
May 3, 2019
Why Rain Shower Heads Aren’t All They’re Cracked Up to Be
Yes, they are so luxurious, but there's a catch.
May 3, 2019
What Nobody Tells You About Smart Wifi Thermostats
Have you made the leap to a smart Wi-Fi thermostat yet? Once you experience the bliss of a pre-warmed house before you get out of bed in the morning, you can never go back. But did you know there is SO much more to the gadgets like Nest, EcoBee, and the rest? I was maybe too early of an adopter, and bought a pretty standard issue Honeywell Wi-Fi thermostat with no bells or whistles. Hey, at the time, just changing the temperature from my phone was amazing enough.
May 3, 2019
Here’s How to Ruin The Trendy Brass Fixtures You Just Spent a Fortune On
Filed under things I didn’t know I had to worry about: the fact that the pretty finish on my new kitchen fixtures might not last. When you’re dreaming about a new kitchen, it’s often the jewelry—those gleaming brass fixtures—that imprint on your mind. They certainly did mine. Pinning my little heart out, I began to see patterns in what I liked, and that included modern brass fixtures.
May 3, 2019
Fixer Upper House Problems TV Doesn’t Tell You About
When my husband and I bought our first fixer upper home, it was a rude awakening. My parents rented during my whole childhood, so I had no experience with homeownership. My dad also worked in new home construction, so neither did I soak up valuable old house wisdom at his knee. Still, I am drawn to houses in need of serious TLC, and have learned a lot over the years about what it takes to own one—stuff that I didn’t learn on TV.
May 3, 2019
Easy Dryer Repairs That Will Save You the Cost of a Service Call
For some, the image of fresh, clean clothes whipping in the breeze conjures up the happy feels, but to me it just means lugging around a heavy basket of wet clothes, fiddling with clothespins, and dealing with unwieldy drying racks. No thanks. I love having a dryer and when it breaks, laundry is an unwelcome and tedious chore. Here are a few simple things I do to keep my dryer working properly, and how to troubleshoot when yours isn’t.
May 3, 2019
Amazon Might Be Wrecking Your Finances, According to One Financial Planner
Did you know you can find out how much you've spent on Amazon… ever?
May 2, 2019