We don’t always agree on projects or decorating choices. Lately we’ve found ourselves in the middle of some lively home debates, so for Valentine’s Day we decided to share our current disagreements and how we’re planning to resolve them — hopefully with minimal hurt feelings (Sherry is already pretty passionate about one of these). We also bring you several updates: the historic review board’s decision on our duplex roof proposal, Sherry’s ongoing Invisalign journey (this might be one for the record books), and the answer to a frequently asked question about whether our neighbor still thinks Sherry’s name is Laura. Plus: our new favorite shower storage solution and one of us falling hard for some shiny new additions.
You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, and Spotify — or listen below. Use this page to find links, notes, and photos we mentioned. Note: If you’re reading in a feed reader you may need to click through to the post to see the player.
What’s New
- The image above shows the pink armchair from Target that we debated returning. The arm profile felt too tall and boxy for the space.
- Below are photos from the night we brought the chair to the beach house (forgive the low light). You can see how the tall arms created a “cube fortress” effect that blocked sightlines to the bookcase.
- We ordered a slipper chair to replace it and will be bringing that to the beach house soon — it should fit the space and sightlines better.
- We previously discussed buying furniture online in Episode #83, and we left a review for this chair to describe the arm-height issue — reviews help other shoppers, so consider leaving one when you can.
- Episode #83 also covers earlier updates on our duplex roof saga; the project’s history began with our duplex renovation hurdles post.
Updates
- Sherry’s Invisalign story first appeared a while back in Episode #20, with a progress update in Episode #62 — you can hear more about her elastic routine in those earlier episodes.
- The “Laura” neighbor story originally came up in Episode #59, which remains a personal favorite to revisit.
Design Disagreements
- Our bathroom layout is tricky to photograph. Below is the shower and toilet area just beyond the separate vanity. We plan to do a proper floor plan one day to determine the best shower/tub arrangement and the right tub size, but for now it remains an open discussion.
- For context on the beach house shed conversation, here’s the original shed that came with the property: big, rusty, full of holes, and even harboring poison ivy inside. The door only stayed closed with a pile of bricks.
- The backyard has looked mostly neglected since we bought the house; over the past year and a half it became increasingly overgrown with brush. These earlier pictures show that progression after purchase.
- To show proximity, here’s a photo from when our HVAC units were installed; it illustrates how close the old shed sat to the house.
- Sherry posted an Instagram video when the yard was cleared of the old shed and brush. You can hear her excitement about the open space — this was before we learned more about property-line setbacks.
- The vine-covered metal shed visible on the right belongs to our neighbor; it’s identical to our old shed and sits partially across the property line, so there’s little we can do beyond leaving it covered in vines.
- From an upstairs window we roughly outlined a potential 9×12′ shed site (blue marks). Even though that size is smaller than our former shed, setback rules and a shifted property line mean it would encroach into the yard more than the previous, larger shed did.
- The last dispute involved a 100-year-old bed with a headboard currently in our daughter’s room. We considered using the matching footboard in our son’s room but ultimately chose a daybed for his space for several reasons.
We’re Digging
- We’ve had great luck with the Ikea IMMELN shower baskets for holding shampoo, soap, and bath items — we own several and have them in showers here and at the beach house. They’ve been much more reliable than the Target organizers we tried that fell apart quickly.
- Sherry has recently fallen down a crystal rabbit hole. Below are photos of the new stones she’s added to the collection. She says it’s for “podcast research,” but the pieces are lovely.
- She discovered a local rock shop, just like the one she visited with her dad as a child, where she found the heart-shaped celestite and a cube-like pyrite specimen.
- Other pieces were purchased from independent sellers on Etsy. If you’re searching for a particular shape — a pyramid, point, cluster, or strand of beads — use those terms in your search. For example, the bead strand shown is howlite, which resembles marble beads.
Sherry is currently eyeing several more pieces: amethyst points, a celestite cluster, selenite sticks (which look pretty displayed in a glass), rose quartz points, large quartz towers, a hunk of amethyst, and amazonite stars. Her enthusiasm is contagious.
If you want to explore crystals and their meanings, we’ve written a series covering favorites like Aura Quartz, Blue Calcite, Green Aventurine, Ocean Jasper, Rainbow Fluorite, and a selenite fireplace project.
- Aura Quartz
- Blue Calcite
- Green Aventurine
- Ocean Jasper
- Rainbow Fluorite
- My Selenite Fireplace
If you’re trying to find something mentioned in past episodes, we maintain a master list of everything we’ve been digging across previous shows.
Thanks for listening!
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