***This giveaway is no longer accepting entries*** This giveaway highlights cleaning, but calling it simply “nice” would be an understatement. Remember the stunning Australian house we virtually toured in February? That home is far beyond ordinary. Those homeowners are also the creators of the luxurious, eco-friendly cleaning line Murchison-Hume. Even better, they generously offered over … Read more

We made big strides at the beach house this week, logging more than 40 hours of tiling over four days to finally finish nearly all of the tile work. Like last week’s detailed post on trim, doors, and tile, we created a video to walk through everything that’s happening at the house — including two … Read more

Sure, it’s Sunday, but here’s a bonus behind-the-scenes tale about hunting down clothespins for the Pinterest Challenge light fixture we’re building. Other possible titles that crossed my mind included: “The Petersik Clothespin Tour of Richmond” “Wow, I’m a really patient husband.” “Sorry environment, we vow to plant three trees to make up for all that … Read more

We have so many things to be thankful for, and you are at the top of our list. Thank you for stopping by to see what’s happening at our home. Speaking of which, here’s a recent moment worth sharing: After lunch the other day, before the table was cleared, Burger quietly slipped into the dining … Read more

One of the questions we hear most often is: “How do I figure out what style truly appeals to me? I like so many different things and can’t make a confident decision.” Here are three practical ways to overcome decorator’s block quickly and with minimal stress. Tip #1. Collect inspiration images and look for shared … Read more

Happy New Year! Who’s making resolutions? We’re still mulling ours over (Sherry loves a list), but for now we want to share a project we finished just before the holidays: a homemade latch board for Clara. It wasn’t the only DIY gift she opened this year—her play fridge was another—but the latch board was a … Read more

A friend’s pregnancy reminded me how much joy we found in naming our children. We prefer traditional, old-fashioned names — both of our kids were named after grandparents, one from John’s side and one from mine. I enjoyed compiling this list of 100 classic boy names, which complements my list of 100 classic girl names. … Read more

Minimalism can still seem like an unconventional lifestyle, so this week we invited expert Joshua Becker to explain how taking small steps toward minimalism can yield big rewards at home and in life. He discusses how to prevent the slow creep of household clutter, what minimizing teaches kids, and how simplifying your surroundings can help … Read more

We finally made it — despite a few notable setbacks. The duplex has been completely gutted, and today we’ll walk you through the demolition with photos and a video, plus outline our plans for rebuilding. From our experience with the pink house, when a property shows heavy moisture damage it’s far safer to remove all … Read more

Now that we’ve cleared out our backyard’s weed and liriope jungle, let’s turn our attention to another neglected space: the basement. Don’t worry — we’ll just talk about it. You might remember it started out as a shameful, debris-filled no-man’s land… …and after renting a Bagster a few weeks ago it became a bit more … Read more