Welcome to the first (and long awaited) project of our Spanish Sanctuary renovation! We’re underway on our backyard transformation, and today I’m sharing all the design details + plans we have over the coming months. Let’s dive right in! Before As you may recall from the Before Tour, this backyard is starting off quite similar to the Hacienda Hideaway. In typical Florida fashion, we have a covered patio off the kitchen/dining room, and a modestly sized rectangular grassy area. This yard is a bit narrower than the Hacienda, measuring around 26′ x 44′ in total. We’ve got a lot of boxes to che ..read more

From Revival to Colonial, Mediterranean, Mission and Andalusian—Spanish influence has seen a resurgence in popularity in modern interior design. Today, I’m sharing the defining characteristics of this warm and timeless aesthetic, along with my favorite inspiration photos and how to incorporate this style into your home! With our new Spanish-inspired renovation project kicking off this summer, I’ve been immersed in ideas and inspiration, and have completely fallen in love with this design style. There are many variations from traditional to modern, and tons of creative ways to include differen ..read more

When I posted on Instagram about our latest AirBnb purchase and asked if anyone was interested in learning more, the questions came pouring in. I’m all for sharing what I’ve learned, so today I’m doing a deep dive and answering all of your burning questions! Why did you sell the Riverside Retreat?  Two reasons:  Our capital is better utilized in a newer, larger home in a more desirable location. The new house is in our target neighborhood, and we believe it will see greater appreciation long term. And, we were able to transfer our equity tax free with a 1031 exchange. We were tired ..read more

I’ve been keeping a little secret… we bought a house! We sold the Riverside Retreat to purchase this home in April, and we’ve spent the last two months furnishing and setting it up as a vacation rental. To be completely honest, I wasn’t planning on sharing this project publicly. Our intent was to keep the house as is and spend as little time as possible furnishing it, so we could move onto our big Spanish home renovation.  This blog is meant to share inspiring design ideas and document our DIY projects—this house is not that (think: modern, generic house flipper/HGTV style). However, the ..read more

I thank my lucky stars each day that I found a partner who shares my passion for DIY, works hard to achieve his goals, but most importantly—leads by example as a father. via A Little Story Photography He’s in good company with my own dad who set the bar high, and his dad who has been by our side since our daughter was born. There’s much to celebrate and show our appreciation for this Father’s Day! As we do each year, I’ve asked Lucas to compile a list of his favorite and most recommended tools, tech and gear. This guide is tailored to the “fun DIY dad”, but includes a variety of ideas that any ..read more

White is the most popular exterior paint color today thanks to its versatility, timelessness and clean look. But which paint color is right for you home? In this post, we’ll take a look at the ten most popular white exterior paint colors, with real life examples and side by side comparisons! The paint colors in this guide are the most common whites used by designers, builders and homeowners on exteriors. This doesn’t necessarily make them the best choice for your home, but there are plenty of examples online to give you a good idea of how they will look, so you can be confident in your decisi ..read more

As Mother’s Day quickly approaches, I can’t help but feel overwhelmed with gratitude for this season of life with my little family. I’m calling it my golden era of motherhood, because I can’t imagine it getting any better than this. via A Little Story Photography And I wouldn’t be here without the mamas who help support me—especially the two who are now the most loving grandmas to our babies. I curated these gift ideas with them in mind, along with my own personal favorites, and thoughtful finds any mama I know would adore. From home decor and small luxuries, to practical and pretty—I hope th ..read more

If you’re looking for a stylish nightstand with plenty of storage (without spending a fortune) this is the Ikea hack for you! Find out how we took this Ikea Malm chest from boring and basic to designer-inspired nightstand in this step by step tutorial. There is a serious shortage of beautiful, substantially sized nightstands (at least 30″ wide) at a decent price point. Most nightstands are 24″ or less and can look off scale with queen or king size beds (IMO)—plus, lots of storage is a must for me. Designers often use ‘bachelor chests’ as an alternative, and I came across this beauty that remi ..read more

Last week, we celebrated our baby boy’s first birthday with a backyard barbecue, surrounded by family and friends. It was a beautiful and memorable day, made even more enjoyable with our newly refreshed patio space. Our yard has been admittedly underutilized since revamping our landscaping two years ago, but now that we have two active kiddos running around, we’ve been spending a lot more time outside. We’ve been really happy with our plant selection this second time around. The viburnum suspensum bushes along the fence and house have more than doubled in size and stayed green all year long ..read more

If you’re looking for an inexpensive and simple way to fill your walls, or just a fun weekend art project, this tutorial is one you’ll want to save! It’s incredibly easy to make your own DIY textured canvas art—no artistic ability required. The possibilities are endless! Inspiration This type of art certainly isn’t new, and has been done by many artists and DIYers alike. When searching for inspiration, I came across Kaleen Cameron‘s work and fell in love with her style. The layering of different colors and textures also looked like a really fun process, and something you couldn’t really mess ..read more