Surprise! Caitlin and I didn’t make our bedroom finish date deadline which was ummmm two weeks ago. But I promise it’s for very exciting reasons and two of those reasons are in the blog post:) So last time we spoke I told you about my harrowing journey to find my incredible vintage nightstands. Locking those down really needed to happen before I could finalize my custom bed measurements. That’s right, after 13 years of not owning a true bed frame, your friend Jess got to customize her dream one. If you are wondering if I’ve been sleeping on the floor for all those years, that’s not 100% true ..read more

The wrong lighting can really kill the experience of a room. Think of being at a restaurant at night when the lights are really bright…it’s such a bummer and can/does (IMHO) ruin the vibe. So yes, I’m EXTREMELY specific and picky about the right lighting for the right rooms in our home. Right now overhead lights are being TAKEN DOWN on social media (with the hilarious latest “don’t use your ‘big light'” trend). But the right overhead light is extremely important to, you know, see to be able to do things. This room – the river house living room – became an exercise in how to plan and choose l ..read more

Last month, I wrote a post that seemed to resonate with quite a bit of you in which I tried to name a style I think is ripe for the takeover of the ubiquitous Modern Farmhouse. I called it “Warm Modern Beach Bungalow” but since then, I’ve thought of a few more names that might be better suited to the look: Modern Mid-Century Modern Warm California Modernism Modern Australian Cabin Happy Lake House Modern Folks, this naming of styles business is NOT easy. But it’s a good thing we’re not here for that today. Instead, I’m narrowing in on one portion of Happy Modern California Australian Lake ..read more

A tiled fireplace is (hopefully) a “live with forever” design element – she’s a permanent lady. So today I’m going to walk you through what we learned about this whole process – You’d think that you just frame it out, drywall, and slap tile on top of it, but there are decisions that you have to make to ensure it looks well executed. LET’S GO. Wait, Where Are We In The House? We built two different tiled fireplaces – one in the living room and one in the dining room. The dining room was meant to be an indoor-outdoor fireplace, shared with the kitchen/bbq patio, but for whatever reason it end ..read more

Happy Sunday everyone. You might have noticed that we didn’t have a new post on Wednesday. Our fearless leader, Emily, got a 24-hour stomach flu so we took a day off. But we hope you enjoyed her Garnet Hill bed refresh a little bit longer. But truly, how good is that quilt?! Em genuinely loves it and how it’s big enough for a king-size bed (most vintage ones she’s come across or bought aren’t). So now that we are all better, here are this week’s links: This week’s house tour is none other than writer and sex educator Ericka Hart and  her partner, Ebony Donnley’s home. In its rightful sp ..read more

So we’ve likely been living under a rock but until this year we didn’t really know about Wayfair’s Way Day. It’s basically their Black Friday so there are tons of really good deals. We were able to preview a bunch of those deals and realized that there were a lot of items that looked like affordable options of pieces we’ve used in our designs. So today we decided to not only help you sort through the site but also to give you a good ole fashion “look for less” post. This is not sponsored FYI. Just a little sale service if you will. Let’s jump right on in. Oversized Arched Wood Full Length Mi ..read more

I consume a lot of media, but all in the form of articles and podcasts. Some of my “best friends” are Dr. Becky, Kara Swisher, Brene, Dax and Monica, Derik Thompson, etc. So when I hang out with my actual friends (or Brian, poor Brian) all I do is talk about what absolutely fascinating (IMHO) thing I learned about media, tech, psychology, parenting, etc that I couldn’t stop thinking about. Today I figured I’d share them here, in a very conversational way with all my online friends Podcasts: This month Jonathan Haidt (social psychologist) made the rounds on all my favorite podcasts with his ..read more

Fun fact: my very first lead styling job ever was for the Garnet Hill catalog (after assisting on it for years). I remember viscerally how nervous I was to be in charge and have full responsibility, everyone waiting on me to arrange the perfect flowers, and me scrambling to look like I knew what I was doing. I styled for them for years (the famous Steven Whitehead was the soft stylist), and therefore my loyalty to this brand and my knowledge of the product is extreme. I know the quality of their bedding first-hand so when they reached out to partner on their new linens I was delighted not on ..read more

When I was talking to Mal and Gretch about this stunning home I’m about to show you, they joked that it was like the dark side of the California casual style. We all laughed but then I thought, “That’s actually pretty spot on!” It’s organic and textured with a lot of cool vintage pottery. It has that same earthy vibe that a traditional California Casual home has…just darker:) Now, this isn’t the first time we’ve talked about the gaining popularity of darker woods. Kitchens have been the room where this “trend” has really taken off but the ever-talented, Kirsten Blazek of A 1000x Better, show ..read more

Happy Sunday! It’s fair to say that everyone on the team was READY for Friday this past week. All good things, but it was definitely a week that wiped us out (we can still blame it on Mercury Gatorade, right?? :)). Not complaining though! But it’s probably best that we get straight into these links… This week’s house tour was just a joy to see! The comedy powerhouse couple, June Diane Raphael and Paul Scheer, have a home that is not only full of character but is somehow both moody and airy. And if you’ve ever listened to June’s (and Jessica St. Clair’s) podcast, The Deep Dive, you would expe ..read more