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Hello! I'm Suzannah, a serious DIYer. Follow along with my DIY fixer upper house renovations, sewing and crafty projects, real food recipes, and de-stressing goals. I'm a recovering former vegan and vegetarian, now healing with a nutrient-dense mostly Paleo diet, and love at-home CrossFit and yoga workouts. I'm also the author of DIY Wardrobe Makeovers!

New mom to baby Otto born April 2018!

1.22.2019

Design, Make, & Live: Offices

Home offices are typically mostly about function. Desk, comfortable chair, printer, to-do list... the design doesn't really come first.

But, there are tons of ways you can make a home office space beautiful as well as practical. This post links lots of ideas and solutions for utilitarian essentials and design features, plus four (very different) gorgeous office inspirations from around the web!


 This post contains affiliate links.

On the Your Home Story podcast this week, we do a deep dive into office design and function. We start by talking about the utilitarian essentials (and how to make them more attractive), including constant design challenges like the table-vs-desk debate!, and then cover design features that add style while also being practical.

Resources from this episode:
  1. My townhouse home tour and office/sewing room
  2. Ashley’s current sunroom/office
  3. The HP printer that charges you based on prints/usage if you use HP Instant Ink
  4. Ashley’s office board on Pinterest
  5. My office board on Pinterest
  6. The Nesting With Grace “Magic Light Trick” you can use to add sconces above a desk or to add interest and light
  7. Inspiration image of a hanging light over a workspace
  8. My affordable and cute office chair round-up
  9. Butcher paper roll holder and clip set for to-do list
  10. Inspiration image of an oversized design board
  11. Some cute acrylic wall-mounted calendars: 1, 2, 3
  12. The clear plastic pegboard system I used in my sewing room
  13. The Grid-It product you can use to corral and hide cords mounted to a desk

Four office inspirations we love:
  1. Ashley from the Gold Hive - Hand Painted mural, pendant light, table (without drawers)
  2. Lindsey from Hello Hydrangea - A weaver so her office displays lots of her yarns, looms, etc.
  3. Yellow Brick Home - Small office setup with table and storage and then seating area on the other side.
  4. Jones Design Co - Office/studio with desk and table setup
Source

We’d love to hear your office challenges, and see your office design solutions! Share in our Facebook group here!

Listen here or in your favorite podcast player!
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1.15.2019

How to have friends over when your house isn't "done" yet

Not since fall of 2016 have we lived in a clean, presentable, fully functional house for more than a couple months!! Two fixer uppers back to back has us used to Amazon boxes in the corner of formal spaces, and feeling extra grateful for things like working sinks. BUT that doesn't mean we haven't had a great time hosting friends and family for parties, simple dinners, even overnight guests.

This post contains affiliate links. 

This week on the Your Home Story podcast, Ashley and I are sharing a lot of experiences hosting with our less-than-perfect (or even finished) homes--and how you can feel confident despite the mess when inviting others in. Doesn't matter the size of the mess (a full kitchen reno, or just need to paint the hallway!)--you can share your home with the people you love without stressing too much.

We share some practical tips for entertaining around a renovation mess, plus our thoughts on how to get in the right mindset. I hope you love this episode and hearing more about us and our experiences working on our homes!
Our current dining room--only two bulbs in the chandelier, too-short curtains, dated kitchen... but it's hosted some great dinners!

As promised, links to the resources and links we talked about this week:
  1. http://bit.ly/2Da9vYd
  2. Our minimalism episode - Ep 19
  3. The Faux Martha on Instagram
  4. My mirror above my console table and here it is with the latest styling
  5. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

Listen here or in your podcast player!


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1.10.2019

How to measure and hang a grid gallery wall! Dining room art with affordable custom frames & hardware

I'm making some big changes to our dining room and those include filling the big, empty wall with some very special art! I'm a big believe in BIG art (or at least appropriately scaled for the space), but a mix of types throughout a home. For example, maybe a huge framed canvas on one wall, but a set of smaller, grouped black and white photos on another.

In our case, I want a big piece above our fireplace, so I wanted to do a gallery wall in the dining room. But, I love order and simplicity--so I chose a grid-style gallery wall of similar, evenly spaced pieces (that type is also much easier for me to arrange!).

Don't let spacing and hanging your frames perfectly evenly intimidate you--I'll show you exactly how we did it and got it right!

Thanks so much to ArttoFrames for providing these frames for my dining room project!
This post contains affiliate links.

We have six original shaded pencil drawings done by Jason's grandpa, who is over 90 and has been an artist forever and was an art teacher. He did one of them for us when Otto was born! We had two in frames, but the rest unframed. I wanted to use them all in one place, so I ordered some custom frames to fit them perfectly.

They're 11"x14" drawings so they are standard and you can easily buy frames for them (like these readymade ones)--but I wanted extra wide mats for extra drama. I ordered these black oak ones as custom frames, with 2.5" all around.

Before you order your art, consider the size and orientation of the space. I had a long wall with picture molding several inches below the ceiling, so I wanted the gallery grid to form a wide rectangle. If you have a narrower wall and higher ceiling, you could do 9 prints in a square, for example.

Once you have framed artwork (you can upload a photo to ArttoFrames and they'll frame it for you, or you can order frames like I did and put the artwork in yourself), you're ready to hang.
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1.08.2019

How to make a difference with quality doorknobs & other hardware

Updating our dingy 90's fixer upper, and now living in a 1937 home with many original features, have really made me notice details like doorknobs and switch plates! It's amazing what difference you can make to the look and vibe of your home by replacing outdated ones and even making a statement with fancy or higher quality ones.

I've talked before about what a great update it can be--and my first project at our last house was updating dated doors with paint and hardware! But there's even more I recently learned!


 This post contains affiliate links.

This week on the Your Home Story podcast we talk to two experts on doorknobs, switchplates, latches, and other hardware you can choose for your home. Honestly, I've bought cheap hardware and I've used real, authentic hardware from the 1900's in different homes I've lived in and it was so interesting to hear these pros talk about why they feel different! Plus I loved learning why bathroom hardware is often different than that of the rest of the house, their tips on how to choose a hardware color, and more.

Nostalgic Warehouse makes high quality vintage-inspired hardware. See their Instagram for styled products and inspiration, and you can check out their website and buy on their Amazon storefront!

I thought I would share some inspirations from some great posts in the blog world of updates with Nostalgic Warehouse hardware!

Room for Tuesday’s post on how to choose hardware

Room for Tuesday hallway makeover

Room for Tuesday guest room makeover

White Cottage Home & Living powder room update

Angela from Unexpected Elegance exterior dutch door

Claire from Centered by Design's gorgeous hallway design

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1.01.2019

Home Design Trends for 2019!!

I get so excited for this kind of thing!!
I always love reading articles on trends and predictions, but the past two Januaries for the Your Home Story podcast I've combed through a bunch of them and put together my own list. Big picture home decor trends that we should see in 2019, plus what's supposed to be going out from the past couple years. And since I did this last year, I have last year's summary to look back on, too!


Check out episode 9 for our 2018 home decor trends episode--some predictions that worked out were warm greens (like sage), light wood, and more wood on cabinets and decor elements. However the "going out in 2018" predictions were slower to fade than the experts predicted! Some of those are on this year's list, too!

I consulted these trends articles from MyDomaine, Apartment Therapy, Domino, and Elle Decor, and this slow living style article from HGTV, plus this 2018-going-out article: HGTV. I pulled out trends that I saw in multiple places and/or have seen myself in recent designer and social media influencer projects.

Home Design Trends for 2019


Here are some of the trends I found for 2019! I love some of these!

  • Maximalism: instead of all the white scandinavian minimalism, some more traditional elements, used in a unique and fresh way.
  • Bold primary colors/rich jewel tones.
  • More color in general--"people moving away from the beige minimalism that's really defined the past couple of years"--Apartment Therapy
  • More unique, handmade, environmentally sustainable, natural pieces. I saw this in several places, but here's a good summary quote. "Items made by hand using sustainable materials like jute, rice paper, and clay will be in, in 2019. We see people needing these grounding elements in their homes as a way to feel more in touch with the earth and their roots."--Elle Decor.
  • Light wood floors.
  • Classic kitchens. "...closed cabinetry, fine millwork details, wire mesh door panels, authentic period hardware, and honed surfaces"--Apartment Therapy.
  • Green. Again.
  • Floral wallpaper, mixed patterns.
  • Slow living. Mixing artisinal and organic. Historic character. Clean, welcoming design. Comfort + style, nature. "...elegance of less-is-more. Dark furnishings with Danish modern lines blend seamlessly with the traditional farmhouse architecture"--HGTV.
A fave example of one of these trends--everything by deVOL Kitchens fits the "classic kitchens" trend AT described, plus the slow living, natural elements trend. Here's a great one!
Source


What’s going out in 2019


I think these are harder to predict! It takes longer for the masses to reject a trend (hello, zigzag everything) than it does to adopt because of all the creative DIYers and designers out there who can try out something new very early on. Nevertheless, the experts predict these will go out in 2019:
  • Cool greys (instead: white and warmer neutrals)
  • Boho: "boho-overload. Just because you like houseplants and textural fabrics does not mean you have to go completely boho in your home"--HGTV
  • Shibori, mudcloth, and indigo.
  • Fiber art.
  • Rose gold.
  • Succulents (again).
  • Barn doors. “rustic/farmhouse/upcycled look all together”--HGTV. The same article listed palette furniture and burlap as going out.

We'll share some more of our faves on the @yourhomestorypodcast Instagram! You can also join our Facebook group here, we'd love to hear what you think of these trends!

Listen here or in your favorite podcast player!
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12.27.2018

2019 house project goals for the #StanleyTudorRevived

Last week I shared accomplishments we've had in 2018... this week it's my to-do list for 2019! We haven't been in the same house for a whole calendar year since 2015!!, so this will be a big year!

(Remember you can see the full before tour of this home here, and before video tour here.)

2019 house project goals for the #StanleyTudorRevived


Interior


Living room (decor). Our living room layout is tricky and it's under-furnished right now. And, I feel pigeon-holed with our green velvet sofa. That will be changing soon! I'd love to make serious progress on this room this winter/spring.

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