Have you ever considered how you make decisions? People generally fall into two decision-making styles, often called maximizers and satisficers. It’s funny—Sherry and I each represent one of these styles, and that difference shows up in everything from choosing items for our home to planning our first international family vacation. This week we share what we’ve learned about each type, how those tendencies influence everyday choices, and practical tips you can use. We also outline five ways to refresh a room without spending a single dollar, highlight a kid-friendly kitchen activity we love, reveal the somewhat anticlimactic conclusion to our Color of the Year predictions, and reflect on just how far people will go for good bread.
You can also find this episode on your favorite podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, TuneIn Radio, Stitcher, and Spotify.
What’s New
- If you want a clear primer on maximizers versus satisficers, Gretchen Rubin’s post is a great starting point, and Psychologist World offers a deeper dive into the psychology behind these styles.
- Our original on-air moment when my maximizing tendencies became obvious was in Episode #156, where we discussed ways to reduce bathroom renovation stress.
- We’re planning our first international family trip to Costa Rica after Christmas, and we’d love recommendations for the region around Manuel Antonio National Park—any tips for family-friendly activities or must-see spots are welcome.
Updates
- Pantone officially announced Classic Blue as their Color of the Year 2020, which sparked a lot of conversation about how color trends influence design choices.
- If you want to hear our original Color of the Year predictions, check Episodes #147, #149, and #151, where we debated options and celebrated Sherry’s accurate picks.
- We recently discussed international holiday traditions in Episode #158—there’s lots of entertaining and surprising cultural context in that show.
- We also shared information that debunks the German pickle ornament story, and included a short video that taught us the tricky pronunciation of “Newfoundland.”
Zero Budget Ways To Update Your Spaces
- Here’s a concise list of five no-cost ways to refresh a room. These small shifts can make a space feel new without touching your budget.
1. Take things out
- Clearing items can dramatically change how a room feels. Removing excess objects creates breathing room, highlights the belongings you love, and can make the whole space feel refreshed without adding anything new.
2. Rearrange or reorganize existing furniture or items within a room
- Try a new furniture arrangement or swap accessories like pillows, art, or plants within the room. Even small adjustments can improve flow and function. For example, we rearranged our beach house backyard furniture to create a new conversation area—no purchases required, just a bit of experimenting.
- We did a similar switch in our bedroom, moving two dressers to act as nightstands. The result was both more functional and more visually balanced, thanks to the symmetry created by a mirror on one side and a window on the other.
3. Shop your house
- Look around your home for items that can be repurposed in another room. Move a rug, swap art, or bring a lamp to a new location. We moved a painting from the office to above our bed and hung a spare mirror in the office, which improved both spaces without spending a cent.
4. Use your leftover supplies or materials
- Raid your craft stash or paint supplies for small projects. Painting the back of a bookcase, refreshing a small piece of furniture, or making a pillow from leftover fabric can all add personality at no cost. We’ve used Ardex feather finish for countertop and tabletop updates and it’s a creative way to transform dated surfaces you already own.
5. Add greenery
- Clip a branch, bloom, or sprig from your yard and place it in a vessel you already have—an old vase, pitcher, or even a drinking glass. Fresh greenery brings life and a sense of newness to a room without costing anything.
- If you missed our discussion that inspired this topic, listen to Episode #157 where personal finance expert Tanja Hester explains how she stopped spending on her home to reach a financial goal. It’s a great example of creative, cost-free change.
We’re Digging
- We still love our foyer toy and game closet. Since this photo was taken, we moved games to the top shelf to keep small pieces from being misplaced or repurposed for other projects—Monopoly money stays in Monopoly now.
- Here are family games we often play with our 5- and 9-year-olds: Sequence, Ticket to Ride, Low Down, Uno Flip, Exploding Kittens, Bears vs. Babies, Tenzi, and Set. These are simple, fun options for family game nights.
- We tried the Foodstirs pancake art kit and had fun making shaped pancakes—the kids loved it. We’re asking for a couple more Foodstirs kids’ baking kits as gifts, and we’ve also used their baking mixes to restock our pancake supply.
If you want to find items we’ve mentioned in past episodes, check our master list of “We’re Digging” picks and visit the Book Club page to see books we’ve recommended.
Thank you to SnapPower for sponsoring this episode. Use code YHL15 to get 15% off easy-to-install nightlights, guidelights, and other products.
Thanks for listening!
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