When Liz sent her striking before-and-after photos, we could hardly believe the transformation. Here’s her letter: Ever since I discovered your website a few weeks ago, I’ve been completely hooked. In fact, your site helped inspire the blog I started. After seeing the incredible Reader Redesigns, I couldn’t wait to share my own photos. My … Read more

We showed our house 16 times, so eventually we became experienced at it. At first we were clueless about the best way to present our home. Of course we: cleaned thoroughly—vacuumed, dusted, and polished

It’s a hectic—but delightful—day here at Casa Petersik. A photography crew from Better Homes & Gardens is on site to shoot our newly transformed nursery and our recently renovated bathroom for two magazines: Kitchen + Bath Makeovers and Do It Yourself. We’re thrilled to have them here and to watch the process unfold. We love … Read more

We usually feel confident picking paint colors, but choosing the perfect gray for two major living areas made me unusually nervous. We planned to use the same color in the future dining room, main hallway, and living room for continuity, so the decision felt weightier. Sherry had fun teasing me about my indecision. I found … Read more

If this magazine cover looks familiar, you’ve probably already noticed that the second installment of our “He Said, She Said” column has appeared in Do It Yourself Magazine and is now on newsstands. Seeing our column again was just as exciting as the first time we tackled decorating disputes from both sides of the gender … Read more

Q: How do you come up with your amazing home ideas? Is it all on your own? Do you have some secret inspiration method? Like the built-in wardrobes in your master bedroom and the doorway widening trick that you pulled in your den/kitchen/dining area. I just wish you could teach me how to think like … Read more

We have so many great things to say about our family vacation to Costa Rica. It was our first international trip with the kids, and it turned out to be the perfect destination for their first passport stamp: relaxing, enriching, and fun for everyone. Below we share where we stayed, what we did, and how … Read more

We kicked things off with a bit of spring cleaning: a fresh header and a lighter, brighter background throughout the site. We’re pretty happy with the new look and hope you are too. If anything looks off on your computer, try refreshing and then clearing your browser’s cache/cookies/data. It’s been a while since our last … Read more

***This giveaway is no longer accepting entries – see who won below!*** Good news: everyone can get 10% off their MirrorMate order with code VIRAL. If they reach 1,000 new Facebook followers or email subscribers, that code increases to 20% for everyone. And the best news for one lucky reader: random.org selected our winner as … Read more

I realize four months isn’t forever, but it was about 3.9 months longer than we wanted to live with the last remnants of the old carpet upstairs—especially since it was in our bathroom. Carpeted bathrooms, ugh. We didn’t pull it out when we removed the rest of the upstairs carpet because we knew we didn’t … Read more