Thank you all SO much for your feedback on my proposed layout changes last week! I really don’t know how I ever made decisions without the feedback of thousands of people.
Last week, I introduced two floor plan options and asked folks to vote but kept the results a secret. Wanna know what people favored?
Read MoreWho doesn’t love a good house tour? It’s one of my favorite things to watch on YouTube. Well, here’s mine.
You’ll notice that the title says “spring 2018” and you’ll notice that your calendar says “March 2019.” Yep, that’s not a typo. I filmed this last year and failed to edit/publish it until now. Oops.
Read MoreIn today’s Weekly Roundup, I’m sharing a moody dining room, an update on my kitchen design, a home tour of a friend, the artwork I’m excited to add to my collection, a dupe for my office pendant, the best mascara, a compostable hair brush, the movie that shocked me, a bathroom makeover, a retailer that went carbon neutral, and more!
Read MoreIf you know me IRL, or if you’ve been here awhile, you may have noticed I’m really indecisive and over think things WAY too much. I’ve been designing my kitchen for nearly FOUR YEARS now. I made minor upgrades to my current kitchen because I thought we’d only live with it for a mere 6 months. Well, here we are 4 years later and I’m still designing the future space. BUT! I think I may have come up with the best layout that makes the fewest compromises and sticks to a more reasonable budget! Check it out and let me know what you think.
Read MoreThe things on my mind this week including puppy fostering, misunderstood pit bulls, my kitchen redesign layout, kitchen inspo, an amazing basement reveal, a water calculator, two movie recommendations, the lip balm I’m still obsessed with, a styrofoam ban, and more!
Read MoreInstagram is FULL of inspiration and sometimes it’s hard to find unique accounts - especially the smaller ones. I wanna give you some inspo and also send some love to the up-and-coming accounts. It was a bit over a year ago when Chris Loves Julia listed me as a top account with less than 10k followers and I’m forever grateful, so I want to pay it forward.
Read MoreThe things on my mind this week including an update on my foster puppies, an amazing IKEA kitchen hack, a zero-waste course, an indoor mural, my closet system is on sale, new plastic-free chapstick, a podcast on meat and sustainability, thoughts on coupons, and going grey.
Read MoreThings on my mind this week including a whole-house makeover, puppies, cabin heartbreak, sustainable men’s underwear, adoption, thoughts on vinyl windows, waste and recycling, an amazing before & after, two home murals, state power, and the cost to make handmade items.
Read MoreOur house is a 1915 craftsman bungalow in a charming old neighborhood of San Diego. While the house is special in our eyes, we’ve been going through the process of making it even more special with historic designation. It gives us cool street cred, plus with an extra step, we get a discount on our property taxes. There’s a lot of wins, but also a few hurdles to jump over, so I wanna share where we’re at in the process, how to apply yourself, and what this all means for the future of our home.
Read MoreOodles of things on my mind this week including solar panels, the book I’m reading, Black History Month, kitchen tidying, my playlist, and more.
Read MoreBack in early December Ross and I went to Seattle for about a week. He went for work and I went to explore the city and meet up with a couple of my blogger pals! I got to hang out with Cathy of The Grit and Polish at her beautiful farmhouse outside the city and we both met up with Joanna of Jojotastic for lunch and to check in on her kitchen renovation. I asked my fine Instagram followers for recommendations of what to do/see/eat in Seattle and you did not disappoint. I’ve listed everyone’s suggestions here!
But first, I give you a video diary - or vlog, if you will. It’s is mostly a video version of a photo scrapbook of where we ate, clips of pretty trees, and shots of animals - which is basically all I care about.
Read MoreI love having lots of artwork throughout our home. It’s probably because of my years of art school and working in art museums. Yeah, that’s probably why. I enjoy having pieces I find beautiful, ones that make me think, those that make me laugh, and the ones that are nostalgic. Bad art is my biggest deign pet peeve, simply because I hate when people fill their home with nothingness just for the sake of having decor. It makes me sad to see junk hung on the walls of people’s homes just to fill the space.
In this post I round up my favorite online art retailers, list framing options, and share each and every piece of artwork in my personal collection. Take a look!
Read MoreWelcome to a new series: Report Card. I'm going through (nearly) everything in a space and telling you how it's actually held up. The backyard's first up, and spoiler, I did not ace this one.
The plants finally filled in, the veggie beds are in the wrong spot, and I've learned that the yard you design and the yard your kids actually use are two very different things.
Hi. It's been a while. I've missed this. I took a longer break than I planned. Life has gotten full. I've been developing film and knitting at soccer practice, attempting to garden with the girls and fussing around with furniture layouts. I’ve also been scheduling summer camps, refilling the watercolors multiple times a day, and trying to keep the toys tidied. Around the house, I’m adding color wherever it fits and making some changes to the overall function and feel.
My friend Martha had a vision for this garage conversion: to turn her unfinished catch-all garage into a beautiful, hard-working space that could function as a living room, media room, playroom, laundry room, home office, and storage zone. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t entirely convinced all of that could fit. But somehow(?!), it absolutely does and it turned out even better than I imagined.
What I’ve been up to - from gardening, to film photography, and the books and shows we’re enjoying. Plus a house tour that requires a closer look, grass seed to always have on hand, cedar shake excitement, historic window screens, and the privilege I’m reminded of daily.
Hammocks, cookbooks, gardening, sewing, and the other things I’ve been up to on my impromptu break, and more.
Ashley’s restoring her historic home at a snail’s pace in California. She shares home improvement DIYs, tips for sustainable living, and renovation stories - all while aiming to add more color and present real, lived-in, family friendly spaces.
I'm Ashley, a deeply systematic homebody restoring my 1915 Craftsman bungalow in California, slowly and on purpose. I don't make a single decision without first opening 100 tabs. Renovation, DIY, color, and what it actually looks like to live in an old house with two young kids.
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What I’m watching, knitting, and swinging in