March 19, 2019

Clean With Me: Kitchen Edition - A Video and My Guide to Non-Toxic and Zero Waste Cleaning

March 19, 2019/ Ashley

Among my top 10 hobbies is deep cleaning my house. Call me crazy, but it’s just my jam. I’ve spent ages perfecting my routine to be as efficient as possible, years finding my favorite non-toxic cleaners, and just a few months to learn how to do it all without any waste. I filmed a quick video of me doing a kitchen deep clean and wrote out my step-by-step cleaning process. Check it out!

March 15, 2019

Weekly Roundup

March 15, 2019/ Ashley

The things I’ve been up to and what’s been on my mind this week including appliance shopping, a moody tablescape, the book I’m reading, an architecture event, what to do with our recycling, how to mix wood tones, how I prepare for spring, the super bloom, environmental racism, and re-watching a favorite show.

March 13, 2019

Kitchen Layout Survey Says…

March 13, 2019/ Ashley

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?

March 11, 2019

Spring 2018 House Tour Video

March 11, 2019/ Ashley

Who 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.

March 08, 2019

Weekly Roundup

March 08, 2019/ Ashley

In 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!

March 04, 2019

Redesigning the Kitchen Layout... Again! But This Time I May Have A Winner?!?

March 04, 2019/ Ashley

If 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.

March 01, 2019

Weekly Roundup

March 01, 2019/ Ashley

The 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!

February 25, 2019

20 Instagram Accounts with Fewer than 4,000 Followers That You Should Be Following

February 25, 2019/ Ashley

Instagram 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.

February 22, 2019

Weekly Roundup

February 22, 2019/ Ashley

The 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.

February 15, 2019

Weekly Roundup

February 15, 2019/ Ashley

Things 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.

February 12, 2019

Getting Our Home Historically Designated - New Rules for Renovations & Tax Savings

February 12, 2019/ Ashley

Our 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.

February 08, 2019

Weekly Roundup

February 08, 2019/ Ashley

Oodles of things on my mind this week including solar panels, the book I’m reading, Black History Month, kitchen tidying, my playlist, and more.

Free Kids Cardigan Knitting Pattern: A Quick Top-Down Raglan Knit

My daughter wanted to dress as Little Witch Hazel for Halloween, so I got to work crafting a sweater that looks just like the one worn on the cover. What’s great is it’s a super fast knit on chunky needles! I’m not a pro knitter but I finished this in about a week while watching TV after my girls went to bed and at the playground a few times.

Backyard Renovation Report Card: Four Years of Tree Growth (Wins) and Decomposed Granite (Losers)

Welcome 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.

How We Live Here Now, Vol. 2: The Backyard

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.

How We Live Here Now - Volume 1: Introduction

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.

How We Turned a Garage into a Living Room, Laundry Room, Office, and Storage Space

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.