It was so exciting to be contacted by Better Homes and Gardens to be featured in their small space decorating magazine!! I shared some of the behind the scenes process in my stories the day the crew was here, but I had so many questions from you all, that I thought it deserved a whole blog post. Questions ranged from- Do you get paid to have your home featured? How did the magazine find you? How can YOU get featured?? I am here to answer all those questions for you. I even reached out to one of the best stylists, who was also my advocate and got me in my first magazine! Heather ... Read More
Intermittent Fasting-Why and How I Do It
About 6 months ago I started Intermittent Fasting. I naturally wasn't eating breakfast anyway with the busy mornings we have, so when I discovered more about the science behind "feeding and fasting" periods for the body. I thought I would be more intentional with the way I approached my daily eating window. I am passionate about healthy eating and exercise. I really like to feel good and have energy, plus I am slightly competitive, so Cross Fit has been something I have loved for many years. I have written more about my exercise routine here and what I eat here. I thought I ... Read More
Living Room Affordable Cozy Makeover
Our good friends, Sarah and Joe have a cape, but very different than ours. They have the traditional stairs by the front door leading to the second floor, like we do, but off to the right they have a really large living room. It is a great space, that I have secretly had the itch to fix it up for her for awhile! Now, I bet you are thinking that you are never going to invite me over. Or the opposite, you want me to come in hopes that I rearrange your furniture in my head, then eventually follow through and do it in real life. I don't judge ANYONE for their home. But I can't help myself ... Read More
Shiplap Fireplace and DIY Mantle (Ditched the Old Traditional)
A lot of you wanted the step by step tutorial on this DIY shiplap fireplace makeover that Kevin and our friend Joe did (in Joe's home). It turned out really amazing. They did such a good job. I had a basic vision of taking the existing fireplace mantle completely off, (it was very traditional and really too small for the space) and coming up with something that we could DIY. It had to not take too much time and not cost a ton of money. Sounds like a simple request right? "I don't want this to take too much time or money!" haha! Famous last words. In our home we added an electric ... Read More
Back to School Hacks, Lunches, Snacks and More!
Do your kids love back to school or hate it? When asked this question, my friend's son said "I get pretty excited, but I know that it is fake excitement because by day two, I will wish it was summer again." I couldn't have put it better myself! Sometimes we are guilty of wishing away the moment, thinking what is coming next will be better or easier. This is why back to School is such a bitter-sweet. We love summertime around here. But there is a joy that comes with structure and learning, that we look forward to as well! I actually used to dread things like- making lunches and my kids ... Read More
Bathroom Inspiration and Wayfair’s 48 Hour SALE!!!!
Right now I am in the process of looking through all my saved photos of bathrooms I have saved from Pinterest or Instagram, because as you know, we are doing a bathroom and kitchen addition! My biggest tip before starting any project is look through all your photos you have saved and look for a common theme. As I was looking at my saved bathroom images, I noticed a lot of blacks and wood accents or even wood vanities. Which surprised me! Now that doesn't mean I will do a wood vanity in our bathroom, it just means I like wood accents. I might do a wood tone island in our kitchen. Start with ... Read More
The BEST non-toxic Nail Polish and WHY it matters
I am passionate about eliminating toxins from our home. Whenever I share the different ways I am striving for that, I am ALWAYS asked what I do for nail polish! It has continued to be a space where I needed improvement because I love to get my nails done! It is something that I do for myself that feels relaxing, fun and easy. Well.. today is the day, my friends. I decided last month that I will be the guinea pig for all of us nail-lovers (who also love to live a natural lifestyle)! My girls and I went ahead and sampled three of the top non-toxic options, and my review is: My review is ... Read More
We are Remodeling our Home! See our Design Plans….
We have decided to remodel our home with an add-on!! Eeeek!! Very exciting stuff around here. I have to admit I was nervous about going though with it. We had a realtor come over and give her thoughts and it wasn't what we thought she would say about our home. Our home is not on the "perfect street". One street front or back would be more ideal to remodel and do an add-on. But I disagree. We bought this home. The yard is not one you often find in this area. And the home itself is an emotional purchase. We loved a lot about this house more than others that made us emotionally buy it. And now ... Read More
Over 20 Painted Brick and Stone Transformations!
Whenever I visit my home state of Utah, I love to help friends and family finish up their spaces! I have shared a few of the spaces from my last trip already here and here, but this little space is something I haven’t shown you yet! This was pretty fun because my friend, Rachel, is usually a fearless DIY-er, but was SO SCARED to paint this stone fireplace! Last summer, while visiting, she asked me if I thought she should.. I told her "If this was my house, I would have painted it before I unpacked my underwear." We've been friends for a long time so she knew what I would say before she e ... Read More
Easy Family Healthy Dinner Idea with the Hardest Working Appliance!
My mother in law jokes that we have the hardest working kitchen in the country! She may be right. We cook at home and feed our family of five whole foods everyday. We also love to have house guests and entertain. (YES, you CAN entertain in a small home!) When we are home, we are generally in this kitchen space. So I need my appliances to be 100% practical and useful! I am going to share a super easy family healthy dinner idea all made in the hardest working appliance. I have had to ditch appliances that I only occasionally used. And I am totally thrilled with this new appliance, we had family ... Read More
