A behind-the-scenes look inside some of the many home transformations we’re juggling at any given moment, you’ll find photos, videos, and design plans of ongoing projects here.
We found this little retreat tucked away in the Outer Banks and immediately fell for the rustic simplicity. We’re restoring this cozy cabin, one paneled room at a time, and keeping every bit of the camp-like charm.
We're deciding which windows and doors we can keep and which ones need replacing at the Beach Cabin.
Episode 2: Beach Cabin Quiet Morning
Episode 2: Beach Cabin Quiet Morning
A quiet morning at the Cabin
Episode 1: Meet the Beach Cabin
Episode 1: Meet the Beach Cabin
A peek at our newest beach house project down in the Outer Banks - The Beach Cabin!
The Meadow - Our "Forever" House
Follow along as we renovate our “forever” (for now) home, a 70s era house in a sunny meadow that we’re affectionately categorizing as fairytale modern.
It’s already been over a year since we bought the property and not much physical progress has been made but we still want the family to connect with the place so we’re there a lot. We’ve seen the very sweet buck at the end of the video the past two years and every time we see him and get a moment with him feels like a gift.
Episode 7: The Meadow Barn Monster Part 2
Episode 7: The Meadow Barn Monster Part 2
the evil in the barn - Part 2 THE END. {this is a long one but I wanted to share the whole situation} #nowweknow Thanks to Steven for acting like we were normal & for coming out.
Episode 6: The Meadow Barn Monster Part 1
Episode 6: The Meadow Barn Monster Part 1
So this happened today. {remember our sweet ol’ barn? I was inside of it with Aurora today when I uncovered a blanket on a shelf with a pile of primitively carved wooden men statues under it. (Super cool but I have no idea where they came from as we had cleared out the entire barn and only put our stuff in there.) Then I looked at the next shelf up and saw a long thing under a white sheet so I started to uncover it… and underneath was some sort of organic brown material or skin or I had no idea what it was and then I heard really loud breathing. It was loud enough to know I wasn’t imagining it so I told Aurora to get out and I climbed over all the boxes after her. When Dave arrived later I took him into show him what I’d heard and this is what happened…Listen carefully because you can hear the breathing/ gates of hell sound… it was crazy!! it’s had legs and a tail and a head… and looked like an ancient evil artifact.
Episode 5: Meadow Planting
Episode 5: Meadow Planting
We're trying to foster a true meadow of native grasses and wild flowers out of our overgrown pasture to help create biodoversity. It all starts with creating drifts of thr right kinds of plants to replace the non-native grasses.
Episode 4: The Meadow Post Demo Tour
Episode 4: The Meadow Post Demo Tour
We’ve got a big update on our “forever” house!! CarrMichael Construction has been hard at work and the house has been demo’d!!! We’ve got floorplans and framing is happening!! Here’s a tour of the house now and also a walk-through of the new floorplans.
Episode 3: Morning in the Meadow
Episode 3: Morning in the Meadow
A quiet morning in the meadow
Episode 2: The Meadow The Front Views
Episode 2: The Meadow The Front Views
Our future house.
Episode 1: A Tour of Our New House The "Meadow"
Episode 1: A Tour of Our New House The "Meadow"
Welcome to our new house!
The Meadow Hilltop
We’re excited to share this ongoing new build project on five hidden acres in Great Falls, VA. The challenge is to create a home that feels organic and modern, with the same magic the surrounding property holds. The architecture is equal parts fairytale and primitive sensibility, hopefully inspiring its owners to live a life of connection, joy, and intentionality.
This hidden treasure of a beach house was full of rustic charm but needed a loving touch. We are restoring her to her former glory with some added livability and timeless style.
Welcome to Dune House! Grab a drink/snack and hang- PART 1 of My full house walk-through of our newest for sale beach property is here!!
Episode 8: Dune House Install Day
Episode 8: Dune House Install Day
Episode 7: Dune House Pre Install
Episode 7: Dune House Pre Install
Here’s a peek at our waaaaaay behind schedule beachfront property just days before the furniture install. When I’m hit with a problem (and this was a big one) I go quiet and immediately begin writing TO DO LISTS. I write out all that I/ we / anyone involved need to do first and in what order and what we need to save for later. (Which was a LOT in this case.) DAMAGE CONTROL in this situation required painting all of the bedrooms and getting baseboard on any walls furniture needed to be set on. We pulled all people working on the exterior into the interior and it was all hands on deck craziness!! All floors needed to be exposed for rugs going down the next day though we didn’t quite get there. Thankful for such nice and hard working people to work with. {there are a myriad of reasons for construction delays these days but mainly we’ve had a lot of trouble getting people to show up when they say they will because they’re all super busy/ overbooked right now. Everyone is really trying and we just have to exhale and keep moving/ doing our best. We went for a quick site visit seen in the video and saw that much of the work we thought would be done hadn’t been done so it was time to pivot.}. I should probably stop saying dates at this point but it should go on the market last days of September or first days of October.
Episode 6: Dune House Home Stretch
Episode 6: Dune House Home Stretch
Episode 5: Dune House Tile & Progress
Episode 5: Dune House Tile & Progress
I love bringing our kids along on our projects as they progress… to show them the process and help them to see what things can be when you really let go and reimagine. Rory has asked that we “teach her to build houses”. Dune House has been a big project and we’re in the home stretch… tile is in and the original juniper paneling is going back up (with a little extra!) We have wallpaper going in soon and then comes furniture!! Every minute counts right now as we are trying to get this beauty on the market asap!!
Episode 4: Dune House Exterior Paint Selection
Episode 4: Dune House Exterior Paint Selection
Episode 3: Dune House Design Plans
Episode 3: Dune House Design Plans
A tour of what’s happening in every room of the house! This place has such a sense of peace and expansiveness about it… I love the scale of it- not too big but lots of room in the living spaces where it counts for big groups. We originally bought Dune House as a vacation rental property but we’re now considering selling it. (Reason: I’ve scaled back NOTHING from my original desired scope ( big surprise… but in all seriousness- I just want the house to be all it can be ) which means we’re putting a LOT into it and selling might be our best option. We’ll be seeing how things go & I’ll keep you posted!
Episode 2: Dune House "Before" Montage
Episode 2: Dune House "Before" Montage
I’ve finalized the new layout & floorplans for Dune House and it’s time to pick the palette & cull through the house to decide what we’re keeping & what we’re donating. Feeling seriously grateful for this opportunity to get to create a place where hopefully one day lots of people & families will make the sweetest vacation memories. I love seeing houses from this point on through completion- to lighting the candles, to setting out the flowers and playing the music - and I can already feel the magic in this one
Episode 1: Dune House Initial Walk Through
Episode 1: Dune House Initial Walk Through
WELCOME TO THE DUNE HOUSE!! This is our first time seeing the beach house in person so come on in & check it out with us!! We’ve got a TON of work and our goal is to get it ready for the summer 2022 rental season!!
Wisconsin Farmhouse
Come along for the ride as we reimagine this farmhouse for family living, taking great care to honor its roots with finishes and furnishings that felt more inherited than collected. The goal was timeless sensibility and an artful simplicity worthy of the views.
Episode 4: Wisconsin Farmhouse A New "Old" Laundry Room
Episode 4: Wisconsin Farmhouse A New "Old" Laundry Room
Episode 3: Welcome to the Wisconsin Farmhouse
Episode 3: Welcome to the Wisconsin Farmhouse
Episode 2: Wisconsin Farmhouse Workin Like A Dog
Episode 2: Wisconsin Farmhouse Workin Like A Dog
Episode 1: Wisconsin Farmhouse Install Day
Episode 1: Wisconsin Farmhouse Install Day
Horse Country Modern
We’re renovating this 70s era home in an equestrian neighborhood to be worthy of its peaceful pasture views. We will be living here while overseeing the work and waiting on our “forever” home to be move-in ready.
We finally finished our (temporary) place and did room-by-room walk through tour! As you'll see from all of my "this is my favorite rooms" & "loves"... I'm really loving living here even though it's not our final landing place. Enjoy!
Episode 24: Horse Country Modern Photoshoot Styling
Episode 24: Horse Country Modern Photoshoot Styling
Episode 23: Horse Country Modern Library
Episode 23: Horse Country Modern Library
Episode 22: Horse Country Modern Butterfly Garden
Episode 22: Horse Country Modern Butterfly Garden
Episode 21: Horse Country Modern Side Garden
Episode 21: Horse Country Modern Side Garden
Episode 20: Horse Country Modern Office Art Install
Episode 20: Horse Country Modern Office Art Install
Episode 18: Horse Country Modern Hot Cocoa Window
Episode 18: Horse Country Modern Hot Cocoa Window
Episode 17: Horse Country Modern Snow Day
Episode 17: Horse Country Modern Snow Day
Loving these snow days at our new place!! Here’s a peek at the house from the back where you can see how it was once a house (on right) and a separate guest house/ garage (on left)… We opened up the walls on both levels to make one connected house. The foyer/mudroom back door you can see in the middle is the main snow entry/ exit which helps keep the snow / dripping boots contained to the slate floors. We made a library/ game room out of the lower level guest house area and the boys’ bedroom is upstairs. The kids current favorite hangout is still the little bar out the kitchen window (right) where they can “order” hot chocolate.
Episode 16: Horse Country Modern Final Site Visit, Countertop Install, & Move In
Episode 16: Horse Country Modern Final Site Visit, Countertop Install, & Move In
…And we’re IN!! We’ve moved over to the new place (for those who are confused- I don’t blame you!- this is a temporary stop for us while we renovate our “forever house” in the Meadow and we’ll eventually be selling it.) Over the holidays and are working on getting settled! The countertops are installed and we are functional over here!! I’m LOVING seeing so many of my new product collections together- including hardwood floors from my “simple”.
Episode 15: Horse Country Modern Kitchen Cabinets
Episode 15: Horse Country Modern Kitchen Cabinets
The kitchen cabinets are IN so here’s a TOUR!! I cannot wait to get cooking in here!!
Episode 14: Horse Country Modern Kitchen Countertop Hunt
Episode 14: Horse Country Modern Kitchen Countertop Hunt
It’s time to pick out the countertops for our new place! (Reminder- this house is temporary for us… we’ll be living there until our place is ready to move back into after the renovations are over) I’ve been leaning towards gray countertops in the kitchen but every now and then debate about black (soapstone or slate) so it’s off to the marble yard to choose! You’ll see I like to look at every single slab and at the end you’ll see my very logical. “scientific” method for making the final selection. Sometimes you just have to go with your emotions and the reasons don’t need to make sense to anyone but you. (Also, after watching this footage I realized something about myself I hadn’t quite picked up on before but had seen glimpses of in footage from our hgtv show… I get more serious/ intense / zoned in on the one I like and I seem happier/ lighter about the ones I don’t end up selecting. Lol Maybe it’s the commitment but I also think a little bit of it is that I’m often taking more of a risk with the choice I’m making and it scares me a little. The “safe” choices are ones I know will work but the ones I go with are often a little off or different and I pick them because they could be GREAT but there’s a risk with them of not working at all. To be honest - thinking on it now -I had that same exact experience with choosing to date my husband lol) I’m now going to pay more attention to the options I get more serious/ afraid around.
Episode 13: Horse Country Modern Pretty Stuff Is Going In
Episode 13: Horse Country Modern Pretty Stuff Is Going In
Lots of surprises at our new place this week!! Here’s a quick peek at when we went to check it out after not seeing it for a few days. (It’s pretty much like the “reveals” of our hgtv show #besthouseontheblock except I’m revealing it to myself). CarrMichael Construction has been HAULING and everything is looking SO good over there!!! We move in next week!!!
Episode 12: Horse Country Modern Flooring Install + Major Progress
Episode 12: Horse Country Modern Flooring Install + Major Progress
Early morning site visit to check out the install of the hardwood floors from my new collection with Wellborn Wright … and I’m showing the girls their new bedroom & sharing a bit about their decorating plans… and an update on our bathroom/layout and the fence post paneled walls!! CarrMichael Construction is moving so fast that I can hardly keep up with these little episodes - I have 3 more coming at you soon!!! We’ll be moving in soon and can’t wait!!
Episode 11: Horse Country Modern Training Montage
Episode 11: Horse Country Modern Training Montage
SO much has happened over at our new place!!! CarrMichael Construction has been busy!!!! The new board & batten exterior is painted and windows, plumbing, electrical and drywall are IN!!! + pretty goodies are arriving!!! I’m SO excited to be using things from my own new collections in this place!!!! {my “Arcadian” cabinet collection from Unique Kitchens and Baths + white oak flooring in “fawn” from my Wellborn Wright flooring collection!! }. As a refresh -since it’s really hard to keep where we are and where we’re moving straight- We are currently living in our UN-renovated “forever” house & will be moving into THIS house (dubbed “horse country modern” to keep it all straight) as soon as it’s done in a few weeks!! We’ll live here while our “forever” place is being renovated and will then sell it when we move out. We aren’t sure how long we’ll be here (because our main house renovation is a biggie) and I’m looking forward to making it “home” for us for now- with all of our things -plus some new ones- and of course, a big ol’ veggie garden & flowers.
Episode 10: Horse Country Modern Exterior Paint Selection
Episode 10: Horse Country Modern Exterior Paint Selection
The new board and batten siding is UP and I am picking an exterior paint color… + this isn’t an easy one!! The house should logically be going a deep gray pulled from the 70s lava stone facade but I’m a little attached to the house as white (which is how it was when we bought it) and know we’ll be spending a lot of our time in back -where there is exactly zero lavastone to contend with- so we’re going with white for the classic 70s-mod-farmhouse feel I’m after. (Heads up-The garage door is being replaced with a glass and aluminum one.) Here I’m walking through how I select paint colors via process of elimination, using multiple brands & apparently only one eye.
Episode 9: Horse Country Modern Front Exterior Landscaping Thoughts
Episode 9: Horse Country Modern Front Exterior Landscaping Thoughts
Most of the shrubs in front of the house are coming OUT! I’m after a modern-fieldsy vibe and have a bunch of native grasses going in that I think will fit more with the architecture of the house. + We’re adding 22 trees along the side of the property to create a bit more privacy!! Will be back later this week when it’s all done!!
Episode 8: Horse Country Modern Hello Windows Site Visit
Episode 8: Horse Country Modern Hello Windows Site Visit
The windows are IN!! CarrMichael Construction has been hard at work and we’re making tons of progress! All the insides have been redone and the new board and batten siding is up! It’s already feeling like a new house!!
Episode 7: Horse Country Modern Check-In Tour
Episode 7: Horse Country Modern Check-In Tour
We’re making progress! The conversation pit it out (sorry conversation pit lovas- I love it too!!) Plumbing + electrical are going in and the windows are coming soon!
Episode 6: Horse Country Modern Pool Demo & Finding Chucky
Episode 6: Horse Country Modern Pool Demo & Finding Chucky
The pool and pool deck are OUT! +Now we have a back yard! Added bonus: finding a Buddy.
Episode 5: Horse Country Modern Down With The Fence
Episode 5: Horse Country Modern Down With The Fence
As I explained in the last video - we’re saving the old (perfectly weathered/ silver) cedar fencing at our new house to use as paneling in our bathroom to give it natural texture and instant patina. (I wish I’d thought of it sooner because demo was set to begin the next morning and we have to get it done before they arrive with the big equipment and accidentally scrap it- according to our original plan!) It is SO satisfying to see the fencing come down to reveal the views!!
Episode 4: Horse Country Modern Post Demo Check-In
Episode 4: Horse Country Modern Post Demo Check-In
Quick note- the connection was fuzzy for the first few seconds but fixes- sorry! Don’t have great cell service there!) Walls are down & CarrMichael Construction has made a big dent in the demo! RIP conversation pit + a new use for the old cedar fencing.
Episode 3: Horse Country Modern House Check-In
Episode 3: Horse Country Modern House Check-In
House check-in, horse stalls + chicken coop talk
Episode 2: Horse Country Modern House Demo Tour
Episode 2: Horse Country Modern House Demo Tour
It’s demo day with the CarrMichael Construction team at our new project!
Episode 1: Horse Country Modern House Tour
Episode 1: Horse Country Modern House Tour
A little tour of our temporary house that we’ll be renovating and living in while we renovate our actual new house! We’re fixing up this one to live in while the other one is being worked on and then we’ll sell this one when ours is done. Can’t wait to dig in!!
The House That François Built
We bought this Alsatian country home from the Haeringer sons, who own and operate one of the most well-known and well-loved French restaurants around. This house has a piece of our hearts and we lived here from 2016-2021.
Episode 4: The House That Francois Built Bedroom Tour
Episode 4: The House That Francois Built Bedroom Tour
Episode 3: The House That Francois Built Slow Lunch At Home
Episode 3: The House That Francois Built Slow Lunch At Home
Episode 2: The House That Francois Built Our Old House Tour
Episode 2: The House That Francois Built Our Old House Tour
Saying goodbye to our home! We have absolutely loved living here and have learned so much about ourselves and how we want to live because of it. We’ll be forever grateful to for this place and the amazing people who created it before us. Hope you enjoy!
Episode 1: The House That Francois Built Christmas At Home
Episode 1: The House That Francois Built Christmas At Home
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