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The Results Are In: Here Are The Top 25 Most Purchased Items Of 2021 (And We Were Shocked)

HELLO, THERE. Welcome to Oz. I’m your friend, the business wizard, here to lift the curtain a little bit. Today, we’re taking a sneak peek into a topic near and dear to my heart: our top-selling items of 2021. I track this data like it’s my job (mainly because, you know, it is actually my job) and every month, I share this intel with the editorial team to help inform our content.

And let me tell you: this year, you all threw me for a loop. I think you’ll see what I mean as you scroll through the list. “I thought this was an interior design blog,” you’ll think. “Who the heck is coming here to read about living rooms and leaving with a Theragun,” you’ll proclaim. Well, friend…SAME HERE. (I’m the one who recommended the Theragun and I’m STILL surprised.)

For the first time ever, my left-brained self could find no rhyme, or reason, or any type of consistency at all when it came to the millions of clicks or to the 200,000 purchases made through our EHD links. It’s not a complaint, though – you made it a fun and surprising and dynamic year and for that, I thank you. But now, I gotta know…did you bring home any of these pieces in 2021?

25. A Budget-Friendly Fall Frock

I’M SORRY. Give me one magazine-style alliteration! I’ll type like a normal person after this!! Now, let me be clear right up top: this year, our fashion guru Mal baaaaasically ran the show. You LOVED her recommendations, including this plaid fall dress that I described in our Slack convo as “like Reformation, but cheap and festive.” What could be better?

24. These Wicker Platform Sandals

HA. I wasn’t kidding, guys!!! Here, we have another Mallory recommendation. This one surprised me a little – they do feel a bit, uh, specific? – but I do love thinking about all of you out there, stomping around and ruling the world in your wicker picnic basket shoes. (Added bonus: they’re currently on sale!)

23. This Timeless Rattan and Brass Chest

Ah, this one is from me. I’m so partial to this chest from Serena & Lily that I include it in almost every holiday sale roundup I compile. It’s so versatile – you can imagine it in a California casual or in a grandmillennial room, which is a near-impossible balance to strike. (If you’re going to splurge on a storage piece, it should absolutely be one that’ll work as your style evolves and changes, you know?)

22. An On-Trend Statement Lamp

Mal isn’t just an EHD fashion icon – turn’s out that girlfriend’s also got a killer taste in home decor, too. (Wait til you see her apartment!) This lamp is graphic and bold but it gives off such a warm, cozy glow. We love when form meets function!!!

21. This Theragun Bundle

HOORAY. I’ll keep it brief: the Theragun is one of the few exercise-tech things out there that lives up to the hype. This bundle was a slamming deal. I hope that it’s helped a few of you as much as it helped me.

20. Some Easy-to-Store Holiday Decor

A nice little case of #emfluencing here – Jess recommended these paper trees earlier this winter after being inspired by Em’s decor in years past. They’re handcrafted, compact, and will probably be on super sale this time next week if you’d be interested in adding them to your holiday 2022 plans.

19. An Affordable End Table

Sometimes we just love a simple, budget-friendly table in a classic shape. Need a stool? You have one. Wanna put a drink somewhere? Use this! Trying to elevate a plant off the ground? I think you get where I’m headed with this.

18. A Well-Tested Travel Backpack

This is my all-time favorite piece of luggage and I will sing its praises on the blog, year after year, for as long as I work here. It’s my Mary Poppins bag – the capacity is almost unbelievable – and it still looks like new, despite taking a beating on ~100 flights over the past 3 years. I’m writing this post from the sofa at my mom’s house (hi, Brenda) and naturally, this is the bag upstairs in my room. A MILLION STARS.

17. The Chore Coat Em Owns and Loves

Em debuted this chore coat in her fall uniform basics post. She wrote, “This chore coat is excellent – stiff cut (which is what you want), but soft and easy to layer. I have a couple vintage versions of these which I love but they are wider (likely because they were mens) and this is just a very slimming cut (if you are into that).”

16. And The More Affordable Option

But I had to laugh, because it turns out that we’re all a bunch of bargain hunters here. Ryann sourced this Madewell chore coat for the aforementioned fall uniform post and, well, y’all loved it a lot. My question (if any purchasers are here): did you fall for the olive color or were you swayed by the price?

15. The Sweetest Mini Lamp

One of my favorite memories from this year was watching Jess get SO JAZZED about this 3″ tall lamp. If you think we ever tire of talking home decor, think again – Bungo discovered this piece and then FaceTimed me to gush about its aesthetics, which is SUCH A TREAT. I’ve since been to her house (because we are all obsessed with each other, on AND offline) and can confirm that it looks awesome – I can’t wait for you to see it in her space! The lamp’s sold out at Nordstrom right now, but you can grab it here, too.

14. Em’s Favorite Rash Guard

Oh hey, my fellow sun-fearing friends! As someone who is still battling an embarrassing tan line on my hands from MAY (yes, that May, the one that was SEVEN MONTHS AGO), I’m thrilled to learn that I’m not the only one out there who needs a little extra layer before stepping outside. (It helps that this one is so cute.)

13. Elastic-Waist Shorts That Actually Look Professional

Did anyone else here go through a HUGE Soffee shorts phase from ~2003-2006? (For those unfamiliar, Soffees were brightly colored shorts with an elastic waist and you’d roll them up til your bits were basically visible. This, to us, was the height of ~fashion~.) These Madewell shorts, recommended by yours truly – a former Soffee addict-turned-mortified adult – are the grown-up version of that. They’re a comfortable length, they feel great on, they look put together, and they don’t ride up in the middle. Arlyn actually recommended them to me in 2019 and I’ve been trying to spread the word ever since. Bookmark now and return when the spring arrives – they’re under $30 bucks and worth every penny.

12. An Ultra-Glam Dining Table

In case you were looking for a reason to check the Link Up every Sunday, this is it. This now-discontinued dining table, which had traditionally retailed for like, $2,000, was selling for PEANUTS. I don’t remember the exact number, but it was 75-80% off. As a lover of all things brass and lucite (wait til you see my apartment in 2022!), I was (and am) SO EXCITED that we were able to help you guys take advantage of such a great closeout deal.

11. The Ultimate White Popover Shirt

LOL. Hello from my third recommendation in a row to make the list!!! I feel like I should be giving an acceptance speech at the Oscars, TBH. If I was forced to wear one shirt for the rest of my life, this Madewell popover would be it. Hands down. No question. It’s clean, it can go casual or professional, and it looks great tucked in whatever style of tuck is currently on-trend.

10. A Chic Sweater Jumpsuit

Annnnd we’re back to the big boss’ recommendations. All is well! Em introduced me – and maybe you? – to Alex Mill this year and it’s quickly become one of my favorite destinations for classic, elevated basics. Case in point: this jumpsuit, which is essentially the equivalent of chic pajamas. Comfy AND stylish. INCREDIBLE.

9. A Well-Tested Running Jacket

Em said it best, so I’m going to quote her here: “Three years. THREE YEARS of wearing the same running/hiking/biking jacket year-round. The other day Caitlin pitched a post called ‘What Clothes Make Me Feel Really Good Right Now’ and while I didn’t verbalize it on the call I was internally thinking ‘uh, my running jacket?’ You’ve seen me wear it FOR YEARS and the reason it’s more superior to others is A. it’s warm (puffy vest) but still really flattering (fitted but not tight arms), B. it has zippered pockets, and C. since it’s only puffy on the front I can layer it under all my coats without adding armpit bulk (you know what I mean). I have a couple of other summer jackets but to wear the same piece of clothing for three years, 3-4 times a week, and have it still be in great condition is pretty remarkable. So while I’ve linked it up a lot over the years, I wanted to give it more love right now. And yes it’s expensive for a running jacket, but if you are into sustainable purchases then know that this one lasts and gets true use.”

8. A Scandi-Inspired Target Ottoman

This ottoman is SO good and elevated for the price (just under $100). Mal threw this on our radar when she grabbed it for her studio apartment and let me tell you…IT’S CUTER IN PERSON. The lines, the quality of the upholstered seat, the tiny leather accents – the whole thing is so luxe and considered. This piece would look right at home in an upscale spot like Nickey Kehoe or Lawson-Fenning, don’t you think?

7. Caitlin’s Favorite Overalls

I LOVE OVERALLS. I have the long version of these for fall and this version for summer. I can best describe these as like, comfy Spanx, in that I feel really supported and held in but still really flexible and agile when I’m wearing them. This is another one to bookmark – they’ll come back in stock this spring and I love them very, very much.

6. Some Badass Lug Sole Boots

Mal gal knows her footwear (you guys should see her when we have team meetings – she has SUCH great style) so it’s really no surprise to see her how much y’all loved her boot recommendation. Lug soles were very cool this year and this modern take on a Chelsea boot was fun and on-trend without being overwhelming. (They’re on sale now, too, if you’re still in the market for some winter footwear!)

5. A Flirty, Modest Winter Dress

Last year, Mal’s winter dress recommendation took home the top honor as our #1 bestselling item of 2020. This year, her updated pick made top 5. HOW DOES SHE DO IT??? This green dress is flirty and sweet (with a ton of room to account for any holiday bloat – you know, in case you’re like me, a person who lives solely to eat everything on the holiday table) without feeling like it’s too much. You can dress it up, dress it down, and it’s super wearable for most of the year – I’m glad so many of you brought it home!

4. Em’s Travel Clogs

FASCINATING. This was actually the first time ever where something that we linked in stories made it onto this list. (From a business perspective, an overwhelming majority of sales come from the static links on the blog vs. social – I know that’s different from a lot of other influencers, but it’s what makes our IG feed special, I think!) ANYWAY. Em shared a photo of herself wearing these with the PDX airport carpet in the background and we were off to the races. SO MANY CLICKS. So many sales! Did you grab a pair?

3. A Polo Cardigan Sweater

The final fashion recommendation from our sweet Mal gal: this charming, 90s-inspired polo-style cardigan. Very Cher from Clueless, no??? It makes my heart happy to see such a great keep-forever basic topping the fashion list – you all have some fun, special taste.

2. The Sauna Blanket

Hot diggity dog. (Literally, though.) After a year of use, Em took to the blog to review one of her personal favorite relaxation tools – this heated sleeping bag, AKA the infrared sauna blanket. Not going to lie – I was floored after seeing this in the top 2, mainly because it’s a little bit of a splurge. If you grabbed one, I’d love to hear about your experiences!!! Do you feel awesome when you’re all finished?

1. Em’s Go-To Swimsuit

UNPRECEDENTED. Back in May, Em grabbed a handful of swimsuits, took a bunch of mirror selfies, and published a full review for all our benefit. I expected that this post would, you know, help folks find a swimsuit they feel good about wearing. I did not expect that this swimsuit, in particular, would become our #1 seller of the year by a landslide; nor did I anticipate the frenzy of other swimsuit purchases which would lead to May 1st becoming our third biggest sales day of 2021 (Cyber Monday and Black Friday were #1 and #2, respectively).

And with that, we have wrapped my final post of 2021. WHAT A YEAR, RIGHT? Thank you for your time, your commentary, and your clicks. I know I say it in almost every post, but I still can’t believe that this is a job that an actual person gets to do…and truly, it’s all because of you. THANK YOU. (I typed that in my “PBS viewers like you” voice, but I’m not sure it came across.)

To that end, I must know: what the heck do you think is going on here??? LET’S TALK ABOUT IT. xx

Opening Photo Credits: Design by Jess Bunge | Photo by Sara Ligorria-Tramp | From: Makeover Takeover: Jess’ Long Awaited (Small Space) Living Room Reveal

The post The Results Are In: Here Are The Top 25 Most Purchased Items Of 2021 (And We Were Shocked) appeared first on Emily Henderson.

The Top 10 Posts You Couldn’t Turn Your Eyeballs From

I’m likely biased but this is my favorite roundup of the year. And as someone with an increasingly shrinking attention span, I LOVE getting to see what you all are into, like really into, and will spend a lot of time taking in. Like Emily said last week, traffic is obviously important to us because we want people to be interested in at least the topic we are chatting about. But what is the most important to us is how long you stay on a post. We feel it’s fair to say that the longer you stay in a post the more you like it or are interested in it and THAT’S really what we want – Meaningful and/or fun posts for you to fully enjoy every inch of it. So we thought counting down the Top 10 Longest Read posts would be really fun and to see if they are what you thought they’d be. Let’s see what we’ve got…

10. My Infrared Sauna Blanket Review – One Year Later. Is It Actually A Weight Management And Mood Boosting Tool Or A Really, Really Hot Sleeping Bag?

How could you not want to read every word of this post?? It’s both wild and completely intriguing and did I say wild? Plus how can you now just love that Em really shows you the real…sweat. I know I want to see a real-life review of a product I’m considering and because of Em’s description, these sauna blankets are pretty darn compelling. Did any of you buy one??

9. Just A Couple Of EHD Gals Back At The Rose Bowl (A Real Flea Market Diary With Some Very Helpful Tips)

This one makes me so happy because it was a joy to shop, I mean write:) Actually, both parts were awesome and Caitlin did most of the writing (and the woman is compelling). I think most of y’all are flea market lovers like all of us and after a year of not getting to go to one, you were ready to read about our fun and extremely fruitful day (#friendshipfurniture). Plus Caitlin is a true flea market pro so her tips are SUPER valuable. This was a real good ole fashion diary-style post and I am so glad you all really dove into it. More next year???

8. Ask The Audience: How Do You Design A House For Rainy Weather?

While the post itself isn’t long there are 486 comments! That’s is 486 pieces of golden info and recommendations. Especially when it comes to a problem that everyone is trying to solve…like designing in a rainy climate… we all want the things that work. So like the others who have come before you, head to the comments if you are also in need of rain advice!

7. We Bought A (Mini) Farm!!!! Introducing Our New/Old Oregon Home

Is anyone surprised?! The only thing that is surprising to me about this is that it was announced this year. Wow, time has flown by. But in all seriousness, this was such an exciting one to get to post and it’s not even my house! We had a feeling you all might feel the same way;) I know you are all excited about more farmhouse content and I promise you are going to get it in 2022.

6. Emily’s Bon Voyage But Not Before A LOT Of Vintage Shopping – Wanna See What Caught Our Eyes… And Wallets??

This was another EXTREMELY fun and slightly bittersweet day/two days of vintage shopping in Long Beach before Em bid us adieu. We again are SO HAPPY that you are very much our people and will read the heck out of a post like this. Who wouldn’t love looking at 4 EHD gals’ vintage finds?! Emily was the real vintage winner of this trip though. You gotta see what she got (and what she wishes we would have shown her:))

5. What Do You Wish Someone Had Told You Before Renovating Or Designing Your Home???photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: styling to sell: how we staged our dining room and kitchen (with the changes i should have done years ago!)

This post was a genius Emily idea. We know that you all have so many great tips, tricks, and ideas when it comes to design and renovation. So it only made sense to ask for your advice before Emily was too knee-deep in renovations to backtrack if she wanted to change something. And let me be clear, the reason this post was so engaging was because of you all! Again there are 468 comments FILLED with amazing, useful information. We even took your awesome advice and made them into two posts! One for kitchens and one for bathrooms if don’t want to have to read them all to find what you are looking for.

4. A Tale Of A Girl In Search Of The Perfect 48″ Induction Range And The 6 Different Options I’m Considering (Along With A Rant, Of Course)right photo by sara ligorria-tramp, from: it’s finally here: the reveal of the mountain house kitchen | left photo by tessa neustadt, from: our modern english country kitchen

We clearly need more of this kind of content on the internet! You all were so on board with learning about the ways Emily is trying to be sustainable in the farmhouse and relieved that it was laid out in a digestible way. The problem actually isn’t that the info isn’t out there, it’s that it’s SO OVERWHELMING and hard to understand. So Emily took you through her whole thought process about induction ranges but don’t worry there’s more to come.

3. Emily Bowser’s BEAUTIFUL Hardworking, Multipurpose Room Reveal (+ Get Ready For Her DIYS)photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: emily bowser’s beautiful hardworking, multipurpose room reveal (+ get ready for her diys)

Emily E. Bowser knows how to take you on a wild journey and then show you a stunning room. This post was all that and more. If you haven’t had a chance to read it you must! It’s personal, hilarious, mind-boggling and of course beautiful. If you can’t wait for her next post, neither can we.

2. You Guys Hated 5 Things About The Farmhouse First Floor Floor Plan – We Changed Some Of Them

This was another really cool post that was all thanks to you (and also probably why you so carefully read it:)) Emily (and Brian in this case) truly take your suggestions to heart. So when a bunch of you had some really great floorplan suggestions/really didn’t like what they were planning, it was back to the drawing board. Luckily ARCIFORM was down to switch it up. Go check out what they changed!

1. A Huge LA House Hunt Update: Caitlin’s Entered The “Making Offers Sight Unseen & Over Asking” Phase

Another no-brainer because Caitlin Higgins is a storytelling magician. Her posts take you for a ride you DO NOT want to get off of and this one was a FUN ONE. I think anyone attempting to buy a house in the past year and a half could highly relate to this post. It’s got drama, comedy, tears, educational housing info, etc etc. While I’m happy for Caitlin’s sanity in choosing to switch up where she’s hunting for houses, I am sad to not have more of these posts! But who knows what 2022 will bring;)

Ok, that’s the list! Do you agree with how gripping these were? Is there another post that you are shocked isn’t on here? Let’s talk.

Love you, mean it.

Opening Image Credits: Design and Styled by Emily Bowser | Photo by Sara Ligorria–Tramp | Emily Bowser’s BEAUTIFUL Hardworking, Multipurpose Room Reveal (+ Get Ready For Her DIYS)

The post The Top 10 Posts You Couldn’t Turn Your Eyeballs From appeared first on Emily Henderson.

Every 2021 Room Reveal: Including 5 Kitchen Renos, 10 Bedrooms, And So Much More

There few things we love more than a room reveal. If we could reveal one every day of the year rest assured we absolutely would, but what we love most about the reveals is the effort and thoughtfulness that goes into them. So if you ask us, they are well worth the wait. This year our internal EHD team revealed 6 rooms and with a small team of 4 (excluding Emily) who’s main duties are running this blog, social media, and partnerships, that’s pretty impressive. We also have an incredible team of contributors to thank for sharing their homes, designs, and thoughts with us and you. And without you, our lovely readers, we wouldn’t have a space to share these designs so THANK YOU! We appreciate you more than you know. Now, before I get too sappy and emotional, we have a lot of fun reveals to reminisce on so let’s get into it:

Ajai’s Neutral Living Room Refresh + How Her Design Choices Parallel Her Journey Becoming A Black Interior Designerdesign and photo by ajai guyot | from: ajai’s neutral living room refresh

Ajai kicked us off this year with her neutral living room makeover. If you follow Ajai (and you should!) then you know her designs are often calming, organic, and whimsical and yet she always nails practicality as well. It’s also an amazing read so I very much insist heading over and reading about this design and her journey being a Black interior designer.

How To Create A Home Gym (Or Nook) You Will Actually Enjoy Usingdesign and photo by orlando soria | from: how to create a home gym or nook you will actually enjoy using

Next up we have Orlando’s bright and playful home gym. I always love Orlando’s use of paint to create architectural interest and as you can see he does it again here and it’s SO fun. I love everything about this design from the colors to the art to the awesome DIY bulb pendant. This is definitely a gym I’d work out in and he also wrote a beautiful and thoughtful post about body image that is so worth the read!

Emily Bowser’s BEAUTIFUL Hardworking, Multipurpose Room Reveal (+ Get Ready For Her DIYS)design by emily bowser | photo by sara ligorria-tramp| from: emily bowser’s beautiful hard-working multipurpose room reveal

This reveal has everything. Dark moody walls! DIYs galore! A Peloton! Cats! Storage! I can’t get enough of it. Emily Bowser is a star as we all know and she killed this room reveal (you definitely want to see the hilarious before).

How Does E-Design Even Work?? Velinda Shows Off Three Client Reveals She Never Saw In-Persondesign by velinda hellen design | from: how does e design even work?? velinda shows off three client reveals she never saw in persondesign by velinda hellen design | from: how does e design even work?? velinda shows off three client reveals she never saw in persondesign by velinda hellen design | from: how does e design even work?? velinda shows off three client reveals she never saw in person

This is technically 3 reveals in one but it is also a lesson in E-Design. As the title suggests, the VHD team designed these 3 client homes without ever seeing them in person! In case you don’t know, EHD alum Velinda Hellen started her own design company in January of 2020. And we all know how 2020 went… SO she and her team had to adapt fast to stay-at-home orders and ended up doing all E-design for these clients. They are so impressive and it’s no secret we have mad love for the entire Velinda Hellen Design team :).

Lea’s Living Room Reveal: Her Pet And Family-Friendly Open Concept Design Agony SOLVEDdesign by lea johnson of creekwood hill | photos by sage e imagery | from: lea’s living room reveal

Lea’s living room reveal is one I go back to again and again for inspiration. Even though her living room and mine are vastly different, I take a lot of styling notes from Lea. I relate to her designs a lot because we both have big dogs that we need to design for because they are our children ;). This room is functional, pet-friendly, and beautiful (obviously).

A Total DIY Laundry Room Transformation (AKA Peak Adulting)design by albie k. buabeng | photo by ellie lilstrom | from: a total diy laundry room transformation

Albie’s laundry room makeover is peak adulting. This is one of those projects where the before and after side by sides are sooo satisfying. This reveal is also full of fun easy DIYs that you must check out if you missed it.

How Ajai Added A Lot Of Character To Her (*Cough* Her Husband’s) Builder Grade Bathroomdesign and photo by ajai guyot | from: how ajai added a lot of character to her builder grade bathroom

I have major envy over this apartment-friendly bathroom refresh. Adding charm and character to a builder-grade bathroom is not easy but Ajai nailed this one. I love her use of a Persian rug instead of a bath mat and she manages to bring in a ton of texture and intrigue with art and decor.

Need Some At-Home Easter Brunch Inspo?? Our Never Before Seen Easter Shoot From Last Year Has You Coveredstyled by julie rose and velinda hellen | photos by sara ligorria-tramp | from: need some easter brunch inspo?? our never before seen easter shoot from last year has you covered

We actually shot this easter brunch story in December of 2019 to be published on the blog in March 2020. But we all know what happened in March of 2020 and the content just felt wrong. Fast forward to 2021 and we realized we had this beautifully styled shoot that we never showed you guys so we finally posted it in hopes it would give you (and us) some Easter inspiration.

Sara’s Kitchen – An Updated Sneak Peek (It’s Functional, But Still Not “Finished”…)design and photos by sara ligorria-tramp | styling by emily bowser | from: sara’s kitchen – an updated sneak peak

Sara’s luxe modern traditional kitchen update has me swooning to this day. I love the green cabinets that are very reminiscent of the Portland kitchen, the marble backsplash, her oven, and all the brass finishes are *chef’s kiss*. I can’t wait to see her “final” reveal although this iteration is pretty dang perfect in my eyes.

Blue Walls Be GONE! Key’s Totally Transformed Office Reveal – Maybe The Most Dramatic Before & After Ever (?)design and photos by keyanna bowen | from: blue walls be gone! key’s totally transformed office reveal

Okay folks, Key REALLY transformed this space and it was her first EHD mentee makeover! (the one she applied to the program with). If you missed it or need a refresher, I suggest heading over now to see the stunning before and afters that she executed in just two months. She made a dark and uninspiring room feel fresh, bright, and multifunctional. I could easily spend all my time in here!

The Relaunch Of Target’s Pillowfort Collection Is SO GOOD (And No, It’s Not Just For Kids)styling by emily bowser | photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: the relaunch of target’s pillowfort collection is so good styling by emily bowser | photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: the relaunch of target’s pillowfort collection is so good

Target’s Pillowfort collection knocks it out of the park once again (and so does Emily’s art direction and Emily Bowser’s styling). This reveal is full of tons of great kids room ideas and obviously, the rooms are adorable but what really impressed us was the furniture that isn’t just for kids. The rattan side table and ball floor lamp for example are so good and could be cute in any modern boho room.

Bringing The Movie Theater Home With Your Family In Mind (It’s A REVEAL Y’all!)design by albie k. buabeng | photo by ellie lilstrom | from: bringing the movie theatre home with your family in mind (it’s a reveal y’all)

Again, Albie reminds me what peak adulting looks like. Who wouldn’t want their own media room for family movie and game nights? I love the design risk she chose by going super bold with the black walls which makes the metallic sofa really stand out. It’s like being in space and I loveee it.

Malcolm’s Bedroom Reveal Is Here… How He Found Healing Through Design + The Incredible DIYs That Transformed The Spacedesign by malcolm simmons | photo by keyanna bowen | from: malcolm’s bedroom reveal is here

This is easily one of my favorite reveals of the year. That gorgeous headboard is a DIY and truly everything in this room is executed beautifully by Malcolm. If you click over to the reveal, you’ll see how intricate every detail is which goes to show how Malcolm designs with so much intention and grace.

After Three Years We Can Actually Use Our Upper Deck (Because We Finally Have The Right Outdoor Furniture…And Fabric)styled by emily henderson and  emily bowser | photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: after three years we can actually use our upper deck (because we finally have the right outdoor furniture and fabric)

Can you believe this is another mountain house reveal? Just like everything in the mountain house, the design is beautiful and functional thanks to the Sunbrella fabric and Blu Dot furniture.

Orlando’s Primary Bedroom Reveal!! (And His Super Simple Paint Trick That Will Add “Architecture” To Any Space)design and photos by orlando soria | from: orlando’s primary bedroom reveal! (and his super simple paint trick that will add “architecture” to any space)

We love this version of Orlando’s primary bedroom but if you follow his blog or Instagram you know that it looks a little different than this now. Like I said before, Orlando is the king of paint hacks and here he showed us how to use paint to add “architecture” to space. Genius!

Rashida’s Totally Transformed Kitchen Reveal (That Includes One Of Our Favorite “New Classic” Kitchen Trends)design by rashida banks | photo by keyanna bowen | from: rashida’s totally transformed kitchen reveal

Oh how I love this kitchen reveal. This is actually Rashida’s debut room reveal on the blog! There is so much to love here but to get the full effect you must go to the post to see the mind-blowing before and afters. They are SO satisfying.

Reveal Alert: How Albie Designed The Hygge Inspired Luxe Kitchen Of Her Dreams (+ What She Learned Along The Way)design by albie k. buabeng | photo by ellie lilstrom | from: reveal alert: how albie designed the hygge inspired luxe kitchen of her dreams

Albie’s hygge inspired kitchen renovation does not miss. She created a space that is full of warmth, function, and of course a ton of style. Plus she writes honestly about what she learned so it really is a 10/10 post.

How To Throw An Elevated Garden Party with PRESS Premium Seltzer + Sustainable Outdoor Party Styling Tipsstyling by emily bowser | photo by sara ligorria-tramp and veronica crawford | from: how to throw an elevated garden party with press premium seltzer

I have this post bookmarked for any future outdoor parties I may be throwing. It’s full of practical and sustainable outdoor styling tips + the best charcuterie board inspo (we call them Boards by Bowser and we all think she should start her own charcuterie board styling company).

Londo Lodge Guest Bedroom: Creating a Space That Is Wild Without Going Overboard… + The 3 Decor Elements That Can Make A Space POP!design by orlando soria | photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: londo lodge guest bedroom: creating a space that is wild without going overboard

Another Orlando bedroom reveal! Again, paint makes a huge impact here but what I am really interested in is that amazing Japanese screen that he used as the room’s focal point. The mixture of color, texture, and style here is really impressive and so exciting.

Jess’ Long And Skinny Balcony Reveal!! + The DIY IKEA Floor Tile Hack That Was WELL WORTH The Blood, Sweat, And 2-6 Tearsdesign by jess bunge for ehd | photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: jess’s long and skinny balcony reveal!!

Jess kicked off the MOTO’s with her balcony reveal and it is SO damn dreamy. Her flooring DIY is so simple yet impactful and the bistro set adds just the right amount of vintage charm. I would gladly sip prosecco here any day of the week.

Malcolm’s Bathroom Reveal – The Power Of Pivoting, Intentional Design, And A DIY That Will Have You Digging Into Your Wallsdesign and photos by malcolm simmons | from: malcolm’s bathroom reveal – the power of pivoting, intentional design,and a diy that will have you digging into your walls

Malcolm does it again. He always manages to create thoughtful, inspiring designs and include DIYs that will blow your socks off. Can you guess what the DIY in here is??! It’s that subtle but super impactful wall nook! I know, I would have never thought to do that either but it is so cool.

New Reveal: ALL The Details Of The Primary Suite At The Real Simple Homedesign by keyanna bowen x emily henderson | photos by keyanna bowen | from: new reveal: all the details of the primary suite at the real simple home

This was a fun reveal because it was the first-ever Emily Henderson and Keyanna Bowen collab! Emily took the lead on the overall look and feel (much inspired by the farmhouse) and then Key took over on accessorizing and styling. How good is that wallpaper??

See How Ajai TRANSFORMED Her Client’s Builder Grade Guest Room -Get Ready For A Ton Of Cozy Design Ideas & Working-Mom Real Talkdesign and photo by ajai guyot | from: see how ajar transformed her client’s builder grade guest room

I am so into this guest room designed by Ajai for one of her clients. The wallpaper is stunning, the paneling adds so much charm, and that bedframe is perfection. Everything here is 10/10.

Fall 2021 Is All About Comfort, Ease, Affordability, And Gathering Again In Target’s New Big Launchstyling by emily bowser | photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: fall 2021 is all about comfort, ease, affordability, and gathering again in target’s new big launch styling by emily bowser | photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: fall 2021 is all about comfort, ease, affordability, and gathering again in target’s new big launch

This fall Target collection may be my favorite one ever. Everything from the coffee table to the bookcase to the lighting is exceptional but probably my favorite detail here is the headboard that Bowser DIY’d by covering it with a tufted quilt. Genius!

The Only Outdoor Halloween Entertaining Idea Post You May Ever Need: Emily “BOOswer” Does It Againdesign by emily bowser | photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: the only outdoor halloween entertaining post you may ever need

Emily Bowser blew us away once again with her incredible outdoor Halloween styling tips. This is a Halloween gathering that will give anyone FOMO.

Caitlin’s First MOTO Reveal – A Vintage Bathroom Gets A Modern Updatedesign by caitlin higgins for ehd | styling by emily bowser| photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: caitlin’s first moto reveal – a vintage bathroom gets a modern update

AH Caitlin’s first MOTO! She is the queen of choosing the perfect wallpaper for any space as you can see. She really transformed her dated vintage bathroom into something magical. It has also been decided that we all need a bath giraffe.

Caitlin’s Long, Dark Hallway Makeover (And The Perfect Paint Color That Worked With All 3 Of Her Bold Wallpapers)design by caitlin higgins for ehd | photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: caitlin’s long dark hallway makeover

Only Caitlin could manage to reveal two rooms in a row while also overseeing all of our partnerships. She is a gem as is this long hallway that she designed! The wall color may be my favorite thing but the gallery wall is a close second. You should definitely check this one out if you missed it.

Another Feel Good Flash Makeover Has Wrapped – Here’s How Lowe Transformed This Empty 2 Bedroom Apartment Into A Cozy, Kid-Friendly Oasisdesign and photo by lowe saddler of hot sunday home | from: another feel good flash makeover has wrapped – here’s how lowe transformed this empty two bedroom apartment

Feel good flash makeovers are back! We definitely hope to do more of these in 2022 with our lovely friends over at Pen + Napkin. Our team was able to assist with this one and it was so fun to see Lowe do her thing and make this empty apartment a home for a beautiful family.

The 3 Best Ways To SAVE $$$ On Your Kitchen Reno (+ Our EHD Alumns’ First Reveal As a New Boutique Team)design by grace de asis and julie rose for velinda hellen design | styling by emily bowser | photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: the 3 best ways to save $$$ on your kitchen reno

This kitchen had me at hello. The Velinda Hellen Design team (with so many EHD alums which is so fun) nailed this kitchen and did so with budget in mind. I could pour over every detail of this reveal for hours. It’s too good.

Caitlin’s Hard-To-Design Balcony Gets A Palm Beach Regency Refresh (+ Her #1 Balcony Must-Have Rec)design by caitlin higgins for ehd | styling by emily bowser | photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: caitlin’s hard to design balcony gets a palm beach regency refresh

Another Caitlin reveal! I told you this woman is a rockstar. We love how she mixed styles and textures and just had fun with this balcony reveal. The curtain hack is hands down my favorite detail and is such a smart way to hide ugly railings.

Target’s Holiday Assortment Is Here To Make All Our Gatherings Look And Feel Extra Special This Yearstyling by emily bowser | photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: target’s holiday assortment is here to make all our gatherings look and feel extra special this year

I am not gonna lie, this reveal really got me into the holiday spirit and that is a lot coming from me. The team did an insane job showcasing target’s holiday assortment. I could stare at these photos all day long!

Ryann’s MOTO Reveal: A Moody Multi-Functional Living And Dining Room With A Lot Of Souldesign by ryann miller for ehd | styling by emily bowser | photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: ryann’s moto reveal: a moody multi-functional living and dining room with a lot of soul

HEY, THAT’S MY HOME. This design really does feel like a reflection of my soul and it’s still so surreal that I got to share it here with you all. These photos still make my heart soar!

The Reveal You Didn’t Know You Were Waiting For – EHD Alum Photographer, Tessa, Shows Us Her FINALLY Updated Kitchen (Including A Classic New Trend)design and photos by tessa neustadt | from: the reveal you didn’t know you were waiting for – ehd alum photographer Tessa shows us her finally updated kitchen

I loved this surprise reveal. In case you don’t know, Tessa is another EHD alum (she was the photographer before Sara) and we feature her work on the blog all the time. This kitchen is one of those reveals that just looks and feels effortless and cool even though you know a lot of work was put into it. The before and afters are nuts!

Lea’s Seasonal Dining Room Decorating Ideas That You Won’t Have To Swap Out Once The Holidays Are Overdesign by lea johnson of creekwood hill | photo by chelsie lopez | from: lea’s seasonal dining room decorating ideas that you won’t have to swap out once the holidays are over

Lea’s seasonal tablescape ideas left me breathless. She really nailed how to decorate for the holiday season so that you don’t feel like you need to redecorate as soon as the holidays are over. I am definitely stealing a lot of these ideas for next year!

Julie’s First Lead Design With VHD – A Primary Bath Reveal + Tips On How To Easily Blend Classic & Contemporary Stylesdesign by julie rose for velinda hellen design |styling by emily bowser | photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: julie’s first lead design with VHD – a primary bath reveal

Another EHD alum, miss Julie Rose, graced us with this gorgeous bathroom makeover. There is so much to love here but I am really attracted to the tile and cabinet finish combination. There is something about it that feels vintage but in a very fresh modern way. I am head over heels for this bathroom.

The Feel-Good Modern Romantic Bedroom Makeover Jess Did For Her Dear Friend (All Thanks To The Company Store)design by jess bunge for ehd | styling by emily bowser | photo by sara ligorria-tramp | from: the feel-good modern romantic bedroom makeover jess did for her dear friend

We ended our year of reveals with this utterly romantic bedroom by our very own Jess Bunge. She designed it for one of her dear friends who lost a loved one this year so it is both a beautiful design and a heartwarming story. None of us can get over that wallpaper and all of the vintage accents are truly stunning.

Well, there you have it! That is every single room we revealed this year. I don’t know about you, but that just made me so excited to see what’s to come in 2022. Cheers! xx

The post Every 2021 Room Reveal: Including 5 Kitchen Renos, 10 Bedrooms, And So Much More appeared first on Emily Henderson.

The Link Up: A Christmas Rom-Com That Emily AND Brian Enjoyed, Jess’ Super Cool Sneakers & A Sweater That’s 50% Off

Welcome to the final link up of 2021. This time between Christmas and the new year often feels like a time warp (what day is it again??) so we hope you find some peace and relaxation before the new year. In the meantime, please enjoy this week’s links from team EHD:

Today’s home tour via Architectural Digest is a Park City, UT winter oasis that we would personally love to hole up in until the new year. The ski-lodge meets western Americana vibes are immaculate but the real star is clearly the all wood kitchen that is made out of reclaimed white and red oak. We are smitten.

From Emily: The Non-cheesy Christmas Rom-Com that you likely missed but can watch over break, that Brian and I BOTH enjoyed. So here’s what happened – “Last Christmas” came out only in theaters in December 2019 and they didn’t release it streaming til AFTER Christmas in 2020 (which was weird). And while I LOVE starting Christmas early, I don’t like watching holiday movies in March – so we kinda forgot about it. So Brian brought it up a couple of nights ago, that we had missed it (we both really like Emilia Clark and I have a solid crush on Henry Golding) and while it wasn’t ‘Love Actually’ quality it was leagues above The Christmas Switch 3, if you know what I mean.

From Ryann: I loved this little article via Cup of Jo that posed the question “How would you describe yourself in 5 words?“. After reading all the comments it made me feel strangely seen and then I asked my fiancé to tell me his 5 words and it’s a really fun little exercise. I think it would be really interesting to do it once a month and then see how the 5 words change over the year. Right now my 5 words are earnest, hopeful, grieving, self-aware, anxious. What are yours??

From Jess: These might be the coolest shoes I own and they are so comfortable! When I saw my friend wearing them I immediately needed to know where from and how long ago she got them (crossing my fingers they were still available). Luckily they were and I’m pretty freaking into them. The photo on the site does not do them justice. The neon orange strip is my favorite part but basically, they just make me feel real stylish. O and they are true to size (at least for me at a 7)

From Mallory: I accidentally found the best sweater deal on the internet and added it to cart so fast…this $120 waffle knit is now $47 (add it to cart and you’ll get the 50% off). I’m SUPER into this color green right now, but they also have it in a cream and black if you’re more into neutrals. The reviews say it’s ‘extremely soft and good quality’ so I’m excited to see it and wear it!!

From Caitlin: Coming in hot with a story of hope – in 2016, a guy from Massachusetts bought a piece of art at a yard sale for 30 bucks. 5 years later, a bunch of art experts realized that it was a previously unknown original drawing by the Renaissance master Dürer (from 1503, can you believe???) and that it’s actually worth a paltry FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS. The whole story of how it was found and how the piece was verified is a fun, escapist read. (Let this be a lesson to us all that we should ALWAYS attend the estate sales of prestigious architects.)

That’s all from us. Have a happy happy new year and please stay safe. See you for the next link up in 2022! xx

Opener Image Credit: Design by Cristof Eigelberger | Photo by Douglas Friedman | via The Killers Frontman Brandon Flowers’ Home Is a Desertscape Retreat in the Snowy Slopes of Park City, Utah

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Happy Holidays From Our Family To Yours + THANK YOU

The EHD team is off for a long holiday break (with fun pre-planned content next week) and I just wanted to pop in real quick to say thank you for another year of support – especially those of you who come daily, and even more to you long time readers. THANK YOU. This next year we’ll be in growth mode over here – with a lot of exciting things happening. Running a digital media business remains to be endlessly challenging – in both the good and bad ways. Turns out “simplifying my life” is harder than it sounds if you want to continue challenging yourself and innovating. And while I remain off the hamster wheel, I’m not ready to retire anytime soon. So I’ve been thinking a LOT about how to move the business forward, on the other side of lockdown, with my team in another state, and without falling into the same self-made traps that I have in the past. I’m so grateful for my team who is always here navigating it with me. And if it goes forward like it is in my head, 2022 is a year of really purposeful, educational, and inspirational content from myself, my team, and all of our awesome contributors (and hoping for more). I wrote a super long-winded self-indulgent post that I might publish on Jan 1 for those of you interested Let’s just say I found a new inspiration, a muse, an “expander”, that I’m channeling for the blog.

But more on that later… Isn’t mid-life so fun? Where you just think about large life stuff, purpose, how to find and create meaning ALL THE TIME? I actually do enjoy it and the changes we’ve made have brought more intention and purpose to our day-to-day, but at times I wish I could just go through the motions of life and blogging without so much self-reflection and analysis. That shouldn’t scare you that we won’t have more hair posts in 2022 because I already have a “how to make my curly hair look ‘cool'” post with a tutorial planned, alongside the most common electrical mistakes to avoid.

Like most of you, I’m excited to unplug a bit, play Yahtzee with my kids, try out a new breakfast casserole for Christmas morning, and plow through the holiday movies and some novels. I’m soaking up every single second of being in this house as I’ve missed it so much (especially the bathtub – we don’t have one in our rental house and I had NO idea the level of “bath person” I was).

So thank you all again SO MUCH. I can’t wait to start another exciting year with you all. Until then enjoy the rest of this crazy year, maybe take a bath if possible, and stay safe. xx

Opening Photo Credit: Photo by Suraya Barbee

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Our Biggest 2021 Surprise Blog Post “HITS” And “MISSES”

Our hope is that every post we publish will be loved by you, but 12 years into this crazy world of digital content creation, we still get shocked by what the Google Gods decide to “pickup” and give an extra boost of traffic to, or not. Here’s how it works – we get daily traffic from you lovely readers and then of course Instagram followers who come over for a particular post. And it all stays relatively consistent unless the Google crawlers, that comb through and analyze that day’s post, ping the Google gods to say “this one – make everyone on the internet see this one right now”. This isn’t something we actively chase but we certainly hope for a Google pickup and we do try to customize every post’s SEO to be “Google-friendly” in addition to being inspirational, educational, and personal. When we get a Google pickup (which we can watch in our second by second analytics) we all slack each other with a “Congrats ________ you got a Google pick up!!” and it’s VERY fun.

Before I tell you the hits and “flops”, high traffic isn’t always the goal for us. It’s this mix of traffic AND engagement that we strive for. For instance, I know that my personal posts won’t get a lot of Google hits (unless I put “dead cats” or ‘”vasectomy” in the title – true story). “Engagement” is actually more important to us because it means that you really read it, were invested in it, and that keeps us caring more. It means all of us are more connected – which like most relationships is far more meaningful. But Google traffic can introduce new people to the blog thus growing the daily readership to have even more meaningful connections. I sound like a marketing strategist right now doing some weird PR speech but you get it – we don’t just want anonymous randos every day that will never come back because that feels soulless to us as human ladies who care so much about this site. But we also want new people to find value here, stay a while and yes, come back. So while some of these are “surprise hits” it doesn’t mean that we necessarily value them higher just because they got a lot of Google traffic (although we very much appreciate it).

THE SURPRISE HITS

Oh and real quick – these weren’t the most popular posts of the year in traffic or engagement, just the ones that we stood out shockingly high traffic due to Google pickups. They were the ones really didn’t predict.

What Do You Do With That Awkward Space Above Your Kitchen Cabinets?photo by tessa neustadt | from: emily’s glendale kitchen reveal

Why did this crash our site that day? Well, it’s simple solutions to a problem that PLAGUES so many of us. Good job, Mal for asking the question and giving some pretty solid solutions for this annoying and awkward problem area.

How To Make Your Living Room Look Better (The 7 Dos and Don’ts)left: photo by tessa neustadt, from: griffith park sunroom reveal | right: photo by tessa neustadt, from: griffith park living room reveal

This was inspired by me, Googling “how to be a better mom” after a bout of frustration with myself (and the kids). I forget what article I read, but it wasn’t anything NEW. I “intellectually KNOW” what it means to be a good parent, but reading another article by a parenting expert, simplifying what I already knew, was somehow still super helpful and comforting. So I wondered what is our version of that – and thus spawned the series that has been a pretty big hit (don’t steal the idea, it will be obvious you got it here). I think we all just love the simplicity – it makes us feel safe, comforted. Reminds us we aren’t alone in our problems and wants, and empowers us that we can do this.

The One “Entire House” Paint Trick That Stole Our Hearts (+ A Bunch Other Ideas To Feast Your Eyes On)design by a1000xbetter | lead design by patrick maziarski | styled by patrick maziarski and jazlyn jennings | photo by virtually here studios

Oh, I get it – I knew what it was and even I want to click on that title again because I love a “paint trick” that someone with a lot of experience will recommend. Jess and Ryann great job on this one.

Two Simple (But VERY PRETTY) Bathroom DIYs That Lea Johnson Executed In One Weekenddesign by lea johnson

We love Lea – her posts are always awesome, but again – this one surpassed normal expectations. I think it was the words “bathroom” “DIY” and “weekend”. Jess is great at entering in what are called “slugs” to try to stand out when Google crawls over our posts. So great job Lea, Ryann, and Jess on that one.

Is Cord Swagging Back?? And Are They Part Of The Sculpture (+ It Can Actually Be A Really Affordable Trend)design by flack studio | styling by joseph gardner | photo by anson smart | via architectural digest

I pitched this idea with little fanfare from my team, but they helped me publish it regardless (likely because I’m their boss), so imagine my excitement when the numbers were off the charts! I think it hit because of the word “trend” (yes, it works) and “affordable”. I gloated a tiny bit, but don’t worry – some of my other “slam dunks” below were total air balls. Thus the addiction…

The Posts We Thought Would Be Off The Charts, But Were Just Normal

I’m not going to pretend that we don’t get disappointed when we really put a lot of time/effort or thought into a post and it just does normal traffic (again, not bad traffic, but just didn’t meet our excitement and expectation). We do. But we are also used to it – and when you publish 365 posts a year you just move on VERY QUICKLY. Plus you get to learn something.

Kid Mask Review – Our Kid’s Three Favorites (And 20 That We Crowdsourced From Real Parents That Fit Well And Their Kids Actually Wear)

In retrospect, this post didn’t take off as I predicted because I think most parents already had a ton of masks for their kids when we published. Well, that and I think we posted it after a lot of kids were already back in school (late August). My family was so isolated for so long that we honestly didn’t think about kids masks until a couple of weeks before school in September. I wasn’t reading the general temperature well – most of y’all already had your kid’s masks and didn’t care about the post (or maybe it was boring).

Farmhouse Update: How To Design A Kitchen With A Load Bearing Post And Beam In The Middle + 4 Unique Optionsvia devol

I still have NO idea why this didn’t do better. I know it seems kinda specific but I also know that so many people want to open up the kitchen in their old house to make it bigger, but they have a load-bearing post right in the middle. This could have been due to timing, bad SEO words, or maybe I needed to simplify the title – “how to open up a kitchen without removing a post”. It didn’t take a ton of time as I had already pinned the solutions when we thought we couldn’t move our post so that’s ok.

In Search Of The Best Rugs For Kids And Pets That Are Still Actually Cozy – And The 4 Rugs We Keep Coming Back To (Guess What They Have In Common???)photo by sara ligorria-tramp | From: see how ehd brings fall into our homes (and yes, there are *chic* pumpkins involved … target does it again)

Again, I thought that this would totally hit and don’t get me wrong – it was normal traffic, but with “kids” “pet” and “rugs” and “cozy” I just thought it would do really well. I have NO IDEA why it didn’t. I would read that post over and over.

The Shorts We Bought That Made Us Feel Really Good (And The Ones We Would Skip) – AKA A Very Honest Review Post

This post did fine, but we were expecting a lot of people to be excited about a shorts review since it did SO WELL a couple of years before. I think that fashion reviews might be hard because so much of the fit is based on your body type, not necessarily the piece itself. But most of my team loved the same pair of shorts which is pretty darn compelling. I also think when we style out an outfit it helps give it more context?

So You Want To Put An Arch In Your House? Read This Firstphoto by sara ligorria-tramp | from: living room update – again | photoshopped by jess:)

Another one of my pitches that I thought FOR SURE would be HUGE and it was just normal. I mean, arches are on year 4 of being incredibly popular in homes, social media, etc. Maybe if I had put “DIY arch” or “Design Mistake – The Insta-famous Arch Can’t Go in Every Style of House” that might have helped.

Hate Your Popcorn Ceilings? Albie Is Giving Us A Popcorn Ceiling Removal 101 (Plus A GREAT DIY Option)design by albie k. buabeng | photo by ellie lillstrom | from: what happens when you design your living room and then move?? you make it work… albie’s new living room round one!

I was so excited to read this post when Albie pitched it and we said yes immediately. It got normal traffic (and longer engagement – so those who came stayed for a while) but popcorn ceilings are such a menace that I thought Google would pick it up for sure.

design by a1000xbetter | lead design by patrick maziarski | styled by patrick maziarski and jazlyn jennings | photo by virtually here studios

Another fun year of trying to predict the internet. It’s like we are seasoned gamblers at this point – we are better at poker than most, but we are frequently reminded that it’s still a crapshoot. I am super proud of my team for enthusiastically playing this game by reinventing posts, taking risks, and really using our IT experience behind the scenes to get Google crawlers to pick it up.

So much of it is about timing, too. For instance, the first time we posted “how to choose the right rug size for your living room” was March 14th, 2020 – the week everyone was glued to the news, not reading design blogs or red dawning it out of their offices. I remember obtusely being like “what? this is such a good post?”, not totally understanding what was about to happen two days later (lockdown, pandemic, nothing rug-related AT ALL). So 3 months later when everyone was redecorating we reposted it, realizing that none of you really saw it in the first place and boom it hit then and continues to be a big traffic driver. So there are lots of factors and again it doesn’t dictate the posts, but it’s something we think about in hopes that Google will help the post do even better.

Curious about the #1 post of the year in engagement? We’ll have that coming up for you next week – along with what you pinned the most (so interesting), what you bought the most (always fascinating), and a roundup of all of our makeovers from 2021 (it was a slightly slower year than most, but still so much!!). Thanks to my wonderful team for another great year of navigating the unpredictable waters of the internet and thanks to you all for coming back and giving us a semblance of consistency and hope that many people actually care about our posts, regardless of “Google pickups”. xx

Opening Image Credits: Design by Reath Design | Architecture by Bestor Architecture | Photo by Laure Joliet

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We Asked And You Delivered – Here Are The Best Trader Joe’s Appetizers, Dips, and Food Hacks

I needed help and you seriously delivered. I’m book-marking this page forever. I shopped exclusively from Trader Joe’s in my 20’s (in New York) then in my 30’s in LA until we moved back to Los Feliz and I couldn’t handle the 15 minutes it took to wait for parking not to mention the line to check out. But now that I’m back in Portland, where running mom errands is a JOY, I literally didn’t know what to bring to a pre-omicron appetizer/crafting get-together a couple of weeks ago. So we put it out there on social media and y’all seriously hooked us up. What we loved so much was how consistent you were – there are CLEAR favorites and not only that but so many of you recommended a combination of two apps that we would have never done (see below). So whether you are hoping for some easy cozy snacks while playing games or serving others this year, here are some appetizer recommendations from Trader Joe’s (unsponsored obviously).

1. Spanakopita: So many of you recommended this. Everyone swears it’s a party hit and is great to have in a pinch.
2. Parmesan Pastry Pups: Sign me up for fancy pigs in a blanket any day of the week. Great for kids and adults!
3. Samosas: The samosas were another greatest hit in our DMs. You guys insist they are a super popular at parties or for a quick and easy snack.

1. Fried Stuffed Olives: I can’t wait to try these. They are breaded fried olives with cream cheese so I can imagine they would be gone very quickly at any gathering.
2. Bacon-Wrapped Dates with Goat Cheese: I am not at all surprised to hear these are fantastic. Jess Note: They are actual pieces of heaven on your mouth.
3. Chicken Cilantro Wontons: I know the frozen chicken potstickers are great but I haven’t tried these yet. I am excited to buy them next time I go to TJ’s.
4. Feta Cheese and Caramelized Onion Puffs: Oh these sound so delicious. A LOT of you said these are the best so I am very excited to try.

1. Buffalo Chicken Dip: This buffalo chicken dip is another clear winner. Y’all suggest pairing with bread or crackers and I imagine there are some great recipes you can use this in too.
2. Vegan Tzatziki Dip: You all said this is great paired with veggies and is a perfect vegan alternative for a dressing or dip.
3. Truffle Dip: If you have had anything truffle based you know it is RICH so I bet this dip would pair so well with celery or carrots.

1. Baked Brie: This baked brie en croûte looks delicious. It looks and tastes fancy and everyone loves bread and cheese, right?
2. Corn Salsa: I didn’t realize tomato-less salsa is such a thing but now I know. We are told that pairing the corn salsa with their blue corn tortilla chips is absolutely delicious.
3. Spinach Artichoke Dip: Almost everyone in the DMs noted that the frozen spinach and artichoke dip is killer.

1. Cooked Lentils + Crumbled Feta + Bruschetta Sauce: We were all blown away by how many of your recommended this combination. You guys suggest putting the mixture on a crostini, crackers, or just serving as a salad. I can’t wait to try.
2. Croissants with Spinach Artichoke Dip: YUM. Bread
+ creamy spinach and artichoke dip never misses.
3. Triple Cream Brie with Raisin Rosemary Crackers: So many of you swear by the triple cream brie cheese and a huge number also suggest pairing it with the raisin rosemary crackers.

1. Roll Goat Cheese in Everything But The Bagel Seasoning and Serve with Crackers: I knew Everything But The Bagel Seasoning was popular and now I am so excited to try it with goat cheese the next time we do a charcuterie board.
2. Pair Brie with Fig Butter on Crackers: Again, the triple cream brie was a very popular suggestion and the fig butter is supposed to pair with it perfectly.
3. Blueberry Goat Cheese and Pepper Jelly: This is a very interesting pairing that I am intrigued to try! A TON of you told us the pepper jelly is a staple and pairs well with so many things.

Big thanks to everyone who sent us their recs and please if you have more drop them in the comments. xx

Opening Image Credit: Design and Styled by Jess Bunge | Photo by Sara Ligorria-Tramp | From: How To Have Great Holiday Cocktail Party In A Tiny Apartment (All the Hacks You Need to Know)

The post We Asked And You Delivered – Here Are The Best Trader Joe’s Appetizers, Dips, and Food Hacks appeared first on Emily Henderson.

Personal Feelings About Wrapping Paper + How To Wrap Presents More Sustainably, Affordably, And Still Stylish

We didn’t wrap presents growing up – and looking back I’m glad for it. My parents would hate me saying this publicly but they would often tape the Fred Meyers shopping bag shut and write a name on it with a sharpie. With six kids to shop/wrap for, I can’t imagine how laborious and expensive it might have been. They were wise. Sure that Christmas morning reveal wasn’t “Pinterest worthy” (are we still saying that?), but it made more sense for their lives, sanity, and wallet. I don’t want to totally decimate the wrapping paper industry right now or make ANYONE feel bad for their wrapping paper love, fetish, or addiction. But it’s increasingly not making sense to me either – both for sustainability reasons and cost. It’s very single use, often dramatically ripped open and thrown away, rarely recyclable, and for what? Minutes of viewing pleasure under the tree by children before their little monster hands can destroy it? And don’t get me started on the cost of non-bulk ribbon – sometimes there is only enough ribbon on a roll for one present – ONE and it’s like $7. NO. No. No. So here is what I’m doing this year.

Hack #1 – Newspaper As Wrapping Paperphoto by christine han for cup of jo | styling by linsey laidlaw | via cup of jo

We get the Sunday Times and while a lot of the news headlines or photos aren’t something you want on your kid’s presents, there are a lot of pages that can be used and I think it looks cool. So we’ve been collecting it all fall, and hoarding it to take down to the mountain house. Not only is it recyclable but it does add some nice texture and pattern underneath the tree. It costs nothing (if you are already getting it).

Hack #2 – Bulk Brown Craft Paperphoto by sara ligorria-tramp | styled by emily bowser | from: target’s holiday assortment Is here to make all our gatherings look and feel extra special this year

If you aren’t hoarding newspaper, then bulk craft paper is highly recyclable and super affordable. You’ve seen it for years in shoots for Martha Stewart, with pretty sprigs and bakers twine. Will the kids freak out about it? Nope. But they are more concerned with what’s inside, plus they’ll get used to it. IF you want something fancier, these are pretty cute, too. Elliot LOVES to help me wrap and I know that she won’t be as excited about the neutral, so I found green recyclable bulk paper. But also if you are bored and feeling crafty, plain craft paper is perfect for decorating (just don’t put anything on it that prevents it from being recyclable). Need some inspiration? Here you go:

from left to right: via coffee & vanilla | via almost makes perfect | via diy in pdx

On the far right is VERY cute handmade wrapping paper using potato stamps via a site called Coffee & Vanilla. I know my kids would love using food to create something really cool. Then in the middle, Molly from Almost Makes Perfect made some super cute options with different-sized paint brushes which I’m sure a lot of us have just laying around the house. Lastly, on the far right, Rachel from DIY in PDX decided that using ready-made stamps was the way to go which you can obviously use for many years. All awesome and pretty doable.

via paper & stitch

DIY queen, Brittni Mehlhoff of Paper and Stitch, went the paint route but instead of carving a potato or buying stamps, she just found items around her house to make really fun patterns.

left: via chic pursuit | right: via splash of something

These next two ideas are slightly more involved but could be really fun with kids or if you are a crafter. That bear idea via Chic Pursuit is pretty darn sweet and I know Birdie would have so much fun making it. Then look how awesome that recyclable star straw is from A Splash of Something. So many great ideas with a quick search.

Hack #3 – Bulk Recyclable and Reusable Gift Bags

Want to save even more time and never buy wrapping paper again? Go for reusable gift bags and for extra credit make sure that they are recyclable. Nothing new here to report, but I just want to remind myself and others that it’s ok to not individually wrap presents and to just throw them in a bag. Heck, you could use the newspaper as the tissue paper.

Recyclable Gifts Bags

I bought these bags because they are cute, simple, and most importantly recyclable if they get a little too messed up to use for another year.

Paper Bags | Drawstring Bags

But these paper bags are also super cute and I love these little drawstring guys because they can be used as produce bags, or used to store shoes, purses, whatever you want. AND they come in multiple sizes!

Left: Santa Sack | Right: Santa Sack

Jess found these and I thought they were a sweet idea. It’s a customizable “Santa Sack” that you can just reuse every year like a stocking (I don’t know why we didn’t do this but now that the kids are 6 and 8 – close to the age of truth, it might be too late. Pretty cute.

Hack #4 -Bulk Quality Ribbon, Bakers Twine, And Stringphoto by sara ligorria-tramp | from: my first “refined traditional” holiday look…target style

Left to Right: Red Grosgrain Ribbon | Striped Red Ribbon | Satin Red Ribbon

I LOVE this ribbon. I’m a ribbon hoarder from my Martha Stewart days. I have boxes of beautiful ribbons and after Christmas, I salvage what I can and keep them for the next year. I usually buy bulk ribbon (double-sided satin or grosgrain) at the flower market but you can get them online so easily these days. Quality ribbon like this becomes slightly more of an investment because the cheaper stuff doesn’t save well, plus buying this in bulk is still way more affordable than buying a small roll in a store. I collect white, red, black, plaids, and stripes in grosgrain or double-sided satin in a variety of widths then snatch them and throw them back into your ribbon box once undone. Just make sure you get at least 25 yards so it can amply wrap multiple presents. Bakers twine is an affordable sweet option (add a candy cane or a sprig of evergreen/eucalyptus) and heck, even yarn can look really cute.

Again, no judgment if you guys have a whole wrapping station room stocked and ready to go – don’t throw anything out, but if you/we want to reduce our pre and post-consumer waste this feels like a pretty easy way to do it while saving time, money, making our life easier and still looking like you care. Our kids might notice it at first, but a quick conversation about mother earth should solve that, plus obviously they are more focused on the likely non-sustainable “stuff” inside:) Listen, we aren’t going to be perfect and the holidays are a huge time of pre and post-consumer waste, so if there are obvious ways to conserve and make a better choice, then I figured it was worth talking about. End of rant xx

Opening Image Credits: Photo by Sara Ligorria-Tramp | From: How We Decked Our Halls for Christmas

The post Personal Feelings About Wrapping Paper + How To Wrap Presents More Sustainably, Affordably, And Still Stylish appeared first on Emily Henderson.

After Putting In 15 Offers, Ajai Has Finally Found Her House… Sort Of

Hey there, Ajai here, and I’m back with quite the home-buying update… Remember our horrendous home-buying journey, well we’re still at it. To sum it up we heard 14 “nos” until we heard one very special “yes” (I guess 15’s a charm). Before we get to what we purchased, let’s share how we finally got here.

Our home search spread from LA County to Orange County and it wasn’t before long, we realized we were swimming in a pool with people who had millions of dollars in cash to throw at hideous fixers. I kept wondering who these people were, where they worked, and where they currently lived. With some of the purchasing prices, I thought to myself, “why would someone with this sort of cash on hand be interested in such a home, why not just buy a turnkey home in a prestigious neighborhood? Especially if they were going to spend more money to gut and renovate the house.” Almost every home under $800,000 was in need of a complete tear-down and build-up. For this reason, we began considering condominiums and townhomes. We began our search again, just with new expectations and an understanding of what it meant to live in a condo. We needed to get familiar with HOA (homeowners associations) and what this truly entailed.

hoa home option we saw

This made our home-buying journey a bit more unique, as it meant us interviewing HOAs and learning which ones would be a good fit for us. With every condo/townhouse, we had to inquire about the CC&Rs (covenants conditions and regulations) and ultimately wanted to make sure we were a good match for their rules. It started to feel like dating in a way… We wanted to see what the organization’s values consisted of, if we’d be able to make our own decisions when it came to updating the inside of our home, if there were any restrictions, and ultimately, how much we’d have to fork over each month in HOA dues.

another hoa home option we saw

Okay, maybe it wasn’t like dating (I’ve been out of the game for a decade, so I’m a bit rusty haha…). Maybe researching HOAs was more like choosing the right college. Nonetheless, it was tough business and quite the commitment. One thing we knew for sure, is that having to consider an HOA meant there could be limitations on what could be done to the home and rules that we would need to follow to maintain a good standing within our community. That said, you wouldn’t believe the sorts of rules some of these HOAs had.

another hoa home option we saw

We came across rules like (I’m paraphrasing here) “Every Owner(s) must run paint colors, flooring, and hardware by the association…” (I learned quickly that HOAs weren’t very designer-friendly) or “there can only be two heartbeats in a single unit” (I couldn’t believe that because of the square footage in some places, Jon, Jack, and myself couldn’t live there). It seemed like every time I found a great home, the HOA was quite the opposite, and when I found a good home with a good homeowners association, someone with a ton of cash would come along and offer a ridiculous amount of money (paying well over asking price, and quite frankly, insanely more than what the home was actually worth). We put in offer after offer, and eventually found ourselves putting in an offer on home number 15. Funny thing is, I’d seen this place early on during our search (it was fuuuugggly… even I had a hard time seeing the vision). Maybe because it was painted in circus colors. The entire living room had been painted red and yellow, and the baseboards were royal blue. The kitchen walls also kept to the circus theme. For weeks, I scrolled past the listing without giving it much thought, then I noticed it was taken offline and thought to myself “some crazy person must have purchased it. I’ll have to say a special prayer for them.”

I learned later that the owner of the circus condo took the listing down to have painters come in to paint the walls a reasonable color (cool gray as you can see in these before photos). All this to say, my realtor sent the listing to me again and told me to have another look. He mentioned how amazing the HOA was, and that I’d have full control over any design changes I wanted to make in the inside of the condo. So I looked over the listing again. I could see the potential this time around (maybe it was because I’d given it a rest for a few weeks… looking for homes had gotten so discouraging). This time, I felt good about the place. Needless to say, we made an offer. This offer took me a bit out of my comfort zone, as I’ve never been a fan of purchasing big-ticket items without seeing them in person. But I really wanted this place. I should also mention our apartment’s leasing office kept sending us letters in the mail stating that they’d be raising the rent significantly, along with pressuring us to renew our lease or to pack our things and hit the road. This alone made me feel anxious. I’d gotten to a point where I really wanted us to be in a place where our $35,000 spent in rent each year could go toward a place that would stay in our family. I thought it would be nice to have a place that Jack could inherit. This made purchasing our own property more important to me, even if it meant moving into an investment property before finding our dream home. So Jon and I decided we would save and use our savings for our dream home, and consider other means to move forward with purchasing an investment property.

design by ajai guyot | photo by ellie lillstrom | from: see how ajai transformed her client’s builder grade guest room -get ready for a ton of cozy design ideas & working-mom real talk

I had made the decision to pick up extra work, so we could put together a nice down payment on this property, and Jon dipped into his own savings for the renovation work (because we sure had quite a few things to update). Now let’s get back to the part where we put in an offer on a place sight unseen. Quickly, we found out we were up against three other offers as our realtor came back advising us to offer over asking. We needed to beat out the competition (even though we had no idea what the competition was offering). We arrived at $2,000 over asking (if it didn’t appraise for the listed price), a 7-day due diligence, and purchasing the property in an “as-is” condition. We put in the offer on a Friday and had to wait until Monday to hear back. We never did find out what the other offers were, but ours was chosen, and just like that, we were in escrow.

Once our offer was accepted, reality set in. We had a week to get our inspections done, and to check it out before the window to back out (if we hated it) closed. This is when I should mention the place is in Las Vegas. Vegas is a 4-hour drive from our parents (in Los Angeles), and I have cousins who live there. My sister and brother-in-law also have a second home there. We thought this would be the perfect place to hang (as we both work from home) while we wait for the Los Angeles housing market to chill out a bit (and keep searching for a primary home). Plus, we couldn’t beat those Las Vegas home prices. By the end of the week, our inspection was completed, and we hopped in our car (with our little one) and headed out to see the place for the first time. When we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised by the natural beauty (mountain views galore) and parks that surrounded the neighborhood. The neighborhood turned out to be quite pleasant, with many smiling faces and friendly waves. Once we got into the home, we felt like it was a good decision, and began game-planning our renovations. After completing our walkthrough and getting out of due diligence, the rest of the escrow felt like a breeze. In what seemed to be a blink of an eye, escrow closed and the place was ours. It felt great to be homeowners once again, and now we just needed to begin the process of moving out of our rental and over to my parents while we worked on the new place.

Want to know what my favorite part of a renovation is? Dreaming up the space. I love creating renderings and sourcing materials the most, especially when there’s not much that needs to be done in a space. These things were just cosmetic, just to bring life back into an outdated space. I started with sourcing floors. I had found two options for the kitchen and the rest of the house, I just needed a way to save on shipping. Jon ended up being my save-on-shipping man. I found a store in Los Angeles that had the majority of the floors in stock, so we loaded up the car and Jon did a turnaround trip to drop off the floors.

When Jon arrived to unload the floors… I should let Jon tell you this part, I wouldn’t do it justice.

“Hi friends! Jon here (Ajai’s husband)! I’m happy to be included in this part, especially as it was so gut-wrenching. Hold onto your seats (or sofas) for this one.

I was so excited to be driving up to our new place. I love long drives and this was a nice one. I was cruising, listening to my podcasts, and figured I would grab the keys from the realtor, check out the place, facetime Ajai and Jack from inside of the place, and get some food after. What I didn’t expect was to walk into a place with hundreds of roaches… There were so many! So many roaches that when I was approaching the front door, they were running out of the place. They were on the walls, the ceiling, all over the kitchen and bathrooms, the bedrooms, everywhere. I was shocked, disgusted, and completely bummed.

I inspected the home, hopping from one room to the next, trying not to stand still for too long – to avoid any possible hitch-hikers and after about 4 or 5 minutes, I left. I immediately called Ajai and told her the news. She could sense the defeat in my voice and gave a little pep talk. After our discussion, the next thing I had to do was swing by our local home improvement store and get some roach traps and bait. I bought all of the bait they had, a couple of grenades, and a flamethrower, then headed back – this was war! No, but seriously I did bring back a lot of roach traps and bait.

I facetimed Ajai from inside the home this time, and her jaw dropped. Apparently, she could see teenage and adult roaches crawling on the wall directly behind me. I showed her all the fun I was having and then began laying the traps and bait. To be honest, I can’t remember much after that (it was too traumatizing). I got out of there so quickly. However, I do remember the buyer’s remorse I felt during the drive home.

Hi Friends, it’s Ajai. I’m back hoping you’re still here after that horror story my husband just shared.

A week passed, I had my mother look after Jack while Jon and I headed back for round two. This time we had hazmat suits, masks, gloves, and shoe covers on along with some more premium roach bait gel, bait arenas, and a genetic mutator bait to prevent any more mating between the insects. Ironically, when we arrived, whatever Jon had done before had worked. There were maybe 5 or 10 live buggies running around, but the rest were gone. It almost felt like Jon had made the whole thing up, until I discovered all of the carcasses everywhere.

Demo day had finally arrived, and I was all too thrilled to see the old floors being torn up and the place being prepped for new floors. We learned there was a nice amount of water damage to the original floors – so they had to go. I love a clean slate anyway, and demo day provides just that. A fresh new canvas for paint, and boy was I looking forward to painting. We received the color “Whipped” from Clare, and thought it best to paint the entire house this color. We wanted it to feel fresh and warm. Whipped was the perfect choice, as our home now feels delicate and soft (a long way from the cold gray). We had the house painted just in time for the holiday, and were able to move in a couple of weeks before Christmas.

the primary bedroom

Now let’s talk about living through a renovation with a 1-year-old. Jon and I have created little barriers all over the house, to keep Jack from getting into any of the construction areas, and we’re basically always at the park, or going on a walk so that he can walk and play. Oh yes, Jack is walking now! Our little guy seems to like the energy of our new home so far, and that’s what keeps us going – we just want him to be happy. We want to be able to leave him something in the long run, and we are thrilled this place will be a part of that something. Though the bathrooms are up and running, the hardware still needs to be swapped out in both tubs/showers, and we still don’t have a functioning kitchen. The good news is, our kitchen should be completed at the end of January (in about a month). Our appliances are set to arrive December 30th, and I can’t wait! It’s been way too long since I cooked a homemade meal for my family. The next project we’re working on is the living room! Stay tuned and follow me for the entire journey. I’ll also be back with an update soon! 

Opening Image Credits: Design by Ajai Guyot | From: Ajai’s Neutral Living Room Refresh + How Her Design Choices Parallel Her Journey Becoming A Black Interior Designer

The post After Putting In 15 Offers, Ajai Has Finally Found Her House… Sort Of appeared first on Emily Henderson.

15’s A Charm: Ajai’s Home Search Is OVER… Sort Of

Hey there, Ajai here, and I’m back with quite the home-buying update… Remember our horrendous home-buying journey, well we’re still at it. To sum it up we heard 14 “nos” until we heard one very special “yes” (I guess 15’s a charm). Before we get to what we purchased, let’s share how we finally got here.

Our home search spread from LA County to Orange County and it wasn’t before long, we realized we were swimming in a pool with people who had millions of dollars in cash to throw at hideous fixers. I kept wondering who these people were, where they worked, and where they currently lived. With some of the purchasing prices, I thought to myself, “why would someone with this sort of cash on hand be interested in such a home, why not just buy a turnkey home in a prestigious neighborhood? Especially if they were going to spend more money to gut and renovate the house.” Almost every home under $800,000 was in need of a complete tear-down and build-up. For this reason, we began considering condominiums and townhomes. We began our search again, just with new expectations and an understanding of what it meant to live in a condo. We needed to get familiar with HOA (homeowners associations) and what this truly entailed.

hoa home option we saw

This made our home-buying journey a bit more unique, as it meant us interviewing HOAs and learning which ones would be a good fit for us. With every condo/townhouse, we had to inquire about the CC&Rs (covenants conditions and regulations) and ultimately wanted to make sure we were a good match for their rules. It started to feel like dating in a way… We wanted to see what the organization’s values consisted of, if we’d be able to make our own decisions when it came to updating the inside of our home, if there were any restrictions, and ultimately, how much we’d have to fork over each month in HOA dues.

another hoa home option we saw

Okay, maybe it wasn’t like dating (I’ve been out of the game for a decade, so I’m a bit rusty haha…). Maybe researching HOAs was more like choosing the right college. Nonetheless, it was tough business and quite the commitment. One thing we knew for sure, is that having to consider an HOA meant there could be limitations on what could be done to the home and rules that we would need to follow to maintain a good standing within our community. That said, you wouldn’t believe the sorts of rules some of these HOAs had.

another hoa home option we saw

We came across rules like (I’m paraphrasing here) “Every Owner(s) must run paint colors, flooring, and hardware by the association…” (I learned quickly that HOAs weren’t very designer-friendly) or “there can only be two heartbeats in a single unit” (I couldn’t believe that because of the square footage in some places, Jon, Jack, and myself couldn’t live there). It seemed like every time I found a great home, the HOA was quite the opposite, and when I found a good home with a good homeowners association, someone with a ton of cash would come along and offer a ridiculous amount of money (paying well over asking price, and quite frankly, insanely more than what the home was actually worth). We put in offer after offer, and eventually found ourselves putting in an offer on home number 15. Funny thing is, I’d seen this place early on during our search (it was fuuuugggly… even I had a hard time seeing the vision). Maybe because it was painted in circus colors. The entire living room had been painted red and yellow, and the baseboards were royal blue. The kitchen walls also kept to the circus theme. For weeks, I scrolled past the listing without giving it much thought, then I noticed it was taken offline and thought to myself “some crazy person must have purchased it. I’ll have to say a special prayer for them.”

I learned later that the owner of the circus condo took the listing down to have painters come in to paint the walls a reasonable color (cool gray as you can see in these before photos). All this to say, my realtor sent the listing to me again and told me to have another look. He mentioned how amazing the HOA was, and that I’d have full control over any design changes I wanted to make in the inside of the condo. So I looked over the listing again. I could see the potential this time around (maybe it was because I’d given it a rest for a few weeks… looking for homes had gotten so discouraging). This time, I felt good about the place. Needless to say, we made an offer. This offer took me a bit out of my comfort zone, as I’ve never been a fan of purchasing big-ticket items without seeing them in person. But I really wanted this place. I should also mention our apartment’s leasing office kept sending us letters in the mail stating that they’d be raising the rent significantly, along with pressuring us to renew our lease or to pack our things and hit the road. This alone made me feel anxious. I’d gotten to a point where I really wanted us to be in a place where our $35,000 spent in rent each year could go toward a place that would stay in our family. I thought it would be nice to have a place that Jack could inherit. This made purchasing our own property more important to me, even if it meant moving into an investment property before finding our dream home. So Jon and I decided we would save and use our savings for our dream home, and consider other means to move forward with purchasing an investment property.

design by ajai guyot | photo by ellie lillstrom | from: see how ajai transformed her client’s builder grade guest room -get ready for a ton of cozy design ideas & working-mom real talk

I had made the decision to pick up extra work, so we could put together a nice down payment on this property, and Jon dipped into his own savings for the renovation work (because we sure had quite a few things to update). Now let’s get back to the part where we put in an offer on a place sight unseen. Quickly, we found out we were up against three other offers as our realtor came back advising us to offer over asking. We needed to beat out the competition (even though we had no idea what the competition was offering). We arrived at $2,000 over asking (if it didn’t appraise for the listed price), a 7-day due diligence, and purchasing the property in an “as-is” condition. We put in the offer on a Friday and had to wait until Monday to hear back. We never did find out what the other offers were, but ours was chosen, and just like that, we were in escrow.

Once our offer was accepted, reality set in. We had a week to get our inspections done, and to check it out before the window to back out (if we hated it) closed. This is when I should mention the place is in Las Vegas. Vegas is a 4-hour drive from our parents (in Los Angeles), and I have cousins who live there. My sister and brother-in-law also have a second home there. We thought this would be the perfect place to hang (as we both work from home) while we wait for the Los Angeles housing market to chill out a bit (and keep searching for a primary home). Plus, we couldn’t beat those Las Vegas home prices. By the end of the week, our inspection was completed, and we hopped in our car (with our little one) and headed out to see the place for the first time. When we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised by the natural beauty (mountain views galore) and parks that surrounded the neighborhood. The neighborhood turned out to be quite pleasant, with many smiling faces and friendly waves. Once we got into the home, we felt like it was a good decision, and began game-planning our renovations. After completing our walkthrough and getting out of due diligence, the rest of the escrow felt like a breeze. In what seemed to be a blink of an eye, escrow closed and the place was ours. It felt great to be homeowners once again, and now we just needed to begin the process of moving out of our rental and over to my parents while we worked on the new place.

Want to know what my favorite part of a renovation is? Dreaming up the space. I love creating renderings and sourcing materials the most, especially when there’s not much that needs to be done in a space. These things were just cosmetic, just to bring life back into an outdated space. I started with sourcing floors. I had found two options for the kitchen and the rest of the house, I just needed a way to save on shipping. Jon ended up being my save-on-shipping man. I found a store in Los Angeles that had the majority of the floors in stock, so we loaded up the car and Jon did a turnaround trip to drop off the floors.

When Jon arrived to unload the floors… I should let Jon tell you this part, I wouldn’t do it justice.

“Hi friends! Jon here (Ajai’s husband)! I’m happy to be included in this part, especially as it was so gut-wrenching. Hold onto your seats (or sofas) for this one.

I was so excited to be driving up to our new place. I love long drives and this was a nice one. I was cruising, listening to my podcasts, and figured I would grab the keys from the realtor, check out the place, facetime Ajai and Jack from inside of the place, and get some food after. What I didn’t expect was to walk into a place with hundreds of roaches… There were so many! So many roaches that when I was approaching the front door, they were running out of the place. They were on the walls, the ceiling, all over the kitchen and bathrooms, the bedrooms, everywhere. I was shocked, disgusted, and completely bummed.

I inspected the home, hopping from one room to the next, trying not to stand still for too long – to avoid any possible hitch-hikers and after about 4 or 5 minutes, I left. I immediately called Ajai and told her the news. She could sense the defeat in my voice and gave a little pep talk. After our discussion, the next thing I had to do was swing by our local home improvement store and get some roach traps and bait. I bought all of the bait they had, a couple of grenades, and a flamethrower, then headed back – this was war! No, but seriously I did bring back a lot of roach traps and bait.

I facetimed Ajai from inside the home this time, and her jaw dropped. Apparently, she could see teenage and adult roaches crawling on the wall directly behind me. I showed her all the fun I was having and then began laying the traps and bait. To be honest, I can’t remember much after that (it was too traumatizing). I got out of there so quickly. However, I do remember the buyer’s remorse I felt during the drive home.

Hi Friends, it’s Ajai. I’m back hoping you’re still here after that horror story my husband just shared.

A week passed, I had my mother look after Jack while Jon and I headed back for round two. This time we had hazmat suits, masks, gloves, and shoe covers on along with some more premium roach bait gel, bait arenas, and a genetic mutator bait to prevent any more mating between the insects. Ironically, when we arrived, whatever Jon had done before had worked. There were maybe 5 or 10 live buggies running around, but the rest were gone. It almost felt like Jon had made the whole thing up, until I discovered all of the carcasses everywhere.

Demo day had finally arrived, and I was all too thrilled to see the old floors being torn up and the place being prepped for new floors. We learned there was a nice amount of water damage to the original floors – so they had to go. I love a clean slate anyway, and demo day provides just that. A fresh new canvas for paint, and boy was I looking forward to painting. We received the color “Whipped” from Clare, and thought it best to paint the entire house this color. We wanted it to feel fresh and warm. Whipped was the perfect choice, as our home now feels delicate and soft (a long way from the cold gray). We had the house painted just in time for the holiday, and were able to move in a couple of weeks before Christmas.

the primary bedroom

Now let’s talk about living through a renovation with a 1-year-old. Jon and I have created little barriers all over the house, to keep Jack from getting into any of the construction areas, and we’re basically always at the park, or going on a walk so that he can walk and play. Oh yes, Jack is walking now! Our little guy seems to like the energy of our new home so far, and that’s what keeps us going – we just want him to be happy. We want to be able to leave him something in the long run, and we are thrilled this place will be a part of that something. Though the bathrooms are up and running, the hardware still needs to be swapped out in both tubs/showers, and we still don’t have a functioning kitchen. The good news is, our kitchen should be completed at the end of January (in about a month). Our appliances are set to arrive December 30th, and I can’t wait! It’s been way too long since I cooked a homemade meal for my family. The next project we’re working on is the living room! Stay tuned and follow me for the entire journey. I’ll also be back with an update soon! 

Opening Image Credits: Design by Ajai Guyot | From: Ajai’s Neutral Living Room Refresh + How Her Design Choices Parallel Her Journey Becoming A Black Interior Designer

The post 15’s A Charm: Ajai’s Home Search Is OVER… Sort Of appeared first on Emily Henderson.