As I type out my experience with fixer upper homes, my fingers are stained a deep brown—espresso, as its manufacturer named it—a souvenir from spending the last few days sanding, staining and (soon!) sealing the banister on the loft of my fixer-upper. I’ve spent the last year slowly renovating a traditional plantation-style house in Hawaii, an endeavor that’s been both fun and frustrating, and promises to yield a nice profit. I have another year until it’s finished, a timeline established by ... Read More
Sustainable Living 101
7 Things I’ve Learned from Building a Tiny House
For those of you who haven’t yet heard, yes—I am currently in the midst of building a 196-square-foot sustainable tiny house. Why would I start building a tiny house at 26, especially in the throes of a bitter mountain winter while couch-hopping myself? I have a few thoughts. For now, the journey continues, and while it is far from reaching its endpoint, it continues to enrich. I am a vastly different human five months into this project than I was at its start, and the construction process ... Read More
10 Easy Peasy Ways to Reduce Your Impact
In honor of Earth Day, we’ve compiled some of our favorite easy ways to reduce your impact. Hopefully with all of the Earth Day posts, National Parks Week, and Fashion Revolution going on, you’ll feel just as inspired as us to make a difference. We all have to start somewhere and there is no shame in saying, I haven’t done any of these, but I’m going to start. My fave is #1—I go on walks everyday so I’m going to make it a point to pick up at least one piece of trash each day. Let us know what ... Read More
Top 3 Myths About Sustainable Interior Design, Busted
For us, green living isn't just about how to reduce your home's footprint. It's about finding ways to live in alignment with our environment in the warmest, most comforting and inspiring ways. Today we've got eco-friendly designer Holly of Holly Durocher Design chatting about all things sustainable interior design. Whether you're a homeowner, renter, renovator, DIYer, or simply interested in the ways we can all add a little more "green" to our living spaces, I think you'll find these three myths ... Read More
The Most Important Lesson I Learned from Marie Kondo
It's gratitude. You can all click out now. You're welcome. (Did I just kill this post?) I did watch a few episodes of Marie Kondo's Tidying Up on Netflix. It was cute. The families were sweet. I did tear up a bit, when watching during PMS. I also realized, god forbid, that it could use like 5% of the drama that Hoarders had. Maybe a few flashbacks, you know? What I'm saying is that I didn't learn a ton from it, though I do think her methods are effective for keeping things organized, if ... Read More
