Weekly Roundup

We're learning more about our house's history, and this photo of a family makes me want to well up. These people called our house their home in the 1920s. Knowing the names of the people that grew up here is one thing, but seeing photos is such a delight. I got a bunch of Instagram messages about how to research their own homes. It's tricky to recommend resources, because they vary from place to place, and I'm still figuring it all out myself, but here are a few good resources that will inspire places to search; here, here, here, here, and here. I'd recommend finding a historic group in your community, then go through the recommended resources specific to your region. You can also hire researchers to do all of the digging and they will reach out to all of the families to look for photos and stories.

Guess what. I have an ORC surprise headed your way, so WATCH OUT! Did you see my week 3 progress video? I'm really digging the video format and I find it to be such a fun way to share project tutorials, plus it gives more context to the house, the plans, and moi. Check out week 1-2 and week 3-4. They are 4 minutes and 6 minutes respectively, so go give them a watch, and tell me if I should quit blogging to become a YouTuber (jk).

On my week 3 post, I shared my love for the StudPop and I heard from so many of you how impressed you were by the simplest of tools. If you have an old house but don't have a StudPop, do yourself a favor and get one. Srsly.

I'm not really into sports, but I love these photos!

This week, Orlando Soria's new book arrived and I can't wait to read every. single. word. I was flipping through and found a piece of art that one of my best friends made! I met her years ago through our work in museums, and she's so special that she even officiated my wedding. Also, if my best friend is Orlando's best friend, does that mean that Orlando is my best friend? Probably. Small world!

Megan Pflug can really do no wrong. Her transformation of a Brooklyn apartment is so easy for renters to achieve, yet so unique.

I'm such a sucker for tees and I always like to buy a bigger size so the arms are long, but I never like a loose neck. So, I think this is going to be a new wardrobe staple. At first, I was bummed there weren't more colors so I could wear it every day in different hues. But then I remembered - I only really wear black or white, so I'm golden. Also, I'll take any of these handmade linen tops, too.

One of my non-house related hobbies is making pies. For awhile, I never had an efficient way to carry them to friends/family. My mom got me this pie box (it's discontinued but here's a similar one) and it's great! But if I ever made multiple pies or ones too big for the box, I didn't have a backup option. Until now. This fabric carrier is perfectly versatile for all of my pie or non-pie carrying needs!

I don't have much more to share from the internet because if I'm not working on the ORC makeover, I'm trying to keep up with all of my ORC buddies! Right now I'm crushing on Emily's art, dreaming of having a backyard as great as Joanna's will be, swooning over Sarah's custom pet portraits, gushing over the cane bed in Cathy's (err Daphne's) nursery, and drooling over all of Natasha's black doors and Alison's black window sashes. Those are just a few I'm keeping my eye on, but there are 20 featured designers and 200+ guest participants to check out, too!

Happy Friday!