Nesting

One realization as I’ve gotten older is how important my physical space is to my happiness, productivity, and... sanity. In college, I could happily nap on a dirty second-hand IKEA couch in an undecorated apartment with four other people playing beer pong in the next room. These days I prefer (need?!) nice lighting, comfy seating, happy plants, interesting art, excellent speakers, solid design and feng shui, and a tidy desk. It's still largely aspirational—you should see my desk right now—but the point remains that I enjoy and find tremendous value in the creative process of making a space my own.

Writing that out—and the fact that it is somehow February already?!—makes it feel very, very soon. So, naturally, we’ve spent a good chunk of this last month nesting and preparing the big arrival.

For us that means wrapping up our home renovation projects, moving Zephyr upstairs to his “big kid room,” redecorating a bit, figuring out new storage solutions, moving and reimagining our guest bedroom situation, and building out a special space for Zephyr to retreat to (our closet under the stairs) for when the baby is born. And it's actually a lot of fun.

Last time around I was working full time so couldn’t really enjoy the nesting process—it was more of a mad dash to the finish line, just making the house livable after our first big round of renovations. This time I’m fortunate to have relatively open days with the free time and creative space to play. And watching Zephyr light up with each new change—his “big kid room,” new rugs, new toy storage—is such a delight.

I’ve also found the nesting experience more mentally helpful this time. It's helping me feel a little more grounded, working with my hands and filling my days with more purpose. It's a nice way to exert some control over my environment, knowing full well that I'll have considerably less control for a while once this baby arrives. And maybe most of all, I’m just enjoying having tangible results from a fun, creative project that Miranda and I can own start to finish.

Curated

With nesting on the brain, today I’m curating some of my favorite home items and hacks from this last month. Please enjoy!

🧶 With a toddler, a new puppy, and soon to be a second kiddo, we’re all in on Ruggable. Honestly, can’t recommend them enough. Their newest rugs are thicker and softer than ever while still being easy to clean and throw in the washer if needed. We picked up the falsa stripes sage rug for Zephyr’s new room and it’s perfect.

🛍️ I discovered Goodee right around the holidays and bought a few creative housewares and this awesome ecoBirdy kids table for Zephyr. They have a phenomenal curated collection that also emphasizes diverse business owners and sustainable manufacturing.

🧸 We bought a drawstring storage bag for Zephyr’s toys (especially Legos) and it’s been a game-changer for keeping the house relatively tidy. We bought this one from play&go but I’ve also heard good things about Swoop.

🧰 A set of hex head / allen wrench drill bits are a total game changer for furniture assembly (especially stuff from IKEA, which I’ve been building a lot of lately). Super cheap and infinitely easier than using a handheld hex wrench.

🪑 We’ve been in the market for some chairs around our fire pit since it was built, and finally settled on the heavy-duty X Series Chair from Breeo. They’re designed for fireside, sustainably made, super rugged, and they even have a kids version!

🔨 We have silverware organizers that are just barely too short for the full depth of the drawer they sit in, meaning they would slide back and forth when you opened and closed the drawer. I bought some of these handy headboard stoppers to put at the back of the drawer and hold the organizer in place—worked like a charm. Highly recommend!

🔪 I’ve been using our breadknife for sandwiches / tomatoes / etc. for years and it always felt hilariously overkill. I finally splurged on this beautiful, serrated utility knife from Shun and it’s now one of my most used knives, period.

🍞 A friend recommended the Yamazaki breadbox to us and now I’m obsessed with the brand. We’ve since purchased their dish rack, banana stand, countertop shelf, fruit bowl, tissue box cover, and three different trash cans. Our kitchen has never looked better.

👚 As part of our bathroom remodel we also had a new closet designed and built. Now that it’s done, we decided to splurge on some nice new space-saving hangers from Mawa to make the most of it. They’re grippy, beautiful, and made in Germany.

🕯️ With kids and a puppy around, we don’t do a ton of real flame candles (for obvious reasons), so we bought some of these affordable flameless candles for ambiance in our new bathroom. Big hit.

🌬️ We’ve begun collecting these cute little draft stoppers in our house. One we use by the garage door to keep the cold air out of the kitchen, the other at Zephyr’s bedroom to keep light and sound out when he’s sleeping.

🗡 This cheap CANARY box cutter is one of the best tools I’ve bought in years. We keep one in the garage and one by the front door to make quick work of boxes when they arrive.

🌱 A Christmas present to ourselves, we bought these beautiful Niwaki Kurumi secateurs for pruning flower stems and house plans. Worth every penny (and Niwaki has a bunch of other great stuff, too).