Hey y'all! We posted a brief snapshot of our "Renovation spreadsheet" on instagram stories a few weeks ago, and we got more responses than ever! Many of you asked for a copy. Some of you simply wanted to follow along, while others of you wanted a copy to help you stay organized during your ongoing or upcoming renovation! So, here is a glimpse into our “system;" what we used to stay organized! Of course, all renovations are very different, so this list of tasks will not exclusively pertain to your project, but hopefully you will be able to use the format below to help you create your own task list. (Side note - LOVE hearing how many of our readers are renovating themselves!)

Finally, I get to share the news we've been keeping a secret for the past few weeks... WE ARE MOVING!

​I know, I know, we JUST finished the full renovation on our condo. We adore our new place, the design, and the neighborhood. It's a dream, and we have truly enjoyed every minute of our time here. However, it's not natural for us to stay in one place. Rather than list out "why" we are moving, it would be easier to tell you how this all came about.

Project #FlyingDutchmen is complete! We are so excited to begin bringing new, updated rental housing to Greater Grand Rapids, beginning in Downtown Holland. Real Estate Agent, Ty, found one of the very last empty lots downtown Holland. It was the perfect location for the new home we had our hearts set on building. Rentals often lack character, typically filled with cookie-cutter, base grade finishes. Who decided rentals have to be ugly? This home is the first of many we will be bringing to GR! If you are looking for rental housing, hang tight - we have more coming your way! (Announcement soon!)

Welcome to our home tour! This post has been a LONG time coming! We moved into this condo late December (mid renovation - no floors, no kitchen, and wires hanging from the ceiling. Yikes!). It was a complete overhaul. It's 99% complete; I'm pretty sure I'll always be changing things up!

Northern Michigan features an abundance of quaint, charming towns that litter the lakeshore. To be honest, even though I grew up in Michigan, I didn’t even know many of these towns existed until I traveled north with my wife for her sales job and began exploring with my free time. To my pleasant surprise, there is an absurd amount of cute, small towns to explore, all of which have their own flavor and feel. Northern Michigan air possess a sweet aroma that can be found few other places. Even those from out of state should venture to the great north to see what it is all about and all it has to offer. Our lakes are no joke. These aren't your local puddle or pond; they're large, mighty and beautiful. NOTE: The water color in the summer literally resembles a tropical paradise.

When I posted some sneak peaks of our lighting selections yesterday on Instagram, y'all were asking for links. So, here we are! This is everything we have ordered for the new house (so far, still have a hefty shopping list to tackle)! I have expensive taste (don't we all?). With specific things in mind, I scoured the Internet to find matte black and brass finishes at reasonable prices. Click on each image for link. Enjoy!

At the risk of being trite, I want to cut to the chase with this post. See everything. Drive the wildly windy roads that traverse many miles and stop at each pull off to take in new views of the coastline. Observe topography and landscapes you didn’t quite contrive to be possible. Walk down to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and catch a view of the sparkling turquoise water fall that cascades bit by bit into the ocean. Eat at Nepenthe, a restaurant high up in a canopy of trees, with an eclectic shop and bookstore attached. Stop at Bixby Canyon Bridge and be overtaken with emotion at how surreal a feat it is that there are bridges stretching across the jutting mountainsides. Most of all, take it all in. The PCH1 is an iconic road trip, and Big Sur might be the most magnificent spot you'll encounter.

Ah, California. The beach, the mountains, the city....they hog all the good stuff. SoCal is one of our favorite places on Earth. San Diego, Laguna Beach, San Clemente; we love it all. Luckily, Hannah has wonderful, hopsitable family in San Diego, so we see many SD trips in our future. Here are some of our favorite spots from our last trip in August!

Ah Arizona. A trip Hannah didn’t even know she wanted before I convinced her of the beauty of AZ …. Our Arizona road trip was emotionally overwhelming, full of scenic landscapes and unforgettable views. We packed A LOT into these three days. Brief overview - We flew in to Phoenix, drove 2 hours South to Sedona fora hike, then another 1 hour South to Flagstaff were we stayed our second night. The next morning, we drove 1 hour to the Grand Canyon, and then another 3.5 hours back to Phoenix. The last day, we explored local Phoenix and Scottsdale hikes, shops, and eateries.

Michigan winter can really be difficult to endure. It’s cloudy, bitter cold, and hard to leave the house… though if you are most people, you have to leave the house multiple times per day. (Especially Hannah and I’s several hundred trips to Lowe’s and Home Depot this Fall/Winter.) After two weeks straight of negative wind chills and single digit temperatures, I told Hannah it was time for a weekend getaway to sunny skies and beach time. Cue….NAPLES, FLORIDA.

America’s smallest state is certainly one of it’s more majestic. While we had raised expectations of what to expect in RI, mostly thanks to Kiel James Patrick, we found even more pleasure while actually staying there. We stayed in an incredible loft style hotel called NYLO, which is a small boutique hotel chain that has “loft apartment” style accommodations. An incredible lobby, restaurants, and room awaited us for our 2 nights in RI and CT.

Acadia National Park is near the city of Bar Harbor, Maine. Because we wanted to see the entire NE and had somewhat limited time to do so, we had to do Acadia in one day. It’s one of my biggest regrets on this trip! If I could re-do it, I would’ve booked 3 or 4 days to explore this unbelievable treasure on the NorthEastern coast.

We’re moving! A few weeks ago, Ty and I were sitting at a Starbucks in our absolute favorite neighborhood of Grand Rapids, day dreaming about one day living nearby, able to enjoy the local resturants, evening energy, and everyday walkability. I pulled up realtor.com while sipping my coconut milk cold brew, and stumbled across the world’s ugliest condo, which was the only home in the area that was remotely within our price range. It was our dream location - sharing the street with some of our favorite shops and restaurants, with lake accessibility across the street. Oh, and one block from Starbucks...what more could you need? Because of its location, we decided to walk through the unit.

​We hated it. The old building had character and was in great condition, but the unit itself was dark, dated, and covered in wallpaper. Did I mention weird smells? A total gut job. We walked away entirely uninterested. About a month later, we were sick of long commutes, and living so far from the places we frequent... so, after a change of heart, we called the sellers with a offer. We closed on the unit on Friday, and started demo immediately. We are in way over our heads, but are going to try and enjoy every minute of the chaos. Follow along as we renovate every inch of this 70’s condo over the next 8 weeks!

We were surprised to find the Maine coastline reminiscent of the great state of Michigan. That said, northern Maine yields some of the more spectacular vistas and hikes in the United States. From Kittery to Bar Harbor, and beyond, Maine was perhaps my favorite part of our east coast adventure. I truly wish we had more time to explore, but we had 8 states and 3,200 miles to cover on this trip so 2.5 days had to do! Our first Maine stop was in the city of Portland, which did not disappoint.