When it came to planning our trip to Hawaii, we were as overwhelmed as could be. Which island(s) should we go to? For how long? With so many beaches and locations to see, which were the most beautiful? Typically, we like to have at least a rough outline for our travel excursions. This time around, we decided to rely on Hannah’s aunt (a Maui resident) and gut feelings. Below, we have a step by step guide of how to do Hawaii, removing some of the confusion and clutter.

While we have spent the last few years blogging about home design, there has been a multitude of moving pieces behind the scenes. Every move, flip, and renovation has been a piece in the puzzle toward grander plans. While God took us in MANY different directions, it was all calculated, with one goal in mind: freedom. We've been hesitant to share our financial goals as they are immensely personal and rather "taboo" in the blogging world. We don't ever want anyone to compare their situation to ours, or anyone else's, in a negative way. In addition, of course, we always fear judgement. Anytime we "put ourselves out there," we fear that friends and strangers will judge us for being "too this" or "too that." While sharing your life on the internet is not for everyone, it is something we choose to do. We have made many friends on this platform, have learned from others, and have loved the creative avenues we have embarked on due to this blog!

Ty and I are honored to be featured in Homeslice Midwest's website launch! Nicole at HSM created the site in order to connect interiors enthusiasts around the Midwest. Her unique platform cultivates inspiration through sharing home tours and design resources. Our minimal mid-century Ada home tour is live on HSM. Ty and I, as we recently sold the Ada house, loved seeing these images of our home, and even more, loved reading Nicole's depiction of our philosophy. She truly grasped the essence of who we are, and how minimalism and travel play into our design process. Read the full feature here complete with more images, follow Homeslice Midwest on Instagram, and tag your #HSMnest!

Hi, Ty here! I have to admit that one of my favorite elements of travel is when you explore a place you perceive will be average; only to have it turn out extraordinary. This was precisely the case with the beautiful, central Californian city of Santa Barbara. While on our multi-week, cross country road trip from Michigan through Arizona, up the entire coast of California, through Salt Lake City and then back home, we found Santa Barbara to be our most pleasant surprise of all! Read more to find out what made our time in SB particularly magical.

Okay, it's time to fill you in on the details of our next move. We shared about the move briefly in this post. This is our 4th property in 4 years....so I know most of you can't really be that surprised. Let's take a walk down memory lane, shall we?​

At this point, you can't be that surprised...4th move in 4 years! We were NOT looking for another property whatsoever, yet here we are. We adore our current home. We have poured our hearts and souls into this home (and the yard), fixing up every inch. We love our big beautiful oak trees, our mid century layout filled with windows, and the newly completed landscaping on our acre in the woods! For those of you who have watched us renovate our home extensively for the past year, you might be thinking, "WHY IN THE WORLD??"

I get asked about our Andes sofa ALL the time. We have now owned this sofa for a full year, so it's time for a review! ​ Sofas are an investment. I knew that the sofa I purchased would be a part of my life for years to come, so I wanted to make sure that I was entirely in love with it. We searched high and low for the perfect piece, and this was it!

We love our IKEA KUNSBACKA cabinets. Read all about our full review of IKEA cabinets in this post, where I detail all of the pros and cons of going with IKEA for your next kitchen. We were entirely skeptical, but I couldn't find the right matte black cabinet front elsewhere (at the right price), so we decided to give IKEA a try. We learned a lot doing our first kitchen with IKEA. Next time, we will be more efficient since we have done it once before. Today, I'm sharing our experience, along with some tips for ordering IKEA cabinets!

With summer in full bloom, there's no better time to explore northern Michigan. Not only will you find cute, quaint towns, you'll also find some of the best weather in the country (during the summer!). Of the many small towns we absolutely love in Michigan, Petoskey, and nearby Harbor Springs, are our favorites.

Floating vanities allow for a continuous floor, making a bathroom feel larger. When designing our bathroom renovations, I fell for IKEA's floating vanities. They are available in a myriad of colors, including a gorgeous light oak. Beyond a well rounded collection, you can't beat the PRICE! Although, we had to get creative when installing the under-mount sinks.

We are so happy with our wrapped exhaust hood! It is minimal, yet dramatic. We love that it is versatile - we could paint it any color, tile it, or wrap it in wood! We are enjoyed the matte black for now, but may install a tile like this when we are ready for a change! Our followers are often asking what material we used for our hood. It's just drywall! Today, we are sharing how we designed and created this piece.

Like many of you, I was TOTALLY skeptical of Ikea cabinets. When Ty and I got married and moved into our first home, we did the whole "furnish the entire home with IKEA" thing. We were newlyweds with student debt and an empty house. 1,307,682 pieces of wood, screws, bolts, and hours of building later, and our home was furnished. Our angst for IKEA grew months later when our furniture began to fall apart. We needed a long break from IKEA. (Insert : Taylor Swift "We-e-e are never - ever - ever getting back together...")

This is the room that sold me on the house. I pictured us living here as soon as I saw that brick fireplace that scaled two levels. Coming from a small condo, we had been longing for a space with abundant natural light. If you follow us on instagram, you may remember the whole "should we paint the fireplace black?" debate. I was for it, Ty was not so sure; he wanted to bring the existing brick back to life. A lot of you were rather passionate one way or another. My DM's were filled with emotion, and friends and family were texting me their opinions. What a hoot. While I prefer to keep things original when possible, the brick had too many peach undertones, so black paint it was. The black brick has become both Ty and I's FAVORITE part of the home. It's unexpected, bringing depth to all white space.

We love coffee. You love coffee. Who doesn't actually love coffee? About 5 years ago, Hannah and I set an ambitious goal of finding the "best coffee" in the USA. As such, we've traveled to 40+ states, we've tried over 100 coffee shops. (No kidding, we counted!) but now, January 2019, we feel as if we have mutually reached an agreement on the top coffee shops in America.

This kitchen has made me a homebody. I want to spend all of my days curled up at the dining table with a cup of hot tea and my laptop. Bliss. We changed the ENTIRE layout of this kitchen. There was a wall between the dining room and kitchen (where that little 24" wall is next to the open shelves is). There were two peninsulas (one where the current one is, and one to the right of the sink). It was a small, crowded, dysfunctional U-shaped kitchen. Where the fridge is now, there was a door leading outside, with a second postage-stamp sized dining space (why?). Along with reworking the layout, we added TONS of windows. (All source links gathered at bottom of post!)

On Instagram last week, we chatted a little about our travel philosophy - about how we like to pack our days with activity rather than simply sitting on the beach. Typically when we travel, we leave our hotel first thing in the morning, and return late at night. We try to fill our days with activity, and often embark on “day trips” to other locales within a few hours of our hotel (like the time we went to AZ and did Phoenix, Sedona, Flagstaff, and the Grand Canyon in 3 days 😂).

Our master bathroom is officially done! More than anything, we were thrilled to say goodbye to the dingy yellow tile and dated tile countertops. We preserved the original mid-century light fixtures (which I've loved since the first time we walked through the home); everything else was replaced. This bathroom was an enormous project (lots of demo!), but the final product was well worth it. We love the light and airy feel, fun patterns, and ample storage, which is something we've not always had.

One of the greatest blessings in my life is having a wife who is down to try new things, and do so on a whim, when feasible. Naturally, when I pitched a wild 16 day road trip to her, about two weeks prior to our potential departure and she didn’t write me off as crazy-- it only reaffirmed that I married the coolest person out there.

After showing her on a whiteboard (see below) my thorough, bizarre transcription of what the trip would entail in thorough detail, she agreed it was the trip of a lifetime. When I told her it could be done under $1,850 for all lodging and food she was MUCH more interested. (We are fortunate enough to have free gas via a company car).

UNDERRATED. The 50,000 person town of Bozeman, Montana was truly a distinct highlight on our trip. Clean, progressive, modern, Bozeman has a plethora of new living opportunities nestled near their quaint, but not too small, downtown, with MANY coffee shops and restaurants. Cool stores too. The abundance of nature within a 1 hour drive was surreal. So much so, that I would consider moving to Montana...truly. We fell in love with BZMT.