Our laundry room, for the first couple of years in this house, was genuinely just a washer and dryer crammed into a closet with a single wire shelf above them holding a half-empty bottle of detergent and whatever else had ended up there over time. I did laundry
A few summers ago, I got genuinely excited about a big vegetable garden and an elaborate flower bed layout I’d seen online, and by midsummer, between work and two kids’ schedules, the whole thing had turned into an overgrown, weedy mess I felt guilty about every time I
When we first started shopping for some kind of shade structure for our patio, I genuinely thought pergola and gazebo were just two different words for the same basic thing. It wasn’t until I started actually comparing options that I realized how different they are in structure, function,
For the longest time, our landscaping consisted of whatever the builder had planted a decade earlier and whatever had managed to survive our neglect since, a strip of tired shrubs along the foundation and a lawn that took up most of the yard without actually being used for
For years, our outdoor furniture came out every May and got dragged back into the garage every October, and the backyard essentially closed for business the second the weather turned. It felt like such a waste, having a genuinely nice outdoor space that sat completely unused for nearly
The first fire pit we ever had was a cheap portable steel bowl set directly on our wooden deck, and it wasn’t until I noticed the scorch marks forming underneath it after just a few uses that I realized how close we’d come to a genuinely serious problem.
When I first started looking into building an outdoor kitchen, I assumed it was basically just buying a nice grill and maybe a small side table to go with it. It wasn’t until I actually started planning the project that I realized how many decisions go into it,
My first set of outdoor furniture was a cheap resin patio set that looked perfectly fine in the store and lasted exactly one humid summer before it started cracking and yellowing in the sun. I replaced it with something slightly better, and that one rusted at every joint
Our backyard is barely bigger than a two-car garage, and for the first year we lived here, I genuinely believed there wasn’t much to be done with it beyond mowing the small patch of grass and calling it a day. It wasn’t until a friend with an equally
When my neighbors and I ended up renovating our backyards within the same year, purely by coincidence, we took completely different routes. They built a raised wood deck off their kitchen, while I put in a paver patio at ground level. Comparing notes over the following seasons taught
I’m Anam, and I’m passionate about helping people create homes that feel warm, stylish, and comfortable. Whether you’re decorating a tiny apartment or refreshing your forever home, I believe every space deserves thoughtful design.
Subscribe to my weekly newsletter. I don’t send any spam email ever!
