We are back with a brand new "Trials & Triumphs" episode! It has been a minute since Caroline, Taryn, and Liz sat down to share their personal home updates, but they are back to spill all the details on what has been happening behind their own front doors (and as they jokingly point out, it's mostly "trials" this time around!).

Liz kicks things off by officially starting the planning phase for her long-awaited kitchen renovation, which has quickly snowballed into a bathroom renovation, too. Taryn celebrates finally tackling some overdue exterior home maintenance and reveals her plans for a "big bed swap" to refresh her guest room. Finally, Caroline shares a homeowner's nightmare: a major plumbing backup that led to a shocking discovery about her house.

Quick Decorating & Homeowner Takeaways:

Visualize with Tape: If you are planning a renovation, use brightly colored tape (like Liz's hot pink tape) to outline cabinet, sink, and appliance placements on the floor. It helps you visualize exact clearances and traffic flow before anything is actually built.

Beware of Scope Creep: Liz shares how easily a kitchen renovation can expand. Once you start opening walls and moving plumbing in a 100-year-old home, it often makes sense to tackle adjoining rooms (like her main and guest bathrooms) at the same time to save on future headaches.

The Power of Power Washing: Taryn reminds us of the importance of exterior maintenance. After living in her home for five years, her white gutters were turning green from organic growth. A simple pressure washing completely revitalized the look of her home's exterior.

Know Your Plumbing: Caroline shares a cautionary tale about assuming you are on city sewer. After a major backup and weeks of "camp baths," she discovered her home actually runs on a buried septic system—meaning all those French press coffee grounds she'd been putting down the disposal were a huge mistake!

What You’ll Hear on This Episode:

00:00 Welcome back to Trials & Triumphs!

01:30 Liz’s Trial/Triumph: Officially starting the kitchen renovation

03:00 Visualizing the new layout with hot pink tape and the sink placement debate

05:00 The reality of renovating a nearly 100-year-old home (and discovering asbestos)

07:00 Scope Creep: Adding two bathroom renovations to the kitchen project

34:00 Taryn’s Triumph: Finally tackling exterior home maintenance and power washing the gutters

38:00 Taryn’s Trial/Triumph: The "Big Bed Swap" and moving the king bed to the downstairs primary

41:00 Designing the guest room with an antique French poster bed and marine blue wallpaper

44:00 Caroline’s Trial: The major plumbing backup and the Roto-Rooter visit

47:30 Digging up the yard to install a cleanout trap and discovering the septic tank

52:00 Why you should never put coffee grounds down a garbage disposal

54:00 Three weeks of "camp baths" and surviving without a working shower

Also Mentioned:

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Happy Decorating!

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