Harold's Renovation Blog: #108: Science Says These Rooms Are A Waste Of Space

Welp, it’s official: new research shows that we aren’t using all of the square footage in our homes. But we sure are paying for it (and then paying to heat & cool it, decorate it, plus spending time cleaning it). Why are we doing that?! Well, this week we’re diving into a study that shows what specific spaces aren’t being used – and what we all might want to consider focusing on instead of house size – even if you love having people over and entertaining large groups. We’re also sharing a failed painting project that shines a light on some of the peculiar pitfalls of sharing your renovations with the world. Plus, as summer comes to an end, we’re taking you inside a months-long (and somewhat heated) disagreement that we’ve been having about the beach house.

You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, and Spotify – or listen to it below! Then use this page to check out any links, notes, or photos we referenced. Note: If you’re reading in a feed reader, you may have to click through to the post to see the player.

WHAT’S NEW

Against my better judgment, I AM going to put in a poll so you guys can weigh in on this “friendly debate” we’ve been having about how much of our summer should be spent in Cape Charles at our beach house.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

That’s Embarrassing

Above is one of the photos of our half bathroom that we took for our second book, Lovable Livable Home, where you can’t really tell at all that we added a pearlescent topcoat to the walls (which are painted Benjamin Moore’s Edgecomb Gray, just like most of the other rooms downstairs).
The product we used was Benjamin Moore’s Pearlescent White Metallic Glaze and we love it in person, it’s just impossible to capture in that room in a photo (I think if we had better natural light you might be able to see it). Sherry will try to post a video later this week on Instagram Stories to help you see it.

Does Anyone Use Formal Spaces Anymore?

young house love bright modern dining room makeover home decor

Here is the Curbed article that got us thinking about this topic, “Our Homes Don’t Need Formal Spaces.” Coincidentally, it was written by Kate Wagner (of McMansion Hell) who authored the article about big renovation fatigue we discussed in last week’s episode.
And here’s the heatmap graphic from the study that shows where the people they observed spent most of their time. The single dot in the dining room cracked me up. It’s not even at the table!

You can also check out Episode #95 where we admitted that we think our own house is bigger than we need.
We also referenced our recent Episode #106, where we spoke to Shavonda Gardner about the realities of downsizing.
And Episode #82 includes our interview with Kevin and Mandy who live in a tiny home. Be sure to check out their Instagram to follow along with their new tiny home renovation!
Another old episode that tackles the topic of living in a smaller space is Episode #33 when we talked with Dana Miller about downsizing to reach financial goals.

We’re Digging

I know not everyone can go see Story Pirates perform in person like we did last month, but if you love their podcast as much as we do around here (I dug it back in Episode #98), we’re also really enjoying their book Stuck In The Stone Age because it has great tips for young story writers.
You also may remember this photo from a couple of weeks ago when I used it to show Sherry’s favorite mascara, and now it’s back to show the necklace that everyone keeps asking about (hers has a 16″ chain, a .10 stone, and it’s white gold).

If you’re looking for something we’ve dug in a past episode, but don’t remember which show notes to click into, here’s a master list of everything we’ve been digging from all of our past episodes. You can also see all the books we’ve recommended on our Book Club page.

And lastly, a big thank you to Smartstuff Furniture for sponsoring this episode. You can enter to win up to $5,000 in kid, baby, and teen furniture at SmartstuffFurniture.com/YHL now through August 27th. Also, get up to 15% off retail during their Back To School event, also ending August 27th.