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- [00:01]
A
Part two.
- [00:02]
B
Deuce.
- [00:04]
A
Welcome back.
- [00:05]
B
I got a backwards hat.
- [00:07]
A
Welcome back.
- [00:08]
B
Where it's at.
- [00:11]
A
So last week we talked about. It was civilian versus designer, and we were talking about things that maybe Mike would do differently or saw on the show. All design questions. And I have so many more.
- [00:21]
B
I honestly feel like we just had this conversation. This is crazy. I love it. Okay, let's go.
- [00:26]
A
Okay, so we were.
- [00:27]
B
If you have not step back real quick. Who are you?
- [00:31]
A
Hi, my name is Jennifer Todrick.
- [00:33]
B
And I'm Mike. I'm her husband. Yes, There you go. That's the intro.
- [00:36]
A
And welcome to listening to you, me and Mike.
- [00:38]
B
Yeah. If you just caught us for the first episode, go back and listen to that last one because this is the last week. Gonna go right into it, which is all about, I guess, design choices, design stuff.
- [00:47]
A
So we're gonna kind of piggyback on that. So we talked about this one. I have a few more. More questions. Here's a question for, I guess me, but I want to see what you think. Did you watch the episodes of my TV show? No, DeMoreno. So every week we would watch them together as a family whenever they aired for the first time. Would you watch like a supportive husband or a critic?
- [01:12]
B
Wait, what?
- [01:13]
A
A supportive husband or a. Oh, would I watch as. Yeah.
- [01:17]
B
Oh, I thought you said what? I watch a supportive husband. I'd be like, it's weird question.
- [01:20]
A
Did you watch the husbands closely?
- [01:22]
B
This guy, what does he do? Is he judging? Is. What's his. What's his motivation?
- [01:27]
A
I can answer that. He always watched as a support. Yeah, yeah.
- [01:31]
B
It's a great show. No, you would ask me. The thing is, I had privilege to see the things usually before thing for four cuts, and you'd show me some stuff. Be like, what do you think about this? Occasionally, but for the most part, I'd see the entire. The full thing in entirety. And I was always very impressed by, like, what it was because it's like, you see all the stuff and how long it really takes to do the house. And it's not long in the reality of a full renovation, but long in the reality of, like, layering home. And when things were really layered up, you sometimes have three or four homes going at the exact same time. And then when you're doing the. The mini Renault on season two as well, there'd be like six homes at the same time, which was crazy to be able to like, juggle everything and the product would still turn out really, really, really good. And the one that I was like, I still was like, oh, my gosh. Like the tear episode for me was like just seeing that pilot for what it turned into.
- [02:23]
A
Oh, yeah.
- [02:23]
B
That was so cool. It really was a cool thing. So. Yeah.
- [02:26]
A
Yeah. I mean, Jason and Aaron.
- [02:28]
B
Yeah. I'll be, you know, could I be critical? Sure. But there's not a lot to be critical of because it was a great show. I don't.
- [02:34]
A
I. To be honest. You know, I'll tell you if I think you're being, like, annoying or over critical. And you weren't ever with the show. It was like, I think you were just proud of me to keep doing it. I think you knew, like, how much stress and it put on me, like in that season of my life. Well, it's.
- [02:52]
B
Yeah. I mean, it was fun to see the out.
- [02:54]
A
Yeah.
- [02:55]
B
And that's one thing I know you like correctly. You. The reveal and happy clients generally brought you joy.
- [03:00]
A
Yes. Well, it's like, this sounds so bad. Anyone that like, films a TV show, if they told you, oh my gosh, I love every minute they're lying. It's such a. It's so stressful in the moment. We don't have enough time to sit here and talk about all that but yourself to trust me. It's very stressful for a lot of different reasons, some that you may not even think of. But it's like after you have a child and you give birth, you have the baby for a few months and you like, forget how hard and it was and so you do it again.
- [03:32]
B
Like natural childbirth or just pregnancy.
- [03:34]
A
Any childbirth, it's like, oh, my gosh. And any pregnancy, like, oh, my gosh. And then it's like you get amnesia and then you do it all over again and you don't remember the bad parts. It's like, that's kind of what I think of the TV show over and over and over because you end on that high of that authentic reveal in the.
- [03:49]
B
In the net end, it's still worth the pain. Right. And that's what the thing is you think you. You go through. But yeah, I mean, I don't know. I mean, I. It's hard for me to. To critique. The only critique would be, is how to streamline production. That would be my only thing. The only thing that I would ever say I had concerns about was the stresses it put upon you during the production side because I was the husband seeing you bring that home, doing the things, and you're still being fully, fully mom at the same time. And it was just like it ate away from your sleep. Ate away from your health, ate away from your tenant. Like you didn't play tennis at the time. I was like all the things became imbalanced from a standpoint of the long term health of my life. Right. So if anything I'd be critical of it was that. That would be the thing that is. And it's not necessarily, it's not the show's fault, it's not your fault, it's just the nature of the way that particular production was designed. And it doesn't mean every production designed that way. But home renovation production in particularly is a very complicated production because it's not like you go into a set where you have people setting it up, you show in and most of stuff done, you do it in other people's homes with their budgets and you're designing real clients things and you're working with, with contractors, third party contractors, which Victor, you knew and trusted as well. But like first season, they had sometimes subs that came in as well, which you didn't know them. So there's a whole lot of other things that were layered upon that created a ridiculous amount of complexity that is very hard for it to turn out as a good product, which is why it's like hgtv. I mean, you got to give them credit. If they have the formula, how do they get it? Because it is, it created really cool content.
- [05:26]
A
And we've touched on this. But there were a lot of things in, you know, season one where I've never seen the backside of TV and how these shows are produced. And I was, I didn't want to do them that way. And I said, I'm not going to do it unless we do X, Y or Z differently. And I got, I guess I won that. I did. I got to get another production company. I became an executive producer and it gave me a lot more control, which ultimately made me un. More comfortable. And I could do things where it could like ethically and morally align with what I believe in. And that was really important to me. But it also costs you, you know, the reputation of being difficult.
- [05:58]
B
Well, you weren't ever difficult. You're Jen. I think you're harder on yourself than anyone else because the entire production team loves you. I mean, you still have a great relationship with Matt. He was the main guy that you worked with every day. Right.
- [06:10]
A
And Carl.
- [06:10]
B
And Carl, yeah. So like, I know if you were that hard to work with, these guys would be like deuces. I have no interest to working with you again afterwards. And then that's not the Case your camera guys, they all reach out to you still. Hey. Like the check in and they audio. Everyone was. Was very. And even Jen. Even the network.
- [06:27]
A
No, I know, right.
- [06:28]
B
Like all the things are. So if you were that difficult. I know you think you're difficult, but your. Your opinions were strong for a reason. Because you cared about the quality of the content. You also. Because you also cared about what the clients. Yeah, we're getting.
- [06:40]
A
Well, when you're constantly told we don't do that or that's not how this is done or we don't do that for other people. So. So why would we do it for you? You're constantly.
- [06:48]
B
You got to push things. You. You got to be. You got to be like Lucille Ball. Which I've always said.
- [06:53]
A
Yeah. This is a whole conversation for another day.
- [06:55]
B
But if you don't know the history of Lucy Bell, you guys should read her. She's. That lady was a genius when it came to like changing the way particular way women were seen within the. She was the original the production community and I mean very smart if great businesswoman and funny.
- [07:14]
A
Yes, she was. I agree. I love reading about her. This is a question that I thought was interesting. What design trend was I forced to do because it was in.
- [07:25]
B
You gotta answer that. That's a question for you. I don't know.
- [07:26]
A
I wasn't forced to do anything. Everything I did, I wanted to do or if I didn't want to do it. Like I think of Aubrey job. The jobs. Such a sweet family. And I still see her commenting on my stuff stuff on Instagram. Just the kindest family. She wanted turquoise kitchen cabinets. I would never have turquoise kitchen cabinets. But she wanted that southwestern flair. She really wanted all those pops of colors, bright bold colors. And so I gave it to her and it turned out so beautiful. Would I have a turquoise kitchen? No. It's not my taste.
- [07:53]
B
It also made. Probably gave you some comfort level to be like okay, well you know, sometimes the design choices like this is actually pretty good.
- [07:59]
A
Yeah.
- [08:00]
B
I mean again we even. We said this in the last episode. The terracotta tiles and the jar things that you layer in from other influences that really create a unique design individual for what that purpose Purpose. That person's per one was now the. The network. We already talked about this last episode. As far as design choices. It was often the. I have to convince my clients to not just do the all whites. I know that was one thing that's. That's not a design choice that was like balancing what they wanted with what the what the trends were to really get something that created a good content.
- [08:32]
A
When I tell. When I tell you that making television, especially in the home renovation space, is so freaking complex, we could have a whole conversation about that. We're not going to, but I'll just. Really quick. In short, there's so many layers because you have all these different teams in one team is the homeowner and what they want, and they're spending their real money on this, so you have to give them what they want. But then you also then have the network that's trying to get me on a phone call because they don't want another white kitchen. Right. Because everyone's pushing. But then I have a client that we've already cast, we're already set in, contracts are signed, and she wants a white kitchen.
- [09:07]
B
Right.
- [09:08]
A
And then I'm stuck in the middle to where, okay, people on the Internet are gonna be like, oh, my gosh, another white kitchen. She's not designing this stuff. It's just. You're being pulled apart in so many aspects, and if you do not have a gut of steel as far as, like, telling you how to navigate confidently, and I feel like I did have that, and it was still really, really hard. But unless you're just. Which is the majority? You're just talent. And you show up on set and they tell you what to do, then you don't. There is beauty in that.
- [09:40]
B
I think one thing you did that was. Was smart is that you. You got people into kind of tonality. Like, if you want white, well, think about a cream or think about a light gray. You got people to, like, still go into the realm of what they. What wanted as a. As a. As an overall vision, because they wanted that clean palette where it wasn't as scary as going into the. I mean, we've seen the design shows. You're like, you know, they have words painted on the ceiling and walls. You're like, kind of looks good on tv, but, like.
- [10:07]
A
Yeah.
- [10:07]
B
What was it? What was the one show? The.
- [10:09]
A
The. The old one?
- [10:10]
B
Yes.
- [10:11]
A
The Pit, Trading Spaces? Well, yes.
- [10:13]
B
And then.
- [10:13]
A
Is that the one that had, like, the bad reveals? I want to do that show again. Could you imagine me all.
- [10:19]
B
Yes.
- [10:19]
A
Being, like, an awkward.
- [10:20]
B
Yes, because you have. You have two non designers designing each other's homes. What was the mean.
- [10:25]
A
The jokes that could be had.
- [10:26]
B
It would be so funny that. Honestly, that's probably why that show was popular, because there were some that were so bad.
- [10:32]
A
So bad. Wasn't the. Yeah, there's one.
- [10:36]
B
The reveals you sent Me, a couple of them.
- [10:37]
A
Like, oh, my gosh, I was too young. I didn't watch it when it aired. But I've seen, like, clips on the Internet now on Instagram or whatever where the reveals are. They're like, I hate this. Like, they are in.
- [10:48]
B
They rip people.
- [10:50]
A
Like, that would be so fun.
- [10:52]
B
What was the one show? Which one Ty did? What did he do?
- [10:56]
A
Move that bus Extreme.
- [10:59]
B
That's the one that was massive. And yeah, you met Ty. Ty is a super nice guy. Like, really, really great talent. He's.
- [11:05]
A
He's exactly as he seems.
- [11:07]
B
Super nice guy.
- [11:07]
A
Yeah, super nice. Super funny and super quirky. Yeah.
- [11:12]
B
But that show, I remember when she
- [11:14]
A
didn't wear shoes when I was on set with him. He's just like a hippie.
- [11:19]
B
Yeah, he's so fun that There was one episode, I remember they put a spaceship in, like, the foyer. Like, they built it because they, like, I swear. And I remember this being like, it looked cool because it was this whole thing designed. But you imagine after they were like, I got a freaking UFO in my. Like, in my foyer. Like, that's the kind of stuff where, like, you do it for tv because it's kind of this cool.
- [11:42]
A
Wow.
- [11:43]
B
But then you're like, okay, how do you really live in it?
- [11:45]
A
Yeah.
- [11:45]
B
So the point is, the little supporting husband concept of it is I really did think it was navigating that through the. The compromise of what would. Would be good for people. It's hard. That's really hard.
- [11:57]
A
Yeah.
- [11:58]
B
So that would be my only critique. Going back to the real question.
- [12:00]
A
I don't think that's a critique. If you. Okay. So people ask me all the time, what do you call, like, my home style? And I used to think that I had to, like, have a name. Otherwise, like, I'm not a designer and I can't talk about it. Essentially, who am I if I can't even label my design? I really don't have one. I mix organic, modern, mid century, and traditional. I feel like those are my top three that I kind of mix up. And they all are in corporate, you know, incorporated together. But what would you say yours is?
- [12:29]
B
Well, mine. The only one is. I'm gonna say you have a new one too. There's a. There's a new little style you lean into, which I actually kind of.
- [12:36]
A
I'm gonna say pizzeria. No. Is the brick in the playroom?
- [12:39]
B
No, actually, no. The brick in the playroom with the Wayne Scotty. And it's like that. That thing looks stunning now.
- [12:45]
A
Thank you.
- [12:46]
B
Stunning. Like I was. I think both of us were like.
- [12:49]
A
I mean, I did the sliding because of you, so you definitely had.
- [12:52]
B
Thanks. It worked out together.
- [12:53]
A
What were you gonna say?
- [12:54]
B
My new aesthetic is Grandma chic, hip grandma cool granny.
- [13:01]
A
Stop it. That's traditional. I can't be like, well, my aesthetic
- [13:09]
B
vibe leads Grandma naughty. Nana, stop.
- [13:12]
A
Okay, that's traditional.
- [13:16]
B
I know, but I'm saying like in a good. Like you did things. You almost took inspirations from your grandma's house in Granville.
- [13:22]
A
I did.
- [13:22]
B
And you made it in a way with the wallpaper. And you come in, I'm like, this looks actually like super nice.
- [13:28]
A
Thank you.
- [13:28]
B
And it doesn't look dated.
- [13:30]
A
No, it's cozy. I literally took pictures. I was looking at pictures of my. Of the hallway up the stairs that I took from my grandma's grandma and grandpa's house. My grandma and grandpa lived in Granville, Ohio, up there by Denison University, like right in the village. They had a beautiful home up on a hill. My grandpa passed away a few years ago and then my grandma now lives in Texas to be close because all her three girls are here in Texas, my mom being one of them. And I looked at a picture and I was like, okay, I want everything I want. I want the wood banister, I want the wallpaper, I want some lighting. I want the. Just the standard traditional. Each kid have a headshot going up the stairs. I just wanted it to look like we were back in 19. I don't know. They have built in 1960s and everything was original, so I guess leaning into the 60s. But hers, her design isn't standard 60s.
- [14:26]
B
Oh, and it leaned more to the 80s.
- [14:28]
A
Yes, but if. Yes. And so it's definitely more like cozy, traditional. I don't know. I guess if you were. If. I guess if I had a goal of like how I want my house to look right now, I guess it would pick up the most accents from like the 90s, like the wallpaper and the lamp lighting.
- [14:44]
B
I don't know about that.
- [14:45]
A
Yes.
- [14:46]
B
I wouldn't call any home alone house. I still don't see that at all.
- [14:52]
A
What the heck do you see? Do you have.
- [14:54]
B
I. I would say I guess he leans a little bit more traditional. 90s is my house.
- [14:58]
A
Our house is built in the 90s, babe. We're basically just doing the original.
- [15:01]
B
No, our original house was all dark wood with stucco wall. That was everything. Like the real hand trialed.
- [15:08]
A
Oh yes.
- [15:09]
B
The. No, I would. 90s. To me it is.
- [15:12]
A
Guys, it's 90s. He's wrong.
- [15:13]
B
I don't know. I don't think I wouldn't call the style with the wallpaper 90s at all. I would call it, okay, maybe inspirations of like the fact that you are using wall coverings and curtains. But the style is so much more elevated from what it used to be.
- [15:27]
A
Well, correct. I'm still ma. I'm still using wallpaper from that was printed now. It's still updated wallpaper, but in the 90s.
- [15:35]
B
The 90s is hip seeing. Yeah, yeah, hip granny from the 90s.
- [15:39]
A
What's your style? You think? What's your aesthetic? If you had to put a name on it?
- [15:43]
B
Dad bod.
- [15:44]
A
Okay, lame. It's like one star review. Horrible jokes. He's not funny.
- [15:53]
B
You laughed. You're the one. You encourage me. What do you call gig?
- [15:57]
A
What do you call it?
- [16:02]
B
You're asking me my design style? That's a tough one because I would look, I would obviously lean a little bit more masculine.
- [16:09]
A
I would call it chat gbt.
- [16:11]
B
That's not true. I don't use Chad Gemini. There you go.
- [16:14]
A
That's how it is.
- [16:16]
B
Anyway. No, I, I like, I love the, the walnut colors that we're using in that, that our playroom or my flood room is what I call it. So know your style. I like that. I like those colors. I like the sliding. I like masculine things that lean a little bit, have agnostic things. And I think man cave stuff is not my style. I don't want something that has all the chachi crap on the wall and things like that. I don't need that. I want something that lives in a. In a modern contemporary meets, you know, nice bourbon bar.
- [16:49]
A
But if you, if you weren't married to me, you would live in an open floor plan.
- [16:53]
B
If I wasn't married to you, you'd
- [16:55]
A
be sad and just true and lost.
- [16:57]
B
But if I never met you, I wouldn't know any different. Right? So I, I'd be still living happy.
- [17:01]
A
I think you would know, like, God would put it in your heart that, like, I'm missing something.
- [17:05]
B
True. I agree with that.
- [17:06]
A
Who is it? And see me on no different.
- [17:09]
B
That she's the one. And then I'd be writing you letters and I'd show up on set and it would get interested. Oh, you're like, you're the one too.
- [17:18]
A
I have a stalker.
- [17:19]
B
Who's this guy looking through the window of every episode. No, I, I. When I met you and I told you and this. I even said this the prior one. Like, I bought, I could just buy stuff on, on rooms to go and call it good. Right. I. You know. But as I got a little bit older, like when I had that townhouse, it was like there was a furniture store with a sword design. Like, oh, just give me what you think design. It turned into like all ultra modern, which wasn't even the style I liked.
- [17:47]
A
It's like a bachelor pad.
- [17:48]
B
Yeah. But that's what it was because. And then I ate grilled chicken every day because I was fine. Or tuna has nothing to do with. But I'm just saying is like, it was.
- [17:57]
A
It looked like this from a design aesthetic. And I also ate tuna.
- [18:00]
B
What I'm saying is it was like the base. Like, like I wasn't cook full meals.
- [18:04]
A
I like tuna.
- [18:05]
B
I this I'm fine with. Takana tuna with a little mayo and add some pickles. That's the hack. And take the pickle juice and throw the pickle juice into it. Mix it up, put some celery in it and you're. It's delicious.
- [18:16]
A
Never in our whole marriage seen you make tuna.
- [18:19]
B
Yeah. Ask him on I thought I'm gonna make it Facts challenge. We're gonna.
- [18:26]
A
Well, that's very canon the other night.
- [18:28]
B
That's because I've taught him how to
- [18:28]
A
make did no pickling or mayonnaise. No.
- [18:32]
B
Because that would take time. One is even more like, I'm hungry. I must eat. No, I, I honestly I can't say. I had one particular design. So what I've come to like is the styles that you like. Your design aesthetic is what my preference is now, I would say. But you come through that from seeing and learning and knowing. Like, so when I'm looking at the barrier where I'm like have the. A little bit the influences. I do want that arch thing. I think it's going to look like there's certain elements that I think will look good from pairing. One thing I'm. I actually think I'm good at a spatial arrangement and mapping out like when we did the renovation tore down the one wall of our. Of our other house.
- [19:07]
A
I agree with you.
- [19:08]
B
That was the part I was like, okay, let's make the focal points here now and let's do it. Because it's about spatial arrangement. That's the.
- [19:13]
A
No, no. I helped you with the. No, you're not as good with focal points.
- [19:16]
B
When we said to come crazy when that wall. Because remember, we were going to keep the wall.
- [19:19]
A
You're riskier. So you'll be like, let's take out this wall. We don't need it. I'm like, no, keep the wall.
- [19:24]
B
But it was. Remember what we were going to keep the wall. And it wasn't until you could see through it. I'm like, jen, I'm telling you. Yeah, let's put the header in here. And you're like, okay, let's do it. And so we did it. And it. I mean, much better. Oh, my gosh.
- [19:35]
A
It was good.
- [19:36]
B
So with that being said, I think the spatial arrangement side of things is. I'm strong at.
- [19:42]
A
Where do we get here?
- [19:43]
B
I was trying to ask me. What's spatial arrangement?
- [19:46]
A
Your design aesthetic is spatial awareness.
- [19:48]
B
Yes.
- [19:49]
A
Okay.
- [19:50]
B
That's right. That's what it is.
- [19:52]
A
Do you think. Do you think that I ever spend on anything when it comes to home renovation? And if I do, what is it?
- [19:59]
B
No, you're pretty. You're really frugal. You really are. Like, I. I mean, I. You're frugal. So, I don't know.
- [20:07]
A
You say I'm more frugal than you.
- [20:10]
B
I think we're about the same level.
- [20:12]
A
I think I'm a little more frugal than you are.
- [20:16]
B
I use coupons, a little bougie.
- [20:17]
A
I used to stay in expensive hotels.
- [20:20]
B
Traveling. Yeah.
- [20:21]
A
Traveling.
- [20:22]
B
Yeah. Fine.
- [20:23]
A
I wouldn't have thought.
- [20:24]
B
I've already said. We've already talked about this in the podcast. One place that if we. If I'm willing to spend more money where I'm a little bit like, let's enjoy. This is on vacations for memories. And if it's. And if it means getting a bigger room so we can not all be crammed again. We're privileged enough to be able to do that. And some families don't, like, do what you got to do. Slam in the room together. It's awesome. It's what I grew up with. Right. You didn't have our own hotel room, but if we have that, we have adjoining rooms. The kids have one. We have. Yeah. I'm paying the extra money because I want, like, that's a comfort level that I want to be able to do.
- [20:51]
A
If I wasn't married to you, I don't think I would have ever flown first class.
- [20:57]
B
Well, I got a little weird when everyone was like, you're the design. I mean, life changed.
- [21:01]
A
Got a little weird.
- [21:04]
B
I mean, look. I mean, we'll call. Call the spade. The spade. You're. You're wrecking it.
- [21:08]
A
But you'd flown first class before.
- [21:10]
B
It was only because of status from my travel. Oh. That had nothing to do with the fact that me would. I was only when I Got upgraded because I traveled a lot for my. My old job.
- [21:18]
A
Yeah.
- [21:20]
B
And a true fun fact, the first time I got executive platinum, I realized I traveled too much. It was literally when I got the status, I was like, this is not really an award. This is like a. You work too much shame. Like, I felt bad. It was when that was. Was when I was in an NBA and I got that. I was gone all the time. That.
- [21:39]
A
Yeah.
- [21:40]
B
That was. That was dumb.
- [21:41]
A
Oh, I know.
- [21:41]
B
I remember. Like, I. Not dumb. I was. I mean, it's. Your job is your job and you got to do what you got to do. It's a choice I made during then.
- [21:47]
A
Right.
- [21:48]
B
That as you is our careers and life and choices started to change and where I was like reflecting on where I was really going to focus my time. Like, do I want this life to be the rest of my life? And it was a hard no.
- [21:58]
A
Do I want this platinum status with no miles and flights?
- [22:02]
B
No, it. I mean, yeah. That was not the upgrade. The perks of when you travel a few times a year. Sure. That's cool. And again, there's a lot of people who love to travel for their job. There's a lot of people that. That. That's what they do and their family is able to do it. It just wasn't my.
- [22:16]
A
You didn't love it. I hated job at the time. It got to the point where it was. You're. That's why you're no longer in corporate and we own our own companies. Is like you got bored with that. And so I think there's more to that rather than just.
- [22:28]
B
But it was still the fact that if I was. If I was traveling, I mean, I wasn't home.
- [22:31]
A
Yeah.
- [22:32]
B
With my. You. My family. Yeah. And it's. There's. There's a. There's a. There's a professor in my. My business school and he remembered this one comment. He said, he's like, whatever you choose your time on is the most important thing in your world at that moment. And if you look at what you are spending your time on then. Then you can't. You can't say your family is the most important if you're actually not with your family.
- [22:54]
A
Well, and again, there's like that.
- [22:56]
B
But that was his statement about it's. It's a macroeconomics reason if you have
- [22:59]
A
a choice to be able to correct.
- [23:01]
B
Yeah, that's. That's right. But everyone. That's. Yes, there is a caveat. But that was something he said. I remember thinking that again, I. I've always said about my business school adventure was the worst thing I could have done for my corporate career because even though I went to accelerate my corporate career, it did nothing but make me want to become entrepreneurial and leave. But it was. That's something he did say because there is an aspect of that if you're there with your employees and your people and it should be an important thing.
- [23:24]
A
Yeah.
- [23:24]
B
And he's like his, his statement was. I'm not saying I agree with it because that's the. To your point, some people, you have to do it right. Or they can fake it.
- [23:32]
A
Yeah.
- [23:32]
B
But your time still is a. How you choose to spend your time is still an indication what actually is important.
- [23:38]
A
Right.
- [23:39]
B
No, but again, it was what it was. That was my job. I don't know where I came up with the status. So, yeah, we'll spend money on travel. I'll be a little bougie there. That's. Yeah.
- [23:46]
A
And I, you know what?
- [23:47]
B
But I use coupons.
- [23:48]
A
He does use a good.
- [23:49]
B
I find.
- [23:50]
A
And he gets mad at me if I don't use.
- [23:51]
B
If I don't find. If there's something online. You darn right I'm looking for coupon codes.
- [23:56]
A
So I guess this is. It goes into these types of questions that I really liked, which is I have a few about like, so example, like, what's one thing that's never worth going cheap on? What do you think?
- [24:07]
B
Travel. If you can.
- [24:08]
A
Oh, home. In home design.
- [24:11]
B
Travel.
- [24:13]
A
Everyone loves a good cheap flight. What are you talking about?
- [24:16]
B
No, it's true. No, no. Well, I'm saying experience is what I would say.
- [24:20]
A
All right, I'm going to answer another question of where did I splurge like in home design. In saving on the show, was lighting good? A beautiful shape.
- [24:31]
B
You can find a lot of like at the coffee shop.
- [24:34]
A
You can. But good lighting. I am for good lighting in spaces that are like communal. They get seen a lot. I would say spend more money on those and then I've got fans.
- [24:44]
B
Yeah. Amazon don't skimp on that one. But there's a hack that you can do now. Can I. Can I. You want me to. Let me share.
- [24:51]
A
Please enlighten us.
- [24:52]
B
This. Okay. You take a screenshot of the. Of the image you. You like. Then you pull that into Google Image search and you find other manufacturers that make the identical manual lighting from. From usually from a Chinese manufacturer. It's usually where a lot of this stuff comes from. Now, there are certain proprietary items that you can't have, but there's a Lot of things even on restoration hardware that are made by other manufacturers that are high identical, literally identical stuff made in the same factories. So if you're still going to pay
- [25:20]
A
more than like 100 fan.
- [25:22]
B
Yeah, correct. Yeah. There's things but you. But you can reduce the cost by doing a little extra time. And that's what I did because I did all the sourcing at the Wiley coffee shop where all that I bought.
- [25:31]
A
Yeah.
- [25:32]
B
So I was looking, I'm like, I like this light. We went here, I found it, it built the spreadsheet out and I mean it was an impactful amount of savings that we were able to find by just doing the image searches. And that's one thing if you want to find really high quality things. But look at it, that's one way to do it. Now to me it's like it's. It's the bones of it or if you're going to spend money on something it's like to me it'd be flooring. I wouldn't skip on flooring.
- [25:57]
A
Flooring. Interesting. I've never said that flooring.
- [26:02]
B
Now you can find alternatives on it.
- [26:04]
A
Like if you like hardwoods versus lvp.
- [26:08]
B
Yeah. What I do. But you can feel them really nice lvp.
- [26:10]
A
I was really. You can find some ton on the show.
- [26:13]
B
You can find some super high quality lvp. But the maybe the way you lay it right, maybe the like there's a lot of things you can do from it that.
- [26:21]
A
Well, that's different. That's just how to use the product. I would say another thing that I am good with spending money on is anything that gets the pressure of your butt 24 7. Besides a toilet. Toilets you can buy cheap. They're fine, they're sturdy, they're predictable. But sofas and beds, use it every single day. I would spend more money and I would find a bed that you truly like ever so excited to go into every night. Yeah. Well it's any something within like your home I would say for in couches, buy good couches because otherwise they fall apart really quickly and then you're just having to replace it. Or even worse than falling apart is it just starts to show wear and tear. Like that that chair that we just are getting rid of in the office that just all the faux leather is like shedding off of it. The worst is whenever say the bones are still fine but it just looks awful and like worn and ratted and you get it recovered and whatnot. But. Or you could just spend a little bit more and Buy a couch that you're gonna have for a day.
- [27:19]
B
We talked about that in the last one. Reupholstery.
- [27:21]
A
Yeah.
- [27:21]
B
Or more for Grandpa Lawrence. You know, got his name correct this time, so. But yes, it. It. You can reupholster. You can do things on a budget just because the other thing is, is be comfortable with what you have. If you have. It's about setting your budget in a place that you want to spend that money. And it's knowing that if you're going to do everything you really want, it's probably going to be 20 more than what you budgeted for. More than that, generally speaking. But then that's the aspect of how much you're willing to put on yourself. The more DIY you do, the less it's going to cost. The more you rely on a contractor, the more it's going to cost. It's just the reality of. Of how it works. Right. And it's. You know, we talked about this earlier about one of our friends. I was like, phasing things is completely okay to do as well.
- [28:00]
A
Yeah.
- [28:00]
B
It's not like if you have to. If you look at. It's like, oh, we're going to want to renovate everything. And. And the thing is, some at times renovations is. Nice city. It's not necessity.
- [28:08]
A
No, for sure.
- [28:09]
B
I mean, most of.
- [28:10]
A
What do you call it?
- [28:10]
B
Necessity. It's nicety, not necessity.
- [28:12]
A
Nice city. I think most home renovation is that
- [28:14]
B
all of it is.
- [28:15]
A
Yeah. It's something that we as a country.
- [28:19]
B
I mean, a lot of plumbing issues, electrical issues. That's a totally different story. It's a safety concern that's. You got to get that stuff repaired. Like a septic system we had to redo at our house.
- [28:30]
A
Yeah.
- [28:31]
B
So I would have thought that that was a real thing. I didn't know what.
- [28:36]
A
Is there a spot in our home that. How do we put this? Is there a spot in our home that affects your mood? And what does it affect? Like what. What or why? What spot?
- [28:48]
B
I'm gonna ask you that first.
- [28:49]
A
You're gonna ask me?
- [28:49]
B
Yeah, I want you to answer that question first. I actually think. I know.
- [28:53]
A
I love our dining room. And when I look at our dining room, it makes me really happy. It's where the mahjong currently sits on the dining room table. It has two exterior walls with huge windows, and you can see out the front and see the view. And I like to see cars drive by, like, proof of life. Like we're in a neighborhood. I love that. I love our new Grid windows that we just got in there so much. I would say that affects my mood. I do my word searches in there and sometimes I cross stitch with a lamp and all those things bring me Joe. Fine. I am kind of like a grandma now.
- [29:29]
B
That you naughty, Dana.
- [29:32]
A
Why am I naughty?
- [29:32]
B
What? I don't know. What about this? The living room? The sunken living room.
- [29:37]
A
I like it.
- [29:38]
B
Yeah. I love that room.
- [29:39]
A
You love that room? I do. Is that our favorite. Is that your favorite room?
- [29:42]
B
It's. I like. It's because it's where the fireplace is. It's got the trees. That room. Honestly.
- [29:51]
A
Yeah.
- [29:51]
B
I think I like that room the best.
- [29:52]
A
I like the deck off of it.
- [29:54]
B
Yeah. We can go inside the backyard anyway. I mean, it's.
- [29:58]
A
Yeah, it is funny how in the
- [30:01]
B
old house, I like the kitchen. Sorry to interrupt.
- [30:03]
A
Well, no, not funny, but like, I think that's the thing with doing the TV show that when I first got into the TV show, I didn't realize the weight of my clients. And like, how. How do I put this? I think it took me doing it a full season maybe. Because when you're doing something so scary, life changing, a once in a lifetime opportunity. Like I was filming a TV show for national television. Right. You're kind of. It's kind of hard to not be self focused because you're freak. Trying not to freak out every day. Right. I think it took into season two to realize, like the weight of these renovations on the clients. When they would say, this is life changing for us. And at first you hear that and it like, doesn't hit as much. You're like, oh, okay. Or you'd even be like, I didn't do. Wasn't that hard. Like, I didn't. You don't think of the magnitude.
- [30:54]
B
Yeah.
- [30:55]
A
But as I started getting into season two and I was more mentally, like, calm, and I felt more in control and it was more like less scary, I guess the whole experience, I was more aware even. And I, like, felt harder with my clients. And I think it all has to do with like, our houses really do affect our moods and our happiness at some point, which can now ripple into marriages and relationships. And when you have a home that you say you're there because you got a really good deal. But now I've had clients that can't afford to move after prices or more, and they're here and they're like, I hate this house, but what can we do to make me love this house? And like, that job I not take lightly because I started to Understand literally the weight of people crying and being like this. This is. This is a something I'll. I'll die remembering. And it's so true. I mean, I will too. I'll die remembering the TV show. You know, it's big.
- [31:49]
B
Yeah. I mean, that's.
- [31:51]
A
Design affects mood, like in people's lives, which is.
- [31:54]
B
Yeah.
- [31:54]
A
Sounds dramatic, but it does. I. I've lived it. I've seen it. It's crazy. It's. It's how important home is.
- [32:01]
B
You at you. Oh. I mean, I do agree with that. I think it's a very emotional thing for a lot of people. It's. I think it's definitely, you know, for you. I think it, you know, my viewpoint is it's impacts your mood probably more than mine. The only thing that I would say, like, you want to go back to the things I think about. When you talked about where to spend money at home, I was just thinking about this as you were talking about. This is the guy in me or the analytical side of it. It's anywhere you can get a return on your investment on. That's honestly how I would.
- [32:27]
A
That's not fun.
- [32:28]
B
No, but it's sweet. But here's the thing.
- [32:30]
A
I'm with you.
- [32:31]
B
What is it? What are the places? And this is actually from a. From a real estate standpoint, what places can you put money in? And if it's done right from design, that you can see a return on it.
- [32:40]
A
Kitchens and bathrooms, 100.
- [32:41]
B
That's it.
- [32:41]
A
Hands down. Yeah.
- [32:42]
B
And master bedroom, maybe. But afterwards it be kitchen, master bathroom.
- [32:47]
A
Before the bedroom would come a closet.
- [32:49]
B
Master closet. Really?
- [32:50]
A
Main closet.
- [32:50]
B
Yes. Well, it goes into the main cloud. Okay. But it all comes from a standpoint of the places that ultimately where the emotional buy happens, and that's in the kitchen and the, you know, your bathroom. So that's the part where I think if you're going to spend money, focus on that first. Instead of doing a guest bedroom, do the place that isn't it. And one thing with the show that you taught, you don't have to strip out all your cabinets.
- [33:12]
A
Right.
- [33:12]
B
You know, like, you don't have to do that if the budget's not there. You can focus on a nice stone top and a new backsplash and paint and you can change the entire vibe, like, dramatically.
- [33:24]
A
I mean, I got a lot of episodes where I do that.
- [33:26]
B
Yeah. Dramatic power of it dramatically changed. You got even one episode where didn't you take. It was one of the homes. I think it was the toilet home. When you Put the toilet in the backup.
- [33:36]
A
Oh, where I flowered.
- [33:37]
B
Yeah, you flowered.
- [33:38]
A
That was season one.
- [33:39]
B
The season one or season two?
- [33:40]
A
Season one.
- [33:40]
B
But didn't you take an upper and make it a lower and extend out the cabinet where you repurposed it? Where you took it and it was the same size and you're like extended it out. And so they created a longer banquette type thing. I was like, that's genius. On the standpoint, you didn't actually spend any money, but you just took it off and repurposed the things. You had to be able to create a nice cost savings associated. But that's where I would look at it. It's like when you're going to spend money on it, it's. Is there going to be a return on this one? Because if you're looking to sell a home, there are people that are struggle to sell their home.
- [34:09]
A
Yeah.
- [34:10]
B
Because they. They want a certain number. They're not able to get it. But if they could spend 10,000, they'd actually be able to get 23,000 return. But that's. That's the number on that. Not that it's unrelated to your emotional standpoint.
- [34:21]
A
Yeah, that's boring compared to emotions, but it's fine. Just kidding.
- [34:25]
B
So, my man, that's my design style. Roi.
- [34:28]
A
Return of interest, Investment.
- [34:30]
B
Return on investment and interest and not really interest.
- [34:34]
A
What are you interested in?
- [34:35]
B
There you go. That's it. Design word for it.
- [34:38]
A
The minute I said it, I was
- [34:39]
B
like dirt on interest. Do you like it? You're gonna return this house. You come back to my house, then
- [34:46]
A
it has value, man. That's good. Anyway. Well, we're still in the process of slowly renovating our own home. We did a lot.
- [34:53]
B
It wasn't intentional. It wasn't an intentional.
- [34:57]
A
That's true. We had a ton of water damage from four roof leaks that we didn't even know existed. So it was forced upon us. But that was bad. It's. It's been fine.
- [35:05]
B
Yeah, that was. That was. Thank goodness for insurance.
- [35:08]
A
Well, we have windows being installed for now. The seventh day. And I looked at Mike this morning, and I'm like, I think I want to take a pause on home renovations. I just want to be home alone for a minute because there's people in my house 24 7, I feel like. And it's been that way since September. October. So I'm ready for just a.
- [35:26]
B
Wasn't this thing supposed to be done by October?
- [35:29]
A
That's also renovation. Tune in next time. Just kidding. When we talk about real estate time.
- [35:34]
B
20% more. 20 and everything. Time, money. It's usually the case of anything. It's. And again, it's. You know, you can't blame contractors and subs for everything like that. Sometimes it's just life. Sometimes we delay things. So like, hey, we're at a time for a week for Christmas. We. You know. Yeah, we can't. You're not going to let you renovate during that time? That's. That was our choice. Or we missed design. You know, they need decisions and things just happen. Life happens.
- [35:56]
A
So if you could pick one last question. If you could pick one room in our entire house can't be the bar because we're doing that right now. One room in our entire house that you could take over and design and do anything you wanted. And I didn't even look inside. What would it be?
- [36:07]
B
I already said this.
- [36:09]
A
You're gonna take the children's playroom.
- [36:10]
B
I.
- [36:11]
A
That's awesome. That's horrific.
- [36:13]
B
I don't care what we're fighting about this later. I just want a golf simulator. So I'm doing it.
- [36:17]
A
You're gonna garage.
- [36:18]
B
I'm doing in the garage. So I found the. Yeah, I figured that out.
- [36:20]
A
There you go.
- [36:21]
B
Found. I found my place. It's going to be in the garage. I get relegated to having one room, which Jen says I should live in anyway. Is the garage.
- [36:29]
A
Whatever that cool?
- [36:31]
B
It's gonna be a cool setup. Actually. The. The screen gets delivered today, so I'm gonna be installing. I'm doing all that install myself and everything thing. Look at me.
- [36:39]
A
So what is it?
- [36:39]
B
Putting the gloves on. Putting the belt on.
- [36:42]
A
Okay.
- [36:42]
B
Not sure why I put gloves on like this.
- [36:44]
A
Honey, it's a projector screen. You're not doing.
- [36:46]
B
You. Come on. I'm going let you install then.
- [36:53]
A
Cool. I'm going to install it at the neighbor's house because I don't want it in ours.
- [36:57]
B
Listen, the amount. Like I'm going to run the economics on this, okay? Golfing is a long investment of time.
- [37:04]
A
Okay?
- [37:05]
B
Right. And it's expensive to golf if you go every week. So the amount that I. If I. If I subtract the math every single day, that's not. I save money, girl.
- [37:19]
A
Math right there. Guys.
- [37:21]
B
It's sick. I saved 50.
- [37:24]
A
Do you know what? I would redo our bathroom, but I don't know what I would do.
- [37:28]
B
I like it. I like our bathroom.
- [37:29]
A
I like it. It's fine. It's okay.
- [37:31]
B
I like our bathroom.
- [37:31]
A
I don't know what I would do with it. So I'm not gonna redo it, but okay, maybe it's always messy.
- [37:38]
B
I'm like, hey, big props to you during this. The quick hiatus you had in January. What you cleaned, you purged.
- [37:49]
A
I purged the doo doo out of our house.
- [37:52]
B
Yeah, you did. The absolute lighter. I mean, I know, doesn't it. I know it sounds really weird. Like I did the garage because I wanted to. That was one thing. I was like, I'm gonna tackle this project. So I did the garage because I wanted to be able to find space for the, the golf simulator. Partially it, but also. But when you go in the garage now, you're like, wow, this thing's nice. It feels, it feels like.
- [38:12]
A
Yeah.
- [38:12]
B
You know, we have people that like, are always dressed right dress on their house and that's awesome. Like, like I, that are always what house is always like you, you go in, it looks clean all the time.
- [38:22]
A
I know one person, two and one.
- [38:25]
B
One man.
- [38:25]
A
Courtney.
- [38:26]
B
Yes. And I was gonna say that, I was gonna say the Jordan's garage is always nice.
- [38:32]
A
Their garage is nice and clean. They also don't like hoard stuff.
- [38:37]
B
You don't hoard stuff. You just have a job that requires you to get like, you have things, a lot of things that sent and so.
- [38:43]
A
I know.
- [38:44]
B
So you got to figure out it's more about storage of stuff. Well, we personally donated, so.
- [38:48]
A
We donated so much.
- [38:49]
B
That was great. I mean, it was, I, I, it was a lot.
- [38:52]
A
Yeah. So it was so good. I will say today I went to make a chicken pot pie. Made chicken pot pies in the fridge to where I can bake it tonight. And I went to look for my one pie dish cuz I had four. And I'm like, why do I have four pie dishes? I don't make pie. I'll keep one because they come in handy during Christmas. I go down, I'm like, oh my gosh, this is almost romantic. I know where this pie dish is. I got like hot and bothered. Squat down, open the cabinet where the hexapai dish. I'm like looking around and I don't have to move anything because I can see it all to be very easy and organized. And I'm like, where the hell is the pie dish? So I start looking around, I'm like, did I get rid of every pie dish? Because I don't make pies. I mean, that would make sense. So I'm kind of thinking this through my head and then thinking in my head versus like my kneecaps or something. And I opened the fridge and Berkeley had made that chocolate pie last week, and it's old now. It needs to be washed. And I was like, dang it, now I gotta wash this pie dish because I don't have another one. No, I washed it completely washed it and ended up not using it because it was too big of a dish. But anyway, my point is, like, this also helps with dishes. Like, I had to wash that dish to use it.
- [40:03]
B
And moral of the stories, keep Dubai dishes. If you purge, keep two.
- [40:07]
A
Or is the moral of the story, I only need one, and I just had to wash it out.
- [40:10]
B
But you did. But you said it was too big, so you need a small piece.
- [40:13]
A
Well, it's just the. There's too much chicken pot pie, so I had to use a different dish.
- [40:17]
B
Oh, it was actually two.
- [40:18]
A
It was too small.
- [40:19]
B
Interesting.
- [40:20]
A
Yeah. Is that.
- [40:21]
B
No, it is. Well, we. I mean, let me. Let me ask you this. If there's one tip somebody has that they are saying, I need you to do the purge, like, where do you start?
- [40:31]
A
I actually think this is a very good question. If you are good at purging and letting stuff go, which I usually am. Or you're. I'm. I'm usually good about letting stuff go, but I was also to a point where I felt like I was being strangled by the crap stacked up in my house. There's just stuff everywhere. Piles I hated. I was done. If you're not to that point or you're not good at that, then you need to partner up with someone who is good. Maybe your mom, maybe your grandma, maybe a friend. And you need that voice of reason to be like, Jennifer, you have four pie dishes. And you. Everyone in this whole world that watches you knows you're not a baker. You hate baking. So let's keep. Do you need them at all? And that's when I'd say, my mom makes chocolate pies at Christmas, and it is helpful to have one here. Or, like, you can use a pie dish for a side dish at Christmas, like, whatever. So I kept one. So if you're not good at that, then you need to anchor someone to hold you accountable. Also, if you have someone with you doing it, then you're more likely to not quit halfway through and, like, go down memory lane of photos or, like, watch something on tv. Someone is investing their time into helping you, and most people are going to respect that, and so it holds you accountable. I would say there.
- [41:36]
B
Memory lane one is the hard one for me.
- [41:38]
A
You.
- [41:38]
B
The office is hard for me.
- [41:39]
A
You.
- [41:40]
B
That's My hardest one because I. I've been a lot better now. Hey, the good thing is since we. We redid my office, it's been. I mean, you got to look at like once something. I have a system. I'm actually a little bit better, but I have ridiculous add and I'll stop pack things up and I'll have something. Cabinets open. I walk away, don't realize it. It's just my life and you know.
- [41:58]
A
A picture last night I told you
- [42:00]
B
I was coming back to it.
- [42:02]
A
I sent this man a picture of two drawers halfway open and a cabinet in his bathroom. His stuff just slewed everywhere. And all I did was send him a picture.
- [42:10]
B
And.
- [42:10]
A
And I said lol because he thinks he doesn't have a problem with shutting cabinets. And he goes, I'm not done with that. I'm coming back later. This means that a business meeting.
- [42:19]
B
I'm coming back later.
- [42:20]
A
I'm coming back for that.
- [42:22]
B
It's open. It's quick access. Listen. But that. But having the system has help. He's allowed me to keep my office a lot cleaner. Same with the garage. I'm like, okay, I want once. I'm like, this is for this. I actually do a pretty good job my brain being like, this is where the kids baseball stuff goes. This is where all the sports stuff goes. This. These. And even labeling shelves helped me as well because then I'm like, this is what's supposed to go there. And it makes the system better. But starting. I think what's the bigger thing is. Is like. Like the garage. We had stuff that was like we might use this and we haven't touched it in four years, five years. I'm like, I already told you. And I'm like at the point. I'm like, if we haven't touched this since we moved in.
- [42:59]
A
Donate.
- [43:00]
B
It's got to go. It's got it. It's got to find a new home. No purpose having us here. Why we. We need to. The storage unit that we have furniture in there. Like there's things that you. We have stuff where you just kind of forget about and it just takes up. It's like becomes like. You're right. You said the word suffocating, right? It feels like it's piling on top of you. But so you did a great job on that one. Your mom helped you a lot on that.
- [43:21]
A
She did.
- [43:21]
B
Getting rid of some of this like pantry side of things.
- [43:24]
A
I was about to say I did the whole house up until the last week. My mom came into February actually is that January 31st weekend. And she helped me tackle the kitchen and the pantry. Those were the last two things and arguably the hardest things for me. I like. I like dishes. I have a history of collecting dishes, so I knew there was a lot. Can you tell me five things that came from the pantry that are no longer there? Can you remember five things I removed from the pantry, like appliances or anything?
- [43:52]
B
Oh, There were about 100 appliances that we got.
- [43:56]
A
Name one.
- [43:56]
B
We had a rice maker that we never opened up.
- [43:59]
A
Wedding gift from his mother. Never opened it.
- [44:01]
B
Sorry.
- [44:01]
A
One, two.
- [44:02]
B
Mom, we just don't make rice.
- [44:04]
A
Well, we do. It's just like in the crock.
- [44:06]
B
Didn't we have, like, five waffle makers?
- [44:11]
A
I'll give you one. One waffle maker.
- [44:13]
B
We kept two. We kept the mini one, and then we kept three.
- [44:16]
A
There's like, a big one.
- [44:17]
B
And then Berkeley, the mini one. She makes a lot of stuff. Berkeley, by the way, loves baking. It's so much fun to watch her. She's actually getting pretty good.
- [44:24]
A
Okay. Two.
- [44:25]
B
Okay. I know now that we finally. So we. We had a. We have a. A bathroom downstairs that's like the. It's like the quote unquote pool bath. And there's a shower in there, which in. Since we moved in, nobody has ever showered in it because all we use it for is paper. Good storage.
- [44:44]
A
This is true. But this is not the pantry.
- [44:45]
B
What I'm saying is. But we now have all our paper goods in there. So I'm trying to think what was up on the top shelf.
- [44:50]
A
You only have two things that you know that are.
- [44:52]
B
Yeah.
- [44:52]
A
And that pantry is.
- [44:53]
B
Oh, we had. Yeah. Then we have, like, bottle of wine. Gag gifts. Gig. Like the ones he's saying.
- [44:59]
A
Gag. Gag gifts. Yeah, Gig.
- [45:02]
B
It was like the whole bottle of wine. It was like, I'll just have one glass. And it was a whole bottle of wine.
- [45:06]
A
Yes. So a gag gift. That was like a wine glass. We never gift it to anybody.
- [45:11]
B
And we had the toilet seat ones, but I think I gave those away.
- [45:13]
A
Well, I'll give you that. We technically still had one left, so we had a toilet seat.
- [45:18]
B
We had. We had massive amount of Halloween cutting equipment and stuff like that.
- [45:25]
A
Okay.
- [45:26]
B
Massive amount.
- [45:26]
A
You're right. That's five. We had a million other things.
- [45:29]
B
Oh, yeah, hold on. I can keep going. We had a super old. Shoved in the bottom. Super old air fryer.
- [45:40]
A
Okay.
- [45:40]
B
Like, super old one. Yeah, that was. I remember being in there. I'm like, why do we have that thing? It doesn't. I don't even know if it works.
- [45:47]
A
It was so dirty. I got it needed to be cleaned.
- [45:48]
B
Disgusting.
- [45:49]
A
Yeah.
- [45:49]
B
So disgusting. Anyway, so lots of. Lots of excess crap.
- [45:55]
A
We perched a ton. Well, anyway, that's good. That's the last of the questions for this one. But I think that was good. That puts a little into our different design aesthetics. Our different design styles kind of ties back to the show and then also where we are now, which is lightening our life. Purging, doing le. I feel like just to kind of put a bow on this. I feel like even when it comes to renovating and you're kind of looking through all your stuff. When I'm designing, I'm looking for efficiency. But a lot of efficiency can come from having less decisions, and less decisions means less things to choose from.
- [46:28]
B
True.
- [46:29]
A
And so I feel like I have. It's so good.
- [46:32]
B
Can I bring up one point on that?
- [46:33]
A
You may.
- [46:34]
B
Our playroom because of the water dam, like the flood or the. I say flood, but it wasn't really flood. It was just the water damage. We had to get the floors pulled up in the wall and things like that. But we got. It was where all our kids. We had so much. Just a lot of extra toys and things that they didn't use. And it was empty when they finally put the floors in there because we had. Did redid the floors. We end up putting hardwood in there when it was from that point. And how much did our kids just use that open room?
- [47:00]
A
Well, that's because they got that little scooter thing.
- [47:01]
B
I know, but they were in there constantly playing, playing, you know, play falling, bouncing the ball, throwing things on the wall, playing keepy uppy. Like they need toys. The room is. I know they need toys, but the point is, is the amount of toys. Right. I told you as a kid, if it didn't fit under my bed, I had like a Tupperware container. And that's where I think I had two of them that slid on the bed. And if it didn't fit in there, I didn't get it right. It was just where it was. That's where my GI Joes were, my Transformers. And I probably could tell you the ones to this day that actually had. And I would play with them because I knew where they were. I didn't.
- [47:35]
A
There's something to that.
- [47:35]
B
There's adults. I'm not saying that like, yeah, the amount of excess we live in is insane as a society. It's like just so much stuff. Or it's just getting rid of at the age Appropriate time. I know you want to keep things for your nephews. I know. And you're like, give it to them when you're earlier. But, like, there's a certain point where it's like, they don't.
- [47:53]
A
No. At one point, one of those girls is going to be like, mom, did you ever keep a doll that I used to play with? And I'm gonna say, yeah, actually, it did. And then I'm gonna go get the doll and. And then we're gonna be like, oh,
- [48:05]
B
my God, that's cute.
- [48:05]
A
I think. And then we're gonna remember the mims. And it's gonna be a whole moment just because I saved the doll.
- [48:11]
B
My mom is super good about purging, but she also has that one room downstairs that the kids love because it's all our old toys and stuff.
- [48:18]
A
1980s.
- [48:18]
B
She did keep a lot of that now. And I. I get that. If you have the space to store some stuff for later, for grandkids, that's kind of awesome because you have it. And it's like, it is nostalgia for. The kids are playing with stuff that literally was mine in the 80s. Right. And I do think that's kind of a. And she has old phones or the phones that they used to have. She's like, throw it down there.
- [48:36]
A
And the kids trying to be sue. And you're help. You're trying to make me.
- [48:40]
B
Yeah, but the rest of her house. My mom is a minimalist.
- [48:44]
A
Yeah, she is. You're right.
- [48:45]
B
I mean, cheap.
- [48:47]
A
Well, I'm not a minimalist. I am trying to declutter, But I do like some cozy things. I like blankets and pillows and candles and lamps.
- [48:54]
B
I love candles.
- [48:55]
A
I love lamp.
- [48:56]
B
I love candle.
- [48:57]
A
Okay, one thing to end story time. One thing to end. You know how I played in that tennis tournament? We were, like, falling apart, and we were. We were, like, up by four games. We still ended up winning, but only by one. And anyway, we were falling apart, and I, in the middle of gameplay, made a reference. I said, our. Someone said. I said, we're falling apart over here. And then the other team made a comment, and I was like, our pets heads are falling off. And they were like, what? I was like, our pets heads are falling off. Never mind.
- [49:29]
B
Dumb and dumber.
- [49:34]
A
They had no idea.
- [49:35]
B
No reference, no context on that one.
- [49:37]
A
They were, like, at the net, like, ready.
- [49:39]
B
Like, that's a strange thing to say. Okay.
- [49:42]
A
I was like, that's exactly like that. My dad was over there, and I could tell he was laughing because you came to walk.
- [49:48]
B
They had no context.
- [49:50]
A
No context. It was like sometimes those things happen to me in my life and I'm like, that's from a movie.
- [49:56]
B
Like, that's gonna be like I'm a dumber.
- [49:59]
A
It's funnier. It was funnier to me that they didn't. And it was funnier to me that I look like an idiot. Like in my life, in my brain when those things happen, I find immense joy and how ridiculous I look. And it's better if I don't explain. I just keep it. And I'm just like, that's a good story right there.
- [50:13]
B
I love it. I got one thing I want to leave on. What is it? This. And it's related back to the design thing. And you built the whole thing about my. My design aesthetic and your design aesthetic. I have learned over time I still have strong opinions. I just have less opinions than I've.
- [50:28]
A
No, you've gotten stronger. Back in the day, you let me do whatever I wanted. Now you're getting a little too spicy with your opinions.
- [50:34]
B
In my mind this isn't the kid the only. The only one. I just wanted. I just want that part on. I'm trying to get that thing.
- [50:39]
A
It's funny you think you had more back in the day. I do opinions.
- [50:42]
B
I think I'd be like, I don't. Is that gonna look good together? Is that right? Like it.
- [50:45]
A
Maybe you did. I just don't remember correctly.
- [50:47]
B
My point is this is if you have somebody who's really good at one thing and you have a lot of opinions sometimes have less. It's okay to have less opinions. I'm not saying that like for me or you. I'm saying both people. Like if you have one person like or some person really cares about it your house. There's certain things you compromise. Don't like house shouldn't be worth fighting you. I mean I'm going think about the clients you had. There are people like yeah Come to conflicting people in the same house that
- [51:12]
A
wanted it was hard made it the hardest time I for I will say I think you definitely more to Okay. I can generalize all day long because I have worked with a crap ton of clients at this point. Hundreds of room Designs. It is 100 way more common for the woman to have lead on the house. And the man just be like I don't care. Whatever she wants to make her happy. Like I could only count on a hand how many times the man was like wanting to butt in. Yeah. And it did make it harder for sure. And it was different, because that's definitely not the norm. I mean, one hand out of. But it's not bad. It just. As the designer, it. It makes sense. It's two people's home. I get it. But it did make it harder for me because I didn't know, like, who to prioritize. And then it was hard for me as the woman to not look at him and be like, can you just let her pick the paint color, please? Like, it was so hard for me at the times. But I'm telling you, it's very rare. Extremely rare.
- [52:11]
B
But there are. I mean, look, to defend men. There's some super good men that have great design.
- [52:16]
A
Yep.
- [52:16]
B
Style. There are. I mean, there are some super good designers out there. So with that being said, it's just a matter of, like, your home is your home. And.
- [52:22]
A
Yeah.
- [52:23]
B
It's never worth.
- [52:23]
A
Isn't it funny how some of us have that in us to where, like, we really care? And then others, like, I care.
- [52:29]
B
You know, I care the way I care.
- [52:31]
A
You have thoughts and.
- [52:32]
B
But the good thing is. And I know. Call me, get mad at me. You want. What's helped me is rendering helps me when I see something. And I can do my own work now in my head, where I can use an AI program, be able to put my design things in there, put things on. I was like, okay. Then I can kind of see it. Yeah. And I'm a very visual person. Where you have a. A gift where you see it before it's done, and you actually see it. You see it in your head. You know, how something's going to look. You're like, no, I. I got this. And I'm like, yeah, I can't see it.
- [53:00]
A
Yeah.
- [53:00]
B
So there is a gift on that one where some people have it. If you have that, trust your partner.
- [53:04]
A
I mean, I. I tape out stuff. Even, like, on the show, I'd use, like, blue tape on walls to, like, do cabinets and stuff. I did that in my own house two weeks ago in my bar. I taped out all the things so I could see it.
- [53:15]
B
It's close enough. You're like, yeah, okay.
- [53:16]
A
Okay. That looks good. Anyway, love your home. I hope that all of you guys get a sense of joy. Maybe you're not at a point where you love every single square footage, you know, foot of your home, but you have an area that you. That brings you, you know.
- [53:29]
B
Do you know what a home is?
- [53:31]
A
Home is where the hardest.
- [53:32]
B
That's it is. That's right.
- [53:33]
A
Is that what you're gonna say?
- [53:34]
B
That's where your heart is. And you're my heart.
- [53:37]
A
Thank you.
- [53:37]
B
So wherever home is is where you are.
- [53:40]
A
Thank you.
- [53:41]
B
Can we put that on a sign?
- [53:42]
A
Nope. No signs. We already have.
- [53:46]
B
We missed weird questions. I don't know.
- [53:48]
A
We gotta get some more weird questions.
- [53:49]
B
I know. We gotta get a weird question.
- [53:51]
A
Well, we don't have those today, but next time, if you do have a weird question, please submit them to you, me and Mike podcast gmail dot com. Again, it's all typed out in words. You, me and mike podcast gmail.com, please submit some weird questions. For our jar of weird questions, we will incorporate them into next episode.
- [54:09]
B
Which got Joanna Gaines coming on next episode. So it's not true.
- [54:14]
A
We do not. You're so like. It comes out of left field. I don't know.
- [54:18]
B
We're talking about design.
- [54:19]
A
You can't straight up lie like there.
- [54:22]
B
Maybe she is. Okay, we haven't booked her and we've never talked to her, but I don't know. Maybe she's coming. Maybe.
- [54:28]
A
Thank you guys so much for listening. We will catch you on the next episode of you, me and Mike. Thanks, guys.
- [54:47]
B
Sam.