HOUSEBABY

Hosting a Build-Your-Own Pasta Bar is one of our favorite ways to feed a crowd. It feels cozy, abundant, and customizable, giving guests the freedom to build a bowl that feels just right. In this post, we share the pasta shapes, sauces, toppings, serving tips, and layout ideas we plan to use in our dream home so you can recreate the same relaxed and elegant dinner in yours.

Join us as we weigh the pros and cons of different walk-in closet layouts — from bathroom access to corridor-connected designs. Discover what works best for privacy, flow, and everyday comfort in your primary suite.

Designing the right floor plan is about more than room placement, it’s about creating a home that supports daily routines, privacy, connection, and long-term living. In this post, we walk through the planning principles guiding our custom home layout, from smart adjacencies to future-proof flexibility.

When we first sat down with blank paper and big dreams, the question wasn’t how many bedrooms we wanted, it was what kind of feeling we wanted to come home to. One of the most critical and exciting steps in designing our dream home was defining our architectural style. Your home’s architectural style sets the foundation for everything—from the shape of the roofline and the materials used on the exterior to the interior finishes and overall flow. It’s not just about curb appea

Designing our custom home in New England has been a journey of balancing timeless regional styles with modern performance and comfort. The region’s four-season climate, with its snowy winters, humid summers, and dramatic coastal conditions, requires thoughtful decisions at every step. We want a home that feels rooted in its surroundings, looks beautiful year-round, and functions effortlessly no matter the season. In this post, I’m sharing the design considerations we've prior

Designing our dream home in New England meant deciding between a ranch layout and a multi-story home. This post compares both options through accessibility, cost, energy efficiency, and land use, and explains why we ultimately designed a hybrid layout that blends the best of each for long-term comfort, efficiency, and resale value.

Our goal is to create a space that not only meets the needs of our family but also supports our lifestyle for the long term. Through thoughtful architectural programming, we're defining essential spaces and ensuring each one has a purposeful role in the layout. While we’ll likely make adjustments as we consult with a contractor, this is the exciting starting point of our dream home; where everything on the wishlist is possible, and the focus is on crafting a functional, famil

A Room-by-Room Guide to Designing a Right-Sized, Flexible Dream Home When we started designing our dream home, one of the biggest questions was: How big is too big? We wanted enough space to live comfortably but not so much that we'd be maintaining or heating rooms we rarely use. Striking that balance meant asking tough questions about lifestyle, long-term needs, and how we actually use our home. In this post, we’re walking through our full process for determining the ideal s

Designing a home as an architect is both an exciting opportunity and a unique challenge. Unlike designing for a client, where the needs and preferences are defined externally, this process requires deep introspection—translating personal habits, lifestyle, and aspirations into a physical space. Every decision, from the overall layout to the smallest material detail, becomes an exploration of how our family foresees living, working, interact with our surroundings, and most imp

Wall paneling is one of those design choices that feels decorative on the surface, but in reality, it’s architectural. When done well, it can permanently elevate a space, add character, and increase a home’s perceived value without a full renovation. As an architect and homeowner who has renovated an early 20th-century home and is now designing our forever home from scratch, I approach wall paneling as more than an aesthetic layer. It’s a tool for shaping how a room feels, ho

Ever see the Portlandia sketch called "Put a Bird on It?" It humorously satirizes a popular trend in arts and crafts culture, where...

Lighting plays a critical role in interior design, influencing the ambiance, functionality, and aesthetics of a space. Here's a general...

Before buying that first bucket of paint, there is an incredible power in thinking carefully about a cohesive color scheme that works...

The choice of the best interior paint color plays a significant role in setting the mood, ambiance, and overall aesthetic of a space. ...

At the foundation of design, it is critical to understand how to unleash the power of color. At the cross section of science and art, you...