# #314: Enjoying Summer (Ew!) & Favorite Old Houses

An episode of [A Beautiful Mess Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1485472892), 24 Aug 2026, 37 min.

Audio: https://mgln.ai/e/498/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/abmpodcast/ABM_EP314_Final.mp3?dest-id=1624655

Today we're helping our fellow autumn souls survive the remainder of summer heat and we're reminiscing about our favorite features from old houses that we still miss. We're also debating whether painting brick homes white needs to stop. Thank you to this week's sponsor: Get an extra 20% your first order when you go to Pendulumlife.com/mess Receive at least 15% off any annual membership at masterclass.com/abeautifulmess Visit ernesta.com and order five samples for only $10, and you'll get $50 toward any rug of your choice. Tips for surviving summer: Collect everything that you love about summer Start shopping for Autumn home decor Miss from previous old houses: Emma - Black exterior Elsie - The secret library, theater room, and pool You can support us by leaving us a couple of 5 star recipe reviews this week at abeautifulmess.com Have a topic idea for the podcast? Write in to us at podcast@abeautifulmess.com or leave us a voicemail at 417-893-0011.

## Transcript

[0:00] Elsie
[0:01] You're listening to the A Beautiful Mess podcast, your cozy comfort listen. I'm your host Elsie Larson.
[0:02] Emma
[0:03] And I'm your host Emma Chapman.
[0:04] Elsie
[0:05] Today we're helping our fellow autumn souls survive the remainder of the summer heat, and we're
[0:06] reminiscing about our favorite features from old homes that we still miss. We're also debating whether
[0:07] painting brick homes white needs to stop. I think that's a nice little hot take. Okay, let's get into it. All
[0:08] right. Then before we jump in, Elsie and I both recently, but separately, watched the new Odyssey
[0:09] movie. Yes, yes. So, and I think we had slightly different reviews. So let's give our reviews. I think we
[0:10] did have very different reviews. You go first.
[0:11] Emma
[0:12] So my husband and I went on a date night and to see it, and I was excited. I love the Odyssey. I love
[0:13] the old one, and I did read it, but I'm pretty sure I read it in high school or just after high school. And I
[0:14] am 40, so it was a very long time ago. But I love Christopher Nolan some more than others. But I was
[0:15] like, "Let's see what this is about, and I loved it. So I normally do not like movies that are beyond an
[0:16] hour and a half. Like if I see it's past two hours, I'm kind of like, "I don't know. Maybe we'll watch it over
[0:17] two nights at home. But we were both like, "It looks fun. Everyone's seeing it. We'll go. It's a moment I
[0:18] didn't even notice that it was. I think it's close to three hours, isn't it? I didn't even notice. So I feel like
[0:19] that's that in and of itself coming from me is a positive review because I will. I am like, please no on
[0:20] three hour movies personally. So that, I mean, I love the story. It's a classic story. Again, I haven't I
[0:21] haven't read it in a long time, but I think they kind of stick to it. So I don't really think there's a lot of
[0:22] spoilers or a lot of completely new things, but I think my favorite thing, if I had to pick one thing, is I felt
[0:23] like they showed us something new with the Trojan horse, and I really feel like they did a great job
[0:24] pulling out the themes of this story because I think it's a story where we all think like, oh yeah, it's so
[0:25] cool. There's cyclops and there's sirens, and you know, you just think of all that stuff. And at the end, he
[0:26] shoots the arrow with the axes from the Wishbone episode. That's what I grew up on. If you don't know
[0:27] what that is, go ahead and Google it. You will not be disappointed. But you know, has all these you
[0:28] know stories that I think you probably have seen, or they've been spoofed in you know pop culture
[0:29] things over many many times, but they really got to the heart of what the Trojan Horse was, which was
[0:30] a trick that they played on the other army, and it was sort of a trick against the gods. It was sort of
[0:31] something that you shouldn't do. I think in a way it's a very old timey war crime because so often in the
[0:32] movie they were talking about Zeus's law, which seemed to be basically treat others the way you want
[0:33] to be treated. So a golden rule that's been around forever apparently, and they call it Zeus's law in the
[0:34] movie. And Odysseus and his family, they're they're very about that. They're the good guys, so of
[0:35] course they go by Zeus's law, and they're kind to beggars who show up at their house and they feed
[0:36] them and you know they're they're doing it right so they're the good guys but we see that he plays this
[0:37] trick on the army which is against Zeus's law it's not the thing that you should do but they win because
[0:38] of it and so he's sort of you know his journey home after that is kind of his punishment for this thing that
[0:39] he's done and then I also think another theme that plays into this is very much how life is out of our
[0:40] control, because in the movie many times they kind of talk about that he's like, I'm going to keep my
[0:41] men alive. Maybe I can't keep all of them alive, but I'm going to keep as many of them alive as I can.
[0:42] And so often he kind of puts himself in danger over and over again to keep his soldiers and the men
[0:43] that he's trying to get home with alive, even though it becomes very clear. And by the end, this is a
[0:44] spoiler, but again, the book's been over, so you know they don't make it. He's the only one who makes
[0:45] it home, and the gods are kind of telling him, "You can't control that. Your destiny is not your own. As
[0:46] much as you try, it's not. We're in charge of that. The gods, and you know, this is an old timey stories.
[0:47] So they say these these gods, the god of the ocean, the sun god, this and that. For us, we would
[0:48] probably think of just one god, or you would think of the universe, or you would think of you know
[0:49] whatever. But just the the universal idea that our destinies are not wholly ours. We can't control
[0:50] everything that happens to us, and sometimes you have to let go. I think that that's so universal, and I
[0:51] think they really hit on that in this one, and I really liked it. I thought the way they did it was really
[0:52] interesting and felt like something I hadn't seen with this story before. And I think it's kind of hard to do
[0:53] the Odyssey in a new way. So the fact that they sort of pulled out some things from it that I felt like
[0:54] hadn't been explored very much in previous retellings of it, I really liked. I thought it was fun. The
[0:55] accents were a little tough at first, but after about 15 minutes, I forgot about it. So that was good. My
[0:56] review on that, and yeah, all the performances were nice. Some better than others to me, but overall,
[0:57] really good. It felt like a movie that's kind of like made for everyone. And here's sort of what I think
[0:58] about movies like that. Whenever I go to the movie theater, and if they show me a real diverse menu of
[0:59] trailers up front, which this one, it's like they showed us a horror trailer and then they showed us a rom
[1:00] com trailer. That's when you know this movie. They're like, we don't know who this movie's for. Yeah, it's
[1:01] for everyone. You might be here watching it with your dad. We don't know. So it's and that's that is what
[1:02] kind of movie this was, and to me, like Oppenheimer kind of fit that too. Another Christopher Nolan
[1:03] movie, you know, it's like a classic story that he did really, really well. I liked that movie a lot. Dunkirk,
[1:04] similar thing, where I'm like, these are movies I could go see with my grandpa, with my dad, with
[1:05] anyone, whoever would want to see this, and I felt like this kind of fit that bill, and I thought it was really
[1:06] nice. I liked it. Let's hear what Elsie thought.
[1:07] Elsie
[1:08] Okay, so I looked forward to it for a whole year. Like as soon as I found out that it was coming, it was
[1:09] kind of like a countdown in my mind, which might have been a part of the problem because.
[1:10] Emma
[1:11] You just love the Odyssey.
[1:12] Elsie
[1:13] I love The Odyssey. I love Greek gods and also like the Madeleine Miller books, things like that. And
[1:14] also in fifth grade, we watched the TV miniseries The Odyssey from like the 80s or 90s. The one with
[1:15] Vanessa Williams. Yeah, I'm talking about. Yes, oh yes. And it really moved me at that age, and I
[1:16] thought it was like extremely compelling. And so, yeah, I was like very, very hyped to see this movie.
[1:17] And we got in there our first date night as soon as it came out. And so I heard that the I had heard a
[1:18] few reviews that like the first section was a little bit like chaotic, like it was like a lot of trailers clipped
[1:19] together because they're introducing a lot of characters really quickly. And at very first, I was like, "It's
[1:20] okay, it's okay, it's gonna be okay, it's okay. And then after about an hour, I was kind of just like biting
[1:21] my finger, like I'm so sad, but I don't think this movie is for me, and it just it just wasn't for me.
[1:22] Emma
[1:23] Yeah, you were like depressed. You were like, I don't like this.
[1:24] Elsie
[1:25] I was upset. I said I wanted to, and I didn't. The next day, I had to like do self care. I was really upset. I
[1:26] woke up. I woke up depressed. Yeah, I was devastated. Okay, and yeah. So I the things I liked about it,
[1:27] I thought it was gorgeous, like sets, costumes, actors, casting, amazing. The reason I think I personally
[1:28] couldn't enjoy it is because of I think it was the script, the dialect. I I could never get on board with the
[1:29] dialect. It was like reading the Message Bible to me, which if anyone is from my type of culture and you
[1:30] know if you know what the Message Bible is, you get it. It's not a compliment. It's it's a pretty mean
[1:31] insult, actually. So I just it was it just didn't click to me, and then I felt like the story, kind of actually the
[1:32] opposite of what Emma's saying. I didn't feel like it was reimagined enough, and I didn't feel like I saw
[1:33] new things in it. I wanted to like like the feeling when I watched the Greta Gerwig Little Women. There's
[1:34] like a lot of reimagined. I think in old books there should be like a good amount of reimagining in
[1:35] addition to like honoring the original source material, and I did not feel like there was a good amount of
[1:36] reimagining. I felt like it was just kind of going through the basic beats of the basic stuff you would
[1:37] expect, and I didn't feel surprised at any point. So that was my sadness. But I, I mean, I love the actors.
[1:38] I think I'm gonna watch it again eventually when I'm high and try that. I'm gonna try that, but I I don't
[1:39] know if it'll help.
[1:40] Emma
[1:41] Probably won't hurt. Yeah. Okay.
[1:42] Elsie
[1:43] I hate that. Anyway, let's move on.
[1:44] Emma
[1:45] Now I feel like everyone can go in and be like, "This might be great" or "This might suck. So now we've
[1:46] really got the expectations right in the middle.
[1:47] Elsie
[1:48] Form your own opinions. Yeah, I haven't heard very many people feel the way I felt, so I I actually am
[1:49] really jealous that everyone else is really enjoying it, and I, for whatever reason, couldn't couldn't get
[1:50] there. Alas, everyone has that movie once in a while, though.
[1:51] Emma
[1:52] Oh, yeah, we were like, "This sucks, and everyone around you was like, "Ah!
[1:53] Elsie
[1:54] Can I say what movie you were like that with?
[1:55] Emma
[1:56] Please, because I don't know.
[1:57] Elsie
[1:58] She was like this with the Barbie movie. Oh yeah, she hated the Barbie movie, and she, but she
[1:59] couldn't admit it at the time because it was so popular.
[2:00] Emma
[2:01] We saw it with a giant group of our friends too. I had like made a dress where I had sewn Barbie
[2:02] clothes onto it, like it was pretty cool, by the way. Yeah, and yeah, and I was like, I don't like this. Yes.
[2:03] Elsie
[2:04] Anyway, it happens. Whatever. Moving on. Okay, so what's this episode about? Yeah, what are we
[2:05] doing? Let's see here.
[2:06] Emma
[2:07] We're talking about autumn surprise. Okay, so the question. From Sharon, do you want to read it? Yes,
[2:08] Sharon says, "I'd love to hear a podcast from you on how to get through the summer months when you
[2:09] are an autumn girly. She has autumn in all caps. When you're an autumn girly through and through, I
[2:10] have reverse seasonal depression and I hate the heat, hate bugs. I'm not an outdoor girl, so I struggle
[2:11] through the summer months. Do you have tips to make the sweltering summer months in the Ozarks or
[2:12] anywhere else that's humid and gross out cozy and enjoyable, or just more tolerable. Great question.
[2:13] Okay, Ozarks too, I guess.
[2:14] Elsie
[2:15] Yeah, I think I think you just get through it. I have two ways to survive. The first one is I'm collecting
[2:16] everything I like about summer. So I like the pool, I like the schedule, I like certain like summer dishes,
[2:17] like summer food, like I like cold drinks, I like ice cream, like you know. So I'm just stuffing all the things
[2:18] that I do like about it into the summer, and then also I have a secret life where I am shopping for
[2:19] autumn every single day and planning it, and I have this autumn dollhouse that I'm making in my craft
[2:20] room right now, and I will just I've started it in June, and that is what gets me through. Cause yeah, like
[2:21] the truth is, for me, autumn isn't long enough, so I'm gonna start it in my heart a little earlier. I'm not
[2:22] gonna admit it to the outside world. I can't take the critique and the fighting. I don't give a, you know
[2:23] what I mean. But like for me, it's like, yeah, I could already eat a pumpkin pie right now.
[2:24] Emma
[2:25] Yeah, no, I agree. Yeah, if they were selling pumpkin spice lattes right now, I would get one. And in fact,
[2:26] does it make sense to me why they don't? It doesn't. But I think they started a couple weeks. I do think
[2:27] they started a couple weeks. Yeah, yeah. No, I think that's the way to go. Is collect the things from the
[2:28] summer that you like because, yeah, I also am not really. I don't like sweating. I don't really like summer
[2:29] clothes that much. I wouldn't say I hate bugs in that my kids love them, so I kind of kind of have a
[2:30] special relationship with them because it's you know a thing I do with them. Like we collect dead bugs
[2:31] and stuff, so we got that going. But yeah, I will say. So you list a lot of things I like too. I like the pool. I
[2:32] love to read a book at the pool. I'm not at that phase yet, but I'm looking. I'm looking ahead to the
[2:33] future, and I'm seeing it. So you know, yeah. But another thing I really love is if I can going on a evening
[2:34] walk, which for me here in the Ozarks right now it's like around eight, 838, 45. So the sun's setting. It's
[2:35] starting to get dark. The fireflies are out, and there's also this. I think it's the cicadas, but there's this like
[2:36] evening sound, and it's the sound of summer to me from childhood. So if I can go on a walk, and it's still
[2:37] a little sweaty, it's still a little, you know. But that to me is like I love this, and I cannot have this in the
[2:38] winter. There's not fireflies and cicada sounds in the winter, and the sun sets at like five. So that's like a
[2:39] thing I hang on to, and as much as I can get out, this is after my kids are asleep. So it's like my
[2:40] husband, you know, whatever I have to figure it out. But it's like that's like to me like a summer thing
[2:41] that I'm like, I really like this, and I can't have it any other time. So this is a a thing to hang on to. And
[2:42] then yeah, I also have a lot of things saved in my cart that are like autumn garlands and pumpkins that I
[2:43] plan to paint with my kids and this and that. You know, I'm definitely yeah. I've already been talking with
[2:44] the boys about what's our Halloween costume going to be this year. So yeah, I definitely already like.
[2:45] Elsie
[2:46] Have you been to the at home store yet?
[2:47] Emma
[2:48] No. Oh my. They have autumn stuff out?
[2:49] Elsie
[2:50] Big time.
[2:51] Emma
[2:52] Okay, I'll be swinging by then.
[2:53] Elsie
[2:54] It is like my Disneyland. I've been there twice in the past two weeks, you know, there's a Starbucks right
[2:55] by it, so I get a coffee, I go in there, and I just like zone out and look at the Halloween decorations. It's
[2:56] so fun.
[2:57] Emma
[2:58] Oh, that sounds super fun. Yeah. No, I'm like, should we stop recording and go do that right now?
[2:59] Elsie
[3:00] We can do it.
[3:01] Emma
[3:02] I'm sold immediately.
[3:03] Elsie
[3:04] As soon as you have a free moment, yeah, yeah, just get through it. Just make it work. Okay, we have
[3:05] a question from Kelsey. She says, wondering if you could do an episode about features of your
[3:06] previous houses that you miss. Specifically, Elsie, I'm wondering if you miss your secret library, or if you
[3:07] actually didn't use it as much as you thought you would, or just generally, what were your favorite
[3:08] features of your past houses? I remember Emma talking about a projector screen situation that
[3:09] sounded pretty cool. Okay, do you have any like can't let it goes from your previous houses where you
[3:10] like you miss one thing about it, I know she like she hated her previous house.
[3:11] Emma
[3:12] Yeah, my one before that I love and I still drive by it.
[3:13] Elsie
[3:14] That's sweet.
[3:15] Emma
[3:16] So I do love. She's correct. I do love a projector screen situation, and I love it so much that we put one
[3:17] in our current home. Good. So that's like our. Our main TV, we have a TV in our bedroom, but it almost
[3:18] never gets used. It's I don't know. I don't even know why we have it, honestly. But yeah, but our main
[3:19] TV, the TV that we really watch, is a projector, and I love that. It also just makes it feel like TV's like the
[3:20] special thing, and I almost feel like that keeps it where it. Not that it's like a minimum. It's not like we
[3:21] never watch TV, but it just makes it more special. And then it's a little bit harder, like not quite as good,
[3:22] to watch it during the day because it's a little bit sunny. The room we have it in is really dark, but it just
[3:23] is a little bit harder to see. And I kind of like that too, not because I'm against watching TV in the day,
[3:24] but I just I think it's good. I like it that it's like you know, this is a nighttime thing or you know early
[3:25] morning, whatever. Anyway, trying to think if there are any features. My previous home, we painted it
[3:26] black right before we moved the exterior, and I really liked the vibe of that. If our house was a different,
[3:27] my current house, if it was a different shape, I think I would paint it black, but it has all this white siding,
[3:28] so it just didn't. We'd have to replace the siding. You can't paint it. Yeah. So maybe maybe one day we
[3:29] will. But I liked that. I think that's it. I mean, I miss living in Roundtree, but I like the neighborhood I live
[3:30] in now. I really do. So I don't know. It's eh, you know. Those are the best two neighborhoods in
[3:31] Springfield. Come at me, Springfield, people.
[3:32] Elsie
[3:33] But you never got to live here at the same time as me. I know it's a little sad. I think she lived here for a
[3:34] couple years.
[3:35] Emma
[3:36] But I live really close by our daycare and also our pool, and we do that so much. And then also Oscar's
[3:37] thing now is when I pick him up, he's like, "Can we drive by my school? Because the school he'll go to
[3:38] one day when he's in kindergarten, he's not going this year, but the next year is really close. That's part
[3:39] of why we bought our house. Is I want to be able to walk the kids to school one day, not every day, but
[3:40] some days when the weather allows, and we would definitely be able to do that, and it's really cool and
[3:41] exciting to me. And we drive by it a lot now because he likes to look at it. So anyway, no, I'm living in
[3:42] my dream home. I hope I live there a long, long time. I have no plans to leave.
[3:43] Elsie
[3:44] Yeah. So okay. Well, I am living in my dream home. I'm very loyal. I I call this home my soulmate home,
[3:45] but I do miss three things about our McMansion home before this. The first one is the the secret library
[3:46] that was just such a big project because we enclosed a two story entryway. You made a floor, made a
[3:47] floor, and then made this Narnia closet with an an antique wardrobe that you could walk into, and it was
[3:48] a kids' library. And then we only got to live there for a short time after that because the fates didn't allow
[3:49] it. And I do I I wish I would have had a lot more time with that space. I've brainstormed extensively how
[3:50] I could add something with a Narnia wardrobe in this home, and I've never really found a solution. It just
[3:51] you-it's just not something you can stuff into any place. So yeah, I miss that for sure. It sucks. It sucks.
[3:52] But I'm glad that the the next family had little kids the same age as ours, and I'm happy for them that
[3:53] they got to enjoy that. And the other thing that I really miss is having a designated theater room. I think
[3:54] that's just a McMansion thing that they kind of all have it, and it's kind of like having an attached garage.
[3:55] It's like old houses just don't have them. They're so convenient, yeah. Like because it's just this dark
[3:56] ass room. We kept the curtains down most of the time. It was just you know like pitch black in there,
[3:57] and so you could watch TV on the projector any time of day. And it was just really nice, and it was a
[3:58] way to have sort of like different zones in the home. Which now we have our living room, and then we
[3:59] also have a TV in our kitchen with a couple of comfy chairs. So we do have two places you can watch
[4:00] TV, but it's not as separated. It's not as dark. So yeah, we miss that. And then the other thing I miss is
[4:01] having a pool, which I think we still we still plan to add a pool, but honestly, like we're not in that big of a
[4:02] hurry about it, and I just want to try to do it before our kids are teens at this point. Like maybe this year,
[4:03] maybe next year. I don't really care. So, but yeah, I do miss it, and I do think that it like adds a lot to like
[4:04] hosting, and I I can't wait to have it here because we just have much more friends in close proximity to
[4:05] us here because we lived in a suburb before, and now we live in the middle of town, and it's just like
[4:06] just more, much, much, much more people visiting our home all the time. So I think the pool will get
[4:07] even more action, and I'm definitely going to do a separate hot tub because I think that'll you know year
[4:08] round.
[4:09] Emma
[4:10] Yeah, no, I'm excited for your pool. Yeah, sometimes I miss our hot tub, but we could we could have a
[4:11] hot tub at our current home, and we haven't. Maybe not because our kids are little, but I also like as far
[4:12] as personal relaxation. I kind of prefer a sauna.
[4:13] Elsie
[4:14] Oh, you should get a sauna.
[4:15] Emma
[4:16] So we might get a sauna, but as far as like hanging out with your partner, or even like other people
[4:17] would come over and we would hang out in the hot tub and chat. Sauna not not as good for that. So
[4:18] that's sort of part of the hang up too. Is I'm like, well, I feel like my old hot tub, I used it for both of those
[4:19] purposes quite a bit. So I am like, I'm kind of torn here. I don't know. So Anyway.
[4:20] Elsie
[4:21] Yep.
[4:22] Emma
[4:23] I don't know.
[4:24] Elsie
[4:25] Yeah, no, I would never trade. I think I love where we live now, but you're always going to miss
[4:26] something about your previous home, and I think that's also normal and good.
[4:27] Emma
[4:28] Yeah, I think I have something a little broke in my brain where I'm just very like moving forward in life.
[4:29] Oh yeah, like there's something about me that's a little like, yeah, old news though. Moving ahead, I'm
[4:30] gonna do this.
[4:31] Elsie
[4:32] She doesn't let herself look back. That's true.
[4:33] Emma
[4:34] I'll reminisce, but like there are times I completely forget things, like, and I'm like, oh, I completely forgot
[4:35] that two years of my life. You know, like I don't know, like something's just kind of a little bit broken in
[4:36] there. Where I'm like, moving on.
[4:37] Elsie
[4:38] Yes. Do you want to read the hot take?
[4:39] Emma
[4:40] I guess so, but I think it's a little, a little bit directed at me.
[4:41] Elsie
[4:42] Well, people like you.
[4:43] Emma
[4:44] No, I might. This is from Anna. Painting brick homes white is completely overdone, and it's stripping the
[4:45] character from neighborhoods across everywhere. Additionally, painting an 80s or 90s style house
[4:46] white does not instantly modernize it like these homeowners are assuming. Too often, it just turns an
[4:47] outdated house into a white outdated house next to yet another white outdated house. Bring back
[4:48] diversity in home exteriors, different brick colors, painted siding, natural stone, trim colors with
[4:49] personality. Our neighborhoods are a whole lot more interesting when every house doesn't look like it's
[4:50] trying to be the same Pinterest board. Four exclamation points.
[4:51] Elsie
[4:52] Okay, I agree with this hot take. I think that painting brick. Okay, so I'm not against painting brick, and I
[4:53] have done it before three times. And Emma currently lives in a painted brick house that is white. Yes,
[4:54] and like she said, it has white siding. She didn't really have another paint color choice.
[4:55] Emma
[4:56] I'll tell you my whole brick story here in just a second.
[4:57] Elsie
[4:58] So I can I can go both ways on this. I think that you should use the what's the like natural paint that?
[4:59] Emma
[5:00] Stromoli or something. It looks like stromboli to me.
[5:01] Elsie
[5:02] Well, there's this certain kind of paint that's mineral paint that like I know our friend Cherry always says
[5:03] it's like painting brick with brick, and it lets the brick breathe. That's what I did on my last house, and I
[5:04] do think that's better because over time, latex paint can like peel, and it can it can do a bunch of bad
[5:05] things. So yeah, I do think if you're going to paint a house any color, you should paint it with mineral
[5:06] paint and go down the rabbit hole, research it. There's yeah, it's it's a whole thing, but I think that
[5:07] diversity, like when you drive down the street, you want to see different looking houses. This is one of
[5:08] the biggest things I learned living in the suburbs because they're all planned. You know, they're all built
[5:09] like pretty much all at once. It's not like in our old neighborhood where some houses were like ours is
[5:10] 1904. Most of the houses are from the 20s. It, you know what I mean. It's not like that. They were all
[5:11] built at the same time, and I learned that I strongly, strongly prefer the ones where they kind of force
[5:12] everyone to have different colors and exteriors and style, so that there is variety. Like the, I just think
[5:13] the planning's better, and I think most people feel that way because it it it emulates what we love about
[5:14] historic neighborhoods, which is diversity. But I don't know. I also think I can go both ways on it because
[5:15] I do think that some houses painting it white is the best, fastest thing you can do to make it look nicer,
[5:16] and so I don't know.
[5:17] Emma
[5:18] So I actually think if you're like, I just want to modernize this and do something simple. I actually think
[5:19] over white you should go black. You should go black or very, very, very dark gray, where it's like dark
[5:20] green. I love dark green that color. I actually think going dark like more often works better. So just
[5:21] throwing that out there. Yeah, if you're like, I don't know if I want a dark moody house, I'm like, but do
[5:22] you want like a lame white one? And I live in a white house, by the way. But like, sometimes it just
[5:23] doesn't look right. Like it's like it would look better dark. I actually think really dark houses look better if
[5:24] you're gonna go a more simple route. I also will say in.
[5:25] Elsie
[5:26] Nashville, there's a lot of brick houses that are painted red, and that can look really good too. Like that
[5:27] can really work. Like it just depends. Like some brick is way prettier than others and that's a
[5:28] consideration too.
[5:29] Emma
[5:30] Yes, it is. Yes. So here's my story about my house, which so my house is mostly like 70 to 80% white
[5:31] siding, and then it had you know whatever left percent 20 30% was this kind of red brick, and that's
[5:32] what it looked like when we bought it. And the brick to me was a not as attractive brick. I do actually
[5:33] think brick is very charming sometimes. This to me was like one of the least charming bricks you could
[5:34] get. So, and that's kind of how our house felt a little bit when we bought it. It was very like no style and
[5:35] a bunch of styles all put together, and it felt like it had been cared for, but no considerations on
[5:36] esthetics, which is fine. Not everyone cares. That's fine. So anyway, so I was like, "All right, what should
[5:37] we do? And of course, I would prefer a dark house, like I mentioned. That's one of the things I miss
[5:38] about one of my old houses. So I looked into that, but it was basically there was no way to appropriately
[5:39] paint the siding. You can paint it, but it's not like what you should do. It will peel, and we could replace
[5:40] all the siding, but there was nothing wrong with the siding, and I just didn't feel I wasn't excited about
[5:41] the cost. But I also wasn't excited about the waste because there was really one day we will need to
[5:42] replace the siding, but we really didn't need to then, and we were spending a lot on the interior. So I
[5:43] was like, I don't feel like that's the path. So I was like, all right, I think I'm going to paint this brick to go
[5:44] with the siding that we have. So, what are my options on that? I actually also don't love white painted
[5:45] house, brick houses either. I feel like they are a little overdone. I'm not against them. I think sometimes
[5:46] it's the right choice, sometimes it's overdone. So, it wasn't my first choice for our house either. So, what
[5:47] I really wanted to do was a kind of weathered look. It was going to look very probably kind of farmhouse
[5:48] modern. I don't know how to describe the way that it was going to be painted, but it was like using white
[5:49] paint to kind of make it look weathered. So I was just kind of bringing the red down.
[5:50] Elsie
[5:51] There's a name for that technique. Yeah, I can't think of what it's called. Where it's kind of like they they
[5:52] kind of like paint it and then wash part of it off with a hose.
[5:53] Emma
[5:54] Yes. Yeah. Yep. And so I had a hard time finding anyone in town who had done that before, but I had a
[5:55] painter who was willing to try it, and I was like, okay, well, I have no other choice, so I will also be willing
[5:56] to let you try it. And it did not go well. It did not look. It did not look right. It was. It is a technique. It is
[5:57] definitely like something artistic. I couldn't do it either. By the way, I don't think I would be successful at
[5:58] it either. I would have done it myself.
[5:59] Elsie
[6:00] Yeah.
[6:01] Emma
[6:02] But it was just. It didn't turn out right. So in the end, I just had him paint it with the mineral paint, just all
[6:03] white. So now we have white, white with our white siding, and in my mind, someday when we need to
[6:04] replace the siding, I'm gonna go all black.
[6:05] Elsie
[6:06] Yeah.
[6:07] Emma
[6:08] But that day is not today. It'll look so cool at Halloween. It'll be so fun. But I like the White House. It's
[6:09] fine, but yeah, it's not my choice.
[6:10] Elsie
[6:11] It depends on your neighborhood. I I do kind of think that historic homes like brick shouldn't be painted,
[6:12] but that's because they're almost always gorgeous.
[6:13] Emma
[6:14] Yeah.
[6:15] Elsie
[6:16] But for me, like 80s, 90s, early 2000s, and suburban homes, like I can go either way. I think it depends
[6:17] on what are other people doing in your neighborhood, and I think you know when something's
[6:18] becoming oversaturated in your particular neighborhood. Like where we used to live, it was like the
[6:19] white paint with the black windows everywhere, and it was just like every like it was getting to be like
[6:20] every single house. And when it's at that point, then yeah, you need to go in the polar opposite
[6:21] direction. And yeah, I really like like the dark green color where it's almost black, but I think that blends
[6:22] really well with nature, but anyway, to each their own. If you don't have an HOA, then.
[6:23] Emma
[6:24] Yeah, I mean, I also view it as like not everyone's into house stuff and exteriors, and you know, like if I
[6:25] meet someone who's like, I just don't know about fashion, so I just wear basics.
[6:26] Elsie
[6:27] Yeah.
[6:28] Emma
[6:29] I'm not like, oh, you that's terrible. I'm like oh okay I see this is not your thing and you feel like you don't
[6:30] want to make any weird choices that might be bad so you've gone with very basic things. I got I get that
[6:31] I totally get that. So if that's what a lot of people are doing with the exteriors of their home, like I can
[6:32] understand that because not everyone's into this thing and that's fine. But as someone who loves to
[6:33] walk around a neighborhood and like see all the cool houses, I do love it when people go for it with the
[6:34] exteriors. I love it because I'm out there walking, admiring your house. But you know, if that's not your
[6:35] thing, I can appreciate that too. So whatever.
[6:36] Elsie
[6:37] Totally. All right, so we are going to toss it over to a joke or a fact with Nova. Hey Nova, what do you
[6:38] have for us this week?
[6:39] Nova
[6:40] A joke.
[6:41] Elsie
[6:42] A joke. Okay, I'm ready.
[6:43] Nova
[6:44] But today I'm feeling like I'm thinking about my dad right now.
[6:45] Elsie
[6:46] Okay.
[6:47] Nova
[6:48] So I've got a dad joke.
[6:49] Elsie
[6:50] Perfect.
[6:51] Nova
[6:52] Why is a teddy bear never hungry?
[6:53] Elsie
[6:54] Why?
[6:55] Nova
[6:56] They're always stuffed.
[6:57] Elsie
[6:58] Yeah, that's a good one.
[6:59] Nova
[7:00] That explains why my piggy is never hungry.
[7:01] Elsie
[7:02] That's true.
[7:03] Nova
[7:04] He's always stuffed. Today I decided I'm gonna do a second dad joke.
[7:05] Elsie
[7:06] Okay.
[7:07] Nova
[7:08] What do you call a dog magician?
[7:09] Elsie
[7:10] What?
[7:11] Nova
[7:12] A labra cadabra.
[7:13] Elsie
[7:14] Good job, Nova.
[7:15] Nova
[7:16] Goodbye.
[7:17] Elsie
[7:18] Okay. All right. We'll be back next week with an episode about personal style and talking about tattoos.
[7:19] Tattoos.

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