Do you like our new boulder fountain and outdoor bathrooms?

I want to start with a shout-out: Katie Elliott, the former head of design at Schoolhouse, celebrated her first year writing Design School. I think the world of Katie and I’ve learned many things from her—like how to translate inspiration into product design and how to blend practicality and surprise when designing home goods. With Design School, she invites us to come along for the ride as she gathers up inspiration from her day-to-day and lets us see what it’s like to be a designer. (Katie generously called out Alex Redgrave, who also edits Homeward!)

And now, let’s pause for a sec to discuss last week’s post. Thank you for the many encouraging comments. I want to clarify that Evan, our contractor, didn’t totally vanish, but he did move us to his back burner the day we moved in. We’re getting our punch list done, it’s just taking forever despite my persistent follow-ups. At some point, when I’ve stopped feeling annoyed with Evan and he has stopped feeling annoyed with me, I’ll ask him why he didn’t try to disguise his change in priorities, so I can better understand it/get over my hurt feelings/have closure. (I’m pretty sure he’s not a subscriber.) Stay tuned. In the meantime, keep an eye out for a chat asking for your contractor tips and stories.

Today, I’ve got lots more updates and finds for you—including my new water carafe with just the right amount of wabi sabi, some key kitchen tool additions, and a calming ritual I’ve discovered in Ojai. You’ll find them at the end!

But first, I’m excited to introduce you to Rebekah Miles, an artist who produced two special pieces for our house. (Raina Lee, who designed our house numbers, was the first collaborator I featured.) Rebekah lives and works at her family’s ranch in nearby Carpinteria, where she hand-builds and paints ceramics for her online shop, as well as for the store Nickey Kehoe. Francis Merrill, our designer, commissioned Rebekah to make a pair of lamps for one of our bedrooms, and Tad and I asked her to cover them with Pixies, a tiny, sweet tangerine that Ojai is known for. ...