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  • Hi, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle.

    You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

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  • Home
  • about emily
  • before + after
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Reasons We Recessed Our Induction Cooktop
February 13, 2023

Hands down, the recessed induction cooktop is one of my favorite features in our kitchen.  Induction glass cooktop installed to be flush with the quartz counters. When we planned to invest in …

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No Comment

Kitchen

How Do We Really Like Our Home’s White Walls?
February 20, 2020

It's been 6 years since we opted to paint all of the walls and trim in our entire house in Sherwin Williams "Snowbound" shade of white. We even used this …

Read More
18 Comments

Dining Room  / Living Room

How to Clean Your House – Fast
June 11, 2019

The "20 Things" Game: My “20 Things” song and dance might seem like something you’d hear while watching Mary Poppins, but I have to tell you, when you commit to …

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7 Comments

DIY  / For the Kids  / Organized

Why We Aren’t Doing a DIY Kitchen Remodel
June 5, 2019

It may come as some surprise that last fall, we hired a professional designer for our impending kitchen remodel. Why? Don’t you love the DIY stuff? Can’t you do everything? …

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4 Comments

Kitchen

6 Summer Art Assignments For You and Your Kids
May 31, 2019

We invite the kids to get involved in plenty of projects around the house because at the ages 2, 5, and 12, they’re at the ages where they truly want …

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No Comment

DIY  / For the Kids  / HGTV + DIY Network Projects

Our Expanded Outdoor Living Room
May 29, 2019

Our biggest project of 2018 kept us busy for quite some time. Scheming ways in which to update the covered porch of our midcentury home was a 5-year process, and …

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3 Comments

DIY  / Outdoor Living

Lapse in Archive
May 28, 2019

I regret not keeping up on this “home journal” as thoroughly as I would have liked to the last few years. Our family doubled. Our yard work quadrupled. Work got …

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2 Comments

Uncategorizable

Troubleshooting the Growth of Leeks and Onions in New York
May 17, 2019

Expertise needed for this recreational Zone 5 gardener. An honest attempt at growing leeks My daughter and I start our leek seeds ("Hattie's Leeks") on Valentine's Day. We started early after noticing …

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1 Comment

Gardening

Devour This Slow Cooker Pumpkin Butter
October 12, 2018

Hello, pumpkin season! What should I do to make the most of you? I can only eat so much pie, so I've been looking for recipes that'll make better use …

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1 Comment

DIY  / Kitchen

How to Haunt Your Home With Faux-Broken Glass
September 28, 2018

In a world of crazy store-bought and DIY Halloween accessories, broken glass windows certainly seem like one of the most subtle accents one could add to their home this time of …

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No Comment

DIY  / Holiday-Related Projects  / Windows

5 Years at Home
September 18, 2018

A thousand words couldn't properly articulate how much we love living here. We celebrated our 5th "homeiversary" in June, and just wrapped our 6th summer in this lovely place. This …

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1 Comment

Backyard  / Casual Celebrations

Martha, My Dog
July 27, 2018

Our newest BFF, companion girl, partner-in-crime, littlest sister arrived home earlier this month. Martha–named as a nod to our family's infatuation with The Beatles and my insistence on using human names for pets–fell …

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No Comment

Casual Celebrations  / Dog-Related

Chainsaw Know-How: Maintain, Sharpen, and Replace Your Chain
May 24, 2018

This post was sponsored by STIHL because they supplied the chainsaw (STIHL's MSA 120 C-BQ) and sharpening equipment. The content itself is my own. It's no secret that I advocate for homeowners to try battery-powered …

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2 Comments

Supporting Sponsors  / Tools

Inspiration For a DIY Driftwood Clock
May 18, 2018

Heart-eyed emoji! If you're wondering if you've seen this big piece of driftwood before, probably yes. It was the star of one of the first projects I featured on this blog …

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3 Comments

Decor  / DIY  / HGTV + DIY Network Projects

How to Repair Deteriorating Flagstone Steps
April 27, 2018

This post was sponsored by STIHL because they supplied the cut-off machine and safety equipment. However, the decrepit steps are my own, and repairing them has been on my list for a …

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No Comment

DIY  / Entryway  / Supporting Sponsors  / Tools

How to Make Your Own Barn Quilt
April 24, 2018

Always committing to doing the things I say I'm going to do–in this case "barn quilt all the things"–I extended my collaboration with Buffalo-based designer Whitney Crispell of Local Color …

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29 Comments

Backyard  / Barn  / Decor  / DIY

How to Cut Your Own Swedish Torch
April 5, 2018

This post was sponsored by STIHL because they supplied the chainsaw and safety equipment. However, the project is my own and Swedish cut fire logs really are things we make and …

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2 Comments

Backyard  / DIY  / Supporting Sponsors

Crafting A Springtime Headband
March 23, 2018

Spring! That refreshing but awkward period of time between when the ski season ends and the gardening season begins, and there’s really not a lot we can do to speed …

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No Comment

DIY  / For the Kids

How To Build The Perfect Garden Archway Trellis
March 5, 2018

We've been using this garden archway trellis for years. Aside from being a great way to raise climbers in an enclosed garden space, it was the perfect little tunnel where …

Read More
11 Comments

DIY  / Gardening

Older Posts

  • Hi, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle.

    You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

    Thanks for visiting!

  • Instagram

    merrypad

    Merrypad // Emily Fazio
    Level up ✌️ #logsplitter Level up ✌️ #logsplitter
    We lost seven pines after the spongy moth infestat We lost seven pines after the spongy moth infestation in 2021. Today, with WoodChuck Tree Service, we cleaned things up. #rochesterny
    Instagram post 17902304861708711 Instagram post 17902304861708711
    Highly recco mining those #herkimerdiamonds ✌️ Highly recco mining those #herkimerdiamonds ✌️
    Pt. 2: Well before Halloween, the last of the garl Pt. 2: Well before Halloween, the last of the garlic went into the home garden: 10 rows [L>R] 6 whole Nootka Rose as an experiment, 3x8 Mennonite-grown cloves from Aman’s, and 6x8 (and, I think, total 112? notes are cryptic) “normal.”
#gardennotes #growinggarlic #garden2023 #whatisnormal #merrypadathome
    Out of sight but [documented so it’s] not out of Out of sight but [documented so it’s] not out of mind! #garden2024 kicks off with my favorite biennial: elephant garlic! 15 cloves planted from small, to medium, to enormous. #gardennotes
    Annual garlic notes for #garden2023, pt. 1: this i Annual garlic notes for #garden2023, pt. 1: this is getting ooc, and I love it. 👩‍🌾🧑‍🌾

🧄 65% of the planting is in a new plot in the country. 🧄 Seeing if NR grows bigger with more sunlight. 🧄 Big @chasefarms cloves from 2021 were really productive in our home garden; can’t wait to see how they can show up next year in the new space. 🧄

Hand-turned a small bed, but big thanks to my sister, who rolled into town just in time to help me double its size (and did not complain once).
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  • Recent posts

    • Reasons We Recessed Our Induction Cooktop February 13, 2023
    • How Do We Really Like Our Home’s White Walls? February 20, 2020
    • How to Clean Your House – Fast June 11, 2019
    • Why We Aren’t Doing a DIY Kitchen Remodel June 5, 2019
    • 6 Summer Art Assignments For You and Your Kids May 31, 2019

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