About

Sarah Mitchell and Home Hackery: Home Ideas for People Who Actually Live in Their Homes

I’m not a trained interior designer, and I stopped apologizing for that a few years ago. What I am is someone who has spent more than ten years studying how rooms work, mostly by getting them wrong first.

Where This Started

I’ve always believed a good-looking home doesn’t need an unlimited budget or a professional on retainer. Most of my favorite room changes cost very little. I moved a sofa off the wall. I found a smarter way to store the things that kept piling up. I rescued a forgotten piece of furniture from the garage and gave it a second life.

Over time, those small wins added up to a habit. I collected ideas, tried some, dropped others, and kept notes on which ones earned their place. Friends started asking for the notes. Home Hackery is what happened when the notes got too long for a text thread.

I live in Austin, Texas. My own style is warm minimalism with some modern cottage mixed in: soft textures, quiet colors, and furniture that can survive a Tuesday.

What I’ll Tell You, and What I Won’t

I’d rather be honest than impressive, so here is how this site works.

Home Hackery is built on research. I read manufacturer instructions, spec sheets, and respected home and trade publications, and I look for professional advice when a project calls for specialized skill. I don’t claim to have personally tested every product or method I write about. When I’ve done a project myself, I say so. When an idea is one I think is worth your attention but haven’t tried, I say that instead.

That difference matters when you’re about to spend a Saturday and forty dollars. You should know which kind of advice you’re getting.

I also won’t pretend every project is beginner-friendly. If it needs a drill, I’ll say so. If there’s a cheaper or renter-friendly version, I’ll include it. And for anything involving electrical, structural, or plumbing work, I’ll point you to the manufacturer’s safety instructions and a qualified professional, because a blog post shouldn’t be your only guide there.

What’s On the Site

• Home Decor. Room-by-room ideas for bedrooms, bathrooms, living rooms, nurseries, and home offices. I explain the choices, not just the look: why a warm bulb makes a bedroom feel calmer, or how a rug that’s too small makes the whole room feel unfinished.
• Storage & Organization. Practical setups for the places that fall apart first, like sewing rooms, small closets, and kitchens, with honest notes on what holds up.
• DIY Ideas. Weekend projects, IKEA hacks, kitchen upgrades, and small affordable updates, with realistic budgets and alternatives for different spaces.

I describe colors, textures, and layouts in detail because “add a rug” isn’t advice. What size, what material, and where it sits is the part you can copy.

A Few Small Facts About Me

• I keep a note on my phone of paint color names I’ve liked. It passed 90 entries last spring.
• One kitchen drawer holds nothing but mismatched cabinet knobs from thrift stores. None of them have found a cabinet yet.
• I rearrange my living room about twice a year, and my family has stopped asking why.
• In Austin summers, every outdoor project gets scheduled for the hour after sunrise, before the heat makes it miserable.

How a Post Gets Made

I run Home Hackery myself. There’s no editorial board and no team of editors behind me, and I’d rather say that plainly than pretend to be a newsroom. What it means for you is that one real person reviews every article and answers for it.

Each post starts with a reader’s question or a problem people search for. I research it, draft it around that problem, and then check the details: measurements, quantities, prices, product specs, quotes, and dates. Anything I can’t trace to a reliable source gets fixed or cut. Before publishing, I read the whole piece again for accuracy and clarity and test the links.

I sometimes use AI tools to help with research or to tidy grammar and readability. Nothing is published automatically, and anything an AI tool surfaces gets checked against real sources before it goes near a post.

Homes, products, and prices change, so I review evergreen articles every six to twelve months. Seasonal and trend posts get looked at more often. If I find a mistake, I fix it right away.

Some posts contain affiliate links, and Home Hackery is an Amazon Associate. When a link earns a commission, it’s disclosed, and sponsored content is always labeled. Money doesn’t decide what gets recommended. If something isn’t worth buying, it doesn’t make the post. You can read the full details on the Editorial Standards and Affiliate Disclosure pages.

If Something’s Wrong, Tell Me

Spotted an error, an outdated detail, or a broken link? Write to me at contact@homehackery.com with the article link and a short note. I read every message and make valid corrections within about 72 hours. If I can’t confirm the problem right away, I’ll write back and say where things stand.

And if you’ve tried one of my ideas and it worked, or didn’t, I’d like to hear that too.

Now go look at the room you’ve been avoiding. Pick one thing. I’ll help with the rest.