Kathleen Martin: Welcome to Kathleen Can Do It, the DIY podcast celebrating the fun and fails of doing it yourself. I'm Kathleen Martin.

Kathleen Heaney: I'm Kathleen Heaney.

Kathleen Martin: We're just two Kathleens on the hunt for good, colorful deals.

Kathleen Heaney: In this episode we are discussing our expert opinions on Black Friday home decor strategy shopping.

Kathleen Martin: Dun, dun, dun.

Kathleen Heaney: You know what? It's very stressful.

Kathleen Martin: It can be.

Kathleen Heaney: You need to go in with a plan.

Kathleen Martin: Do you know what the most stressful part is?

Kathleen Heaney: What?

Kathleen Martin: Not having the money to buy the things.

Kathleen Heaney: That is why you and I are here to break down the deals that you want to be on the lookout for, because I'm not about spending my money willy-nilly on absolute crap, and I really think very strategically about what I'm going to buy on Black Friday for my home.

Kathleen Martin: Yeah. No. If you do need to buy certain things, it is the time to make those investments because there's usually great, great, great, great sales.

Kathleen Heaney: First, Kathleen, let's do a general item list of things that are good to buy on Black Friday.

Kathleen Martin: Okay.

Kathleen Heaney: Okay. I want to go first.

Kathleen Martin: Okay.

Kathleen Heaney: Cloth napkins.

Kathleen Martin: What?

Kathleen Heaney: Yes, cloth napkins.

Kathleen Martin: Okay. Tell me why.

Kathleen Heaney: What do you wipe your hands on? Your pants or something?

Kathleen Martin: See, actually, I use way too many paper towels, so I need to get on the cloth napkin game.

Kathleen Heaney: Yeah. I got on the cloth napkin game last year, purchased on Black Friday a bunch of really cute, colorful napkins from, I think you purchased something from this company before, Furbish.

Kathleen Martin: Oh, they have so much cute, really cute decor there.

Kathleen Heaney: Yeah, really cute table linens. I got pomegranate print thingies. I really love them. That is my first and foremost thing for Black Friday, but what is this another thing that's good for our general list?

Kathleen Martin: I would say any big purchases you're going to be making. Major furniture companies have big sales, something like a couch or a bed.

Kathleen Heaney: West Elm, Pottery Barn,

Kathleen Martin: Crate & Barrel.

Kathleen Heaney: All have amazing sales this time of year.

Kathleen Martin: Wayfair.

Kathleen Heaney: Yeah. Sometimes, if you pick it up at the store, then you don't even have to pay shipping, which is kind of amazing.

Kathleen Martin: Yeah, definitely.

Kathleen Heaney: What is the last piece of furniture that you bought? You're looking around the room like you can't remember. I'm sorry.

Kathleen Martin: The last piece of furniture I bought? I don't know. What's the last piece of furniture you bought?

Kathleen Heaney: I bought my couch which I have in my living room.

Kathleen Martin: Better than the bathroom.

Kathleen Heaney: It's a West Elm Haven sectional. I did the build-your-own sectional option.

Kathleen Martin: That's really nice.

Kathleen Heaney: I call it mega couch.

Kathleen Martin: Super big.

Kathleen Heaney: It is 12 feet long, and I will say I do not love the Eco Weave fabric that I picked because I have pets and the hair gets stuck in there, but I do love the feel and the size of it. This is what I did. I'm so crafty. I purchased this couch from West Elm, and it's two sectionals, but I never have the side that has the chaise lounge part.

Kathleen Martin: Oh, you just pushed them both together?

Kathleen Heaney: Yes, I pushed two mega-size sectionals together with no chaise lounge because, just the way my room is set up, I didn't want that piece coming out. It was going to cut the room in half. When the guys delivered it, they're like, "Ah, they sent you the wrong size."

Kathleen Martin: Got the piece.

Kathleen Heaney: Yeah, and we're like, "No. No. No. Sirs, please, this is the right right way."

Kathleen Martin: That's a great hack.

Kathleen Heaney: That's the last furniture item I purchased. When you think of 15%, you're like, "It's not that big of a sale," but when you're thinking about big-ticket items like a bed, a couch, a new dining room table, that kind of stuff, new dining chairs, that stuff adds up pretty quickly, so 15% off of a large number is actually quite a lot.

Kathleen Martin: Okay. I remember, king-size bed, when we got married, upgraded to a king. I mean, still slept in the queen before we were married. I don't know. It just felt like a good upgrade once we got married, king-size bed, life changing.

Kathleen Heaney: Now, let me ask you this. I'm going to play devil's advocate even though I know people say, "Stop advocating for the devil."

Kathleen Martin: It's the day of devil.

Kathleen Heaney: Is it worth having the king-size bed not being able to fit all the furniture in your bedroom that you need to fit in there?

Kathleen Martin: Absolutely.

Kathleen Heaney: Really?

Kathleen Martin: Because I have the furniture and Brian has to crawl into the bed because the bed is pushed against the wall. He says often, "Let's change sides." I'm like, "No, you crazy man."

Kathleen Heaney: What kind of psycho? He wants to change sides?

Kathleen Martin: So that he gets the good side and he can walk into the bed.

Kathleen Heaney: No. When you're first married, it's like a contract that you go into who gets what side of the bed, and then, no matter where you sleep, like if you're in a hotel...

Kathleen Martin: Yeah, away.

Kathleen Heaney: ... or away, that is the side of the bed that you must sleep on moving forward.

Kathleen Martin: For the rest of your life.

Kathleen Heaney: Yeah.

Kathleen Martin: If you're looking at the bed, I sleep on the right side.

Kathleen Heaney: I also sleep on the right side.

Kathleen Martin: Oh, my God, meant to be.

Kathleen Heaney: Okay. Something else that's good for Black Friday, techy items.

Kathleen Martin: I actually am a really big techy person. Love tech.

Kathleen Heaney: That's why you and I are friends. I love home decor techy items. What is your can't-live-without home decor techy item?

Kathleen Martin: A Sonos speaker.

Kathleen Heaney: Really?

Kathleen Martin: I know. A Sonos speaker is a wireless speaker, and I think it's worth it to say why. The cheap speakers you get are Bluetooth. Have you ever been listening to a song and it's saying, "Ding, ding," and you get all your text notifications on them because it's just Bluetoothing everything over from your cell phone?

Kathleen Heaney: Or, I don't know, A bird flies by the sun and the wires outside your house at just the right moment, and then you start getting the crackling noises. You're like... and your song stops in the middle, and you're like, "Ooh." It hurt my throat making that noise.

Kathleen Martin: Yeah. Sonos is a great speaker. They have really good sound, which obviously is the most important. They're very sleek. I love the wireless connection. Anyone who has your, well, those could be good around, anyone on your wifi can, if they have the app, they can control the speaker, so don't tell anyone that. It's great. We have three in our home. You link them all together. If I'm in the kitchen, then the living room, the bedroom, I can hear my music anywhere.

Kathleen Heaney: Oh, so you can play Christmas music and walk from room to room and hear it in every room?

Kathleen Martin: Just joyful.

Kathleen Heaney: Okay. I will say this. I am not a huge music person.

Kathleen Martin: Really?

Kathleen Heaney: I mostly just listen to podcasts and TalkRadio, but my husband loves music, and so, when we moved into our new apartment, his housewarming gift to himself was the Sonos speakers. Listen, this podcast is not sponsored by any of the brands that we are talking about. He also got one for every room in the apartment, and I was rolling my eyes so hard. I was like, "We do not need this. This is overkill," and then, when he showed me that we can put on NPR and then walk from room to room-

Kathleen Martin: Every room.

Kathleen Heaney: ... and still hear it? We even have one in the bathroom.

Kathleen Martin: That's the one room I'm missing. I put my phone in the sink bowl to amplify.

Kathleen Heaney: Yeah, that's the vintage way. Kathleen and I will link the models that we are talking about on our website and in our show notes. I particularly like the Sonos speakers in white because I have a lot of colorful decor, and so then the speakers don't become like a centerpiece. They blend into the background.

Kathleen Martin: Perfect. What's your number one tech home item?

Kathleen Heaney: Without a doubt. Amazon Echo.

Kathleen Martin: Sonos integrates with Amazon Echo.

Kathleen Heaney: Yes. Yeah, it does. I have been using Amazon Echo since Black Friday, I want to say, 2015, so a really long time. My aunt, who has been on anything fancy in life my fancy aunt has taught me about, she was using Amazon Echo because she was in a beta program. Back in 2015, I flew out to California for Thanksgiving. She had just gotten this new thing, Amazon Echo, and Neil set it up for her and, instantly, he was hooked. We came home, ordered. I think he ordered when we were still there in California on Black Friday, came home, it was waiting for us, and we have had at least two or three models since. Love it so much.

Kathleen Martin: Brian is the opposite. I had to convince him. I think a lot of people are worried about the spying aspect.

Kathleen Heaney: No. No. My favorite thing is that we have it in the kitchen and the shopping list. Do you use this feature on your Amazon Echo?

Kathleen Martin: No.

Kathleen Heaney: Oh, my God. You have the app on your phone that links to your Echo, and so I have all of these lists, my ShopRite shopping list, my Target shopping list, my Home Depot shopping list. Whenever I can think of something that I need, I just tell my Alexa to add it to the specific shopping list. When I show up in that store, I just open my app, and everything is right there.

Kathleen Martin: That is handy because, when it comes to mind, you just got to write it down or tell her and it's quicker.

Kathleen Heaney: Bedding, another great thing to plan ahead for Black Friday. What is your favorite bedding company? Do you have one? Is that a weird question to ask?

Kathleen Martin: No, it's not weird, but I don't have any nice bedding.

Kathleen Heaney: Oh, Kathleen.

Kathleen Martin: Somebody told me to... Lots of people told me to register for Boll & Branch, and I had never heard of it. It had so many good reviews. I put it on, and then I felt uncomfortable putting on $300 sheets and I took them off.

Kathleen Heaney: I cannot believe you took them off your registry, but fret not, Black Friday is here. I don't call sheets luxury items, but the ones that really make a difference in terms of your sleep can be considered luxury items because they do cost a lot, because the cotton is higher quality than some of your big-buck stores. My personal favorite is Brooklinen.

Kathleen Martin: I see Brooklinen everywhere. Are they good? Do you love them?

Kathleen Heaney: Love Brooklinen. I like a nice, crisp, lightweight sheet. I know some people like to have the flannel. I'm not about that flannel life.

Kathleen Martin: No. I want to be a cold sleeper.

Kathleen Heaney: I like something that is so lightweight. I have duvet covers from Brooklinen. I have regular sheets from Brooklinen. It is a company that I go back to time and time again, also Annie Selke.

Kathleen Martin: Ooh, I just reached out to them because they have such beautiful Christmas decor...

Kathleen Heaney: They do.

Kathleen Martin: ... in really fun colors. I reached out to them about working together on Instagram-

Kathleen Heaney: No way.

Kathleen Martin: ... and it's in the works.

Kathleen Heaney: No way. That's amazing. Annie Selke is such a cool brand.

Kathleen Martin: So cool.

Kathleen Heaney: I was just on their website because I was trying to see what their Black Friday sale was, and they actually have a 25% off everything in stock.

Kathleen Martin: That's big.

Kathleen Heaney: I put it underneath my bedding category because, look at that, Kathleen, we're recording in my office right now, and last time somebody slept over, there's a duvet crumbled in the corner behind my peloton.

Kathleen Martin: That little ball I can see looks beautiful.

Kathleen Heaney: Thank you. Well, it is a lime-green/chartreuse duvet cover with white polka dots, and that is Annie Selke. I bought that last year. I thought about it for eons. I was like, "Do I? Do I not?" I waited for it to go on sale. I wish I bought it sooner. This is your sign, gentle listener. They have the most beautiful patterns, such fun colors and, like Kathleen mentioned, the holiday decor.

Kathleen Martin: I proposed doing a colorful mantlescape, garlands, trees, reindeer, really fun stockings. I think that's going to happen, fingers crossed.

Kathleen Heaney: What I like about their holiday decor is that it comes in nontraditional colors like pink instead of red. Love that. Another chic company that I love is L.L.Bean, which-

Kathleen Martin: Tried it and true.

Kathleen Heaney: ... is so weird, but they have really great percale...

Kathleen Martin: Percale. I have no idea.

Kathleen Heaney: I have no idea how the fancy people say that type of cotton, P-E-R-C-A-L-E. They've no Black Friday sales announced on their site, but I can't imagine a huge company like L.L.Bean not having a Black Friday sale. Let's talk about kitchen stuff.

Kathleen Martin: You know me. I love the kitchen.

Kathleen Heaney: I know. I know. Okay. This is sort of my domain more than Kathleen's, but Caraway Home.

Kathleen Martin: We've all seen it on Instagram. Worth it.

Kathleen Heaney: Worth it, a hundred percent. On my other podcast, An Acquired Taste, they're a sponsor, but I swear up and down that, even if they weren't a sponsor of my other podcast, I would talk about this brand all day every day because their pots and their pans and their bakeware, first of all, they come in amazing.

Kathleen Martin: They're super cute. That's a reason that I would get it, for sure.

Kathleen Heaney: Yeah. They come in amazing colors like marigold and cobalt, terracotta and sage green and saffron, and also, Kathleen, 20% off on everything that they have.

Kathleen Martin: That's great, and they look so well-organized. They have those organizer systems underneath, right?

Kathleen Heaney: Yeah. Yeah. If I could throw away all my cookware and not be wasteful and restart over, it would be with Caraway.

Kathleen Martin: It's that ceramic, right?

Kathleen Heaney: It's ceramic, the food just glides right off. It's a joy to wash, not that I do any of the washing of the dishes. I do from time to time.

Kathleen Martin: Yeah. These are the times to give it a try since good sales.

Kathleen Heaney: Yeah. Get yourself it for Christmas. Buy it as a gift for somebody. I can't imagine anybody not being psyched about getting a colorful saucepan for Christmas.

Kathleen Martin: Well, I couldn't think of one off the top of my head.

Kathleen Heaney: Okay, not including you because you're not such a good cook, but you know what? You like that aesthetic, so I bet you would be set to get something colorful.

Kathleen Martin: Oh, yeah, just for the aesthetic. Speaking of aesthetic, cookware, okay, it's one thing that I actually can vouch for, the Le Creuset Dutch oven. I got it on the registry because it is an investment, but it is on sale. They have a really good sale right now at Crate & Barrel. The Dutch oven that's chambre bleue is so beautiful. They have all these beautiful colors, and the knob in this one is gold. They wisened up. That gold is so on trend, but we make bread in there. I'm going to say we, and it's Brian. Brian makes bread in there.

Kathleen Heaney: Wait. What color is the one that you have?

Kathleen Martin: I went with white.

Kathleen Heaney: Wow. I am shocked.

Kathleen Martin: I know. See, I have a hard time committing to long-term color.

Kathleen Heaney: You're totally fine with color everywhere in your house, but when it comes to color in your kitchen, you get a little bit worried about it?

Kathleen Martin: My thing is, right now, I painted the kitchen cabinets a very beautiful light blue, totally different, not what you see normally. What if in my next kitchen I paint my cabinets pink? Le Creuset is an investment.

Kathleen Heaney: Yeah. Oh, yeah, for sure, which is why it's a good item to pick on a Black Friday.

Kathleen Martin: That's why I went with white because I knew, no matter what my kitchen decor was, the Le Creuset would always match.

Kathleen Heaney: Kathleen, it doesn't have to be. It doesn't have to match anything.

Kathleen Martin: Okay.

Kathleen Heaney: I know. I got married 10 years ago. The trend was, when I got married, that your KitchenAid, your Le Creuset and everything else you got had to be in the same colorscape. I think my Le Creuset is Caribbean blue.

Kathleen Martin: Yeah, that's right.

Kathleen Heaney: It's sort of like a turquoise-y color. Back then, I would've been like, "My signature color is a turquoise." It's so silly, but now I'm just all about different colors, pots, pans. It doesn't have to be matchy-matchy. I think it's even better if it doesn't match the cabinets perfectly.

Kathleen Martin: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I can see both sides of it.

Kathleen Heaney: I really can't believe you went with white. Anyway, there is-

Kathleen Martin: Boring.

Kathleen Heaney: There is a big sale on the 5.25 quart Le Creuset Dutch ovens over at Crate & Barrel. Listen to this. Originally 379, now marked down to 190.

Kathleen Martin: It's a big sale.

Kathleen Heaney: Huge sale.

Kathleen Martin: It goes from the oven to the stove to the table because it looks nice enough that, if you just put down a heat thingy, you just put it right on the table.

Kathleen Heaney: Yeah, a trivet. Put it on a trivet, and then the centerpiece becomes your Le Creuset. Love it. Another big-ticket item that you should look for on Black Friday, I will go to the grave, I would like to be buried with this item, my Vitamix.

Kathleen Martin: Yes. You love it so much.

Kathleen Heaney: I talk about it all the time. It comes in rolled gold. Actually, the real color is called copper.

Kathleen Martin: Does it cook, too? Do you have the one that heats up?

Kathleen Heaney: Yes. Kathleen, let me tell you, I throw vegetables in there. Brian would love this. I throw veggies in there. I throw a little bit of water or broth. I put in a little salt. I set it and forget it. They have a little soup setting. You want the digital one.

Kathleen Martin: You make the soup in there?

Kathleen Heaney: Yes. I make soup in my Vitamix.

Kathleen Martin: See, I love eating. I don't like the making. If someone wants to make me soup in the Vitamix, I will eat it.

Kathleen Heaney: No. It's so easy, even you can do it. It's the A35 Series. I have the Ascent and the Copper. Toss your veggies in, put the soup setting on, 10 minutes later, you have hot, beautiful, pureed vegetable soup.

Kathleen Martin: Fresh.

Kathleen Heaney: It is the easiest thing ever. I cannot live without it. I bought my mom one for her birthday one year. I split it with my brother because it is an expensive item, and she says it's the best gift that anybody has gotten her. Another good sale, we'll link everything over, Crate & Barrel, it's usually 699, marked down to 624.

Kathleen Martin: Good to know. Yeah.

Kathleen Heaney: Mm-hmm, and KitchenAid and Instant Pot, I can't talk about kitchen items without mentioning those on Black Friday.

Kathleen Martin: Tried and true.

Kathleen Heaney: What color is your KitchenAid?

Kathleen Martin: See, I got this at Costco back in the day. It's silver. I would never buy silver again.

Kathleen Heaney: Oh, Kathleen.

Kathleen Martin: I know.

Kathleen Heaney: Who was I? You know you can get decals now.

Kathleen Martin: Wrap it like a car?

Kathleen Heaney: Yeah, you can. No. No. You just Google it, and all of these cool stickers come up, or you could paint it, I think, probably-

Kathleen Martin: That's true.

Kathleen Heaney: ... with an enamel paint or something.

Kathleen Martin: I think it's so heavy. It's one of those things where it's in our basement and you have to lug it up the stairs.

Kathleen Heaney: Have you ever purchased an appliance on Black Friday?

Kathleen Martin: No, I haven't.

Kathleen Heaney: What's the last appliance that you purchased?

Kathleen Martin: I have to be honest, because we did not technically purchase it, I worked for Wayfair-

Kathleen Heaney: That's right.

Kathleen Martin: ... and a lot of our home actually is Wayfair because I recorded 40, 30 minute episodes for them.

Kathleen Heaney: Oh, on their app, right?

Kathleen Martin: Right. They have a new in-app shopping experience called Wayfair on Air. Myself and some other hosts would go through different products and talk about why we like them, and then you could swipe up and shop everything that we were talking about like QVC or Amazon Live, things like that.

Kathleen Heaney: Yeah. You were doing that when we first became friends. I remember going on the app and watching you, and I was like, "Who is this fancy girl doing TV?" Basically, it was like a TV show with Wayfair products on their app.

Kathleen Martin: 30 minutes, unscripted.

Kathleen Heaney: Crazy.

Kathleen Martin: It was wild. My show was called Starter Style. It's still in the Wayfair app under the watch tab. Check it out. Through Wayfair, we got the GE Cafe line stoves. It is the Rolls-Royce of stoves, in my opinion, because it is a large investment, but we just had whatever the old fixer-upper stove was, no preheat, so going from that to this one, beautiful.

Kathleen Heaney: Is it smart? Does it hook up to your phone?

Kathleen Martin: You know what? I don't know if it does. It might. It probably does. I don't cook, so I'm not sure. Honestly, I'm into it because it's white, which I think it's funny how trends come and go. It used to be all about stainless, and now it's back to white...

Kathleen Heaney: I know. ... but white with a brush gold handle and knobs.

Kathleen Martin: I have been eyeing the white, I know, white, coffee maker from the GE Cafe. Oh, I have looked at that extensively. It is $300.

Kathleen Heaney: It's just crazy.

Kathleen Martin: I never pulled the trigger because I don't drink coffee, but I wanted it for the looks, and Brian would not throw out his Mr. Coffee Maker.

Kathleen Heaney: You painted it?

Kathleen Martin: Yeah, so we spray-painted it because it was black, and then finally something happened. I don't even think it broke, but I convinced him to get a white one. You know what? I found that coffee maker in the basement. He didn't throw it out.

Kathleen Heaney: No.

Kathleen Martin: He still has his spray-painted one in the basement.

Kathleen Heaney: I mean, is he saving it for if he has to take a coffee maker to an office someday?

Kathleen Martin: He has a very hard time throwing things out.

Kathleen Heaney: If it still works, I'm with Brian. I have a hard time throwing things out. I am obsessed with colorful coffee makers, and I think that this is a real untapped area of the home decor market because very few coffee makers come in cool colors.

Kathleen Martin: Smeg.

Kathleen Heaney: The ones that... Oh, yes, Meg does, but here's the thing. Everyone's like, "Uh, Smeg, Smeg, Smeg." Do you know that their coffee maker, the one that comes in a handful of cool colors, is this really cheapy plastic?

Kathleen Martin: I was going to say I think actually I've seen pretty negative reviews for it.

Kathleen Heaney: Yeah. It doesn't get good reviews. Their refrigerators are beautiful. I was in an Airbnb once where there was a Smeg fridge that was in this really cool red color. The inside is actually quite small.

Kathleen Martin: Oh, they're microscopic. They are super, super small.

Kathleen Heaney: I mean, if a Smeg showed up on my doorstep, I would a hundred percent install it, if it came in pink even better.

Kathleen Martin: I will jam my food in that tiny fridge.

Kathleen Heaney: Yeah, but if I'm really thinking about functionality, I don't know if I would buy a Smeg refrigerator, but there are not a lot of coffee makers that come in the 10-cup, 12-cup, which is what I need, in cool colors. If you're listening to this and you work for a coffee maker company, get in contact with Kathleen and I, and we'll pick out your color line for you.

Kathleen Martin: Yeah. We'll design a new line for you. Okay. Let's talk about favorite living room Black Friday deals.

Kathleen Heaney: Ooh, okay, let's pick one item each for Black Friday for living room. You go first

Kathleen Martin: For me, number one favorite thing, a ChappyWrap. Do you know what that is?

Kathleen Heaney: No. What's a ChappyWrap? I'm going to go on the website right now.

Kathleen Martin: A ChappyWrap is the last blanket you'll ever buy.

Kathleen Heaney: Really?

Kathleen Martin: It is. I'm a blanket person. I've had the same disgusting throw blanket for 10 years. It's the faux fur. It's the kind you jam under the couch when company is coming in because you're so embarrassed and it's gross.

Kathleen Heaney: Oh, yeah, like the adult version of a security blanket.

Kathleen Martin: Sometimes, I don't have my cloth napkin, and I'm wiping some crumbs right into the blanket, so it doesn't matter if it's a hundred degrees out or it's zero degrees out, I am under a blanket on the couch.

Kathleen Heaney: Really?

Kathleen Martin: Always. Yes.

Kathleen Heaney: Okay.

Kathleen Martin: This was recommended to me for my wedding registry. It is this soft, cotton-blend blanket. It is 60 by 80 inches.

Kathleen Heaney: Oh, girl, you're talking dirty to me now.

Kathleen Martin: This is the slogan I've given them. They didn't ask for it, but, "It's big enough to share, but you don't want to."

Kathleen Heaney: Kathleen, you're a copywriter now.

Kathleen Martin: I have the Harborview herringbone in the light blue, so it's this beautiful blue and white just kind of zigzaggy pattern.

Kathleen Heaney: Yeah, a herringbone pattern.

Kathleen Martin: Yeah, herringbone, if you know what that is. It actually really well-matches the blue chair in the living room. It's just like a very good light blue, and it matches well with that-

Kathleen Heaney: Oh, like sky blue.

Kathleen Martin: ... and washable. Throw it in the washing machine. Put it on cold, delicate, and put it on low. Don't put it on high, but very washable, and they really advertise it as this kind of heirloom blanket. It's that type of thing. it gets better with time. It gets better when you wash it. It's not too precious, where it's like one of those faux fur, it melts or whatever, you feel really worried laundering it

Kathleen Heaney: Faux fur melting in your dryer.

Kathleen Martin: Yeah, something like that. It feels like the blanket that you've always had and you've always loved, and it's perfect size. I fit under it so well. Brian can even get under it if he wants, but I'm so anti-sharing. I actually reached out to them, and they were so kind. They gifted Brian his own.

Kathleen Heaney: After you put it on your registry and received it.

Kathleen Martin: Yes, so I got one for the wedding, and then I didn't want to share it, and then I reached out to them just saying, "Do I love your blanket so much?" and they sent the Casco Bay Stripe. It looks adorable. It's this really nice red, green, yellow stripe.

Kathleen Heaney: I'm on the website right now. It's Chappy, C-H-A-P-P-Y. I love the Brewster Scallops blanket. It's like this cobalt blue and that classic scallop print. It looks like mini-bright blue and white rainbows on repeat. Oh, that would look great in this room, right?

Kathleen Martin: They actually have a pattern I would say that looks good for anyone. They have traditional. They have plaids. They have tartans. They have children's blankets. They now just came out with shawls, which sounds amazing, and they have a few different sizes. They have one that's 90 by 90, which is big enough to cover your whole bed or be great for the foot, or they have baby blankets. I cannot say enough good things about it. It would make such a nice gift.

Kathleen Heaney: Again, non-spon.

Kathleen Martin: Non-spon, but happily would spawn because I love them so much.

Kathleen Heaney: Sort of along the same lines as adding color and pattern through an accessory to your living room, my number one living room pick for Black Friday is The Inside.

Kathleen Martin: Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Kathleen Heaney: You're familiar with it?

Kathleen Martin: I was and I wasn't. One of those things where you see the ad and it's very familiar and you know exactly what the person's talking about, but you don't know the name, so you just told me and, when I looked it up, I was like, "Yes."

Kathleen Heaney: Yes, so it's theinside.com, and they're actually having a really good Black Friday sale, 30% off site-site.

Kathleen Martin: That's big.

Kathleen Heaney: That's huge, so now is the time to head over, again, non-spon. I know this sounds like a sponsored episode. I have been eyeing their storage bench because I'm all about that functionality. Their modern storage bench with the brass legs in this yellow zebra Scalamandré print.

Kathleen Martin: It's one of those things where you probably haven't heard that term, or at least I haven't.

Kathleen Heaney: Scalamandré?

Kathleen Martin: Yeah. I've never heard of them, but when I saw the print, I knew exactly what you meant.

Kathleen Heaney: Yes. It's that sort of flying zebra print that Gwyneth Paltrow made famous in that movie where her name is Margot.

Kathleen Martin: The Royal Tenenbaums?

Kathleen Heaney: Yes, The Royal Tenenbaums. In one scene in the movie, she's on this pink princess phone, smoking a cigarette. She's got this really cute, short, cropped haircut, and behind her is this red wallpaper with these zebras on it. That is called The Royal Tenenbaums after the design house that makes it.

Kathleen Martin: It's a fun word.

Kathleen Heaney: I know, right? The Inside makes couches, ottomans, storage benches, headboards, what else, chairs, dining room chairs.

Kathleen Martin: Screens.

Kathleen Heaney: Screens, room dividers, they make all of these really cool products in the most diverse and gorgeous array of prints.

Kathleen Martin: Yeah, it seems like their thing is that customizable element, so taking a lot of traditional pieces, but then giving you the option to pick really interesting pattern.

Kathleen Heaney: Right on their homepage, they have a couch that almost looks like blue leaves, blue and white leaves, and you wouldn't ever think about doing a couch, like a full size sofa, in a print, but it can really, really make the room. Oh, I think they do pillows, too.

Kathleen Martin: Yeah, so if I had to pick one thing from The Inside I was looking up, it's a tie. If I was doing a functional piece, their barrel-back chair, I love it. A barrel-back chair is just this completely rounded shape, and this top actually echoes all the way to the bottom the whole-

Kathleen Heaney: Oh, like if you cut a toilet paper roll in half-

Kathleen Martin: Yeah. Yeah. It's like half of the cylinder.

Kathleen Heaney: ... and then you put a seat in it?

Kathleen Martin: Mm-hmm. Yes, exactly. It's this beautiful Kelly green, so the pattern that I'm loving,

Kathleen Heaney: Yeah, tell me. I'm going to look it up right now.

Kathleen Martin: It's the jade cherry blossom, but in the green, because I also have it in blue. The base-

Kathleen Heaney: Oh, gorgeous.

Kathleen Martin: ... color is this really nice, vibrant green, and it has a cherry blossom tree branch echoing through it. It's either that, which is functional, or their scallops green. You might have seen it on Instagram. It's three rectangles, but the top is a semi-circle, so it's just like bump, bump, bump, and it's hinged, and you could put it anywhere, which is cool. People have it behind a desk, and they have it where it's like a memo board where you could-

Kathleen Heaney: Oh, you can pin things to it?

Kathleen Martin: It's fabric. You could pin things to it or you could just... I don't know. It's kind of this movable statement. You could put it wherever.

Kathleen Heaney: Yeah, put it anywhere, behind a great Zoom background or, if you don't have a separate laundry room, I don't, you could use it to cover your washer-dryer, that type of thing. Ooh, love that idea. Okay. Black Friday, I have no money to spend this year, but I'm really excited.

Kathleen Martin: Me, too.

Kathleen Heaney: Before, you talked about working for Wayfair. Wayfair is having some really amazing-

Kathleen Martin: Up to 80% off.

Kathleen Heaney: Unreal.

Kathleen Martin: See, the thing I love about Wayfair and what I didn't realize until recently when I started working with them, they sell all the major brands now. When you're looking for major appliances like GE, we got it through Wayfair, things like that. Now, I want to share with you something you probably wouldn't think to get through Wayfair. I say this often, and I mean it wholeheartedly. My favorite thing that I got from Wayfair, the bidet seat.

Kathleen Heaney: They call it, Tina Fey in Mean Girls, like a drug pusher.

Kathleen Martin: Or something like a bidet pusher. We got the TOTO Washlet from Wayfair, and it attaches right to your toilet. You don't need a special toilet. You do need an outlet, but it is like half off right now.

Kathleen Heaney: Wait. Really?

Kathleen Martin: Yeah. I mean it's expensive. Some of them can go up to a thousand dollars.

Kathleen Heaney: What? For your tush?

Kathleen Martin: Yeah, you got to get that tush real clean.

Kathleen Heaney: Okay. I'm here like, "What? For your tush?" but I have used the bathroom in your house now multiple times and, every time I sit down, the seat is heated.

Kathleen Martin: The heated seat.

Kathleen Heaney: It is truly the most wonderful thing. It feels like pure luxury.

Kathleen Martin: Kathleen?

Kathleen Heaney: Yeah?

Kathleen Martin: If you fell in a mud puddle, would you want to clean yourself with a dry towel or a warm shower?

Kathleen Heaney: Oh, a warm shower, a hundred percent.

Kathleen Martin: That's why you need a bidet.

Kathleen Heaney: I've never used the bidet feature on your bidet though.

Kathleen Martin: Anytime anyone uses it for the first time, they scream.

Kathleen Heaney: The next time I'm at your house... Today we're recording from my house. The next time I'm at your house, you have to show me how to use it.

Kathleen Martin: There's a remote. It's wonderful. I wanted to share something unconventional, to buy it from Wayfair, because I think not everyone knows how many amazing products and main brands they have. What is a traditional decor item that you are loving from Wayfair?

Kathleen Heaney: My Wayfair pick is the Beckham stainless steel, plug-in swing-arm sconce. Basically, it's a wall lamp. That's a sconce. It's kind of got that industrial look. It looks like it belongs in an old, dusty library.

Kathleen Martin: Old-timey.

Kathleen Heaney: Yeah, old-timey. We're going to link it in the show notes. I really like this item because it's 55% off.

Kathleen Martin: That's a lot.

Kathleen Heaney: I've been struggling with sconces in my living room because I purchased these sconces that have a metal cylinder over the wire. You know how sometimes, fancy wall lamps, they come with their wire encased, and I have a chair rail, and I tried to make it work, and it would look so dumb if I hollowed out the chair rail right where I have the lamps, so I'm going to gift them to my mom, and I'm going to get these ones from Wayfair. Here's the thing. I don't have plugs anywhere in this house. I'm at such a loss for plugs and lighting I think because, my apartment, whoever owned it first got to pick all the fixtures. I think that they made my apartment for a rental unit., and so they didn't go above and beyond spending extra money to put light fixtures in all the rooms and stuff. My living room is super dark. I need two sconces behind my couch so I have more lighting if I'm going to read a book or something. I'm going to get their 101.99 right now, originally 225. I'm going to get these from Wayfair. I'm going to cut the cord off, Kathleen. I'm going to cut off the cord. I'm not even going to bother trying to find a plug and then an extension cord to plug them in behind the couch. I'm going to cut the cord. I'm going to install them on the wall, and I'm going to get rechargeable light bulbs.

Kathleen Martin: Tell me more because that sounds genius.

Kathleen Heaney: I am obsessed with rechargeable light bulbs and also candles that take batteries or candles you can recharge because it has opened up a world to people who don't have a lot of plugs in their house or don't have hard-wiring to put lamps and candle scones and whatever all over their house.

Kathleen Martin: Anywhere.

Kathleen Heaney: Anywhere. Just hang a lamp on the wall. Get a rechargeable light bulb. You can literally add lighting to your house anywhere.

Kathleen Martin: Do you know how the light bulb lasts?

Kathleen Heaney: I don't. I don't because it's my first foray for Black Friday to be looking into this stuff, but, a lot of times, you can get it where it's a smart light bulb. Alexa will turn it on and off, and so you don't even need to be next to the lamp.

Kathleen Martin: I have that. Oh, you do, where Alexa turns your lights on and off? Yes, because the ceiling light in the living room has no light switch. It used to be a ceiling fan, and it was turned on and off by a pole. Once I got rid of that, there was actually no way to turn it on and off, so, yes, Alexa has to turn on the light.

Kathleen Heaney: If the power goes out, you can't turn your light on.

Kathleen Martin: If the power goes out, no one can turn their lights on.

Kathleen Heaney: I think about that a lot. Can you imagine in the old-fashioned days where people actually used to have to get up and use physical energy to turn lights on and off?

Kathleen Martin: Not I.

Kathleen Heaney: Not I either. Okay. One big-ticket item for Black Friday that you are looking into?

Kathleen Martin: This is something I dream about and I cannot afford, so this would be a great time to get it. Have you heard of the Tineco vacuum, mopping vacuum?

Kathleen Heaney: No.

Kathleen Martin: Vacuum, mopping, it does both. It's the Tineco. It's a vacuum and a mop at the same time.

Kathleen Heaney: No. I'm a Dyson girl. I've never heard such a thing as a vacuum and a mop at the same time.

Kathleen Martin: People are diehard for this vacuum.

Kathleen Heaney: Really?

Kathleen Martin: Yes. Okay, so it's Tineco, T-I-N-E-C-O. They have them on Amazon, but on the website right now, the one that I'm looking at, $120 off. This is the S3 smart, wet, dry vacuum cleaner. Basically, what it does... and I learned about this on Instagram, and then my sister got one. You have a big mess. You have kids, and they're in a highchair and they have food all over the floor. She has triplets, so food everywhere.

Kathleen Heaney: Kids are disgusting.

Kathleen Martin: Yeah, and there'd be like fruit and, as soon as it dries, it gets all crusty, so you would have to scrub it with water and then vacuum up all the crumbs.

Kathleen Heaney: That's what my kitchen looks like, and I don't have kids. Yeah, I know what you're talking about.

Kathleen Martin: It's cool. Say, you drop cereal, maybe that's a good one because you have all the liquid, but you have the solids. Do it all at once. It sucks it up, gets the liquid up. It gets the crumbs up. I feel like any influencer I see, it's syrup, and it's like what do you do? In the ad, it's like this woman-

Kathleen Heaney: Yeah. I'm looking at their website right now, and it's this woman using her Tineco vacuum. She has a smile on her face, but her kitchen looks like a tornado came through. There's dog food on the floor. There's milk. It looks like someone was eating bran cereal and just missed their mouth and it ended up on the floor, and she's so happy to be using her vacuum.

Kathleen Martin: Everybody that gets it is obsessed with it. That is $120 off. That's great.

Kathleen Heaney: Oh, cool. Well, speaking of things you clean your floor with, Dyson's also having a great sale this Black Friday. I swear up and down by my Dyson Outsize+ with the laser that shows me where the dirt is.

Kathleen Martin: I don't have a laser.

Kathleen Heaney: Oh, my God, it is so fun to use, but then I also am mad at myself for not cleaning more often. I'm like, "How did it get this dusty?"

Kathleen Martin: I can't go back to a corded vacuum.

Kathleen Heaney: Never.

Kathleen Martin: I have the stick vacuum as well. It's smaller than yours. It's so light.

Kathleen Heaney: Never.

Kathleen Martin: It works so well. You're not always dragging that cord around.

Kathleen Heaney: I know. I know. Cords are vintage. I have tools that still have cords. I know a lot of people have upgraded a lot of their power drill or whatever.

Kathleen Martin: You have a drill with a plug?

Kathleen Heaney: I do have a drill with a plug. I know. I know. I've never had a cordless drill before because I...

Kathleen Martin: You inherited it.

Kathleen Heaney: I inherited all my dad's stuff. When it comes to vacuums, I will never purchase them with a cord ever again. Okay. We would be amiss if we didn't talk about Small Business Saturday. What small business are you shopping at this Small Business Saturday?

Kathleen Martin: I want to talk about a business that is actually from the UK.

Kathleen Heaney: Oh, tell me more.

Kathleen Martin: It's David Perry handmade ceramics and glass.

Kathleen Heaney: Oh, my name is David Perry, and I make handmade ceramics and glass.

Kathleen Martin: Nailed it. I have the checkered spoon rest.

Kathleen Heaney: Oh, I've seen that in your kitchen.

Kathleen Martin: Yes. I'll link a picture of it from my kitchen because it's a showpiece. It really is so beautiful. What he does, he has all different styles, but his checkered line is very popular because it's so cool and on trend. He takes individual square pieces of glass and then he has... This is getting technical, but I, too, craft things. He uses a slump mold, which means he puts them all... He has it individually line the checkers up, but then he puts them in this mold through the heat of the kiln. It melts into that shape.

Kathleen Heaney: Oh, so that's how you do it. I had no idea. I've seen this piece in your kitchen, and I love the idea of splurging on items that are out all the time that you see that you never put away like a spoon rest. I've seen this in your kitchen. It's a regular-shaped spoon rest, but it has amber pieces of glass like yellow, sort of like maybe Parisian mustard/amber color. They're see-through, and then it also has pecan.

Kathleen Martin: Yes, slightly off-white,

Kathleen Heaney: Slightly off-white-colored glass, more of an opaque, not quite a see-through pieces of square glass checkered print, it is truly stunning.

Kathleen Martin: It's so beautiful, and it's a really nice oversized size so you can fit a whole ladle in the large spoon area. Sometimes, it's so big, I'll even rest other spoons down the leg of it. It looks great. It's very functional, because you do need a place to put that ladle or spatula or whatever-

Kathleen Heaney: Yeah, for sure.

Kathleen Martin: ... and very gently just wash it by hand in the sink. I hold onto it with a death grip as I'm walking over so I don't drop it because I'm very accident-prone. That's what I have, but he sells these wavy bowls that are just beautiful, just decor or-

Kathleen Heaney: Statement pieces.

Kathleen Martin: ... yeah, little trays and trinket dishes. If you don't, here's a tip, because I've spoken to him a bunch on Instagram. His handle, by the way, is @davidperry, P-E-R-R-Y, Glass Ceramics. If you don't see the color combination that you want, just send him a message, and he will do a custom color combination of the checkerboard.

Kathleen Heaney: What an amazing gift for yourself. I'm not buying this for anybody else because it's a splurge item.

Kathleen Martin: It is about $50. Since he's in the UK, I asked him. He said, "Turnaround time is between one to two weeks," so it's not something that's going to take forever. He emails it out to you right when when you order it, unless it's custom, and then just expect a little bit more time.

Kathleen Heaney: Oh, love that. My small biz Saturday pick is this company that I just ordered a print from. I did a little bit of Small Business Saturday shopping early this year. It's a company called Salvage Made Design, @salvage, M-A-D-E, design on Instagram. I have no idea how I found this company. One day, they popped up on my Facebook, and I was like, "Sold."

Kathleen Martin: Done. Influenced.

Kathleen Heaney: Yeah, influenced, indeed. I just bought this print from them. It is in this beautiful gold frame, a big white mat. It's this vintagey-looking print. It's this lady sitting on a green couch. She's wearing an off the shoulder dress. It looks like a woman from, I don't know, the 1950s or something like that style of painting.

Kathleen Martin: I have an art history minor, and I'm trying to see if I can put it to good use. It looks like a John Singer Sargent painting.

Kathleen Heaney: Oh, I have no idea what that means, but thank you for the description.

Kathleen Martin: It's a style of old-timey woman.

Kathleen Heaney: Yeah, old-timey woman, and so they take this print and then they write over it. They paint it, paint words over it. The print that I bought says, "Too fucking fabulous," but F*C-K-I-N-G cool handwriting. I can't wait for it to arrive.

Kathleen Martin: I think I look like that type of woman.

Kathleen Heaney: Oh, yeah, Kathleen is holding up her computer with... What's that artist's name again?

Kathleen Martin: John Singer Sargent That's just like an art history. Anyone that went to school for art history, just quizzes themselves, and sometimes gets it right and sometimes... I actually don't know if I'm right, but it's in that style.

Kathleen Heaney: There we go. That is our Black Friday expert home decor shopping list strategy thingy that we've put together for you all.

Kathleen Martin: Yeah. All our favorites, we're going to link them all. None of them were sponsored, but we love them all truly, and we will have them for you in our show notes. You can see them on the website.

Kathleen Heaney: Yes. We're not going to do any social shoutouts this week because there was a shopping episode, but leave us a voicemail. Maybe we'll play it on the podcast or, surely, we can get back to you if you have any DIY questions. Our phone number is 201-378-3378.

Kathleen Martin: You can send us an email at hello@kathleencandoit.com.

Kathleen Heaney: Also, follow the podcast on Instagram, @kathleencandoit. Join our Facebook group.

Kathleen Martin: It is popping off already. I'm not kidding.

Kathleen Heaney: I know. I know. It's a private group, so you have to join Kathleen Can Do It, DIY and Design Group. People are posting pictures in there of all sorts of projects that they've done, bathrooms, kitchens. They're getting ideas from other DIYs in the group. I've been doing a realtime live diary update of getting ready for Thanksgiving because it's been a very stressful time, lots of DIY project

Kathleen Martin: Lots.

Kathleen Heaney: Where can people follow you on social, Kathleen?

Kathleen Martin: You can follow me, Kathleen Martin, at Create A Colorful Life.

Kathleen Heaney: ... and me, Kathleen Heaney at Kathleen Loves Color.

Kathleen Martin: Next week, stay tuned because we are going to talk all about how I painted my kitchen cabinets, the ones that I refused to match my Le Creuset to, and the specific process I used because it was a lot of trial and error, the paint brand I am loving that I swear by, and how to do it the Kathleen Martin way, and then we'll go into detail in a future episode about how to do it the Kathleen Heaney way because you are painting your kitchen soon as well.

Kathleen Heaney: Yeah. I'm going to get it done before our next episode, I swear, or at least I'm going to paint one cabinet so I can add my 2 cents.

Kathleen Martin: Okay. That's important because, as we know, if Kathleen can do it, you can do it, too.

Kathleen Heaney: If Kathleen can do it, you can do it, too. A white Le Creuset? Really, girl?

Kathleen Martin: I know. It's beautiful.