College sweethearts Ben and Erin got married in 2008, which soon led them to buy a yellow 1925 craftsman cottage Erin had been in love with since junior high in Laurel's historic district. Through the home's feature in Southern Weddings, and Erin's blog, the couple got the attention of HGTV executives and the rest is history. "Growing up, my parents were ministers so we were constantly working on things. But it was less of a 'I want to be a DIY home renovation person' and more of a 'This needs to be fixed, there are four strapping young men who live here so we're gonna fix it,'" Ben told POPSUGAR. He then went on to take a deep dive into furniture design and building in his 20s.
Erin, on the other hand, always had a passion for home design. "In 7th grade, my mom told me, 'Why don't we redo your room however you want to do it. Whatever you want to do, we'll do,' and that was my first design project," she said. "Around then is when I started my accordion folder where I would tear pages out of magazines and put them in my folder for my dream home one day." The couple jokes about how while other 7th graders scrapbooked about their future weddings or read Tiger Beat, Erin was planning her future house and collecting interior design magazines.
