Our TeamMelissa Massello

Melissa Massello

About Me

Boston girl gone Austin + pixie dust spreader on the Tilt-A-Whirl. In her past life, Melissa was the founder of Shoestring Magazine, DIY Boston + The Swapaholics. Now she just wants to drink wine, hike, do yoga + save all the damn dogs, is that so wrong?


Latest Stories

Our Best Thrifting Tips for National Thrift Shop Day
It’s hard to believe that it’s already been six years since Macklemore and Ryan Lewis captured the zeitgeist of mainstream tag-popping and bin-scouring with their runaway hit song, Thrift Shop. But while hippies and hipsters come and go, the joy of thrift shopping and treasure hunting is forever—so I rounded up some of my favorite tips for National Thrift Shopping Day, culled from my decade of prior experience as the editor of budget living magazine Shoestring.
Oct 3, 2023
Are These The Best Outdoorsy Places to Live on a Budget?
Staying fit and finding that ever-elusive work/life balance shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg, so one real estate website set out to find the best outdoorsy cities in America that are still affordable for active citizens. Realtor.com recently released this top five list of active places where the average American can still actually afford to live and be close to natural wonders and outdoor living attractions but without going above the median home price.
Oct 3, 2023
Stop Microwaving Your Sponges, Immediately
Here's why.
May 21, 2023
Peek Inside Joanna Gaines’ Industrial Farmhouse Kitchen & More HGTV Stars’ Homes
Because we haven't hit peak voyeurism when it comes to our favorite home & garden show hosts' own homes.
Oct 14, 2020
This Is Why You Have Trouble Sleeping in the Winter
Winter, the season of cozy hygge, seems like it would be the best time of year to catch up on all those ZZZs we miss out on during the more active months. But it turns out that—whether or not you’re one of the 10 million Americans who suffer from seasonal affective disorder each year—the long and dark days actually wreak havoc on our sleep schedules, both in the quality of our sleep and the number of hours of rest we’re getting each night.
Jul 30, 2020
Sorry, Parents: Nobody Wants the Family “Heirlooms”
In a modern world currently intrigued by minimalism, there’s something that all three adult generations can agree on: the problem of dealing with the collections curated (hoarded?) by our family members. From younger boomers and Gen X’ers sandwiched between their aging/dying parents and their own children to millennials trying to gently manage expectations (and their own limited budgets and storage space) without hurt feelings, the message is crystal clear.
Jul 18, 2020
Buy Frank Lloyd Wright’s Mayan-Style Temple in LA for $23M (Yes, the Westworld One)
Spoiler alert: The real-life version of Bernard/Arnold’s home in Westworld is for sale, and it happens to be one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s most hallowed and historic works of Southern California architecture. The Mayan-style temple built by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1924 almost entirely out of interlocking concrete blocks—also known as The Ennis House—sits on a hillside in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, and just hit the market after a $17 million renovation.
Jul 17, 2020
Beverly Hills Mansion Formerly Owned By Ellen & Portia Hits the Market for $34M
This private, massively gated, historic Beverly Hills mansion has a star-studded list of former residents nearly as long as the credits in an Oceans XX film (including Ellen Degeneres and Kelly Wearstler), and just hit the market for a whopping $34 million. The classic five-bedroom residence was built in the 1950s for Diane and Charles Skouras Jr.
Jul 16, 2020
Fixer Upper Fined $40K by the EPA for Lead Paint Violations
If you’ve ever watched an episode of Fixer Upper and wondered, “Huh, I guess they don’t have lead paint in Texas?,” you’re not alone. One such viewer happened to be an EPA employee—and now the Gaineses are on the hook for $40,000 in lead paint violation penalties. This week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it had settled with Chip and Joanna Gaines’s company, Magnolia Homes, for violating rules related to lead-based paint.
Jul 15, 2020
Check Out Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher’s New $10M Santa Barbara County Surf Shack
Is Santa Barbara the new Malibu? Judging by the recent $10M luxury beachfront home purchased by Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher, the answer may be a resounding: “It’s all alright!” Modest by most celebrity and California coastal real estate standards (and down $2.
May 3, 2019
Golden Girl Rue McClanahan’s Former Encino Home Is Listed for $5.5M
If there’s a person out there who hasn’t fantasized about a slumber party with the Golden Girls’ Blanche Devereaux, we’ve yet to meet them. Now’s your chance to channel the famous Southern belle — the former home of actress Rue McClanahan is now on the market. Curbed reported on Monday that the former home of the late actress (who passed in 2010) was freshly listed in the upscale Royal Oaks neighborhood in Encino, CA for $5.5 million.
May 3, 2019
This Gothic Victorian Mansion Inspired by The Munsters Is Under $500K
If your taste runs a little spooky — or your sense of humor just a little kooky — have we got the Portland listing for you: a gothic Victorian mansion inspired by The Munsters is for sale, and for under $500K.
May 3, 2019
The Newest Emojis & How Best To Use Them
We’re [insert new emoji face with star eyes] about the news that 56 brand-spankin’ new emojis will be hitting our keyboards this year, thanks the preview of Emoji 5.0 released this week. According to Emojipedia, Emoji version 5.0 “includes 56 new emojis from Unicode 10.0, as well as 183 emoji sequences used for gender and skin-tone variants and subdivision flags.
May 3, 2019
Now You Can Bed ‘N’ Binge at Netflix’s UK Pop-Up Hotel
The antithesis of a digital detox, this pop-up glamping experience encourages Londoners to literally Netflix and chill while binging on their favorite shows. With hundreds of their friends, in public. The “Bed ‘N’ Binge Retreat” is a first for Netflix, with 15 themed “glamping” bunk room suites and communal spaces popping up on a National Trust park property in West London now through Sunday July 9th, with the last guests checking out on Monday July 10th.
May 3, 2019
This Blogger Made Over Her Rental Laundry Room Using Only Dollar Store Items
Once in a blue super blood moon, a blogger comes along and from the first time you see them on video, you want them to move into your house and be your best friend. For me, that moment came this year when “meeting” delightful wish-she-would-adopt me mama Tonya Payne of Hey Tonya, whose YouTube tutorial documenting her complete overhaul of a tiny rental laundry room using only dollar store products is going viral. Because it’s genius — and she’s just plain adorable.
May 3, 2019
These Words Were Added to the Dictionary the Year You Were Born
Some words become a part of our collective lexicon with such zeitgeist that it’s hard to believe there was ever a time when they weren’t part of the English language. And some are so definitive of an era that simply seeing them listed next to a year immediately brings you back to that time and a place — and the movies and songs that then dominated pop culture.
May 3, 2019
AI Designs My Little Pony Names That Sound More Like Monty Python
The scientist who brought us future paint colors named by artificial intelligence like Bank Butt and Snowbonk is at it again, this time using her research and software to dream up new My Little Pony characters.
May 3, 2019
Here’s Where To Stream Your Favorite Saturday Morning Cartoons
We bet the sheer mention of some of these shows from the classic era of Saturday morning cartoons will bring their theme songs back to earworm status. The good news is, many of them are now available to watch again — this time digitally remastered, sans commercials — thanks to the magic of streaming TV.
May 3, 2019
This Epic San Francisco Estate Takes Up an Entire City Block
Considering this San Francisco mansion takes up an entire city block in the most expensive urban real estate market in the country — one of the largest private lots in the Bay Area — and is a compound comprising four separate residences around a sculpture garden, it’s actually kind of a steal at $12.5 million.
May 3, 2019
Floyd Mayweather Just Paid $26M Cash for this Beverly Hills Mansion
Two things are for certain, Floyd “Money” Mayweather loves to make headlines, and it’s been a great year for the boxer. He won the much-hyped “one-of-a-kind superfight” against UFC champ Conor McGregor last month, the estimated $300+ million in winnings from which enabled him to do good (purportedly one of several athletes who promised to donate millions to Hurricane Harvey relief in Houston) and #treatyoself with luxurious new digs.
May 3, 2019
This Fairytale Cottage in Washington Is a Replica of Snow White’s House
It took 12 years and two successive, fantasy-loving owners to complete, but this charming little cottage in Ollala, Washington is now an exact replica of Snow White’s House — and it’s for sale. According to Travel+Leisure, the 2,800-square-foot home features four bedrooms and four and a half bathrooms on five private, gated, wooded acres — and all the character and charm you could want from a real-life Brothers Grimm fairytale, minus the seven dwarves.
May 3, 2019
Turn Your Black Thumb Green With the World’s First Smart Planter
Get growing, even if you have a completely black thumb, thanks to these new smart planters that connect your container gardens to an app that tells you when to water, prune, and harvest food plants and constantly monitors the weather, soil conditions, and your plants’ every need for you.
May 3, 2019
Beck’s Latest House Flip is a Hygge Tudor in LA for $3.75M
With a new record dropping on Friday called Colors, it might be shocking to Beck fans that the Grammy-winning 90s icon is actually more of a fan of neutral palettes — at least, that is, judging by his last two Los Angeles renovation projects in as many years. The LA-native musician and his wife, actress Marissa Ribisi (twin sister to Giovanni, known best for her role as redhead Cynthia in Dazed and Confused), are quickly making a name for themselves as adept home flippers.
May 3, 2019
Rachel Bilson Starts Over in Historic $3.25M Mid-Century Home
Following a much-publicized recent breakup with longtime fiance Hayden Christensen, and an insult-to-injury robbery, actress Rachel Bilson and her young daughter are getting a fresh start with an inspiring new home perfect for two ladies starting over. High in the Pasadena hills above the Rose Bowl (and the Kidspace Museum, for toddler Briar Rose), Bilson’s new $3.
May 3, 2019
Buy James Gandolfini’s Jane Street Apartment for $7.5M
One of the only hints this classic, light-filled West Village townhouse was owned by the late star best known as Tony Soprano might be in the office — where both the wall-to-wall carpet and the wingback armchair are covered in leopard print.
May 3, 2019
Fly Like an Eagle on Steve Miller’s $16M Idaho Compound
If you love the great outdoors and going to the country for that Wild West lifestyle, then take your money and run to the listing agent for legendary musician Steve Miller’s 13-acre “gentleman’s ranch” in Ketchum, Idaho —which just hit the market as the region’s fifth most expensive real estate listing, ever.
May 3, 2019
Taylor Swift Just Bought the $18M Tribeca Townhouse Next Door
Taylor Swift has embraced the New York state of mind so completely, and so broadly through real estate investments, that some pop culture writers have started referring to her downtown Manhattan ‘hood as “Taybeca.” Now, the New York Post reports that Swift has mic-dropped a whopping $18 million for a townhouse at 153 Franklin Street in Tribeca (with a somewhat shady past) in an off-market deal.
May 3, 2019
Check Out Kristen Stewart’s New $5.6M NYC Loft Fixer Upper
Twilight star turned indie film staple Kristen Stewart has decided to try her own hand at taking the worst apartment in the best location and renovating it into the real estate gem of our dreams. The famously private actress and Chanel model just scooped up this 3,000 square foot, three bedroom, two bath NoHo loft for $5.
May 3, 2019
This West Village Townhouse For Sale Was Once Destroyed By Courtney Love
Destroying a hotel room is, like, so rock ‘n’ roll, but what about questionably redecorating (and possibly setting a small fire to) a $27,000 per month West Village rental? That’s the kind of history that comes with this NYC townhouse, currently listed for sale at $11.25 million — after a $100,000 makeover the owner deemed necessary once infamous grunge band frontwoman Courtney Love moved out in 2011.
May 3, 2019
Here’s Where Serena Williams Stayed for Her NOLA Wedding
Down in the Treme, it was just Serena Williams and her bae bae (Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanion) and this gorgeous Greek Revival mansion. The couple celebrated their New Orleans wedding recently with a whirlwind weekend of fairytale romance and R&R at this dreamy HomeAway rental property.
May 3, 2019
How Much Does It Actually Cost to Binge Your Favorite Shows?
One of my worst travel pet peeves is binge-watching shows on my iPad or laptop — after taking all the time to download them before heading out the door — and then having the battery run out right at the most climactic moment. But what if you could strategize which types of shows to stream or download based on how much energy they expend, and how much electricity it takes to watch them?
May 3, 2019
Jay Leno Goes Gatsby With a New $13.5M Seaside Mansion in Newport
While the rest of us are still dreaming of a white Christmas, former Tonight Show host Jay Leno and his wife Mavis are desperately seeking summer with a brand new seaside home in historic Newport, Rhode Island. According to The Boston Globe, the Lenos paid $13.5 million for the crescent moon-shaped, French chateau-inspired mansion on a private, gated 9-acre coastline peninsula.
May 3, 2019
Start Your The Crown Season 3 Prep With Our Royals History Watch List
Like many people, I fell down a Wikipedia rabbit hole while watching The Crown. So what’s a history nerd to do? Pull together a chronological watch list to help sort out the history of the monarchy in dramatic order, naturally. As a lover of costume dramas, I was well versed in period films and TV series depicting the British royal family long before Claire Foy and Matt Smith captivated the world with their performances as the young Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip in The Crown.
May 3, 2019
Whoopi Goldberg Lists Her Longtime Old Hollywood Estate for $8.75M
When you’re a Hollywood superstar of the mega-wattage of Whoopi Goldberg, nothing but a property with serious Silver Screen street cred will do. But after more than 20 years at her Pacific Palisades home, the EGOT winner and talk show host is moving on — listing the pedigreed estate for $6.25 million more than what she purchased it for back in 1993.
May 3, 2019
Wine Baths Are the Medieval Self-Care Trend We Didn’t Know We Were Missing
If you’ve ever sipped on a velvety, chewy glass of red wine so delicious that you thought to yourself, “Wow, I could take a bath in this,” then you just might be ready to try the Medieval self-care regimen we didn’t know we were missing — but are totally here for now.
May 3, 2019
Take a Ride in Roseanne’s Living Room on This New York Subway Line
Everyone’s favorite ’90s working class drama is making a comeback, and to celebrate the return of Roseanne ABC is taking New York City commuters on a a nostalgic immersion experience — complete with retro afghan blankets — as a literal hype vehicle.
May 3, 2019