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J. Courtney Sullivan’s Colorful Home Is Peppered With Reading Nooks

J. Courtney Sullivan House Tour

J. Courtney Sullivan House Tour

“My novels always seem to contain a self-fulfilling prophecy,” says J. Courtney Sullivan. “I write something, and then it happens in my life.” In her latest book, The Cliffs, a woman named Jane moves back to her hometown and winds up in a Victorian house. Then, Courtney also moved back to her hometown and landed in an old Victorian — along with her husband, two kids, and 13-year-old dog. Come take a look around…

LIBRARY

J. Courtney Sullivan House Tour

Chairs: Interior Define. Coffee tables: Pottery Barn. Lamp: Target. Curtains: custom via Noelani Zervas Interiors with fabric by Fabricut. Rug: Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, similar.

“Many people I know had an unexpected life event in the early days of Covid — a reevaluation of some kind. A divorce, a new career, a baby, a dog they weren’t planning on getting. For me, it was heading back to my hometown of Milton, Massachusetts, something I never thought I would do in a million years. I love it, but I sometimes imagine my 14-year-old goth self, who wrote short stories about the soullessness of suburbia, finding out that we live here. She would be appalled.”

J. Courtney Sullivan House Tour

Sofa: Room & Board “Hutton”, similar.Coffee tables: Pottery Barn. Lamp: Target. Curtains: custom via Noelani Zervas Interiors with fabric by Fabricut. Rug: Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, similar.

“We moved into our house in July 2021. We didn’t have much furniture, and with all the supply chain issues at the time, it felt impossible to find a new couch that would arrive inside of a year. So, I went to Room & Board and asked if there were any couches available immediately. There was exactly one: yellow and velvet. I bought it and decided to build the room around it. The navy walls came next.”

J. Courtney Sullivan House Tour

Painting: Leo Dunn.

“A few months after I bought this portrait of a sea captain, my best friend and I walked into a massive art gallery in Maine. There were hundreds of paintings on the walls, and she pointed at one and said, ‘I love that!’ It was a Leo Dunn portrait of Captain Cogswell! She’d never seen mine, but now we each have our own.”

DINING ROOM

J. Courtney Sullivan House Tour

Light fixture: Shades of Light. Table: Duvall & Co. Chairs: Design Within Reach. Wallpaper: William Morris.

“While living in Brooklyn, we had our second kid, and our dining room became our son’s bedroom. I didn’t want to part with the table, so I found a table tent that turned it into firetruck. With pillows and fairy lights and books, it was the perfect hideaway. Now the dining table is back to being a dining table. My daughter and her friends do a lot of crafts, so there is glitter in every crevice.”

J. Courtney Sullivan House Tour

Wallpaper: William Morris. Mirror: frame from an antique store, mirror inserted later.

“For my 40th birthday, my two best friends each gave me a gorgeous decorative bowl as a gift. I remember thinking, Wow, so we’ve reached the decorative bowl years. In a happy way — I love a decorative bowl.”

LIVING ROOM

J. Courtney Sullivan House Tour

Sectional: Interior Define. Rug: Vintage, similar. Coffee table: West Elm, similar. Side table: “Thrifted at a MCM store in Brooklyn a decade ago,” similar. Wall color: Tallow by Farrow & Ball, Tallow. Curtains: custom via Noelani Zervas Interiors.

“The day after we moved in, part of the second-floor ceiling caved in from a mysterious leak. The house still has its original wooden gutters. The walls are full of horsehair plaster. This is the first home my husband and I have owned, so it’s a learning curve.”

“Many of the women in my mom’s family have gone by their middle names. My first name is Julie, but no one has ever called me that. It might seem like I’m trying for this literary affectation with ‘J. Courtney Sullivan,’ but if you looked at my kindergarten attendance sheet, it said that, too.”

KITCHEN

J. Courtney Sullivan House Tour

“After two decades in small apartments, we were happy to move into a big house. Funnily enough, though, when all five of us are home, we’re almost always in the same room. When we have a party, everyone congregates in the tiny kitchen until I beg them to go elsewhere.”

J. Courtney Sullivan House Tour

Throw rug: Dash & Albert.

“If there are more than three children at home, someone is shimmying through the little window in the kitchen. It’s the law.”

J. Courtney Sullivan House Tour

“There are so many lovely historical details, like a Harry Potter closet under the stairs and this butler’s pantry, which we use for storing kids’ art supplies.”

J. Courtney Sullivan House Tour

OFFICE

J. Courtney Sullivan House Tour

Desk: Theodore Alexander. Wall color: Dix Blue by Farrow & Ball. Desk chair: vintage Steelcase, similar. Globe Lamp: Vintage Dansk from Ramble Market. Rug. GreenRow.

“The centerpiece of my office is the desk my husband gave me 15 years ago, when I quit my day job and started writing full-time. On my desk, I have a photograph of me and my childhood friend Noreen making a snowman in a blizzard. The photo is a daily reminder of what drives us to create.”

J. Courtney Sullivan House Tour

“When Kevin and I were first dating, we bonded over a mutual love of the artist Leanne Shapton. Leanne and I worked together at the time, so I asked if she had any paintings she might be willing to part with. She ripped two pages right out of her sketchbook — a watercolor of brownstones — which I framed for Kevin as a Christmas gift. Then, when I turned 35, Kevin commissioned the artist Samantha Hahn to create a custom Baby-Sitters Club cover, based off a photo of me and my childhood friends.”

LANDING

J. Courtney Sullivan House Tour

J. Courtney Sullivan House Tour

“At one time, a girl named Clara must have lived in this house because she carved her name into the wooden doors. It’s always exciting and a little spooky to discover a new one.”

PRIMARY BEDROOM

J. Courtney Sullivan House Tour

Yellow quilt: The Company Store. Wood bench: similar.

“With kids, it’s a life of extremes. My husband and I are either in this very quiet, lovely house working from home, or the kids are here and it’s absolutely bananas.”

J. Courtney Sullivan House Tour

“When I was still drinking, I found myself drawn to things written by people who’d quit. Ann Leary wrote an incredible book called The Good House that I think about all the time. I’ve written often about the ‘good girl’ in a family of alcoholics. In my latest novel, I decided to be more honest and say sometimes the ‘good girl’ is also an alcoholic who needs to face that. There were lots of times when I felt like I really needed to stop drinking, but it didn’t seem possible. It was possible. In October, I’ll be eight years sober.”

SON’S ROOM

J. Courtney Sullivan House Tour

Bedding: Pottery Barn Kids. Bed: Pottery Barn Kids. Nightstand: Ikea. Rocket lamp: Target, similar. Curtains: Pottery Barn Kids.

“When I was a kid, I always wanted to read The Baby-Sitter’s Club, but my dad told me to read ‘real books.’ Now I volunteer at the library, which has all the books I remember from childhood, and the kids just want to read graphic novels. I feel a bit like my dad when I catch myself thinking, What about Anne of Green Gables?! But part of instilling a love of reading involves letting kids read what they gravitate toward.”

J. Courtney Sullivan House Tour

J. Courtney Sullivan House Tour

DAUGHTER’S ROOM

J. Courtney Sullivan House Tour

Bed: Pottery Barn Kids. Map: Cavallini Papers. Nightstand: Ikea. Curtains: Pottery Barn Kids. Rug: Pottery Barn Kids.

“Pretty much every win in our household is celebrated by going to Dairy Freeze, so when I finished my book The Cliffs, we did just that. My husband was saying, ‘Yay for Mom, she finished her book!’ My five-year-old goes, ‘Now you never have to write again!’”

J. Courtney Sullivan House Tour

“When my parents moved out of my childhood home, they called to ask what I wanted to keep. I was living in a studio apartment in Brooklyn, so I told them they should give away my childhood toys — but the one thing they kept was my dollhouse. I’m so glad they did.”

STAIRS

J. Courtney Sullivan House Tour

Wallpaper: Farrow & Ball.

“I was eating pizza with a friend one night, and I asked her what to do with our back stairs. I had a million paint swatches. She suggested wallpaper instead, so I got out all the wallpaper samples I had. She picked one from the pile, held it up, and we were both like, ‘That’s perfect.’”

PORCH

J. Courtney Sullivan House Tour

“The front porch is the best place to nap, drink coffee, or watch a rainstorm. Every September, we take part in Milton Porchfest, where bands perform on people’s driveways and porches. It is our favorite day of the year in this town.”

J. Courtney Sullivan House Tour

Thanks so much for sharing your home with us, Courtney, and congratulations on your new novel!

P.S. More home tours, including a colorful Swedish apartment and an introvert’s nook.

(Photos by Lyndsay Hannah Photography. Noelani Zervas provided some interior design services. As Courtney put it, “After making some bold choices, like painting an entire room navy, I ran into decision fatigue. Noelani gave me so many great ideas for how to pull things together and suggested pieces I absolutely love and never would have found on my own.”)

Note: If you buy something through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission or have a sponsored relationship with the brand, at no cost to you. We recommend only products we genuinely like. Thank you so much.

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Best Mothers Day gifts: Show mom some love

Mother figures are the backbone of the world. Yours may be your biological mother, or maybe she’s your mother-in-law, your best friend’s mom, or simply someone whose motherly instinct has helped you through hard times.

Moms teach you the adulting necessities, give advice even if the problem is your fault, and above all, they put up with your shit and (almost) never complain.

The game plan here isn’t just to snag the last bouquet at CVS just so you’re not the kid who forgot Mother’s Day (but definitely also get flowers). And you don’t even need to spend a lot of money. (Peep our list of Mother’s Day gifts that cost less than $50. Want even more cheap gift ideas?

Skip the generic mugs and show your appreciation with a gift picked just for her: Whether it’s something to make a part of her life easier, something she’s mentioned wanting in passing, or simply something to make her feel like a damn queen, you can’t put a price on everything she’s done for you, but heartfelt gifts certainly help.

After all, they say “No matter how hard you try, you always end up like your mother.” But is that even a bad thing?


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Ban subscriptions and get Microsoft Office 2024 for life for just £121

TL;DR: Grab Microsoft Office 2024 Home and Business for PC or Mac for just £120.54 through June 1.


You wouldn’t keep paying for Netflix if you could own your favorite shows, right? So why are you still subscribing to Office apps you use every day? Microsoft 365’s price keeps going up, but there’s finally a way to break free — and it’ll cost you way less in the long run.

Microsoft Office 2024 is the answer you’ve been looking for. Instead of monthly payments, simply pay £120.54 once and be set for life (reg. £188.37). It’s that simple. And, yes, this lifetime download works for PC or Mac.

What’s included?

This license comes with: 

  • Word

  • Excel

  • PowerPoint

  • Outlook

  • OneNote 

The newest version of Microsoft Office is a little different from Microsoft 365. But just because you’re switching to a lifetime license doesn’t mean you’ll miss out on some of the most recent updates. Word and Excel both still have AI integrations for text suggestions and smart data analysis, and PowerPoint still has improved tools for recorded presentations. 

Once you’ve redeemed your purchase, you can install your apps on one computer. After that, they’re yours to use however you want. No more subscription fees or sudden price hikes to worry about. 

Why rent when you can own? 

Mashable Deals

Get a Microsoft Office lifetime license on sale for £120.54 with no coupon needed.

StackSocial prices subject to change.


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Wordle today: Answer, hints for May 9, 2025

Oh hey there! If you’re here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we’re serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today’s answer.

If you just want to be told today’s word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today’s Wordle solution revealed. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What’s the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website’s creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn’t any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle‘s Hard Mode if you’re after more of a challenge, though.

Here’s a subtle hint for today’s Wordle answer:

Gibberish.

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Does today’s Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no recurring letters.

Today’s Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with…

Today’s Wordle starts with the letter T.

The Wordle answer today is…

Get your last guesses in now, because it’s your final chance to solve today’s Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today’s Wordle is…

TRIPE.

Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Wordle.


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