Philip or Flop
An engineer by day—with four degrees, including a Ph.D.—the Philip behind Philip or Flop has been renovating homes since 2007. With nearly 350,000 followers, he juggles his full-time job, his Instagram account, and his family—although he recently blended the two spheres as he included his daughter in a desk-building project. Even with all those degrees, he found the undertaking a challenge: “The hardest thing about renovating during the pandemic has been stepping away from my projects for a little rest! Since we’ve been home so much, I’ve found that I just keep pushing on projects.”
Orlando Soria
Orlando Soria’s Instagram bio reads: “Hi, I’m gay! One day I randomly moved to the woods!” It should also read: “And I am a tonic for your pandemic-tired soul.” Every one of Soria’s posts and stories will make you giggle. While sharing practical tips and streams of consciousness—and his renovation plans for his own home—Soria often screams in horror at the state of his house. In a recent video, he rolled around on his carpet expressing mixed emotions (so soft versus so unsightly) and then impulsively ripped up the carpet and was left with a bare plywood floor. His candor and humor are truly smile-inducing.
Suszi Saunders
Suzsi Saunders’ Instagram account is mesmerizing. The London-based hypnotherapist recently gave a sexy sneak peek of her black-painted living room—and it’s brilliant. With stories highlighting her inspirations and posts documenting her yearlong struggle to modernize her front door, her trials and tribulations with her vacuum, and her Farrow and Ball obsession, Saunders hypnotizes with her beautiful before-and-afters. Saunders’ top pandemic renovating tip is: “No one is coming round to visit, so now is the time to be bold and brave and try out something new.”
She also sheds light on vegan decorating, telling us, “The most difficult vegan home furnishing products are comfy sofas (so many come stuffed with feathers) and cool-looking rugs (so many are wool), but it can be done.”