The End Of This Young House
Yup, you read the title right. This Young House is going the way of the dodo and the dinosaur. And although it certainly wasn’t our idea (let’s just say lawyers were involved) it sure has added some excitement to our little blogging lives.
The good news is that we’re already whipping up lemonade from the sour lemons hurled in our general direction. We’ve got a brand-spanking-new name and URL, but the site remains exactly the same otherwise. Unless you count all the fun new features, tutorials and before & afters that we’ll be adding in the coming weeks. So remember to visit younghouselove.com from this day forth (and to update you reader, bookmarks and even your blogroll if you link out to us) to make it easy to keep up with our adventures- and misadventures- in home improvement.
Ok, so here’s the full scoop. On July 7th, as many of you know, we were busy celebrating our two year wedding anniversary. But on July 8th we got a nice little present in the form of a cease and desist letter from a prominent home improvement magazine/TV show which bears a few similarities to our old site’s name (you guys can figure it out, right?). Don’t they know the two year anniversary present is cotton, not paper? Anyway, they basically ordered that we immediately surrender the use of our old name and URL because they believed consumers were getting confused and may think that Young House Love was in some way related to their brand. Picture us scratching our heads. In almost two years of blogging under that moniker not one person has ever asked if we were related to that company.
That started a rollercoaster ride of emotions. First came fear and sadness – were we really going to get sued or be forced to hand over nearly two years of hard work? Then came confusion and anger – why was the same pub that contacted us last year to compliment our work and offer us a free magazine subscription suddenly sending lawyers after us? Not to mention the fact that our site and our logo looked nothing like theirs, our names were essentially opposites, our projects are on a completely different scale, and we’re clearly just two young people with a personal blog (not a corporation with deep pockets and an army of lifelong experts). But we eventually unclenched our fists and faced reality. Even though we completely disagreed with every single point they made, what two-person blog wants to go up against such a wealthy industry powerhouse? Can you just imagine that? In this corner we have a million dollar company. And in this corner… John, Sherry and a feisty chihuahua. No thanks.
So after many hours spent huddling with our attorney we decided the best way to move forward (and spare ourselves a potentially long and expensive legal battle) would be to turn the other cheek and change our name and URL. After all, just as the-magazine-that-shall-not-be-named doesn’t want to be accidentally associated with us, we certainly share that sentiment. Now more than ever.
And a funny thing happened after we made the decision to move on to bigger and better things. We got fired up. Not throw-something-I’m-mad fired up, but this-could-be-an-amazing-opportunity fired up. Our excitement grew as we chatted breathlessly until two in the morning about what a great thing this seemingly stressful anniversary incident could become. We felt almost like we did when we moved into our house in the very beginning. There was raw potential for miles and we couldn’t wait to forge ahead with our paint brushes in our pockets and smiles on our faces.
Then came the search for the perfect new name. We tossed out a few odd but applicable ones first (involving our infamous love of white paint, ceramic animals and charming chihuahuas) but we still felt like Youngsters at heart. So we decided to bridge the gap between our old name and the thing that our last URL had always been missing: the can’t-deny-it crush we have on our humble home. We secured our new website addy on Bluehost for $4 with a coupon (you know we like to sniff out a good deal) and our new blog baby: Young House Love was born. It instantly felt like a place we could call home, and we really like referencing the idea of falling in “house love” (that unmistakable type of youthful puppy love that we all feel for the casa we’re tenderly fixing up). After all, we’re just two young people falling in love with our first house.
And here we are less than a week later, welcoming you to our new virtual abode. We’re still unpacking a bit, so bear with us as we transition everything and add bigger and better features as we go. We know it may take some time for you guys to get comfortable with our new name and URL, but just as our old blog was once our baby, this one is our “youngest child” which means we’re gonna coddle it and spoil our lovely readers even more than we did before. Weekly giveaways (starting back up tomorrow!), before & after eye candy, step by step tutorials- we’ll serve it all up on a white lacquered platter.
In the order of housekeeping, we would also love to remind you to change your bookmarks, Google Reader (click that link or add “www.younghouselove.com/feed” to find the right feed), and even your blogroll and the outgoing links (old and new) on your blog if you’ve linked over to us (links to specific posts can easily be redirected to the right place by replacing “thisyounghouse” with “younghouselove” in the URL and leaving the rest of the address as-is). Now that we’re legally bound to go by Young House Love from this day forward, replacing those old links and switching any old copy that says “This Young House” to “Young House Love” will really help our new blog grow and prosper (and make our day to boot).
Plus, if you’ve been following us on Twitter or Facebook (btw, we had lots of fun reading everyone’s guesses about our big news all weekend) please take a moment to switch over to our new Young House Love Twitter and Young House Love Facebook pages. They’re a little bare at the moment, but rest assured they’ll be the only place for bonus content, breaking sale news, and what-we’re-doing details from this point forward. Our old accounts will just turn into periodic annoying reminders to make the move so it’s best to abandon ship and jump aboard our new ones asap (note: please unfollow or unfan the old YHL pages after your switch to help us clean ‘em out).
Oh and of course, we’d be forever grateful it you’d tell your friends / family / blog readers / coworkers / dog / gourd lamp about our new address. We would hate to lose a single one of you in the switch. We even made a handy little 120 x 120 button for any fellow bloggers out there who wouldn’t mind adding it to their sidebar with a link back to younghouselove.com (click HERE to grab it), which will really make us feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Thanks so much for your support. You guys put the love in Young House Love, so smooches all around.
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Comments
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What a compliment this really was! Your fantastic blog is cleary getting some big (okay, also bad and scary) notice! Can’t wait to see all of the great energy this change is going to inspire!
Now, onto a more self-serving topic…is there any way to find old “We’re Digging” items? A while ago you posted a great clear-glass lamp that I loved, but I can’t find where I book-marked it. Obviously you have more important issues on your plate right now, so I completely understand if I don’t see a response.
Thanks for sticking with us all – I adore your blog!
I’ve been followig your blog for months now–incidentally, stumbled upon it because of your wedding! I was sooo inspired (from asking my local wine shop to save bottles down to paper bag favors — not to mention having a backyard wedding of our own) that i instantly became hooked on your site. Just got married to my sweet (we’re young’ins too) and returned from my honeymoon this morning to find this at the top of my reader.
Great job on the way you handled the sitch–lots of love from newlyweds in cali!
Well, pooh on the dinosaurs at TOH for thinking TYH was infringing on their brand. And yea for YHL – you guys are excellent marketers and are smart enough not to stay in the fight with them! Glad you’ve already figured out such a great solution!
Whew – I made it over.
Made all the changes – I am a compliant fan!
Congrats on the new (cute!) name!
And see… now that coupon for webhosting didn’t go to waste. It all worked out in the end.
John… Can I call you “Bob?” Just askin’…. =D hehe
The email I just sent off:
To Whom it May Concern,
You all should be ashamed of yourselves. Not only are you pushing the divide in this world between the little guys and the big guys who push the little guys around, but you have just made yourselves look absolutely ridiculous and petty. Why stoop to that level to take out a fantastic, wholeheartedly, lovely and fabulous blog, family, business and more, one that is not threatening you? Especially when they’ve been around for a couple years now and you even befriended them months earlier?! Disgusting. It’s ironic that an enterprise as big as This Old House would be so worried that thisyounghouse.com would, what, take over your world and render you useless? In fact your actions have pushed that in the RIGHT direction, in my opinion. They SHOULD take over and you should be scared. You just threw away loyal, lifelong readers, watchers and idea followers, not to mention big bucks, simply because of one simple name that could have paid off for both parties in the end. Ever hear of collaboration? It’s pretty important in the design world. Perhaps as your viewership drops, magazine subscriptions are cancelled and your blog ticker dwindles you’ll realize the error of your ways. I suggest you add them to your blogroll and check in to follow along on the mess you created, (that the lovely Petersiks took in stride without a fuss) and take note.
Sincerely appalled,
Meagen Boehm
You handled the situation graciously. I’m sure you’ll do amazing things with your new web home just as you did your house!
Wow. Are they going to sue the bloggers of “This Old, Old House” or Neil Young for titling a song “This Old House”? Amazing what people will do in this day and age. Kudos to you guys for rising above it. It will only strengthen your following!!
Dear Sherry and John,
I felt indignation when I read what they did to you. How could they be so greedy? oh well, their loss.
I love your new name!! and will keep supporting both of you in all you do. You are such an inspiration!
mucho amor!
Hi Sherry & John,
I wanted to take a quick minute to let you know how sorry I am to hear about TOH’s actions. Like many of your other readers, I too have sent them an email expressing how disappointed I am.
I wish you luck and success in building YoungHouseLove.com into an even better and more successful blog. I know that loosing use of your old domain can really hurt your search engine rankings and such. But I feel confident that your followers will buzz you up and get the word out for the better-than-ever YoungHouseLove.com
You guys are not only inspirations for home design, you are now role models on how to take the high road. Sorry for the stress you have been through the past week. But you have certainly risen to the challenge. I wish you even more success in this new adventure.
Grrrr is right! How frustrating for you guys! I don’t understand why gigantic companies do this when there is no potential for competition (maybe there is now…watch out!) or confusion. I recently went wine tasting in Northern Virginia’s wineries and went to not one, but two wineries that were forced to change their names. First was the former Waterford vineyard–which is in Waterford, VA which was forced to change their name because of the crystal company. Now how are you going to confuse a small mom and pop winery with a crystal company? Wonder why they don’t go after the town name! The other winery was just down the way and had to change to the family name. It’s ridiculous how these companies pick on the little guy. Anyway, sympathies from me, but you guys will grow bigger and stronger because of this! LOVE the blog, and good luck with the new name!
How awful! My father and my father-in-law are both contractors, so my husband and I grew up watching THAT company’s show, and we’ve always been fans. However, I think their treatment of you is sickening, and I just wanted to share the e-mail I just sent them:
“To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing to let your company know how disappointed I was to hear of recent legal action taken against John and Sherry Petersik of http://www.thisyounghouse.com. As a writer and photographer, I understand the importance of protecting your copyrights and intellectual property, but the actions you took against two people and their blog seem excessive and unnecessary. The couple in question was not claiming to be affiliated to you in any way, and there was plenty of difference in your names to avoid any confusion. If anything, you should have taken it as a compliment that such a talented couple chose to use a name that might have been inspired by your organization.
In my opinion, this kind of aggressive action by large corporations against small businesses is greedy and frankly, un-American. Where is the support for entrepreneurship? Where is the recognition for hard work and creativity? The fact that this couple was gaining popularity and beginning to earn a living from their site is a perfect example of the American Dream, and your actions are a perfect example of the greed and uncaring spirit that is destroying this country. You may think that some of their popularity came from the supposed affiliation with your name, but I guarantee that it did not. Their success is a product of their ingenuity and talent, not any supposed connection to your company. In fact, you would have probably done well to purchase ad space on their blog!
My husband and I just signed papers on a house that needs extensive remodeling, and I have been gathering resources (websites, blogs, books, magazines, television programs) to help us come up with ideas for our projects. I will continue to read the new and improved Young House Love daily, and I promise that I will never watch a program or read a publication affiliated with [Their Company] again.”
Props to you for the way y’all have handled the situation. Looking forward to seeing more from Young House Love!
Thank goodness! First thought – first Domino and now this – I’m coming down off the ledge now;)
How sad that big businesses can bully people this way.
Kudos to you for looking at the bright side and not letting the man keep you down.
“They” have lost a viewer in me, due to their disgusting behavior.
Good luck to you!
You guys are a class act. This Old House is just a grumpy old brand yelling “you kids get offa my lawn”, and they are going the way of the dodo, not you.
Thanks for inviting us to your new digs – can’t wait for the hosuewarming party. I’ll bring lemonade!
I also sent an email to TOH and received an auto reply saying that they do not have time to reply to all emails, blah blah blah. I have a feeling they won’t even read most of the emails they get from us but oh well, hopefully the sheer volume will get the point across!
Kudos to YoungHouseLove, the future is looking bright!!!
Well, good riddance to the big, bad, biz! Rest assured “this young” generation will continue our allegiance to young house love and NOT to a certain bigger, “older” site…
(Just had to slide that in!)
But, really, congratulations guys…this is a great AWESOME move for you–and one that will lead to even greater blessings.
We love and support you!!
Hugs,
Kristin
P.S. Can we get a new button for younghouselove?
I did want to express to you guys how glad I am that you are sticking around. You have definitely taken the high road, and in the long run it will be better for your sanity, marriage, lives and happiness to not go through a long legal battle with a bunch of grumpy old men.
All your readers will still be here. But will all the readers of TOH still be around? I am pretty sure that’s a no.
I love you guys’ blog-read it every day. I’m sorry you had to go through that, but I’ve no doubt Young House Love will be an even bigger and better success than This Young House.
You handled a tough situation with grace, poise and dignity.
Major props kidz! Keep up the great work!
We were all WAY off! But you seem to be off and running with the new name. All of this litigation avoiding will keep you young.
So glad you guys are still blogging. love the new name. and love the signs you made. Where did you get them? :)
Ok you guys really did have some fun with this! First I thought it was a baby, then I was thinking that you got some big book/show/magazine deal, and then my biggest fear was that you were moving. Then I open up the blog this morning and see your title and almost had heart failure – you “youngsters” seriously rock and the “grumpy old folks” really need to get a clue – they are so 1960′s and if their customers get confused well I just don’t know what to say abuot that other than “old” and “young” are very different words. Glad you have a sense of humor through it all!
I’m so sorry to hear that you have been the victims of a bully, but glad you are still around. Love your site. Get a lot of inspiration. Have written to those other guys. No longer in love with them. Can’t wait to see what’s new.
Here’s a link to a button for your sidebar. Thanks so much for asking!
As for where we got those signs Brandi, we just held up one of those prank giant birthday cards and photoshopped the titles onto it afterwards. Glad they were convincing!
xo,
s
Congrats on rebirth. It’s a good thing. I see all of this as a sign that you are growing and making an impact. It’s a good thing. Only a good thing. When you threaten the likes of the big boy’s you’re onto something.
I know everyone wants to get angry at the big guy…but seriously…this is a good sign if you think about it from a management perspective. You are no longer the small fries …you’re big potatoes. (and yes that is a compliment)
Momma always said, “If you can’t say nothin’ nice don’t say anything at all. But, I think Momma would understand when I say those grumpy old folks should be ashamed of themselves. Hmph!
Well, anyway, I am so impressed with the way you guys handled the situation. I love the new name and I can’t wait to see what you two do next.
Wow – that was a scare. So glad you guys are still going to stick around. I love your can-do attitude and turned this into an opportunity. What a bunch of so-and-sos to come after little old you, like that.
Hey guys! I have to tell you that I just found your blog the other day and spent most of all day yesterday reading through your “How-To’s”. I’ve been incredibly inspired! In fact, I sat in my bathtub today and cut out all of my old caulking bc I’ve been wanting to re-caulk since we moved in. Your tutorial gave me the push and how-to of how to do it. When I told my hubby of what I did today, he was so proud. (He’s a plumber!) I’m excited to follow your blog and see all you have in store. Crazy story though about why you had to change your blog name!! Geeze Louise!! -Mandi @ Finding Home
I was worried as well when I first saw the words, “This Young House is no more.” I was so pleased when I read on and learned you’re still around, just under a new name. I’ve followed your blog for the last few months and love your style and your work. I am disappointed about the larger corporations foolishness, but I am yet again proud of your mature, thoughtful response. I wish you two continual success in life and in your blog- Keep up the good work!
What a stupid move on part of the pub!!!
Being associated to you wonderful people and your amazing blog could only enhance their image (that is, if someone was indeed making an association). Their loss, I say.
What terrible, awful bullies. Good job avoiding a long battle, but I still miss your old digs.
Sorry about all that mess you had! I had to tell you that just now I googled “painting furniture” and your blog was the first spot that came up :) I should have known to check you guys out first!
wow. All I know is I will go OUT OF MY WAY to make sure This Olllllld House does not get a single page click or penny from me. You guys rawk and thanks for being such a class act!! You are one of my fave sites out there!!
I have been reading your blog for about a month now, and I can say with all honesty that I never once even though of TOH when reading, looking at, or talking about your blog. It never even entered my mind.
So much for their argument!
here’s what i’m betting, TOH is planning some “new” “hip” project and decided that they want to use This Young House for the name. If you see any new home show/magazine with that name boycott it and spread the word!
Wow! I certainly did not see this one coming! I love the new name and will be glad to spread the news. AND, while I will be subscribing to YHLove, I will be UNSUBSCRIBING to a certain litigation-happy publication.
Oddly, I was just discussing this sort of thing a couple of days ago! I was initially rather disappointed in your decision to bow to the bullying tactics. Of course, I’m no lawyer – but it really doesn’t sound like they would have had a case at all (seriously, you can’t have all of the “this ____ house” phrases out there). However, I suspect the bad press you’re creating for them here just by changing your blog name (and being such a good sport about it) will actually make them regret their initial stupid decision. Here’s to hoping, anyhow!
amazing… just amazing. Everything about what you did here inspires me. way to go!
people are so out there with associating one thing with another…not me! Would never have put the 2 together.
Amazing how you dealt with the whole thing…Bravo!
Lifelong Fan,
Fi
What immature behaviour from a supposedly mature(old) company. Glad you young guys took it in your stride and rose above it all. Well done. Looking forward to the new and improved changes.
You guys are soooo funny! Laughed at your pics. Changed my google reader right away. I don’t care how many times you change your URL… I will follow you all the way.
Best wishes on your new name!
-Michelle
Funny, I was just telling my husband why I love TYH. TYH is so NOT TOH. TYH -down to earth, doable projects. TOH- doable projects if I had a 900 square foot, well-equipped workshop!
Thank you for your daily inspiration!
A new baby to love!
I was angry when reading the first half of your post. I started to see the light when you said that this change could be a great opportunity. life is really about that. turning something negative into something positive, seeing an opportunity from a misfortune and knowing which corporations are out to screw you because of greed.
well good on you for having the right attitude and moving on! new reader here — about 2 weeks old – i’ve subscribed to the new site. carry on young ones!
OOH, good theory, Christina from NH – (That TOH may come out with a show or magazine or anything titled TYH.) That would get our blood boiling even more!
I think I’d hang on to that old URL though…offer to sell it to them for a hundred thousand or so.
I don’t think there’s any chance of brand confusion…unless they are starting a new brand/project…
My response to them would have been “Bugger off”, but I do understand the desire not to have a prolonged fight with deep pockets and to just move on.
Best wishes!
CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer
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Unbelievable! I almost had a heart attack when I opened your blog and read the title of the day’s post…I was so worried you were gone forever! Huge kudos to the way you handled this ridiculous situation, and I am always continually impressed with your optimism and go get em’ attitude. I don’t think I’m alone in this when I say I want nothing to do with thosewhoshallremainnameless from now on and will always be loyal to this wonderful site and the three of you (Burger included)! “They” will be getting an email from me shortly. We’re all in this with you!
Awesome new name, by the way :)