Archive for December, 2009
Reader Redesign: Now We’re Cooking…
When Barbara sent us her almost-too-good-to-be-true before and after photos we couldn’t wait to share the eye candy. Here’s her letter:
I have been enjoying your blog and thought I would send over my most recent remodeling project. My parents bought a home that was built in the 70′s and gave me and my husband the project of remodeling it. Here are the before and after pictures of the kitchen. As you can see this home stayed in the 70′s until about a few months ago. Dark seemed to play a theme in the entire house. And wanna know what was hiding beneath all that brown carpet? Beautiful wood floors. We were so excited! Here are a few things we did to get the room into this decade:
- Cabinetry was semi-custom. We had a budget to work within so we went with cabinets from a company that worked out of China they are called HQ cabinets
- Countertops are from Contempo and done in Premium Black Granite
- Paint color is Glidden’s Lemon Ice
- Barstools are Ingolf from Ikea
- Clock is from Ikea
Thanks so much for the great site! I hope you enjoy these before and after photos- it was a lot of work but well worth it! – Barbara
Here are the dark and dingy before photos:
And here’s the kitchen now, after some major updating:
Is that not an amazing makeover? Especially since Barbara and her husband had such a great DIY approach and fearlessly ripped up that terrible carpet to uncover amazing wood floors. And of course we love that affordable Glidden paint and inexpensive Ikea furnishings helped to transform the space. It looks like a million bucks in there! Thanks so much for sharing your photos Barbara! What do you guys think? Is it not amazing what a little updating can do? What’s your favorite part? I’m torn between the glass fronted doors and the amazing pendant lamps over the peninsula…
Psst- Have you dropped in on Hamburgers House lately? Check out his latest post about back when he was just a pup (and catch a glimpse of our old Tiffany blue half bathroom and a skirted hand-me-down desk in the background).
Quirk It, Baby Freebie Winner!
After all of the fun we had reading your entries on this week’s giveaway, we’re starting to think every giveaway question from now on should be “tell us something weird about yourself.” Seriously. You guys were crazy entertaining (mainly because a lot of you are just as crazy as us). Speaking of which, we owe you a couple of quirky facts about ourselves, so here we go. Sherry always has to tell me to “drive safe” in the morning before I leave for work. If she forgets before I’m out the door, she actually runs after me and shouts it out the back door as I get in the car (and has even been known to call me just to say those two little words if I’m already gone). As for me, I hate ordering the same thing at a restaurant (or fast food place) two times in a row. Even if I really liked it, I feel boring if I order it in consecutive visits so I force myself to branch out and try something new.
But personal oddities aside, let’s focus on a particular quirk (i.e. Quirk Gallery) who generously made this giveaway possible. While we highly recommend an in-person visit for anyone in Richmond, you can check out a sampling of their art, jewelry and housewares in their online shop or by following their blog. Or, if you’re our lucky winner, you’ll get to sample two of their fun finds for free – from Jonathan Adler candles to a graphic Ampersand bowl or even a punchy business card holder- depending which prize pack you choose.
So we chatted up random.org (who, btw, has absolutely zero interesting quirks) and it shot back the name of our random winner: Amanda G (whose quirk involves always having to have the volume of something set at an even number). Congrats! Now you’ve gotta tell us which of the three sets you’ll be picking. And, if you’re feeling generous, maybe throw in another weird fact about yourself for good measure…
Oh and even though the rest of you may be distracted by holiday happenings next week, you can still check in on Monday for a chance to win one of our all-time favorite items. Seriously, we use it all the time (and are usually covered in it by the end). Yes, that’s a hint. Any guesses?
Get more info about our freebies on our Giveaway FAQs page. Images courtesy of Quirk Gallery.
Seriously?!
Yesterday we learned that Young House Love was named one of the World’s Best Design Blogs by The London Times when we shockingly noticed our name on their top fifty list. Insanely enough we came in at number twelve. As in, they think we’re the 12th best design blog in the world. Isn’t that kind of mind blowing? We’re still pinching ourselves. And we’re thrilled to be in good company with a slew of stateside and international blogs that we know and love (like Apartment Therapy, Desire To Inspire, Decor8, Design Sponge, Making It Lovely, Chez Larsson, SF Girl By Bay, and Brooklyn Limestone to name a few).
Here’s a link to the page with our little ol’ mention, and here’s the main page where the article begins so you can click through the entire top 50 (this roundup is chock full of amazing blogs that we definitely recommend checking out!). Your google reader won’t even know what hit it.
In summary: Ahhhhhhh! We’re nerds. And this made our year.
