Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

Archives for January 2010

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Our Go To List Of Go To Sources

This post has been a long time coming. For years people have been asking us where we like to look for rugs and where we find cheap but chic lamps. And thanks to whipping up over 120 mood boards (see them all en masse right here) as well is transforming our entire house, we’re pretty well versed in hunting down many an item from many a store. Now we’re letting it all hang out in one mondo post full of our favorite places to shop for house stuff. Hold on to your hats folks, this could get crazy. We did our best to include stores that should be pretty universally available in the US (and

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How To Make A Mini Office In A Closet

When Mary sent us her amazing closet-to-office makeover we just had to share it. Here’s her letter: I wanted to write to you to tell you how much I absolutely love your blog! You two have provided me with so much inspiration since I stumbled upon your site a few months back. Keep doing what you do! On another note, I wanted to share some before and after pictures of a little project I tackled at my house. We recently bought our first home and had to downsize a bit. We came from a 2,000 sq. foot rental home and moved into a 1,080 sq. foot home that is all ours. The only thing this

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You Know You’re Obsessed With DIY When…

1. You have a painting belt. Yes John has a belt that is specifically designated for painting. We learned early on that you can lose many an outfit to permanent paint drips so we each have one “summer painting outfit” (which consists of one pair of shorts and a tee shirt) and one “winter painting outfit” (which consists of one pair of jeans and a sweatshirt) to keep us from ruining everyday clothes all the time (and from having to dedicate an entire drawer to painting clothes). However, John did get paint on one of his belts pretty early on, so it has become an important part of both his summer and winter painting ensembles.

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Budget Blooms: Starting The Year Off Right

Thump. That’s the sound of us falling off the fresh flower bandwagon last October. From the first of 2009 through September we were enjoying one inexpensive (and even free) bouquet for each month of the year (a super sweet Christmas present from the hubs). But somehow the end-of-the-year madness (toss in a few holidays, a growing family, a bathroom gut-job, and an impending nursery makeover) sadly derailed our year of budget blooms. Well, John was determined to kick this year off right with a happy and cheerful January bouquet for me (actually purchased on 1/1/10- what a nice “fresh start” to the year). This month’s arrangement hails from the grocery store and only ran us

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How To Turn A Thrifted Frame Into A Chalkboard

When Bethany sent over her simple yet oh so chic message board project we had to share the goods. Anyone can do this in an afternoon to add function and beauty to a kitchen, office, mudroom, or more. Here’s her letter: Thank you so much for your upbeat positive attitudes and for all that you do to inspire creativity! I wanted to share a project that I completed a while back that was extremely simple, cheap and totally DIY. I think it’s a good fit for anyone who wants to feel more organized but doesn’t want to sacrifice style. I spray painted a garage sale picture frame and used leftover chalkboard paint to paint the

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Romantic Traditions: Displaying Keepsakes Like Chopsticks!

We love sharing little household traditions with you guys. There are just so many cheap and easy ways to commemorate special dates and display unique items in your home that can make it feel more personal and meaningful.  For example, we whipped up these vacation jars a while back… … and also explained that we love sending a postcard to ourselves to help remember all the details of every vacation that we spend together (they look great tossed in a large glass vase): We also shared how we framed old keys to commemorate all the places we lived before moving into this “forever home” of ours (as seen to the left of the postcards in

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Feeling Resolute

Happeeeeeeee New Year!!! And now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, on to the topic of the day: New Year’s Resolutions. Do you make them? Do you loathe them? John and I have embraced the tradition for a while now (here’s our New Year’s post from last year, and thankfully we each accomplished our goal in the last 365 days). We’ll spare you all of the new personal “improvements” that we’re planning to tackle in twenty-ten, but we do have a couple of home/blog related resolutions on our list this year. I, for one, want to simplify day to day life. From replacing three store bought products with one homemade cleaner that does it

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