Young House Love

DIY Home Decorating Projects, Tutorials, & Shenanigans

Archives for September 2010

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Our Mini Sunroom Makeover: The Big Reveal

After giving our floor stencils a full seven days to dry (it’s humid here!) we finally moved all of our furniture back into the sunroom and snapped a few photos of the whole room after our three phase mini makeover (see phase one here, phase two here, and phase three here). First let’s take a look back at what that room looked like when we purchased the house four and a half years ago. Yeah, it had a thin matted rug that smelled like dog. Enticing, we know. So we pulled up the rug (the very first day we moved in) and stained and then later painted the concrete floor. It was definitely a slow

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Adding Wall Interest With A Bunch Of Paint Swatches

John and I were both staring at our stack of Martha Stewart paint swatches and almost simultaneously the light bulb went on. Why not have some fun with them on our postcard wall in the office? One of our favorite features about that wall is how easily it can be switched out at a moment’s notice. So here’s what the ol’ postcard wall looked like before we went swatch crazy: And here it is now, after we added some fun rectangles of color for a nice change of pace: MMmmmm, I just love staring at all of those rich hues. Seriously, we’ve never been so inspired. Of course the postcards will be back soon, since

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Mood Board Making: A Gray, White, And Yellow Bedroom

We’re back with our weekly mood board and this time we tackled a serene and gender neutral bedroom full of moody grays, blues, yellows and whites. From clothing storage to display space for jewelry, books, and more, we really tried to squeeze in a ton of function without breaking the bank (affordable Ikea furnishings definitely kept the make-this-room-yours cost down). And we love how the happy doses of yellow add a bit of energy – so it might be a smidge easier to slide out of bed – while the muddy grays and blues paired with sleek white furnishings really keep the room feeling breezy and restful. 1. When it comes to the color scheme,

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Easy Upgrade: Side Table Tweaking

Sure it might just be a small change, but sometimes switching up the way a table functions can really make all the difference. And our house is not a museum. Pillows and accessories are swapped out all the time, and nothing’s too precious to get relocated or edited down whenever the mood strikes. So as our life evolves (ex: we added a baby girl to the mix and John now also works from home) we like make sure our house evolves with us. Which meant it was high time we reevaluated the way that we use our side table in the den. Here’s what it looked like back when we introduced it to the room

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How To Paint & Stencil A Concrete Floor

We’re back to share phase three of our sunroom mini makeover (see phase one here and phase two here). And this week’s update is all about a punchy turquoise stencil that we added. It took a bit of trial and error (like most of our learn-as-we-go projects) but we’re here to share the goods and the breakdown when it came to our method. First we gathered our materials. We had a lot of painting supplies on hand so all we had to do was pick up some floor paint (Martha Stewart’s Lagoon color matched to Glidden’s oil-based porch and floor paint) along with a sea sponge and this amazing Ciel Stencil from Sunny (a local

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How To Paint A Room (Plus 4 Tips To Make It Easier)

Q: Is there any way you can do a basic room-painting tutorial? Y’all seem to get such good results in just a few hours, but most internet tutorials would have me believe I need to put in a whole weekend for good results. I’ve noticed y’all don’t cover the floors and don’t prime–I’d love to know what other steps you skip and which ones you think are crucial, and why. Do you remove things like outlet covers and curtain brackets, or paint around them? When painting a ceiling, do you remove the light fixture? I need the youngsters to walk me through it! -Charlotte A: We’ve definitely gotten this question a bunch of times so

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Email Answer: How To Pare Down & Organize Your Closet

Q: My dilemma is closets! I have two very small closets in my bedroom and I can’t seem to get a handle on keeping them organized and easy to use since they feel like they’re stuffed within an inch of their life! I know you guys are great at living with less, simplifying, and organizing in general- so I thought maybe you could share some encouragement when it comes to paring things down and choosing what to keep? Deep down I know there’s a lot of extra stuff that I don’t need that’s taking up some much needed space, but I have a hard time letting things go for fear that I’ll want them again

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Asparagus In The Bathroom?

We’re trying a new house plant on for size here at Casa Petersik, which might sound about as newsworthy as “John got a haircut,” but it’s actually quite a big deal for us. See, we usually stick with what we know in the plant department (read all about the plants that we know and love right here). So who’s the new guy in town? Why this fantastic feathery asparagus fern that we fell in love with at Home Depot (in an already-owned planter that was gifted by a friend a while back). While swooning over our new housemate, we were sure to ask the garden people if it was easy to kill and two separate

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Mood Board Making: A Gold, Tan, Teal, & Yellow Living Room

We had a grand old time whipping up this nature-inspired mood board for anyone who’s looking to add some kick to their living or family room. We sadly can’t find the time to create custom mood boards anymore (it took a good 6+ hours to make one client commissioned board since we’d have to familiarize ourselves with the space, note the items that they want to keep/lose, brainstorm a new floor plan, etc). And because we don’t want to shortchange clients by tossing sub-par mood boards together (or watch mood boards disappear permanently from our site) we’ve come up with what we like to believe is a nice compromise… We’ll be whipping up general mood

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