Hi guys! I’ve been torn for a while about which project to submit, but I’m going to go with my daughter Ella’s room because a) the story involves dead pigeons – and what good renovation story doesn’t? – and b) it’s not a kitchen – our kitchen still kind of stinks – and c) you seem to enjoy a good kid’s room with lots of play value and the flexibility to change things up.  So here’s the story.

When we first saw our home, we were drawn to the mansard roof and the attic beyond. Undeterred by the deteriorated brick walls, the water damaged wood, or the pigeon remains, we saw the possibility in that attic for a treetop bedroom and we were sold.

Demolition began and we removed the rotted pine flooring and salvaged a single wall made of tongue and groove pine.

Then we designed wardrobes (we had them fabricated at a local millwork shop) that went in, providing storage and a hiding place for the ductwork that serves this floor and the one below. Next, we covered the exposed rafters and installed beadboard in between.

The best part? Those old pine boards were installed on the front wall, adding texture to a wall that has become an ever-changing activity and display wall for our daughter’s creativity.

See the map sitting in front of those boards on that angled wall? They’re hard to notice in the photos but are really great in real life. The view of the Gateway Arch and the summer fireworks from that dormer are just icing on the cake.

I’ll include a before and after of the mansard we rebuilt (well, mostly my husband did since I was pregnant and then we had a newborn.  The mansard is an integral part of her room, but was an expensive necessity!  So I always joked to Ella that she had the most expensive nursery on the block  (slate and copper ain’t cheap, but our own labor is!) Enjoy! – Kristin

If you wanna read and see more of Kristin’s makeover, hit up her blog for the full scoop on what a lucky girl that little Ella is. Thanks for sharing Kristin! Now, who wants to fight me for that room?

No matter how many decorating projects I do in my lifetime this one will surely go down in history as one of my all time best! I am so happy I had the idea and even happier that I dared to try! Here is the plain white leather bar stool before:

And the after!

I used a stencil from cuttingedgestencils.com and the paint is from turtlefeathers.net and is called Angelus Paint. It is made especially for painting leather (it has a bit of give to it and won’t crack). Since the chairs came unassembled I decided to leave them that way to make it a little easier to stencil. I was amazed at how easy the process was – total time was only about 4 hours. 

I loved that I could pick out the exact style and colors I wanted for these chairs – a custom chair at a very cheap price! I bought the chairs 2 for $152 from overstock then add in the $80 in materials and my total cost is $384 for four bar stools ($96 each)! To have these stools custom upholstered in a fabric of my choice would have cost a lot more than that and they would have been ruined so quickly. I am hoping this painted leather alternative means they will stand the test of time and three boys! – Amy

Awesometown, right? You can check out more details over on Amy’s blog. Is anyone else’s head filling with ideas of what else they could stencil? And look at that pretty kitchen in the background. Me-ow.

Update: We just learned that there are some follow up posts about a few pitfalls with these chairs (specifically she wasn’t happy with the quality of the chairs themselves or the acrylic finisher that she used), so more details can be found here and here. Although Amy did drop in to say the actual stenciling process really works and some other chairs that have been stenciled (of better quality) are holding up great (without any acrylic finisher). Hope it helps!

Hi, Sherry & John! Just wanted to share my latest project: a redo of my sister’s master bedroom suite. It’s a big space that had not been touched since 1999, so it was in dire need of an update.

Here’s the new view walking into the room now. That stenciled wall just makes it, I think! My sister and I worked on it together.

She has great taste and had already decided on the colors she wanted for the room, as well as the start to the fabrics.  She just asked me for some help picking out the rest of the fabrics, rugs, artwork, accessories, lamps, and drapes. It was really fun to put our heads together.

She already had these nice wingback chairs, so instead of buying new, we opted to have them recovered by a local upholsterer and he did a great job.

We had so much fun putting this room together and I hope you love it as much as we do.  My sister feels like she’s in a brand new place now. Thanks for the look!  – xoxo, Rhoda

Isn’t it crazy to scroll up to that first shot and see how much it has changed? Rhoda’s got a ton of extra photos and info about the makeover on her blog, so head on over if you want to soak up some more. She even has a peek into the equally swanked up bathroom and sitting room over there. But while you’re here, let’s play the what’s-your-favorite-part game. I’m really digging the recovered chairs and Sherry’s all sorts of in love with that plush striped rug.

My son Daniel is a prolific artist and I wanted to showcase some of his sketches and decided that I would do so on a duvet cover. He designs his own Pokemon, complete wtih names, types, and evolutions and he chose those for the project. Here are his design sheets:

I photographed each chosen design. Then in Photoshop I erased all extra marks around the edge, used the Hue / Saturation tool to effectively bleach out all colour, converted it to grayscale and increased brightness and contrast to get a nice, pure black & white image to trace. Then I resized each chosen character to fit on a sheet of paper and printed them out.

I chose the first image to trace, put it on a piece of cardboard and slid it into the top left corner of the duvet cover. Then I began tracing it with the fabric marker.

This is after about four and half hours of tracing:

Preparing the images took around 2-3 hours (I didn’t take note of the time) and the actual tracing took around 8 hours. I didn’t do it all in one go but worked on it as and when I had time, packing it away in between tracing sessions. And here is the final product, which I am so happy about – and thankfully Daniel likes it too! – Jen

Now c’mon, how cool is that? Daniel not only gets to sleep among his (very inventive!) creations every night, but also gets this daily reminder of how dedicated his mom is to celebrating his imagination. You can check out Jen’s blog for more pics and info on the process, like whether or not it survived the wash (spoiler alert: it did!). Maybe we’ll make Clara one of these someday. And even if kid doodles aren’t your design of choice, I can see this method working to transfer a large handwritten love letter or something. So cool.

Psst- We announced this week’s giveaway winner. Click here to see if it’s you.

My husband and I just finished our first remodel! When we moved into our house one year ago we knew we were going to redo the kitchen and the flooring. The kitchen was completely closed in and all of the cabinets were poorly placed – there was only one usable drawer! I absolutely love to cook and this was not a cook’s kitchen:

The goal was to really open the kitchen up and make it the first thing you see when you walk in the front door. With our in-laws’ help we spent a month and half remodeling:

We got all of our cabinets, our countertop, the island, our sink, the floating shelves, and our hardware from Ikea.

The new flooring is from Lumber Liquidators (Westminister Rosewood Laminate) and we found our Kenmore appliances at Sears.

Our faucet is from Costco and the paint that we used is Benjamin Moore Providence Olive and Richmond Gray from Home Depot. Our chandelier was from Anthropologie (we got the bulbs for it on Amazon).

We’re beyond thrilled with how it turned out. We can’t wait to really get cooking in here. You guys were a huge inspiration for us. I hope you enjoy the photos! – Kacie & Kyle

Well, the whole “huge inspiration” thing is mutual, guys. You have no idea how encouraging pretty finished kitchens like yours can be as we head into our adventures in backsplash tile! And how awesome is that chandelier over the island? You can check out more of Kacie & Kyle’s transformation on Kacie’s blog. And if you have a makeover of your own to share, you can submit it to submission@younghouselove.com. You know we like snooping around other people’s houses…

Hello, Sherry & John! We bought our current home a little over a year ago, and to say it was outdated is the understatement of the century. Like you, we wanted something to fix up and make our own. Our kitchen was dark, ugly, and closed in. No matter how often/well I scrubbed the fridge, it smelled like garlic, and the OLD electric stove/oven burned everything.

The first thing we did was remove the existing linoleum and carpet in the adjacent family room. We lived on sub floor for almost a month because while the floor was up we tore down a wall between the formal dining room and the kitchen. With 4 kids under the age of 10, and a dog, it was a challenge to say the least.

Finally, we were prepped to install prefinished hardwood flooring that matched the hardwood throughout the rest of the house. So, we ripped out all of the rest of the cabinets, demo’d the soffit, and installed the floor in a little over a weekend. Once the floors were in, we started installing cabinets that we had ordered from Home Depot. They’re technically ‘in-stock’ cabinets, but we had to order ours since we wanted 36 inch upper cabinets, and a few drawer configurations that they didn’t offer in the store for some of our lower cabinets. 

Originally, I wanted to have my brother-in-law help my husband make concrete counters (he is a concrete finisher by trade) but we worried about the weight being supported enough, particularly because our island is pretty big. So, we went with Silestone counters in the color “cement.” The counters were installed the day before Christmas Eve (you can imagine my stress level!). My husband Jake installed a marble subway tile backsplash that goes all the way to the ceiling.

Obviously, we got all new appliances (Kitchen Aid). The lighting is warehouse lighting and an outdoor light. The red counter stools are from Overstock. The open shelving was made with bits and pieces that Jake found at Home Depot. The corbels were actually ordered from the same company that we got our cabinets from.

The whole project took more time than I had hoped for, but with four littles and Jake and I doing all the work ourselves, that is to be expected. I still can’t believe that this is my kitchen! Hope you enjoy! -Beth

Thanks so much to Beth and Jake for sharing their beautiful kitchen! You can read and see more about the project on Beth’s blog. Didn’t they do an amazing job? It doesn’t even look like the same room. Let’s play the favorite part game (Sherry and I both picked those killer stools). I have to admit they’re giving me some ideas for ours…

I’ve spent the last week and a half making over my entryway and I am dying to show you! This is what it looked like before the makeover:

And here’s the after. I love it.

The hands down greatest thing in here is the tandem bicycle art by Jonathan from Olson Ink. All I did was tell him that I wanted a tandem old school bike in cobalt and white. He painted it on a 8’x4’x1” plywood with a wood veneer.  The wood was stained a light Honey Blonde color before he started painting.  Then when he was all done he cut it into 5 sections.

The credenza was a find that my mother-in-law spotted about a year ago for only $35.00. Its probably from the 50’s and not one thing has been changed on it. Sometimes you can really score a great piece that just needs a good wipe down! It is made out of metal so its really industrial but, helllllllo it’s teal.  Its like a combo made in mismatched heaven.

All of the books and odds and ends as well as the lamp were found thrifting.  The cute little stool was a $10.00 Craigslist find and it gives it the raw industrial push that the space needed.

And then there is of course the herringbone ceiling.  Oh how I love it.  But it would not be as awesome without Octy the Purple Chandelier. 

Ol’ Octy is still one of the best thrifting finds I have ever happened across (painted in Krylon’s Rich Plum).

Thanks so much for, Mandi! Isn’t that such a fun space to come home to? I mean, hello – BIKE ART. Everything from the colorful spray painted chandelier to that killer herringbone ceiling is definitely smile-worthy. And $35 for that teal metal credenza = jackpot (and yes, that is the first time I have ever typed credenza). You can read more about the makeover on Mandi’s blog. And feel free to chime in with your favorite part. Mine is obviously the bike art. But that ceiling has Sherry doing all sorts of happy dances over here.

Psst- Clara met Santa! And it was quite the adventure (she apparently went through a roller-coaster of emotions from being nervous and excited to feeling some sweet affection for her cousin). More on that here.

I gave the smallest room in our house a total makeover. And when I say small, I mean small:

The room is barely even 4 square meters big (about 43 square feet if I’m not mistaken) but I feel I still managed to give the space some oomph and character. Since I know you guys love  living a ‘simple’ life without a lot of unnecessary clutter I thought you might appreciate it too!

The bookcase I used is an old Ikea Billy bookcase that I  gave a new life by turning it into a built-in.

Almost all of the other bigger and smaller projects where done using thrift shop finds or by revamping old objects that I found in my own basement or attic.

Since I live in the Netherlands I don’t think sharing paint names or resources would be of much help to you, especially as I ended up mixing my own colors anyway. But I hope you and your readers enjoy it! – Love from the Netherlands, Marianne

Oh and you can get more info on Marianne’s blog. Of course we were crushing on the subtle striped walls (they remind us of the ones we added to our first house’s bathroom). Ah memories. Oh and did you notice there was also a key leaning in front of a map in a printer press letterbox? This room’s just a few dozen white ceramic animals short of the Dutch version of us!

Psst- Just wanted to make sure that everyone in or near Portlandia is planning to check out The Portland Bazaar (Grace Bonney is one of its founders) this weekend on the 10th and 11th! We hear it’s going to be full of crafty slash DIY goodness, so we wanted to shout it out for you West Coasters. Wish we had time for a Portland road trip...

Hey guys! My family and I just had our one year anniversary in our new house and I thought to send you some pics of our new kitchen. We actually did almost all of the projects in our house makeover on our own. Luckily, we are a handy pair.

The kitchen cabinets were maple, in a shaker style. We ordered a second set of cabinets from a local company (Summerhill Kitchens) for the top row to match the bottom row and sent all the doors to an automotive painter friend of ours who sprayed them in Benjamin Moore’s Simply White. I painted the gables, and stretchers, and anything else that was nailed down with a foam roller. The big splurge was new appliances – all Vikings. Love them. A Lot. Not Sam’s favourite things to install, but totally worth it (we saved money by having him install them all).

The backsplash is a white beveled subway tile. They were a great bargain (around 60 cents each) from here. The floor was a combination of birch hardwood and the ugliest shag you’ve ever seen. Not only was it ugly, it really broke the space up. After ripping it all out, we laid an engineered walnut floating floor on top throughout the whole main floor. We bought it from an auction that sells flooring a few times per year, so the flooring ended up being an unbelievable $1.50/sq ft (including underlay). Oh and the stools are from Crate & Barrel.

The wall colour is Antique White and the cabinets and trim are Simply White by Benjamin Moore matched to Home Depot’s Behr Paint & Primer in One paint. There’s a post in the middle of the kitchen that we really really wanted to remove, but apparently since it holds up the entire house, they told me it had to stay. So we tarted it up with moulding and called it a day. We’re used to it, but I still wish it was gone. Anyways, have fun with your kitchen renos, catch ya later!  – Jasmine and Sam

Anyone else think Jasmine and Sam need to start a blog so we can learn more about their renovations? They look like quite the stylish duo. And I for one, love that coffee table above. Here’s hoping they can drop in and answer any comment questions that you guys have here. And in the meantime, let’s play the what’s-your-favorite-part-game. I’m digging the extra cabinetry they added along with those cool stools. And Sherry’s drooling over those shiiiiny counters and that gleaming backsplash.

Psst- We (finally) shared our road-tripping Thanksgiving adventures with friends, family, and food over on Young House Life. Find those deets here.

Psssst – We just put our dining table and six chairs from our first house on Craigslist (it’s from Target, is in great condition, and is about four years old). More deets here.

We started out with a very green accent wall, and over time we began to layer in a few new pieces to the living room (a shaggy rug, a Craigslist coffee table, etc). After said changes, we grew weary of the bold wall and figured that if we were going to change the wall color – what the heck! – we should just create a whole new media wall. Of course, right?

So with the help of some friends in another state, our road-tripping wall made it’s way back to Chicago where she was finished up, styled, and enjoyed. We have a tiny city condo, and the media center, although much larger than our last one, actually saves space, looks built in, and completes our room. Thank you for continuing to inspire with your many projects – large and small! -xx, Kim & Scott

Isn’t that awesome? We love the flip-down wood drawers and the perfectly customized shelves (and you know Sherry’s sweating that yellow ceramic horse – that’s a jersey term that she taught me by the way). Thanks for sharing Kim and Scott! For more photos or to learn more about the process of creating their built-in, check out their blog. This is just the kick in the butt that we need to upgrade our own media cabinet situation. As soon as we get a bit more accomplished in our counter-less kitchen…