We’re spending today packing things up, and although we thought it would feel monotonous and tiring, it’s oddly exciting.
Even the act of wrapping a bunch of cups in newspaper feels like “IT’S HAAAAAAPPENING! We’re really DOING IT!”
Can you believe Clara looked like this last time we moved?
Three birthdays (and a significant amount of hair) later, my baby’s gone. Sniffle. But there’s a pretty cool kid (complete with an arm tat) in her place, so it’s a fair trade.
Life will change with this big move, and our blog and our process for the new house might feel different to you because we’re approaching it, well, differently. More than any other house that we’ve lived in, our new place feels like it could become a long-term home for us and we want to make sure that the decisions we’re making, the projects we’re doing, and the materials we’re choosing will fit the vision of a place where we could live for decades and raise a family.
That means we may take more time to mull over design decisions, research options, weigh different approaches, and save up for materials and projects. So the pace at which this home transforms may be slower than the pace that you’re used to from us (it’ll most likely resemble the pace of our first house as opposed to our second one). But we hope that it’ll add up to a home that we love like crazy full of lots of thoughtful upgrades and exciting projects over time. Some weeks we might be humming right along (like our mad dash to paint the blue trim and install the hardwoods) and other weeks we might not make much progress at all because we’re stuck or delayed or saving up… but hey, that’s real life.
We’d also love to tackle more projects for the people we love, like this bathroom reno that we did for John’s grandma last fall. Beyond how awesome it feels to do something sweet like that for someone else, we’ve learned that those “off-campus” projects stretch us in new ways. After all, it was getting out of our house to do that makeover that later inspired our own bathroom paint color.
So it should end up being a nice smorgasbord of home, family, and random stuff – which has always been our favorite mix.
Some of you might like this new-ish approach more, others might like it less, and some folks probably won’t even notice a difference, but this little refresh makes us giddy in the nerdiest of ways. It feels just like it did when we started this back in 2007… the air is so thick with possibility that it’s fogging up our safety goggles.
So thank you thank you thank you for stopping in to see what’s going on in our house/life/brain. There’s so much fun stuff ahead, and we love you guys so much it’s borderline uncool. And you can bet your sweet buns that I’m teaching Clara the words (well, the clean ones). Turns out this kid is a HUGE fan of jumping around…
See you guys on the flip side when we’re all moved in!*
*And by the flip side, I mean Monday. And by moved in, I mean our house will look like a pillow and ceramic animal bomb went off.
Misty says
I’m so excited about the blog changes! I have absolutley loved follwing y’all for the past 3 1/2 years. Call me silly but y’all have become like distant friends to me. My mom and I have coffee and conversations regularly about the projects y’all will have next. I can’t wait to see what will happen next in the “new” Petersik house!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much Misty!
xo
s
jan propst says
Good luck with the move. I am happy and excited for you guys. It is a beautiful house. It looks like you will have much more room there. I love hearing about your little family. Reminds me of my own when we first started out. Your daughter is adorable. She is getting so big!
Lori Reed says
first…you guys need NOT make any explanations about your plans…it is your move your home designed with your hands and your hearts….we are merely your “loyal subjects” and no one has any business being critical. you have invited us in to your lives and I personally just LOVE the experience…thank you! You bring a bright spot to my day EVERY day!
secondly…have a great move, I hope you have lots of help and feed them lots of pizza! (that’s my secret weapon to get folks to help me!) Luckily you have this blog to look back upon all your life transitions and Clara/Burger moments…what a path you are on, enjoy every step! xo!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha! We’re fans of the free pizza trick too! Works every time!
xo
s
Jennifer says
Happy Moving!! I’m really excited to see what the next house will bring. You guys are a DIY Inspiration!
Olivia says
Hi J&S!
I’m a newer reader (but recently have been reading all of your old posts) and just wanted to say I am SO HAPPY for you both and taking your time with this house. I’m so excited to see the big picture, but also the little things along the way. I especially love your blog because I’m from the Richmond area, so I love knowing exactly where you’re talking about when you mention things — I live about 3 minutes from Lumber Liquidators on Robious! Keep up the great work :)
YoungHouseLove says
No way! I bet we’ll bump into you around town sometime!
xo
s
[email protected] says
We recently moved into a fixer-upper last December, and I think about you guys all the time. After all, your blog is my daily dose of coffee that gets me pumped up and excited about the day. But I think about how speedy you guys are with your projects, and how sllowww these projects really can be. We’ve done some things to our house, but we haven’t done as much as you guys can do in 5 months. :) It made me think that at the rate we’re moving we’ll be here another 15 years until our house is called done-zo! So I’m glad you guys are slowing it down.. but I’m still excited to have you guys as my cup of coffee. Every morning your blog post is like a little present. Never know what you guys may say or do next! You’re great with the surprises.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Autumn! That’s so sweet of you to say.
xo
s
Jenn says
I can’t wait to see the transition of the new house! Good luck with the move. Your old house will be missed!
Melissa @ HOUSEography says
Good luck with the move! My guess is that most people won’t miss the difference. I love hearing people’s decision process, so decide away for all of us to see! I’m also willing to bet this won’t be the house you live in for decades… unless you quit your “day jobs”.
Ali says
Good luck with the move!
Like many others have commented, I think your new direction with your new house sounds exciting and while you can’t make everybody happy, I think most will be on board :)
Oh, and I’m sure many others have told you this many times before, if you ever get into the consulting business I have a basically paint free, minimal furniture house I am struggling to design, so I’m ready and willing to be a guinea pig and send you pictures to get some ideas. :) It would be cool to see what ideas you would have with spaces your readers send you and then show the befores/afters of how your readers take your design suggestions and DIY their space!
YoungHouseLove says
We actually used to do that back in the day (make mood boards and hope folks would send us after pics). You’d be amazed how hard it was to stalk people to get those after pics! Haha! But we know all about life getting in the way. We’d love to get back to that someday :)
xo
s
Alex says
So incredibly exciting :) Congrats you guys! You have so many people wishing you well!
Chebrutta says
I love/hate moving. I love unpacking boxes and finding a new home for my things. I hate lugging furniture.
On the tree… A long time ago, my dad had to cut down a beloved tree too close to the house. He saved a chunk of the trunk and had the rest sawed into boards… and built the coolest kitchen table, with the trunk (with the bark still attached!) as the pedestal. I really love that table.
Good luck with the move!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so cool!
xo
s
Amy KOOP says
I’m excited for you guys.
I am happy to have you approach this next home in whichever and whatever way is best for you! I feel the same way about your decorating styles. Please decorate the way that is best for you! This is your life, your blog, your home. I am still amazed people would actually hint that because they don’t like your style or use of ikea furniture or bold colour or whatevs…. That you should maybe change it? um i hope not. There is nothing more beautiful in this world than authenticity.
Best of luck with the big move! Hey there’s no snow banks this time!
The other Amy
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Amy! Here’s to no snow banks!
xo
s
Michelle says
As of today, we’ve owned our house for 5 years now. I have one box in the basement that still hasn’t been unpacked. Feel free to take your time. The rest of us do. ;-)
Mary P says
This is starting to become quite the debate! Here’s my take on trendiness (maybe a better word for this is current fashion?) True trendiness is not about being a follower, it’s about being a leader. Sherry and John decorate their house based on what appeals to them, absorbing many different influences around them (including what they can afford and what’s available). But they’re also gifted artists, have amazing taste, and publish one of the most read house/design blogs in the world. So they essentially help set what is popular, what is in fashion and on trend. They could never “try” to be trendy, they just are, by definition. So when you say their design is “too trendy”, well, it always will be. If they go more “classic” or neutral, or whatever, you can bet you’ll be seeing it all over the fashion-forward design magazines and that will be the latest “trend”. I think people who are trendy (home design, fashion, whatever) are that way because they’re just really gifted at design, and staying with one style bores them to tears. So they’re always changing! What fascinates me is that trendy people tend to change in the same direction. Sorry this is long, it’s just neat to think about!
Megan says
Love this. As much as I love seeing projects quickly, I get jealous of your speed sometimes. You’re taking your time and I can appreciate it as its how I’ve been working on our house too. Plus, I’d love to see other projects like the bathroom reno. Good luck moving!,
MIRANDA WILLIAMS says
Eeeek. I’m very excited for you guys! As someone who moves all the time (husband is military & we’ve moved every 12 months the last 5 years) and dreams of one day having a forever home, I can imagine this is a very exciting experience for you all! Good luck with the move. I am in love with your new deck/back yard from what I can see from the pics you’ve posted. Can’t wait to see what you guys do with it.
Yvette says
Air thick with possibility is my favorite air to breathe! It doesn’t even make my asthma worse :-)
Gah! So excited! We’re moving!!! ;-)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha! We’re really doing it Yvette!
xo
s
Deborah says
Can’t help it: something about you guys moving breaks my heart.
Taya says
Good luck Petersiks! So excited to watch this new chapter unfold at whatever pace!
Lisa says
Clara could become a Wisconsin Badger someday! (We LOVE to jump around too!) ;)
Jackie Toye says
I’m sure we can all understand the “take our time and save and put thought into it” … Beautiful Home and like everyone else, I am sooo happy for you, Clara and future Petersilk. Looking forward to following along.
Randi says
So happy for you all! Enjoy the process, and hope the weekend goes smoothly for you.
shannon says
So happy for you guys!!! As someone who is at her 3rd and hopefully forever house, I have to say the saddest part is when you do the final clean of the old house.
Rebecca A. says
I would love some posts about how you guys decide to do room lay outs and other organizational stuff when you first move in. Moving can be so exciting. Best of luck this weekend!
Tarnya Cook says
Good luck with the move guys, hope it all goes smoothly.
No matter what you do with the blog, I’ll always love it. And if you have some space to fill in, would love to see the return of the Digital Moodboards! :)
xx
Paula says
Good luck with the move guys! Your blog is my absolute favourite and I can’t wait to see how you transform your new home!
Oh and some bad singing and dancing *may* have happened when I saw the ‘jump around’ clip, lol :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, there’s a little bit of that going on here too Paula!
xo
s
Julia says
I just wanted to say that I love your new house! And I absolutely love your blog, it is so inspiring! My husband and I bought our own home a year ago and we have done almost everything ourselves on it(new kitchen, flooring, and finishing a basement). As you know projects always end up bigger than you anticipate and sometimes I just get burnt out but seeing other people out their doing it, and doing it well makes me want to keep going. So you are amazing and thanks! Again congrats on your beautiful new home:)
Tanya says
Im really glad to see so many positive comments on this post. I think its important for you to know that there is no change that you can make to your blog or blogging style that would stop me checking in on what you have been doing. Clearly others feel this way. No one in their right mind would begrudge you time to smell the roses along the way. It’s all about the journey not the destination, right?
Good luck for your move!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Tanya! We have been so excited and inspired by all the comments! You guys rock.
xo
s
Kathy S says
Oh wow, you had me worried that you were going to stop blogging and I was crushed because you are my favorite one!
Your new house looks like it’s the first one with stairs. Does Clara know how to use ’em? :)
Have a safe, easy move!
YoungHouseLove says
Thankfully her Grammy and TomTom have stairs and the beach house we stay at has them too, so she’s an old pro (although it did take her a little longer to master them than the cousins who lived with stairs, haha!).
xo
s
Kathy S says
Oh – and I’ve never sold a house before (though I tend to buy them). Would LOVE to see how you guys sell your latest “old” one (I think you did some kind of post on selling your first house, but I don’t think it was in-depth). Just a thought in case you get bored (hah!).
YoungHouseLove says
Haha! We did this one about how we sold by owner the first time, and have one planned for you about how we staged the house, made the flier, and what we changed/unchanged before putting it on the market (hopefully that’ll be next week).
xo
s
Eri says
Good luck with the move! And I concur with many folks here I love the new direction you guys are taking… cuz that’s more in sync with how we have been working on our 50s colonial we moved in about a year ago. One year later, our house is still totally un-presentable, with no curve appeal whatsoever, 3 rooms remaining for paining, one room still with kinda sorta ugh! subfloor, etc. Oh, but we did have a couple of ugly, hazardous, gigantic trees removed, that was the very first thing we did. But under the ugly surface, we keep brainstorming, researching, planning, and saving up. We even have some reno plans to be implemented in ten years from now :).
Take your time, guys. And enjoy the process fully. After all, that’s what it’s all about. Have fun!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Eri! And all the best with your home! Slow and steady wins the race :)
xo
s
Sarah H. says
Good luck on the move! I’m sad that you’re leaving your wall of penny tile though! Can’t wait to see what you do in the new house.
Dail says
I too started reading your blog about the time that you moved to house #2 and have enjoyed watching you transform it. I loved the kitchen reno and the patio. If you ever want to take a road trip to NC to tackle some blog projects, just let me know! Best of luck with the move!
Mel says
I am so excited to see you have added the new house to the house tour page. I have been watching for it since you told us all about it. It certainly is nice to see all your houses lined up.
Lynn @ Our Useful Hands says
May the weather hold out, may you not forget to eat, may you stretch before you start, may you stay hydrated and may everything fall into place as it should with no surprises for you this weekend. :o)
When we moved out of our last rental house into our newly bought house I was a weepy mess (for some weird reason?) and wanted to do so many sentimental things and Michael gave me one of these looks almost every hour: -_- He is not sentimental AT ALL when it comes to those things.
When Zero Hour finally arrived and the new tenants/our friends were moving in on the same day right behind us (who doesn’t try to keep a $500 dollar rental house in the “circle of trust”???) I was so over it and excited to move on that we threw deuces at the house, yelled “Peace out!” and all you saw was the smoke from our burnout on our way to the new house while blasting Fun’s “We Are Young” at nearly full volume. Haha!
My best, Lynn
((hugs))
Carly says
Moving to me is definitely bittersweet. Sad to leave all of the awesome memories and the comfort of home. But moving brings new excitement and adventure. After moving twice in the last two years (500 miles the first time and then 800 miles the other way), I’m ready to be settled. I love the picture of Clara in the box! Can’t wait to watch. It’s already amazing what removing the carpet and blue trim have done.
Whitney says
So exciting! We are packing it up, packing it in right now, as well… Jump Around is my favorite rap song ever! I have been singing it while I pack :) Good luck to you all!
Heather says
I hope everything goes smoothly this weekend! Can’t wait for all the new exciting projects and memories it will bring along with it! Congratulations!! :)
Bobbi says
Ditto on the wish for a smooth move!! And no matter where your blog goes, or how the change slows, I’m a fan of the writers and sharer’s you’ve become….diapers and all! So can’t wait to see what you dream up, tear down, paint or distress! Truly I keep reading every day because of the fact that you are $herdog and John the cartoonist, not because you finished some project I was dying to see! Keep it Real Petersiks!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Bobbi!
xo
s
Chelsea says
So, I’m commenting more for my own processing than anything else, probably, haha. When I first saw that you guys bought a new house, I was so sad, because the pace of this last one had been so, so fast that I didn’t think I would be able to relate anymore to another super fast transformation. But saying you’ll slow things down makes me really excited. I’m newly married in NYC with a baby, and I just finished grad school, so with all that going on, we feel a while away from having anything we might consider a forever home. I’m so excited to be able to watch you guys take your time on this one while I dream about ours. :)
Chrissy says
I have been following your blog for awhile (2009ish). I go through phases of reading everyday to not reading for a few weeks. This post made me fall in love with your blog all over again and get excited for what is to come. Good luck with the move!
Suzy B says
When we moved we left a sweet note to new owners about how we raised our girls in this house. Wished them many happy years & hope they enjoyed it as much as we did. Felt like closure & helped us start a new chapter in new state.
YoungHouseLove says
So sweet! I definitely have been itching to hide a note and a picture (and maybe a lucky penny) somewhere!
xo
s
ces @ home design ideas says
Good luck! Looking forward to the pictures and blog posts about your new home. ;)
timothy says
i loved that kristen wig video. ill be pathetically sad when you guys move!!!!haha.lol.
Vanessa says
Congrats guys! I’m excited to follow on this journey
Sarah says
Congrats you guys!! So happy for you and can’t wait to see all the adventures to come!
Xoxo Sarah
Sweet Melissa says
Good luck with your move this weekend! Coincidentally, we are packing up our house this weekend too and moving into a temporary apartment in Chester while our new house is being built. We bought this home eight years ago and it was our first home. I love it and am going to miss it terribly. We put it on the market January 17th and it sold in three and a half months which is pretty good for the market here in Chester. I guess I was not prepared that another family would quickly love this home as much as we do. We put a lot of love, time, and sweat equity into this place over the past 8 years, and in turn, our home has served us well. It will always be my home, even though I have to hand the keys over two weeks from today. :( I wrote an ode to my home sweet home on my blog, sweetmelissasfragrancefactory.wordpress.com.
Take care and good luck! You all have a nice weekend for your move! I’ll be blogging about our move and my new adventure, Sweet Melissa’s Fragrance Factory, and I’d love for you to check it out when you have “free” time – (insert giggles about free time here). :)
Paula M. says
YES to bringing back mood boards and house crashing! :)
I love just about everything you two do (jaw-dropping kitchen remodel, stellar batten board effect in hallway, cool use of colors and art both homes, etc., etc.) — but the variety and the different perspectives offered by various homes, tastes, needs and owners are worthwhile, too, and would give you some breathing room in between bigger projects that will take much longer to bring to fruition and to blog about.
KarenH. says
Best of luck and fair weather to you in your move to the new house this weekend. :). Look forward to the “after action” reports next week!
Autumn Beach says
Oh my goodness…this is really happening! For the first time I just got a TEENSY bit sad. But my excitement, of course, overshadows any HINT of sadness.
Side note: It would be really interesting to see a study on the effects that following a blog has on the human psyche. I mean, I have these feelings, and I’ve never even MET you guys. It has no doubt changed the way we define “friend”. Even more so than Facebook…ha! I digress.
Actually, all of this blabbing leads me to my next point. I just read an article that said people don’t follow blogs. They follow other people. I really believe this is true. Don’t get me wrong, I love design and DIY. But when I think about the REAL reason I visit this blog every day, it’s because I really like you guys. And I want to know what the Petersiks are up to. Every. Day. Ha! And I would venture to say that most of your readers are the same?
So, what I’m trying to say is…regardless of the house you live in, the timelines you have for your projects, your design style or even your blog style, we will be right here. Cheering you on. Every step of the way. Because you have created a brand, and that brand is YOU.
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so sweet Autumn! Thanks!
xo,
s