It’s been over half a year since we shared our last video house tour, and since a bunch of you’ve been requesting an update, we finally cleaned the whole house shoved everything into our closets and made an all-one-take video. At first it seemed like we didn’t have that many new things to report, but then we realized that there were tons of changes since our previous tour (a freshly redone hall bathroom, a storage-room-turned-playroom, new lighting in the living room and dining room, lots of sunroom updates, a new fireplace facade and a fresh color in the kitchen, hallway board & batten, etc). So without further ado, let’s walk around the house together. I’ll chat while John mans the camera (you don’t want me holding the camera, trust me).
A few notes:
- We filmed this on our Nikon D3200 (we mainly use it as a digital camera, but occasionally make videos with it too).
- I’m not sick this time (I was for the last two video tours, so I’m breaking that stupid tradition). Huzzah!
- Why a towel falling to the ground as we made this video was so funny to me, I’ll never know. Watching it back, it’s not even remotely entertaining. Maybe I’m just a hyper/nervous tour giver? Yes, probably that.
- Are the in-yo-face brassy doorknobs in the laundry room making you itch? I ORBed every other knob in the house, but dude I haven’t gotten on those yet…
And now, I thought I’d end with our last video tour from September, just because it’s fun to watch the evolution. I always drag my feet when it comes to making these videos, but then when I look back on them I’m so grateful that we make them because they’re like little bi-annual time capsules.
Do you guys ever videotape your house, just to see how it changes over time? Would your hubby ever walk around with you and hold the camera while you jabber on right next to him? That’s totally our method. Yes, John and I stroll around the house together while he holds the camera and I talk. I think he deserves 65,790 man-points for coming up with that insane technique, but somehow it works. Because if he were narrating it would sound like this: “this is the dining room (long pause) and this is the office (long pause) – ok we’re done.” And if I was chatting and holding the camera, 7 out of 10 people would lose their lunch while watching. Hence the four-legged video house tour tradition. Yeehaw.
Oh and if you’re watching our most recent tour and wondering what we still have on our to-do list, here’s a somewhat updated rundown that has all that info for ya. I smell a guest bathroom update along with some porch and carport projects. Can I get a what what? No? A high five then? How about good old fashioned talk to the hand?
Psst- You can peruse all the other house tour videos that we’ve made since we moved in here, here, here, here, here, and here. And here’s an outside tour from last summer. Viva la video camera!
Your house keeps getting better and better ! :) where was Miss Clara hanging out during the tour?
She was with Grammy :)
xo
s
How do you keep your house so neat and clean, omg! LOVE IT! Would love to visit :)!
Picture a whole bunch of stuff shoved into each closet! Haha! It’s a toy explosion right now :)
xo
s
I fully blame your lovely house for our $568 handyman bill! We decided to switch out a couple of lights, fix an annoying switch and a tub issue…and nothing was of this century. So in came someone who knew what to do, and did it for almost 6 hours.
But I do THANK you for teaching me how to paint without tape!
Aw man, but I’m so glad you can paint without tape! Hope that saves you $568 over the years to make up for it. Haha!
xo
s
Sherry I finally figured it out! Your voice sounds so similar to Natalie Portman! Every time there’s a video I rack my brain for it.
Also I saw a white ceramic house with a bird on it at Bath and Bodyworks today and thought it would fit right in with your collection!
Aw thanks Jay! Sounds awesome. I get the Natalie Portman voice thing all the time, I try to hear it but never quite can :)
xo
s
Where are those gorgeous watercolor pillows in the sunroom from? I’ve been wanting to make some because the ones I’ve found online are so pricey!
Thanks so much! They’re from HomeGoods!
xo
s
When I “grow up,” I want a house just like yours!
Liked the blue in the kitchen photos when you first posted about it, but after seeing it in video form….LOVE IT!!
My favorite was that you decorated the winter-covered furniture on the deck – cute bunny!
Frame hallway?? No way, that’s the “Hall of Frame”!!
Haha, hall of frame = awesome.
xo
s
The house looks amazing! I do not even recognize it as the home you moved into.
And my ten month old sat on my lap and watched the entire video, completely engrossed… I think he likes your voice, Sherry!
Aw, that’s sweet!
xo
s
Really sweet sharing, you two. Great filming, John, and perfect not-too-long-nor-too-short commentaries Sherry!
Yes, how you have evolved over the short few years there in that house is amazing! You seem to transition so smoothly with no complexes from one color to another, from clean lines to crown moulding, from sober to bright, and any other contrasty pairings I can name.
Truly brilliant, and I agree with previous responses about the WHOLE being so much greater than the sum of your innumerable projects. It makes a statement about you–classy and endearing all at the same time!
Aw thanks so much Shauna!
xo
s
Wow, folks. It’s one thing to see photos of your progress, but the footage really sings the praises of your hard slog. Your house looks phenomenal. Consider me blown away. Thanks for going to the effort to make the vid!
Aw thanks so much Josephine :)
xo
s
High Five from Nashville!
Everything looks beautiful! What a lovely home you’ve created.
Hey how do you do to keep everything so neat? (It was a compliment, but also seriously… how????) =)
Haha, I just shoved a bunch of stuff into closets before we made this video, but it’s all out again – it’s clutter city! And there are toys everywhere :)
xo
s
That was fun! Margaret and I enjoyed watching it together.
Aw thanks Anna See!
xo
s
Just got home from 804um and absolutely loved your presentation! Thank you for taking the time to give us an insight into your life and family – you guys are awesome!!
Aw, it was our pleasure Annaliese! We had so much fun! RVA represent!
xo
s
Wow, your house has so much personality. I have been reading your blog for many, many years and yet I am still shocked with how lovely it all looks in the video. I am inspired not to paint all of my walls white.
Thanks so much Mel! You’re so sweet.
xo
s
Far out!
I haven’t been around for a visit to your blog for ages, and man oh man, you’ve gone ahead in leaps and bounds.
Very inspirational – you’ve got all my creative juices flowing (err..that sounds a bit gross).
oh yeah – and u totally smell like fart.
Hahahah!
xo
s
Love the house tour guys! It’s amazing the sense of scale that a video can portray over a photo. Absolutely love the direction you’ve gone with this place. Just such a happy house!
Thanks so much Vanessa!
xo
s
Wow you’re house seems so spacious! How many square feet is it?
It’s around 2500 square feet :)
xo
s
LOVE this! It’s so nice seeing a walking tour, rather then just pictures, you dont appreciate how big your house actually is in just pictures! Love absolutely everything about your place! We are moving into a new house in the next couple of months & I can’t wait to get decorating! So much inspiration coming straight from you guys!
Thanks so much Nelle!
xo
s
I’ve been reading your blog for a while now but never watched one of your home tours. I’m so glad I did this time! You guys seem to put a lot of thought into the pictures that you share but nothing can compare to actually walking through the house. I am even more amazed at your great use of space and family friendly style. Thanks for sharing with us!
Looking great guys! So inspiring.
I love the tour! Your home is fabulous. My husband, 2 toddlers, and I live in a tiny NYC 2 bedroom apartment and I love getting a feel for the size of your place in the video- the perfect size! I think we may have to relocate to the suburbs one day soon…
PS My son and Clara played together at the train table in the Wilton, CT library stop of your book tour. She was a very good sharer, I will report. My son was also the one who nearly clocked John as you we’re leaving- sorry bout that:) Thanks for coming out during all the storm aftermath!
Aw, that’s so sweet that your son got to hang with Clara at the train table. I’m so glad she was a good sharer. And as for John, he gets nearly clocked all the time, so I don’t think he was fazed. Hahah!
xo
s
Love it! How many square feet do y’all have?
Our house is around 2,500 square feet :)
xo
s
Wow, you guys really have come a long way in such a short time! The house looks great.
BTW, have you ever heard of Solatube? I was thinking one of those might be great to bring some more natural light into your kitchen. Plus, the installation of one would be a great DIY post. (I promise I don’t work for them. I just saw one mentioned on a home improvement show the other day.)
We have and it’s actually something we’ve considered off and on. Our main hesitation with it is that it would be kind of annoying in the attic because we store a lot up there and have to move through that area a bunch. So we’re holding off for now!
-John
Love the video! Did you guys ever post about the frames hanging above the board and batten?
That’s coming up today! Stay tuned…
-JOhn
The house looks awesome!
Quick question…do you guys have a basement, or a storage unit or anything? Or were you able to chuck the extras after the book?
btw I laughed out loud about the towel commentating. It’s the little things I guess. :)
randomblogdrama.com
We do have a basement, but mostly it was just finally getting rid of things through the yard sale we had last fall and donating the rest.
-John
Sherry,
please tell me where you found the white desk in your living room. Or was that a project you made? I have been looking for that exact piece and cant find what I want :'(( Thanks!
The tall desk in the corner is the Parsons desk from West Elm. We got it as a wedding present, but they still sell it!
But if you’re talking about Clara’s short drawing desk, that was a DIY project. :)
-John
Have you ever heard your voice sounds exactly like Mila Kunis’s? It’s awesome. :)
Anywho-your house is so gorgeous. It is what my husband and I aspire to, in our little apartment rental (not really conducive to remodeling, but we can still decorate and spray paint and thrift to our heart’s content). I love how it looks like a home, not some magazine somewhere that people don’t really live in. It’s decorated and lovely.
<3
Yep! That or Natalie Portman. So basically the entire cast of Black Swan… :)
-John
I absolutely love it when you do video tour posts! I’m just amazed by how beautiful your home is and how much it reflects your personality.
Question- do you think you will ever do another “room evolution” post? I love those!
Oh yes, I was just thinking about how we only did one for the bedroom, and the goal would be to chronicle the evolution of each room in the house!
xo
s
Awesome video tour – I wasn’t following your site last year so this is the first full on tour I’ve seen! Seriously, your guys house has the best layout of all time – I “forced” my hubby to watch that video and then informed him that we somehow need to make our house (that is already expanded on a much too small lot) magically bigger and that layout. Not to mention the style and all the little details and just everything about it is awesome!!
I am particularly fond of the art hallway. Love it. There is a big blank wall behind our tv that I keep wanted to cover with art. I’m always hesitant because the television would be right in the middle. But I heart art, what can I say…
Your home is beautiful. Thanks for sharing it.
I just showed this to my 4 year old daughter. Her comments? “Wow, that’s a big house huh?” followed by “I wish WE had that house Mummy!!!” It was Clara’s big girl room that was the kicker ;)
It´s so nice to see how your house developes over the time. I have the feeling that you went more ‘Jonathan Adler’ with this house at first with bold pops of color and the grellow walls. Now you are doing more classic and chic things like the new kitchen color, the mantel, the crown moulding… The house feels more and more finished, which is sad on one hand and exciting -for new things- on the other. But I guess you guys could work on the garden for some while too and we´d happily watch that, too. A knot garden, a rosarium, a cottage kitchen garden, a playhouse for Clara, I´d have many ideas, haha.
And you don´t talk too fast, even for me (I´m from Austria, English is obviously not my first language) you are easy to understand.
I just got your fab autographed book in the mail yesterday (and was so excited that they could post to Australia!) and am half way through. So much inspiration! So many pretty pictures! Aye karumba!
Love the video too. xx
So glad you’re enjoying it, Nicola – and always glad to hear one has made it to some far off destination that we’ve never been to. :)
-John
How have your ORB’d knobs held up? Any wearing or scratching? My brass ones (hehe) are blinding me!
So far so good! Even the exterior ones we did for the front door and side sliders look great! The right prep work is key though- and using good spray paint applied thinly and evenly :)
xo
s
Love, love, love this! I can actually see the layout in my head now! I had the laundry room where your living room is in my head lol! I am soo amazed at how much you have done! You have motivated me to do something with my fireplace now! We have the blah flat tile face with just a small mantle shelf thingy above it! Great job guys! And I am like Bryanna…i wanna see your closet! Lol
Aw thanks Mitchell!
xo
s
cool, i enjoyed it…. i am new here so it was my first tour!
Thanks Kelly!
xo
s
My favorite theme is your house is all of the clusters of artwork. We have lived in our house for almost six years and STILL have huge blank walls in many of the rooms. What are your tips for getting started with wall decor? It seems very intimidating to go out and buy a million frames/look for things to fill them with all at once. And when do you decide between clusters of small vs. one large piece? Thanks!!
I would just collect cheap frames over time (we get ours from Ikea, Target, and yard sales usually) and just hang some in rooms without anything on the wall and watch how they feel lived in and welcoming (blank walls totally come to life with some art on them, even if they’re not full of expensive one of a kind art). Good luck Kim!
xo
s
I thought it was really cool how the crown moldings actually made your home more crisp and modern; every time I saw moldings before it seemed to bring me back to a dated feel. Great work guys!
Thanks so much Jennifer!
xo
s
The house looks gorgeous (as always!)
Just curious – how do you keep your hard floors clean? We have all hard floors downstairs (mix of wood laminate, tile and vinyl) and with two cats, two adults lots of foot-traffic and now a baby on the way, I’m starting to worry about how we could keep them cleaner! We sweep and vacuum pretty often but they never seem to look clean for long – your floors look spotless!
Any tips? x
I use Mrs. Meyers (watered down a lot and only on a drenched mop, just on a damp one so the floors don’t get soaked). Hope it helps!
xo
s
I suddenly “get” your adoration of the penny tile; it really is dazzling in natural light. I like how you’re simulatenously unifying finishes throughout the house and diversifying your color palette. Prediction – the floors will be your next undertaking.
Have you ever thought about turning the boxed out towel rod in to built in storage the tissue box, cotton buds/balls, etc?
That could be fun!
xo
s
It seems like your house is perfect and there isn’t anything else to update – well except for the guest bath. I don’t know how you come up with your long list of “projects – keep as is.
You guys are adorbs!
You should post a drawing of the layout of your house.
Here ya go: https://www.younghouselove.com/2010/11/the-floor-plan-stan/
xo
s
Hey Guys, great update. Two questions: 1) have you thought about installing doors between your office and dining area (I know our office is a mess often) And 2) how about a framed out magnetic blackboard on the end of the wide cabinet across from your kitchen island, next to the fireplace? (Magnetic paint first covered with blackboard paint).
Oh yes, we have mentioned installing pretty french doors between our office and dining room, but it’s not in the budget just yet – and as for the side of the cabinet, we have chatted about a few options although we don’t think a blackboard will work since we walk by that a lot and don’t want to brush up against chalk dust – but some sort of memo board or corkboard would be fun :)
xo
s
Do you remember the name of the paint color you used in the kitchen? It is precisely what I have been looking for in my kitchen!
The blue is called Colorado Gray by Benjamin Moore: http://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/paint-color/coloradogray
-John
J&S – the house looks great, per usual. I’m loving the new kitchen color. My only question/comment is: How come none of your lamps/lights were turned on for the house tour? I guess I am just a bit of a light turner-oner so I actually noticed that none of yours were on!
We have learned that with our DSLR, daylight gets a weird blue tint if lights are on (those get a weird yellow tint) so colors read more accurately either when it’s 100% natural light :)
xo
s
Where did you get your ceiling lamp in the dining room? Love it!
Thanks! That’s actually our design! Here’s that post for ya: https://www.younghouselove.com/2013/01/shady-business-2/
xo
s
I love the kitchen color. It is perfect.
I have to tell you, my one-year-old daughter really loved this video, especially the music at the end. She did a little shimmey-shake.
Haha, so cute!
xo
s
It looks amazing, and so warm and cosy as well. You can tell it’s a loved home, not a show house.
I just realised I have the same wood flooring in my living room as you have in yours! I got someone in to repair and stain mine as it was the first project of my first home and I had no idea where to start. So glad I did as it looks amazing. Now I can concentrate on the smaller projects and build my confidence. Thank you for the inspiration!
Ooh that sounds awesome! Wish we had tackled ours right away!
xo
s