Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

Posts by Sherry Petersik

Sherry Petersik is one half of the duo behind the award-winning home improvement and do-it-yourself design blog, Young House Love. Together, she and her husband John have renovated seven homes, published two New York Times Bestselling books, and designed products sold in Target and Home Depot. They are currently enjoying their downsized home on Florida's Gulf Coast with their two kids and their dog, Penny.

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A “Pink & Gold Everything” Kids Party

This weekend our deck was full of people we love, gathered to celebrate this four year old bean of ours. It was pretty awesome to have so much connected outdoor space to party on (the sunroom-turned-veranda and our big deck that overlooks the grassy backyard felt less chopped up than having some people in the last house’s sunroom while others were on our two-tiered patio). And since our previous house is where we’ve hosted every other Clara-birthday since she was born (here’s the post about her first birthday, the one about her second one, and the one about her third) it felt both weird and wonderful to have our first big birthday gathering here. Most

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How To Make Wooden Play Pastries & Treats For A Kids Tea Party

Remember when Clara was queen of the jellyfish? Good times. The girl definitely has fun with pretend play, and we like to make things for her, especially on occasions like birthdays and Christmas (like this play kitchen, this dollhouse, this latch board, this figurine cubby, this patterned doll cradle, this colorful quilt, this cuckoo clock and this beanbag pouf) so with yesterday being her fourth birthday (HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?!?!) I thought some pretend pastries would be fun. I know, it sounds like a cruel joke. “Happy birthday! Here are delicious sugary things you can’t eat because – surprise! – they’re made of wood!” But lately she has been loving tea parties (here she is

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Fab Freebie: Showhaus To Your House

As John mentioned in yesterday’s post, we somehow convinced Arhaus to hook one of you up with the entire Wyatt Outdoor Collection, valued at $4,500! It includes the matching sofa, ottoman, and swivel chair (as shown below) that we used to deck out the front porch of our showhouse. It definitely passes the comfort test, each piece is hand painted to look like weathered wicker, it has a sturdy (but lightweight) aluminum frame, and there’s durable Sunbrella fabric to keep it looking good for the long haul. Please use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter (it might take a second to load, but it should eventually pop up below this paragraph). This giveaway is available

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Clara Conversations

A bunch of you asked if we’d be continuing this series from Young House Life over here after this post, and the answer is yes. So… happy Saturday! And happy Mother’s Day to all the ladies out there who are celebrating it (says the bleary eyed sleep-deprived mom who wouldn’t have it any other way). Convo #1 Clara (stalling before bedtime): Wait! Before bed let’s talk about my room! Mom: What about your room? Clara: My fairy lights. Mom: What about them?  Clara: They make… my eyes… feel… so… round.  Convo #2 Clara (randomly in the middle of breakfast after looking down at her outfit): I have the most beautiful dress in Virginia. Convo #3 Clara (looking through

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Weekly Baby Photo Project

A lot of you have been asking if we’re taking weekly baby photos of Teddy, like we did with Clara for the first year of her life (you can read more about that project here, here, and here). The answer is yes! Although we had some fun putting a slightly different spin on our weekly project this time around. Here are his first two shots: Note: the number font is called Sullivan and the “weeks” font is called Big Mouth. While we were tempted to do something entirely different for Teddy, we didn’t want to completely reinvent the wheel (when it came down to it, we really liked how Clara’s project turned out). So just

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Making A Waterproof Vinyl Changing Pad Cover

When we last left off in the nursery, we had painted the closet door green, but still had a few lingering functional things that we needed (like a changing pad cover, a hamper, and a bin for dirty diapers) as well as a plan for the wall behind the crib that we had been debating. Update #1. You probably remember when we were considering this fun arrow wallpaper for that spot (among others) but thought it might be a little busy on that side with all the built-ins, so imagine our surprise to find a changing pad cover in the same pattern on Etsy. Teddy loves it. So much, in fact, that he has already

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Less Is More (Unless You’re Talking About Oreos)

Life has been busier than ever for us – and there’s nothing like having a baby to confirm your true priorities. We’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately: what exactly are our goals? What are we working towards? Hoping to gain? The answer, we realized, was definitely not more blog hits or traffic or approval. Honestly we both feel unsettled by the idea of our blog growing any larger, and we look fondly back on the earlier days when we worked less, slept more, and spent more quality time with our family and friends. This little website of ours has already surpassed every expectation we ever could have had for it. So what are

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Listy VonListerstein

I’m not going to lie. These days this is pretty much all I want to do (add Burger, Clara, and John in there and I’m even more mooney-eyed and kissy-faced). But to everyone who requested an updated Listy post, I finally got ‘er done. We last shared our to-do list in November, so this check-in is well overdue – and I figured it could make us feel somewhat accomplished just to look at all the stuff we’ve crossed off since then. Picture me making Zoro-esque slicing sound effects with every slash (Teddy thought it was hilarious). These posts were born when people asked how we organize all the stuff on our to-do list and I

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He’s here!

We’re thrilled to introduce the newest member of our family, baby Teddy! On Wednesday, April 16th at 8:51 am, Theodore Freeman Petersik was born wielding a tiny drill weighing in at 8 lbs on the dot and measuring 19.5 inches long. We’re crazy in love with him, including Clara who just can’t stop kissing and snuggling “her baby.” Especially when he whimpers or coos, it becomes her personal mission to soothe him. Teddy was named after my dad’s dad Theodore (who went by Teddy his entire life) and his middle name honors John’s maternal grandfather (Freeman is John’s middle name too). Teddy is already proving to be a little spitfire like his sister, although he

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How To Paint A Room

The office ceiling and walls are officially painted, which is good news because we’re at T-minus 48 hours until this baby’s scheduled delivery. Note: the trim is pure white in here (the same color as the desk in the middle of the room). No idea why it’s looking a little cream – maybe just the time of day/lighting? It’s still looking really stark in here (holy cow, who watched Game Of Thrones last night?), so we can’t wait to add: But even though we’re only around 10% done, it has come a long way since its former days of blue-trim. And there’s nothing like some final-hour pre-baby hustling to get your blood pumping. In the

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Fab Freebie: Worth The Wait

“Life should be lived beautifully every single day” is the mantra that drives the founder of Waiting on Martha, the virtual boutique where one of you will be getting $300 to spend this week. From home decor and entertaining to jewelry and kids, Mandy has collected a wide variety of beautiful things, with plenty of pretty, shiny, and quirky goods in the mix. Please use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter (it might take a second to load, but it should eventually pop up below this paragraph). You can also get 15% off with code YHL15 through April 15th. This giveaway is available to anyone anywhere! Click To View Rafflecopter Widget

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Painting The Nursery Closet Door Bright Green

At two weeks from my due date we’re checking off a few more lingering nursery updates, like painting the closet door a bright happy color, organizing the clutter within… … making/hanging some more art, and changing our minds in the curtain arena (you know we love a good final-hour switcheroo). The green closet door was heavily influenced by Clara, who kept saying “my baby will like a colored door like mine but not pink” – and since a bold green door was originally in our plan back in January (which we mentioned to Clara, hence her obsession) we decided to stop hemming and hawing and just go for it. After hanging our apple-green curtains and

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