Young House Love

DIY Home Decorating Projects, Tutorials, & Shenanigans

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What I Put On My Face & In My Hair

This update post was spawned when I listed a lot of this info at the bottom of another post all about our home & personal care products (it was a giant rundown we shared in 2017) but since people were having trouble finding this info buried at the bottom (and I had to keep adding updates as I changed something) this post was born. HAIR/SHOWER STUFF This is my current favorite shampoo and conditioner, and I also use this AMAZING curl cream, which I apply when my hair is wet right out of the shower (long story short, I realized my hair is actually curly and not just frizzy like I thought – this stuff is great for thick

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Things Are Getting Homier At The Duplex!

Last month we shared how refinishing the floors at the duplex made us feel like we turned a major corner at a house we’ve been renovating for over a year (remember when it looked like this?!). And now we are firmly in “the fun part!” You know, where you get to start bringing in rugs and light fixtures and furniture and accessories so it goes from looking like a construction zone to an actual home. It’s THE. BEST. Especially after months and months of expensive improvements that you don’t even see when the drywall goes back up (like plumbing and electrical upgrades). So let’s just get right into it. Behold, this wall of the left

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Holiday Gift Guides for Everyone On Your List (With Stuff under $20 – And Even $5!)

As is the tradition, I’m a little late with this. Ha! But here it is! (I’m also late with my actual gift buying, so I better get cracking). We like to put all of our gift guides in one place, so below you’ll find the one we made for grown-ups, another one for kids, and (my personal favorite) one full of stuff that’s under $15.  Gifts For Grown-Ups Here’s what we’re loving, either firsthand stuff we bought for ourselves and have really enjoyed – or things we’re getting for friends & family (or hoping to find under the tree).  1 / Adulting Award Ribbons (4/$25): It would be so much fun to have an “award

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Holiday House Tour 2018 & How We Decorated The Beach House!

Wanna see how we decorated our house (and the beach house) for Christmas? We have a ton of photos for you, so let’s get right into it. Since we got an entirely new exterior for Christmas (literally all I wanted for Christmas was a white brick house, ha!) we had so much fun trying some new things out front. We did some simple warm white exterior LEDs (why are those so hard to find?!) on the trees on each side of the door. Remember I upgraded those to these larger faux ones because I can’t kill them and the taller height looks nicer on the porch with all the white brick. Those pots are actually

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Our Furniture Is Officially For Sale!

I’m not sure an emoji even exists to capture how THRILLED we are to announce that our furniture line is finally out! The one that represents me would probably be the salsa dancing woman, except she’d be wearing all black with a skull for a face because I’m 95% dead from the excitement. Also let’s add a taco in her hand because that’s always a good idea. Am I already talking about tacos? That got off track quickly. Anyway, I know a lot of you have been following along as this day has crept closer (thank you for that, btw!) so now you can officially shop the whole collection (over 30 pieces! way more than

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Black Friday Home Decor Deals (& What We’re Buying)

As is the tradition, I’ve scoured the Black Friday sales (is it me, or do they start earlier every year?) and rounded up my favorite home decor & furniture deals. And John already grabbed some tech items (he’s been waiting for this sale for a while). Our kitchen stools are under $96, our daughter’s bedroom rug is $350 off, and these velvet pillow covers are just $10! Our TV is also 42% off ($250 off!!), the smart plugs John loves are 58% off and his FBAT (favorite backpack of all time) is 65% 0ff. And so much more. Stuff We Already Own (& Love!): These are all things that we have bought with our own money, lived with, and love. And thanks to

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How To Paint A Bathroom Floor To Look Like Cement Tile (For Under $75)!

I hear everyone who’s asking for our annual Black Friday deals post and I’m putting it together as we speak! But in the meantime, you guys have to see this awesome tile transformation that a reader named Angela sent over. She not only COMPLETELY transformed her old blotchy beige bathroom floor, but it was super wallet-friendly (UNDER $75! HOLLA!), and it has already held up for well over half a year without any issues. In a wet bathroom that gets everyday use, no less! I know this is probably going to be hard to believe, but that beautiful bathroom above used to look like this. Again, she did not put down new tile – she

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Painting Our Brick House White!

The weather hasn’t been perfect for photos and our landscaping isn’t looking it’s finest at the moment, but I couldn’t give two flying squirrels because I’M SO FREAKING EXCITED ABOUT OUR PAINTED BRICK HOUSE THAT I LITERALLY CANNOT EVEN. I am unable to even. And I’m a 36 year old suburban mom, so that’s saying something. Our house is so heartbreakingly beautiful I literally would not be surprised if it started glimmering in the sun like Edward the vampire from Twilight. GO WITH ME HERE, THIS POST IS GONNA HAVE A LOT OF CAPS LOCK. You have been warned. Today we’re gonna break it all down – what type of paint we used, why we chose

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My Minimal Wardrobe – How Having A “Uniform” Simplifies My Closet & Saves Me Money

Whenever I’m asked about my clothes, I joke that I wear basically the same thing every day. But it turns out that even after years of saying that (and sharing that I had just one bra for many years on the blog), a whole bunch of people freaked out when they saw the hanging bar in my closet on Instagram recently. I got FLOODED with DMs about my sparse mostly black wardrobe. One person even said that seeing my closet was, and I quote: “the wildest thing they’ve seen on the internet in 2018.” That’s quite the statement considering 2018 also gave us Gritty. To clarify I don’t actually wear the same items of clothing every day

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Exciting Developments At The Duplex

GUYS. GET EXCITED. Lots of major stuff is happening at the duplex. Like extremely thrilling developments that we’ve thought about and planned over the last year and finally… FINALLY!… they’re happening. You last saw the duplex about a month ago when we shared that it was drywalled, and the latest progress has basically put me over the edge. I, Sherry Petersik, am feeling what people refer to as “messy” about these recent developments. It means I’m too excited and it’s not a good look. But you know I can’t contain myself so I’m just gonna share it all anyway. GET READY FOR A CAPS LOCK EXTRAVAGANZA AND LOTS OF PICTURES! That room above is the living

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How To Make Inexpensive Curtains Look A Lot More Polished & Our New Master Bed!

You haven’t seen our master bedroom in a while (except for small peeks on Instagram) because we owe you a certain curtain-related confession. But first, I get so many questions about our new bed – and why we upgraded from our old Ikea one – that I thought it was time to formally introduce you to this beauty that we got nearly a year ago. Yes, as in last November.  bed / nightstand / bench / similar art / similar rug / duvet / chandelier / faux plant Why a new bed? Well, at first glance, our new bed isn’t wildly different from what was there before (which you last saw last May when we

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House Crashing: A Jaw-Dropping Old House Transformation

It goes without saying that we’ve always been suckers for a good before & after (show me someone who isn’t and I’ll show you someone who hates fun). But thanks to our adventures in 100-year-old-beach-house-renovations over the past few years, we’re especially fond of seeing people bringing old houses back to their glory. Oh the things you’ll find behind the walls! So when Mandy shared photos of her and her husband Joe’s project in nearby Charlottesville, VA, we were basically cooing over them like two pigeons discovering an old pizza crust on a New York City subway platform. Even without furniture (they fixed it up and then sold it before even needing to furnish it)

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