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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Cloth Diaper Tips

And now for a post that’s a bit more “living” than straight up “home improvement” related. When people ask what question we get here at YHL most often, they’re probably expecting it to be about paint or demo. Not so. It is, without a doubt, some iteration of the following: How are you liking cloth diapers? How many do you have? What brand are they? Did you get the kind with the liners/inserts? Do they work? Does Clara like them? Are they difficult? Do you regret it? Is it annoying to wash them? Do they really get clean? Are there times when you don’t use them and opt for disposables? How long will they last?

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A Pink Flower Bouquet

As most of you know, every month we like to enjoy one inexpensive- and sometimes free- bouquet to keep things feeling fresh around here (the idea actually stemmed from a super sweet Christmas present from the hubs a while back). And since July was our anniversary month, we decided to honor that fact with some gladiolus stems that we snagged for a song at the grocery store a few weeks back (just $2.39 for the entire bouquet!). What do gladiolus stems have to do with our anniversary? Well, three years ago we whipped up garden themed favors for our backyard wedding. We just picked up simple brown mini paper bags at Target and dropped a

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Five Easy Home Items That Make Us Happy

Sometimes it’s the little things that can make any house feel like a happy home. Here are five of our favorite little things that make our days just a little bit sweeter. 1. Our shower radio – it makes it feel more like a mini escape and helps us conserve water because we have a two song limit. 2. Large glass cereal jars – they’re so much more charming than pouring from the box- plus we always know when we’re running low. 3. Fresh flowers and green leafy plants – they purify the air and inject a nice dose of natural texture- plus it’s nice to fill a house with life, both figuratively and literally.

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Steal Of The Week: Punchy Pinwheel Pillows

Even though the last thing we needed were more pillows (we have a ton of them that we like to migrate from room to room) we just couldn’t pass up these fun yellow beauties from Target. So for 24 bucks a pop we took two of them home: Sure we’ve found cheaper pillows (like this $2.50 guy from Bed Bath & Beyond) but we can’t deny how much color and fun they bring to our living room, especially since they complement the patterned yellow rug and even seem to work with the fun geometric pillow on the slipper chair nearby. Lately we’ve really been loving a few pops of bright hue in a room to

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Oh Baby, We’ve Got A New Gig At BabyCenter

Back even before I knew for sure that I was prego I used to peruse BabyCenter for articles about “early signs.” And once I had a test in my hand that confirmed that I was in fact “with-bean,” John and I immediately logged on to find out when Baby P would be due. While there, I also signed up for emails about our baby’s weekly growth (which I used to read aloud to John every time they landed in my inbox) and joined a message board to converse with thousands of other expectant May moms. After Clara arrived I started receiving emails about her development outside of the womb (which I continue to read aloud

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Our Take On 8 Controversial Decorating Issues

We’ll start this post off by saying that when it comes to decorating your house, we believe there are no right answers. Rules are meant to be broken and feathering your nest is definitely one of the most subjective and personal things you’ll ever do. Our mantra has always been “just do what you love” so you end up coming home to a house that makes you smile. But what if you don’t know what you love? Just look at rooms in magazines and online and find out what tickles your fancy and use it as a springboard to take your house to the next level. Or stare at your favordominite painting or even a

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Seven Cheap Ways To Update A Room

Is it weird that John read my headline in passing and used it as an opportunity for a comedic performance? A few “room-crisping” suggestions from him? 1) Flambé it. 2) Put crunchy noodles on the floor. 3) Starch it. Funny guy. Anyway, here are seven super affordable and easy ways to freshen up any space. They might seem simple and straightforward, but it’s amazing what a difference these little tweaks can really make. So if you don’t have the energy (or the money) for a full scale room makeover, these might be just the thing to give you a new look in a snap. 1. Paint your trim with crisp white semi-gloss paint. Whether you’re

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Getting Our Home’s Water Tested

Right around the time we announced that we were expecting there were a number of friends and family members who also revealed that they had a bun in the oven… and people always joked that there must be something in the water. The ironic thing is that ever since that bad joke popped up a few dozen times many months ago I’ve been wondering: what IS in my tap water anyway? Then I recently caught the end of a Dr. Oz show where he was talking about lead in your water- and when he mentioned that pregnant & nursing women need to be careful when drinking from pipes in older homes which could have lead

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Building An Amazing DIY Ottoman

You guys may remember Kara from Kara Paslay Designs thanks to the amazing house crashing tour that she took us on a while back. And when she sent over some photographs of a stunning ottoman that she DIYed, we begged her to treat us to an exclusive little YHL tutorial. And- oh happy day!- she was game. So without further ado, we’ll hand this post over to Kara so she can take you through the process of making your very own version of the lovely (and surprisingly doable) ottoman that she whipped up. Gorgeous, eh? Hello YHL readers! I am so excited that John and Sherry have invited me to share the details about my

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Organizing Baby Gear

Since the day that we announced there was a bun in my oven, we’ve been getting comments and emails to request details about how our house is changing thanks to our growing family. And now that Clara is two months old (time flies!) we decided that it was high time we took some candid photos to show exactly how our home has changed thanks to all of the baby gear that we’ve accumulated thus far (and yes, we know it’ll only grow from here, so stay tuned to see how we deal with everything else as we go). The following photos weren’t edited or cleaned up in any way- they’re actual snapshots. And you know

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How To Use Paint & Accent Colors In A Room

I recently found myself flipping through old copies of BHG and I came across one of my favorite little quote roundups ever in the February issue. It was actually an article all about “choosing, using, and loving color” and you know that paint is pretty much my BFF so it’s no surprise that I had earmarked the page and even circled a few of my favorite quotes. So when I recently rediscovered my earmarked and circled page o’ quotes, I thought I’d share the wealth and pass along all the great little tidbits that BHG amassed for that little article of yore (because frankly, we couldn’t agree more). They communicated so many things that we

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Our Favorite Tabletop Accessories

We actually get this question pretty often so we thought it was about time that we broke down what home decor objects we find ourselves grabbing all the time when it comes to adding style to a dining or console table and even a fireplace mantel or the kitchen counter. So without further ado, a roundup of foolproof tabletop classics: 1. A cake stand. This handy accessory can be used to create charming dining centerpieces (topped with everything from fruit to holiday decor) or even a sweet display on your kitchen counter (with fresh cupcakes or even a collection of ceramic faux fruit). Find it on the cheap at: Marshall’s, TJ Maxx, Target, World Market

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