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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How To Make DIY Fabric-Covered Cork Vases

You may have spotted our little DIY cork vases back in the big office reveal (and the follow up guest bedroom/playroom post). And now we’re back to share our two-different-looks tutorial. Yup, you can keep them au naturale… … or cover the cork with fabric for a playful printed look: We first got the idea to create cork vases for pinning up little reminders and paint swatches that we loved from seeing an expensive designer cork lamp a while back. It seemed like such a smart way to keep from forgetting Clara’s checkups along with our dental appointments- and to add some aesthetically pleasing function to the room as well. But we didn’t need a

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A Home Office That Doubles As A Guest Room

We originally wanted to include a few shots of the office as it looks when it’s converted into a guest bedroom in this morning’s post, but we just snapped too many pics to squeeze it all in! So here’s a p.s. post of sorts, with photos of the little tweaks and twists that we implement when we need it to work full time as a guest bedroom for our friends and family. Here’s the full-sized sofa bed all folded out and dressed for company (with linens that we already owned from the full sized bed that used to exist in the space before the room was converted into a two-person office). The pillows are from

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Our Home Office / Guest Room Makeover Is Done!

Do you hear that high pitched scream? It’s me, all the way in Richmond, shouting at the top of my lungs that the office/guest room/playroom makeover is finished. Woot! Come on in and take a look around. But wait, for old time’s sake, let’s check out the room as it looked when we moved in: And here it is now, all office/guest room/playroomed out: We love this room because although it’s only a 10 x 10.5′ box, it easily gets the best light in the house. So it’s not a bad spot to spend 80+ hours a week logging blog time, playtime, and accommodating the occasional guest or two. It was totally worth all the

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Some Ballpark Project Cost Estimates

Anyone wondering what a whole-house alarm will run you? Or looking to see what a new patio will set you back? Behold, Fixr.com’s “Remodeling Cost Guides.” They’ve created a handy little average budget breakdown of a slew of house-related projects to help homeowners wrap their minds around the amount of money that these undertakings might possibly set them back. Just head over to this link and scroll down below the image shown above to see a ton of links that lead you to some pretty heavily researched guestimations for everything from building a swimming pool or sauna to installing a tin roof or renovating a kitchen or bath. Of course things like location and the

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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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