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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Making Graphic Art Prints With A Paint Pen

When Liz sent her DIY art project our way we couldn’t wait to share the outcome with you guys. Here’s her letter: I know that you guys are always whipping up fab DIY art, so I thought your readers might enjoy this little art project that I did. We’ve had a wall in our den that has been blank for over a year. Finally I decided to spend an evening making a fun and funky little art series that has added some much-needed interest to that wall. The best part is that it couldn’t have been easier. If you can wield a paint pen, you can definitely take on this project! In short: I painted

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Receipts Have BPA?!

When we recently heard that some receipts can release a lot more BPA than any plastic bottle on the market we had to know more. And while this subject might not be inherently DIY related, it can certainly factor into having a safe and happy home- especially on Earth Day. Plus we’re all about simplifying our lives (it was even my 2010 resolution) so the solution that we reached after reading up on this topic actually contributes to less daily clutter and chaos, which is always a good thing. Who doesn’t want to have a more organized wallet, purse, and home? Here’s the gist. Science News recently reported that some receipts are made with a

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A Budget-Friendly Home Office Makeover

When Jennifer sent over some pictures of her sitting nook turned office we just had to share the goods. Here’s her letter: Hey YHLers. I’m totally hooked on your blog and wanted to share my recent home office makeover. It went from a non-functional sitting room (it actually did function as a laundry dumping ground which was not very pleasing to the eyes, and really served no other purpose) to an extremely functional home office space. A lot of the major stuff was already owned, such as the chandelier and the desk (moved from another room in the house). We just dressed things up a bit by creating a homemade bulletin board, craft storage using

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A Green & Blue Nursery For Our Girl

Woo to the hoo. We finally finished the nursery! And at just four weeks before the beanette’s estimated arrival (although we’re sure she’s gonna be late) we’re beyond excited to have a cheerful and functional room waiting for her. It definitely has come a long way from the blank canvas that we started with: And that closet. Let’s just say it was one of our major challenges when it came to storage space, function, organization and all that good stuff: Luckily we were able to introduce a ton of stash space thanks to a crib with a large built-in drawer, a generously sized double dresser (snagged on Craigslist for just $20), an already owned storage

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Updating A Living Room With A Mood Board

When Ashley excitedly sent along her living room photos after our big mood board makeover we couldn’t wait to share them. Here’s her letter: Well here they are… our AFTER pictures! We love the mood board that you put together for us. It completely helped us in getting the look we wanted. We’re so happy that we replaced most of our hand-me-down furniture with more modern (yet inexpensive) pieces. We (and when I say “we” I really mean my hard-working husband!) repainted, installed new baseboards, had new floors put in, and used your help to bring our 1968 ranch up-to-date! We are excited to share the pictures with you and your readers! Hope you enjoy.

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Budget Blooms: April Greenery

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). But this month I just had to deviate from the plan when I saw this adorable leafy little guy complete with his own shiny turquoise ceramic pot for- get this- $2.50 from Walmart. Ringing in just as cheap (if not cheaper) than most of our monthly grocery store bouquets, I love that this splash of foliage livens up my desk and even comes with its own vase of sorts (well, planter) that I can use

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Affordable Couches From Custom Sofa Design

We recently saw a write up about designer-lookalike sofas by Custom Sofa Design on Little Green Notebook and were pretty astonished by the offerings and the prices. We’re talking about sofas that are dead ringers for spendy Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, Room & Board and Anthropologie versions with prices that start around $599 (with many many options under $799). They even offer up chic designer-based upholstered beds at a serious markdown from the original versions. Apparently if you read the comments over on that post, lots of people have had a great experience with the company and rave about Don, the owner. And we were further surprised to learn that everything is manufactured right

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How To Stencil A Pillow Or Curtain Panel

When Dana sent us her super simple and wallet-friendly stencil project we just had to share it. Here’s her letter: I just wanted to pass along a quick and inexpensive project that you inspired! A while back you featured the knot stencil from Sunny’s Goodtime Paints in a mood board and I immediately fell in love with it. My lovely husband gave it to me for Christmas and I recently used it to stencil a pillow cover and laundry curtains (that hide my laundry room water valves and electrical cords) with fabric paint. It was really easy and I’m lovin’ the results. I’m thinking of using it on my foyer wall now that I’ve tackled these smaller stenciling

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How To Hang A Gallery Wall Of Art In The Nursery

Waaaaay back when we mentioned that we’d be converting our third bedroom into a nursery, we admitted that we loved the asymmetrical wall of frames too much to remove it. But we did plan pretty much from the start to switch out some of the randomly framed prints and pictures with more kid-friendly and cheerfully toned art that’s fitting of a little girl’s nursery. So here’s what it looked like before our big art-swap-fest: And here’s the same asymmetrical arrangement of frames after the big switch: Now we’ll zoom out so you can see it in context with the rest of the nursery. Don’t the blues and pinks and greens work nicely with everything from

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A Stunning City House Tour

We’re back with an amazingly gorgeous home to share, and this one is actually located in downtown DC. We had a blast meeting and greeting Adam and Amber, and of course when they showed us around their Capitol Hill rowhouse we couldn’t contain our excitement. Here’s the happy couple now… But back to the whole “couldn’t contain our excitement” thing. Do you see why? This is the view as you step inside. Their home is a modest 1000 square feet but they definitely squeezed all the beauty and function that they could out of it. Everything from the small scale sofa to the mini dining room that they created (the round table can actually accommodate

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How To Organizing Cords, Wires, & Cables

Q: Since I’m an avid reader/adorer of all things YHL, I’ve seen pretty much all the pictures of your home that you’ve managed to cram into the blog. And every time I see these pics, I swoon over how organized and neat your house is- so very unlike my own. One thing in particular annoys me: office clutter! Cords, cables & wires. Lettin’ it all hang out is NOT my idea of organization or attractiveness. How do you guys make your cords/wires/cables more organized and neat? Must I resort to actually having to tie each wire and cord individually? There must be another way! Right? Please? – Erin A: I’m crazy. I’ll just get that

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Painting And Reupholstering A Chair With Ikea Curtains

When Teresa sent us her before and after chair makeover pics, we couldn’t wait to share the goods. Here’s her letter: I just had to pass along the story of our $20 garage sale find. My husband hated the patterned Ikea curtains that I had hanging in our living room so I’m happy to share one of the panel’s reincarnation. My husband and I refinished the chair by sanding it and using Kilz oil-based primer and a can of regular old white high gloss spray paint from Lowe’s. We can’t take credit for the reupholstering though, as we had that professionally done. But here she is in all her glory. This is definitely my new

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