Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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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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As Seen On TV

While recently watching a super old episode of Parks & Recreation, we had to laugh when we saw what looked exactly like our card-catalog-turned-spice-&-spoon-rack in the background behind Amy Poehler. Especially because the episode was all about her unabashed hatred for libraries: Isn’t it a dead ringer for the $5 thrift store version I got two Valentine’s Days ago from Sherry (read more about that here)? So it got us wondering if you’ve ever seen something you have in your house on TV. Was your fancy stapler on The Office? Did your Ikea curtains make an appearance on Project Runway? Have you spotted the same touristy magnet from Texas on someone’s fake sitcom fridge? Spill

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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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