Is that really our name listed over on Apartment Therapy as the winners of this year’s Homies? Wow. We’re simultaneously flattered and flabbergasted. Just call us flattergasted. Wait, maybe you shouldn’t. It kinda sounds like a euphemism for flatulence. But it’s safe to say that we’re shocked and are definitely feeling all “aw shucks” about it.
A big thanks to everyone who nominated and/or voted for us. There are so many awesome home blogs out there and it’s such an honor to think that anyone believes that we belong anywhere near the top. We were just happy to be nominated among so many fantastic fellow bloggers. Really. And a big thanks to Apartment Therapy for playing host to this annual celebration of reader selected shelter blogs. It’s always cool whenever sites like AT share some link love and spread the word about other design & DIY enthusiasts. Sidenote: We met Maxwell a couple of months ago at a book signing event here in Richmond and he’s even more nice, genuine, and passionate than we imagined. Just a great all around guy. And I don’t mean that in a creepy way.
Our favorite part of this whole Homie thing is the list of must-read home blogs that AT compiled as part of the reader submitted nomination process. Our Google Readers better throw on some elastic waist pants, cause we’re gorging on a ton of new RSS subscriptions. So if you’re looking to join in, might we suggest our fellow finalists to start?
- Door Sixteen
- Freshome
- Our Little Beehive
- Remodelaholic
- 7th House on the Left
- Slim Paley
- The Steampunk Home
- Table Tonic
And don’t forget to check out the amazing full list of nominations here (scroll down a bit for the whole mack daddy list). Oh and along with the title of the 2011 winner, the Homies also include a sweet $50 prize. And rather than blowing it on ceramic animals something for the new house, we decided to channel Maxwell and pay it forward to one of his favorite charities: Donor’s Choose.
You can click the image above to learn more about that specific project. And as for more info about Donors Choose in general, it’s a really cool organization where teachers can log on and request specific items that they need for their classroom, and you can pick whichever request hits home with you and donate directly to that cause (we’re going to choose a local Richmond classroom that’s looking for something that has to do with the arts or building – you know, since painting and hammering are two things that we still enjoy to this day).
So thanks again to Apartment Therapy for the inspiration and the fun! And to you awesome people who clicked the box next to our name. Holy bananas. We still can’t believe it.
Congratulations YHL!! Sorry if I’m out of the loop, but who’s Maxwell?
He’s Clara’s real father. Just kidding. He’s the co-founder of Apartment Therapy. Such a nice guy.
xo,
s
I almost spat my drink out reading that reply, Sherry! hahaha
Congrats on your win!! You guys totally deserve it :)
Congrats!! Well deserved :) Also, love that you are paying it forward!
Alright!!! Cue in music – Kool and the Ggang.. Celebration!!
If that is true about burning calories while painting then I’m burning all sorts of calories today. I ran 10mi this morning then came home and painted our guest room, woot! I deserve to eat a big bowl of chili & some ice cream! ;-)
I’m so excited we are finally painting the rooms in our home, I hate the white{sterile} feeling. It’s feeling more homey already, yay! (We built our house, but we painted everything white to keep the costs down during construction, next time I think we’ll just paint during construction!)
You guys are too awesome, I mean really. To give that money back is so wonderful!
Congrats again, and it is definitely well deserved! You guys are like the Brad and Angelina of the blogging world… charitable donations and all! :)
WOOOOOOO!!!! Congrats guys! You guys deserve it! :D
Gongratulations from Athens, Greece…You totally deserve it
Congrats! Well deserved! You guys are also a major class act for your gracious posting about winning, posting your fellow finalists, and donating your prize! You already had my vote but you win it again!
Congratulations, very much deserved!!
Congratulations! I think it’s really awesome of you guys to pay forward the prize to a needy classroom. You guys rock!
Congrats! YHL & door 16 are two of my favorites, and are on my daily reads list :)
You guys rock to donate that. When I was a teacher I had people fund my projects on donors choose and it meant a lot to me and the kids!
I already love you and your blog. But as an educator, esp. in a state that is fighting to maintain educational opportunities right now, I love you even more for the charity you are donating to. You guys rock!
We are over the moon about you guys winning the Homies! Young House Love was among the first of the shelter blogs we began to follow a little over two years ago. You have inspired so many homeowners (including ourselves!) to cherish their home and make it lovely. Your win was very well deserved and I must say, you guys are a true class act.
And thank you for the link love! :)
No worries! We were so excited to be mentioned among such a sweet group of fun fellow bloggers!
xo,
s
Congrats!! You two totally deserve it!
Congrats!
Congrats to you guys!!! What a great start to the new year. Last year seemed to be very eventful for you and I hope this year is just as good to you. Keep up the great work.
Congrats!
I can’t think of anyone (anytwo?) who deserve(s) it more. Somehow I missed this contest, but I can assure you that you would have had another vote from me!
You can’t really be surprised, you guys are awesome! I read one a blog the other day when someone referenced you guys that you are the Brangelina of DIY blogs! haha, I thought that was cute! Congrats on the win – wish I knew about the nomination, I would have voted for you guys too!
Sherry, I have a question for you which I didn’t see in our FAQ — did you paint when you were pregnant? My husband and I are trying and he thinks no but I have read it is ok – and I LOOOVE painting, it is my favorite thing to do in the whole world and I cant imagine going 9 months cold turkey! I was wondering how you handled this when you were prego with Clara?
I only used no-VOC paint. Not low-VOC, no-VOC. We love Mythic’s super green & natural paint along with Lowe’s Olympic Premium paint (both are VOC free, even when it comes to the colorants that are added). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
ERIKA:
There is still some risk to your baby, even with NO-VOC paints. All paint has potentially harmful chemicals in it. The best way to guarantee that your baby won’t be harmed is to avoid painting while pregnant. I know it’s hard; I love it too. But my OBGYN was adamantly against it, and it’s really the only way to guarantee your baby will come out perfectly healthy.
If you must paint, don’t do it in the first trimester and wear a face mask. Get the heavy-duty ones specifically for paint and staining, not the cheap paper kind. Also wear nitrile gloves to avoid absorbing any chemicals through your fingers. If you start smelling the paint, it’s time to get yourself out of there.
It’s hard to give up so many things for a pregnancy. For me, if something was wrong with my baby, I’d hate wondering if ‘that bad thing I did’ was the cause of it, you know?
I have 4 kids, 13-23. When I was pregnant there were no low- or no-voc paints. I painted rooms when pregnant with each of them and my children have/had no issues at all. Just take reasonable care and keep it well ventilated. If you have access to no-voc paint use it by all means. It is better for everyone. (I use it now.) But don’t wig out over it.
Congratulations! You deserve it :)
congrats on the win! well deserved. you have my total respect for donating the prize …as well as your stance on freebies. look forward to following along as you work on the new home.
Congratulations! How exciting.
Yay! I was so happy, I only voted for 2 blogs, you and Under The Sycamore, and they both won! I must have great taste, haha! Congrats!
Congrats you guys! A much deserved recognition. Love your idea of paying it forward and the organization you chose.
Congratulations! And paying it forward to charity, what a nice gesture :)
Congratulations!! You guys totally deserve it! Happy dancing for you.
You all 10000% deserve this. You have inspired a lot of people to do bigger and better things with their homes (myself included)!
Well I don’t think I can top last night’s OMG comment, but I had an “awww, that’s great” moment when I read you gave the prized to charity. Thanks for the warm and fuzzies. xoxo
Congratulations! I voted for you guys and thought you were very deserving. I also respected how you didn’t really mention the Homies here on the blog to try to get people to vote at AT.
Congratulations…. you guys deserve it because you are truly the best!! I love checking out our blog everyday, it is for sure one of my highlights. :0) I am so excited to see what new projects you tackle each week and how they turn out. Your really an inspiration!!
i was so excited to vote for you. you’ve always responded to my questions or pleas for help! i can’t tell you how many times i’ve told my husband about something the petersiks just did, or forced my colleagues to look at pictures of clara. congratulations!
congrats from Melbourne Australia……my Google reader is going to put on some stretch pants too…..but don’t worry you’ll always be my “first house love”
OF COURSE you guys won – you guys are far and away so many people’s favorite blog for a reason. I was surprised you guys didn’t win last year. Like someone said at AT, it was nice of you guys not to announce your nomination here since it would crash AT’s servers! Congrats, more than well-deserved! :)
Thank you so much for going on to donorschoose.org! I so appreciate it…as a fourth grade teacher at a school with very little supplies, I can vouch that it is such a blessing to know there are people like you guys who want to help! Congrats on the win, and thanks again for helping out a fellow teacher!
Wooooooo Hooooooooo! Of course you guys won, you totally rock. Congrats on the honor.
congrats ya’ll. you totally deserved it!
Love it…. Congrats and well deserved. Keep up the good work guys.
Congratulations! You deserve it! As a teacher, I love you guys even more after reading that you’re donating your winnings to a charity that supports education! You guys are so selfless and sweet and are going to make such a difference to a local classroom. :)
Yay! So deserved!
Way to go guys! Pats on the back all round!
Congrats on the win! I love that you put your prize $ toward a DonorsChoose project. I’ve had a project funded on DonorsChoose. It’s been three years, and I still use the materials each week. Once again, you’ve made a difference. : )
Congrats on your win! And I was so excited to see you’re donating to a Donor’s Choose project. As a teacher who has had five projects funded, I can tell you your donation will be very much appreciated by its recipients (teacher AND students). If you “complete” a project (i.e. provide the remaining $ needed to fund the project) you’ll get hand written thank you notes from the kids in the class, which is always fun. :) I hope some of your readers follow your lead!
Congrats you guys!! You definitely deserve it! Also, I’m sooo happy that you decided to donate to Donor’s Choose! As a teacher at a high poverty school, I have had four fully funded projects via Donor’s Choose. It’s such a great charity and it has provided so much for my students over the past four years. What a great thing to do with your prize moolah!
congrats :) you guys completely deserve it! you blog is extremely inspiring!
Congratulations, you guys definitely deserve it! And it’s so great that your donating, it will be very much appreciated! Keep up the great work!
YAY YHL! i dont know what I like better, the fact that you won or that first comment about who Maxwell is. hehe you are so funny Sherry! Congrats Petersik Family!
Yay! I read your blog daily AND work at DonorsChoose.org! Thank you SO much for supporting a classroom project in Richmond with your prize money. Just posted to Facebook as well. Again, congrats!