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Young House Love » Shopping & Thrifting » Our Hardware Designs – In Target!

| By John Petersik | March 17, 2014 | 1,190 Comments

Our Hardware Designs – In Target!

It’s been nearly three years in the making, so it’s hard to believe that the day is finally here that we can share our longest-stretching side-gig to date. We’ve been designing a collection of products… and a bunch of them are now being sold exclusively at Target (!!!). Cue the sound effect of a cat sprinting out of a bag.

Liberty Young House Love Target1

We designed three or four dozen pieces before the final mix was chosen – and those designs, which are an assortment of wall storage and hooks, are available right now at Target.com and will be on endcaps in most US stores starting March 31st.

You’ll be able to find them in the Home Improvement section where they’ll be hanging out for 14 weeks. Did I mention that we’re freaking out like Clara next to a furry mascot that she “just wants to hug and squeeze”?

Liberty Burger Hook

To say we never thought something like this would ever happen to us might be the biggest understatement of our blogging careers. And even when this process started rolling waaaaay back in July of 2011, we never expected that it would end up here.

Liberty Doorknob Hooks

When you look at the collection you’ll notice that we’ve adapted a lot of things that we love – from bees and old skeleton keys to a certain ridiculously handsome chihuahua. And everything’s priced at $14.99 or less.

Liberty Bees

We even included a bit of DIY customization in the mix, thanks to these raw wood hook rails (one with a picture ledge on top, and one without) that you can personalize with paint, stain, wallpaper, decoupage, or whatever else you have on hand. Then you can choose any of the four hardware styles in either oil-rubbed bronze or white and screw them into the predrilled rail holes.

Liberty Painted Decoupaged

But let’s rewind back to July of 2011, when this whole thing started. At that time, a company called Liberty Hardware was a sidebar blog sponsor of ours and they asked to come interview us for some research they were doing about the do-it-yourself trend. A few months later, that research turned into an invitation to explore the possibility of designing some products with them. When we said yes there was no part of us that ever envisioned them ending up in a store like Target.

Liberty Key Rail

The next two years were an exciting and sometimes intense process of design and development. Never again will we underestimate the work that goes into making those everyday products that we see on store shelves. We were primarily responsible for the creative direction, which involved providing everything from rough sketches to color/finish input along with design tweaks and feedback at every step of the design process. Liberty’s team was great to work with, and had things like manufacturing feasibility and sales analysis covered – which was a huge necessity to taking our ideas from paper (and visions in our heads) to real-life objects.

162003 YHL Octopus Hook Teal1

The development process was hugely interesting to us because it was like nothing we had ever seen. From the drawings & images that we provided, the Liberty design team would illustrate some options, the best of which then got modeled either on a computer or in clay by hand (sometimes both). Those then became 3D printed models that could get cast to become real production prototypes and eventually the final product was born. There was feedback, tweaking, and even a few “back to the drawing board” moments at each step in the process. Questions of scale, symmetry, functionality, finish, price, etc. were always being considered – as well as how everything would fit together as a collection. Heck, there was even a focus group held at one point! So all-in-all we probably designed forty or fifty pieces before they got narrowed down to the current mix.

Liberty Process

While lots of the design work happened virtually (through email and conference calls), The Liberty team – which is primarily headquartered about 3.5 hours from us in Winston-Salem, NC – traveled to Richmond on several occasions. We also found ourselves traveling to see them in North Carolina, meeting with their design team in Chicago (that’s Adam pictured, who has been bringing our ideas to life from day one of the project), and even flying out to the Target headquarters in Minneapolis at one point. Despite that meeting happening in late April of last year, we still happened to catch a major snowstorm. We’re not sure how you Minnesotans do it.

Liberty Meetings

That trip in Minneapolis was especially surreal, since it happened just a few months after we had been there for our book tour. It was weird to be secretly traveling there after so freely Instagramming our previous tour travels. We actually got recognized a couple of times while standing outside of the Target offices, so we were pretty freaked out that our cover was blown (to the folks who said hi to us, we can now apologize for being SO INSANELY AWKWARD). Secrets are no fun.

Liberty Target Dog

We shot the images you see in this post (and that appear on the packaging) in our house last November. It felt a lot like our book shoots when we were trying to create a diverse mix of backdrops in a house with very few painted walls, so we had to get a little creative. You can see in this photo that we used a remnant piece of grasscloth wallpaper to spice things up behind the Burger hook. And that’s our brother-in-law/pro-photographer Todd who did all of the shooting. Nothing like keeping it in the family.

Liberty Todd Shoot

Once it was cropped, you’d never know there was painters tape and blue trim lurking just out of frame.

Liberty Burger Hook

After all those months, all those trips and meetings, all those designs and redesigns, and all of the shooting/writing for the packaging, it still feels completely unreal that this project is out in the world now. And we’re even more excited to hopefully roll out more products as the year goes on. Yup, we’re actively pitching new designs that go beyond wall hooks and storage (Target prefers the idea of tight collections, so we’re working on different home/DIY themes that could be switched out seasonally).

We owe a huge thanks to all of the people who’ve been a part of this, especially those who have put up with our silly questions or nit-picky changes. So a big virtual hug goes out to everyone who saw something in our ideas, and helped bring them to life.

Liberty Picture Hangers

And of course we have an insane amount of love for you guys for sharing this crazy journey with us (and for putting up with our “secret project” for so long – we really wished we could have told you, oh, 32 months ago). Never in our wildest dreams did we think that first post back in 2007 would lead us here. Oops, I think the orchestra is playing me out, but picture me waving my chihuahua hook in the air while Sherry gracefully trips over her gown on the way down the steps. She’s the J. Law to my J. Leto (I just have to work on my flowing man-mane).

You can browse and buy everything now over on Target.com, and then it’ll be in most stores beginning March 31st. Fingers crossed that the sight doesn’t send Sherry into labor!

Target Screen Capture

Update – Some of the most frequent requests that we get are for info about professionally blogging (how we made our site, how we grew our following, how we make money, etc) so we shared all of the details about how we started a blog, grew our traffic, and turned it into a full time job. 

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Filed Under: Blogging, Shopping & Thrifting

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Comments

  1. Samantha says

    March 18, 2014 at 3:31 pm

    I have been following you forever. I am a fellow lover of Target and am soooooo excited that you will have products there! I love your website, your ideas, your story….and I am so happy that things are going so well! I mean….TARGET!! Awesome Sauce.

    Reply
  2. Casey says

    March 18, 2014 at 3:59 pm

    This is so, so, so exciting. Congratulations! Happy for you, and can’t wait to see the goods. :)

    Reply
  3. rachel says

    March 18, 2014 at 4:19 pm

    Congrats!! So exciting!

    Reply
  4. Mary Kaye says

    March 18, 2014 at 4:31 pm

    Wish I would have run into you in Mpls! Congrats!!! Looks like great stuff that I can’t wait to check out! You guys must be SOOOO busy! More than the rest of us can imagine. How do you stay motivated to get it all done?

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      March 18, 2014 at 5:02 pm

      I think we just try to do things we’re really passionate about, so it feels stimulating and fun and creative instead of like a daily grind. Don’t get me wrong- we definitely could use more sleep and sometimes we feel like our heads are spinning, but we are so grateful for these opportunities.

      xo
      s

  5. Leila says

    March 18, 2014 at 4:31 pm

    Congratulations, and how exciting!! That’s an awesome step in building a younger, couple-r, and just as rad (non-convict-y) Martha Stewart-esque empire. Did that make any sense?

    Can I make a personal request for your next line? Throw pillow covers!!! I love to change pillows on my couch and bed seasonally but given that we’ve got a small 1 bedroom apartment there’s just not room to keep dozens of pillows in spare rooms and storage space is almost non-existent. I’ve had a little luck finding some covers on Etsy but I usually make my own from World Market napkins (which are beautiful fabrics, I just don’t have a sewing machine so it’s not ideal!). Stylish, coordinating pillow covers would be amazing!

    Anyways, congrats, good luck and can’t wait to see these in my local store!! :)

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      March 18, 2014 at 5:08 pm

      That would be fun!

      xo
      s

  6. Sally says

    March 18, 2014 at 4:36 pm

    Please tell me that we will be getting these in Australia.
    I love the whole collection and I am so jealous of anyone that can order online right now.

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      March 18, 2014 at 5:00 pm

      I wish! We have an international giveaway lined up for early April so someone anywhere in the world can win the entire collection :)

      xo
      s

  7. katie says

    March 18, 2014 at 4:40 pm

    just had to throw my congrats out to you guys! this is so exciting!

    Reply
  8. lisa says

    March 18, 2014 at 4:46 pm

    Oh, congrats, you two! It’s been so much fun following your blogging careers and I am so happy to see you find more and more success. You deserve it.

    Congrats,

    Lisa

    Reply
  9. Alana says

    March 18, 2014 at 5:05 pm

    Next step, HGTV series? Just saw the commercial for Nate Berkus’s new show, and couldn’t help but think how well you two would be on your own show!

    So happy for you guys! Congrats!

    Reply
  10. Mandi says

    March 18, 2014 at 5:20 pm

    You guys are seriously too cool. This is Ah-mazing! Can’t wait to check it out in stores!

    Reply
  11. Krissy says

    March 18, 2014 at 5:22 pm

    HOLY MOLY! Target! How fantastic! I can’t wait for the collection to come out! I want the teal octopus for my bathroom, because it’s beachy-themed… and I’m sending the bumble bee to my sister. I don’t know which finish yet. But it’s happening!

    Reply
  12. Dan says

    March 18, 2014 at 5:52 pm

    Congratulations! That’s no small feat.

    Reply
  13. Jen @ RamblingRenovators says

    March 18, 2014 at 5:52 pm

    You guys! That’s crazy exciting news!! The collection looks fabulous and very YHL. Awesome job. I hope the products make their way up to Canada too. Congrats!

    Reply
  14. Sally says

    March 18, 2014 at 6:00 pm

    Congratulations guys!! That is amazing news:) I can’t wait to check it out online, and hopefully it will be in my local store!

    Reply
  15. Nikki says

    March 18, 2014 at 6:09 pm

    I know I’m a day late but I just want to say CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! On my way to Target.com to go shopping for YHL!!!

    Reply
  16. Jill says

    March 18, 2014 at 6:11 pm

    Woo hoo! Congratulations! Target is one of my favs and I always love their collections! Can’t wait to see your’s in the store! You sure are good at keeping secrets!

    Reply
  17. Kim Hall says

    March 18, 2014 at 6:38 pm

    Amazing! Congrats you guys! Everything looks awesome; I will definitely be making a purchase (or a few). I’m excited to see what comes next!

    Reply
  18. Ashley @ Any Lovely Thing says

    March 18, 2014 at 7:28 pm

    This is AWESOME!!! I’m beyond excited for you guys and can’t wait to see everything in stores :)

    Smiling from ear to ear,
    Ashley

    Reply
  19. Angie says

    March 18, 2014 at 7:31 pm

    Say whaaaa?!? Yay for you guys! How exciting!!

    Reply
  20. Kristin says

    March 18, 2014 at 7:36 pm

    Absolutely amazing!

    I feel so proud of you guys like you’re my own fam because I’ve been following you for so long. Your news is incredible, congratulations!! You make the “what if” or the “maybe I can do this” dreams of everyone such a reality. So so happy for you!

    Reply
  21. Gayle IdeasWoman says

    March 18, 2014 at 7:40 pm

    Us Aussies get very envious with what you all can do at an affordable price. We do not have such options here in shops like Alex said previously. Even good Op [Thrift] shop finds are impossible because everything ends up on eBay at ridiculous prices. Even the one main op shop chain [Salvos] sells on eBay now.

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      March 18, 2014 at 8:55 pm

      I heard about your Hard Rubbish day though (do you have that too?) which sounds so awesome! I want one!

      xo
      s

  22. jill says

    March 18, 2014 at 7:42 pm

    ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? This is so exciting, I got a little teary reading it. Love Target, love you guys. Put your hands together—BOOM.

    Reply
  23. Sweet Spot says

    March 18, 2014 at 8:07 pm

    This is so amazing! Congratulations on all of your success!!!

    Reply
  24. Jillian (Her Split Ends) says

    March 18, 2014 at 8:40 pm

    DUDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Your goodies are being sold at Target. Let me say that one more time. Your GOODIES are being sold at TARGET. Tar-get – Tar-gee…its official…you are for realz now ;)

    CONGRATS!!!

    XO
    ~ Jillian

    Reply
  25. bfish says

    March 18, 2014 at 8:49 pm

    Way to go, Sherry and John! What an extraordinary capstone to all of your other successes and professional growth.

    (Please don’t leave the blog behind!)

    Reply
  26. Kimberly Conover says

    March 18, 2014 at 9:36 pm

    How exciting!! Your blog is one of the first local blogs I started following after I moved to Richmond in 2009 {I love this town}. I’ll be looking for your products on my next trip to Target in Short Pump. Congrats!

    Reply
  27. Sandie says

    March 18, 2014 at 9:45 pm

    Well done on a beautiful collection. I went straight online and ordered a “burger” head in white, unfortunately target later refused the order because I live outside the US. I wish there was another way to get one. We had to put down our 14 year old white chihuahua (Bella) on Monday – she had terminal liver failure. Tuesday morning I went on your website and found the “burger”. If there’s another way to get hold of one I’d love to know.

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      March 18, 2014 at 10:41 pm

      Oh no Sandie! I’m so sorry for your loss, and that they won’t ship it outside the US. If you’re in Canada we hope they’ll bring the collection there, and if you’re international we have a giveaway lined up for early April, so anyone in the world can win the whole line :)

      xo
      s

  28. Alex says

    March 18, 2014 at 10:31 pm

    I seriously just squealed and might have yelled “holy bananas!” which thankfully didn’t wake up my children! This is so cool! Is it weird to put “go see YHL at target” on my calendar for 3/31 as if I’m going to see you at my target? Actually, I better not or the hubs will know I have something to buy. I’m totally digging the picture ledge hook rail fort daughters room. Congrats!!!

    Reply
  29. Evan says

    March 18, 2014 at 11:32 pm

    I was in target the day before you posted this and was thinking about you two. There was great stuff in there – especially all sorts of awesome chairs and stools that I imagined you guys would post about if you did another store crashing post (or whatever you used to call them) and I was planning to go on and request one. NOW you really have to go crash a Target and post pictures!

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      March 19, 2014 at 10:14 am

      Haha, thanks Evan!

      xo
      s

  30. Cathy says

    March 18, 2014 at 11:56 pm

    OMG! Congratulations!! I’ve got my eye on the octopus and the skeleton key holder!!

    Reply
  31. Benita says

    March 19, 2014 at 4:05 am

    This is so cool, huge congrats!
    / B.

    Reply
  32. Joanne says

    March 19, 2014 at 5:27 am

    Wow, Wow ,Wow- I’m so happy for you two that I have tears in my eyes!

    Not to mention that i visit Target several times a week and will surely be picking some of your super awesome pieces up.

    Young House Love has opened my eyes to a whole world of creativity and affordable design. Thank you and YAY!

    XO- Joanne

    Reply
  33. Beth Marie says

    March 19, 2014 at 5:44 am

    What an accomplishment! CONGRATULATIONS, i cannot wait to buy that key, key holder!

    Reply
  34. Ellen says

    March 19, 2014 at 6:48 am

    Congratulations!
    A practical question, how do you attach the middle door-knob-hook to the wall? The other one is pretty obvious but that one… (I really don’t want to order them if they’re difficult to attach to the walls of my rental…)

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      March 19, 2014 at 9:40 am

      Our understanding is that it’s just like the picture hangers where it’s a double-sided screw that goes through the knob to the wall and the plate itself is just sandwiched (we shot prototypes back in November, so we didn’t have the finished pieces in production then). So it should just be an anchor and a screw into the wall in one place and you’re good.

      xo
      s

    • Ellen says

      March 20, 2014 at 8:38 am

      Thank you! I think I’ve got some internet shopping to do!

  35. Brenda C says

    March 19, 2014 at 9:05 am

    Hi guys,

    Large key with hooks – check. Decorative teal knobs – check. White chihuahua hook – check. Broke out the Target card yesterday and bought those items to finish off a few niches in our home. (Couldn’t wait for them to show up at our local store — ha ha!). Just what I was looking for! Thanks for some SWEET finds!

    Love your site!

    Reply
  36. Breanna says

    March 19, 2014 at 11:22 am

    So awesome. Congrats, folks!

    Reply
  37. Michele C says

    March 19, 2014 at 11:35 am

    Congratulations! Hard work, passion, honesty, and love for what you do best sure pays off! Looking forward to seeing your work at Target. — Michele

    Reply
  38. Beth A. says

    March 19, 2014 at 11:50 am

    You guys are so darn fantastic. I have seen your blog from fairly early on, and I feel like I’m watching you all grow up (I know, I know, we’re like the same age)… and I am SO proud of you guys.

    What an accomplishment!!

    So inspiring. You guys have the absolute best mix of sharing information while being personal at the same time. A lot of brands don’t get that. Thanks so much for making all of this an interactive experience for all of us.

    Beth – Arlington, VA

    Reply
  39. SassafrasNA says

    March 19, 2014 at 11:55 am

    I saw the key rack day before yesterday on Pinterest attributed to you guys and went searching like a madwoman to see if there were other products and didn’t see any…somehow I missed this announcement yesterday!! WELL, Well, well….CON-FAB-U-LATIONS!!!!!!! That’s awesome!!! I’ll be in a Target store some time later this week (it’s in the next major Metro area over)and I’ll be asking for the Young House Love section!!

    Reply
    • SassafrasNA says

      March 19, 2014 at 12:10 pm

      and I forgot to say…MOVE OVA Johnathan Adler!!! :)

  40. Nita E. says

    March 19, 2014 at 12:32 pm

    Congratulations! I’m sure it was a huge relief to let this cat bolt out of the bag, finally! I love Target and I love reading this blog. A friend Stacey and I were talking about how you really feel like you know the bloggers you constantly follow – and I of course launched into telling her that Clara had the stomach bug. Stacey and I both love Frozen as much as Clara :)

    Reply
  41. Carin Young says

    March 19, 2014 at 2:48 pm

    So happy for you!!! Love the “key” hook, especially in that bright teal. Must be so fun to see your wonderful ideas come to life! Congrats!

    Reply
  42. Emily@Decorchick says

    March 19, 2014 at 3:27 pm

    Oh my heavens congratulations y’all!!!

    Reply
  43. Carolina says

    March 19, 2014 at 4:17 pm

    Sooooo cool! Can’t wait to buy the key rail :)

    Reply
  44. Jess says

    March 19, 2014 at 4:29 pm

    You can really proud of yourselves and of what you have accomplished those past years !
    As a French reader, I will be crossing fingers to win the international giveaway …

    xoxoxo

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      March 19, 2014 at 5:50 pm

      Thanks so much you guys! We are so grateful.

      xo
      s

  45. Kara says

    March 19, 2014 at 6:23 pm

    Wow, congrats!

    Reply
  46. Sara says

    March 19, 2014 at 11:59 pm

    Congrats! I saw this in “the paper” (aka my phone app) and wanted to share. I’m so happy for y’all!
    Sara

    http://m.timesdispatch.com/business/retail/target-to-sell-chesterfield-bloggers-collection/article_4f529d85-9fd3-51a6-89e4-be9595097491.html?mode=jqm

    Reply
    • YoungHouseLove says

      March 20, 2014 at 9:29 am

      No way! Thanks Sara!

      xo
      s

  47. Kal says

    March 20, 2014 at 6:25 am

    EEKKK! Congrats you guys!! I want them all. Like, 9 of each… you can’t have too many hooks right? Ha ;) So happy for you guys- so amazing!

    Reply
  48. Anje says

    March 20, 2014 at 9:27 am

    LOVE IT! As for future projects…please design textiles! Pillows and curtains. I am always so envious of your pillows and curtains. We don’t have anything close to a UFab in a tri-state area. I search and search every store for anything but bland cookie cutter patterns and I get nothing. My only luck is randomly finding something vintage now and then. That would be fabulous :)

    Reply
  49. Caitlin E. says

    March 20, 2014 at 7:27 pm

    OH. MY. GOSH!!!! I’m so excited!!! I was out of the country and missed this post, but now I’m freaking out. I might camp out at Target on the 31st, just saying. :)

    Reply
  50. Venia | Organized Bites says

    March 21, 2014 at 10:17 am

    Squee!!! I’m so excited for y’all…and, for me. That Burger hook is just what I need for my little guy’s leash.

    Reply
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John and Sherry Sitting On Woven ChairHey, we’re John & Sherry. We’ve fixed up 7 homes, written books, designed products, started a podcast, and then downsized & moved to the beach! Here you’ll find over 3,000 DIY projects & home updates. More about us…
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