Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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Budget Blooms: Starting The Year Off Right

Thump. That’s the sound of us falling off the fresh flower bandwagon last October. From the first of 2009 through September we were enjoying one inexpensive (and even free) bouquet for each month of the year (a super sweet Christmas present from the hubs). But somehow the end-of-the-year madness (toss in a few holidays, a growing family, a bathroom gut-job, and an impending nursery makeover) sadly derailed our year of budget blooms. Well, John was determined to kick this year off right with a happy and cheerful January bouquet for me (actually purchased on 1/1/10- what a nice “fresh start” to the year). This month’s arrangement hails from the grocery store and only ran us

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How To Turn A Thrifted Frame Into A Chalkboard

When Bethany sent over her simple yet oh so chic message board project we had to share the goods. Anyone can do this in an afternoon to add function and beauty to a kitchen, office, mudroom, or more. Here’s her letter: Thank you so much for your upbeat positive attitudes and for all that you do to inspire creativity! I wanted to share a project that I completed a while back that was extremely simple, cheap and totally DIY. I think it’s a good fit for anyone who wants to feel more organized but doesn’t want to sacrifice style. I spray painted a garage sale picture frame and used leftover chalkboard paint to paint the

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Romantic Traditions: Displaying Keepsakes Like Chopsticks!

We love sharing little household traditions with you guys. There are just so many cheap and easy ways to commemorate special dates and display unique items in your home that can make it feel more personal and meaningful.  For example, we whipped up these vacation jars a while back… … and also explained that we love sending a postcard to ourselves to help remember all the details of every vacation that we spend together (they look great tossed in a large glass vase): We also shared how we framed old keys to commemorate all the places we lived before moving into this “forever home” of ours (as seen to the left of the postcards in

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Feeling Resolute

Happeeeeeeee New Year!!! And now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, on to the topic of the day: New Year’s Resolutions. Do you make them? Do you loathe them? John and I have embraced the tradition for a while now (here’s our New Year’s post from last year, and thankfully we each accomplished our goal in the last 365 days). We’ll spare you all of the new personal “improvements” that we’re planning to tackle in twenty-ten, but we do have a couple of home/blog related resolutions on our list this year. I, for one, want to simplify day to day life. From replacing three store bought products with one homemade cleaner that does it

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True Dat, True Value

The end of 2009 marks the end of our stint on the True Value DIY Blog Squad (which we excitedly introduced just three short months ago). Cue the nostalgic music: “it’s so haaaaard, to say goodbyyyyyye, to yesterdaaaaaaaaaaay.” But don’t get all teary-eyed on us. We have tons to be grateful for thanks to our amazing three month gig. After all, True Value is the reason we took major leaps forward in getting ready for new additions in 2010 (i.e. the bean + all of the bean’s stuff). They provided gallon upon gallon of Drylok to make our basement storage-ready and supplied the rented demolition hammer that helped get the bathroom project rolling (so we can

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Two Christmas Surprises

Nope, we didn’t find out that we’re having twins. There’s definitely just one little guy or girl in there (we actually found out the bean’s sex the day before Christmas Eve and will be revealing it shortly so stay tuned for that…). But we also discovered two unexpected and totally amazing holiday gifts waiting for us in our PO Box when we checked it one last time before heading over to John’s family’s house on the 24th. One item was a box from one of our lovely readers who attached a note that said she enjoyed our blog regularly and referenced my love of ceramic animals. Of course I could hardly contain myself as I

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How To Turn A Door Into A Message Board With Chalkboard Paint

When Lyzz sent along her awesome DIY chalkboard door project we couldn’t wait to share the goods. Here’s her letter: I found your blog about 6 months ago and have been addicted ever since. I read it every single day and always find so much inspiration. I wanted to share a quick before & after that we took on. We’ve seen many homes painted with chalkboard paint and loved the look but unfortunately most of the homes in California have textured walls, so it was never going to work. Instead, I took the door connecting the house to the garage and used it as a large canvas for chalkboard opportunities. We added a chalkboard calendar

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Overheard.

One of the (many) benefits to being with child is that I’ve been exiled from the bathroom for some of the rougher renovation undertakings. Although it’s sort of sad too, because I love to swing the ol’ sledgehammer from time to time. But the boys (John and his handy tile-slingin’ dad)… … mysteriously sealed themselves into the room with a big plastic tarp just to foil my view (ok, really to keep the house free of flying debris and dust, but still). The good news is that I could still manage to hear pretty well through their plastic bubble of sorts, so every once in a while I’d catch a fraction of their mano a

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