Young House Love

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Survey Says…?

***UPDATE: We’re sending out a giant thank you to the 30,000+ respondents to our survey! We’ve selected a random winner of the $500 West Elm gift card using random.org and the lucky person is… Sarah M from Birmingham, AL! Congrats Sarah – check your inbox!***

It’s no secret that I’m a card-carrying infographic geek (in case you’re wondering, the card has a pie chart on it). Here on our blog we’ve captured one year of living in this house, our book tour, and of course your responses to our annual blogiversary survey all infograph-tacularly, so with some sweet talking to my wifey and gentle nudging to our publisher, I’ve convinced them to let me put a few infographics in our next book. #nerdvictory

Survey Nerds

But obviously I need some info before I can get all graphic on you (not that kind of graphic). That’s where you guys come in. Since Book Two is all about sharing how families really live (you can read more about it here) we thought it would be fun to share some stats on what “really live” means. We’re about halfway done shooting the book (and mostly done sorting through your AWESOME submissions) and it has been an great reminder that there’s a huge variety when it comes to families, design needs, and housing challenges. And since we can’t photograph them all, we’re hoping these infographics can represent a wider smorgasbord. Even if the questions are a little goofy sometimes…

Survey Hard Hitting

To thank you for taking our little book survey we lined up a $500 West Elm gift card for one lucky winner. We’ll select that person randomly from the respondents next Monday night (8/25) at 8pm EST. Please complete the survey just once per household. Oh and if you’re an international reader, you can win a Visa gift card instead, so it’s open to anyone in the world.

West Elm Gift Card

Taking the time to represent your little slice of home in the book could also end up earning you a shout out. We’ve got a few open-ended questions in there that will allow us to highlight some particularly unique / helpful / entertaining responses complete with your name and city (assuming you give us permission at the end of the survey, otherwise it’s 100% anonymous).

Survey Finest

You can click here to begin the survey (or on the graphic below). It’s not super-serious and by no means scientific, so we hope you guys have some fun with it. It’s hosted via Google Forms and there are some open-ended questions but they’re not required if you don’t feel like typing much. Thanks in advance for taking the time to represent how you live in your home!

Survey Get Started

Oh, and PS: Since this has a $500 prize attached to it we won’t be hosting our usual Fab Freebie tomorrow, but we’re currently assembling some cabinets in the hopes of being back with a laundry room update tomorrow or Thursday at the latest.

Comments

  2. Mindy says

    Not related to the actual survey, but you need to checkout the Font FF Chartwell for making infographics. It will change your world! It’s the geekiest font ever. You can make charts of any kind simply by typing things like 25 + 10 + 65 in a program like Illustrator and turning on OpenType stylistic alternatives. So fun!

    https://www.fontfont.com/how-to-use-ff-chartwell

    Reply

  3. Maya says

    You need a spot for “Middle East” in location– I put “Other” because it really doesn’t seem right to say I live in Asia (even though maybe that’s technically true?) or Africa when I live in Israel!

    Reply

  4. Rachel says

    So I love those crates, so I clicked through to look at them. One thing led to another and I have easily $500 of things that I really really love. Curse you West Elm for having too many awesome things for my budget!

    Reply

  7. Pam the Goatherd says

    Finished the survey but some of my answers might be confusing because I answered that I don’t have any children (my three children are grown and out on their own) but still answered the question about where my children play with and store their toys based on what we did when they were growing up.

    Reply

  8. Misty says

    haha, that was fun! Funny story – just lost my West Elm virginity this past weekend! Drove two hours to the nearest one and left with two hand towels, could have left with everything that would fit in the car….. especially one particular light fixture! ;)

    Reply

  9. Laura says

    The survey didn’t have a place to include this, but I think it’s worth mentioning since it was a big part of our home renovation/design decision. When we bought our home, it had a separate formal dining room adjacent to the kitchen. On the other end of the kitchen is a relatively large space with a bay window for a kitchen table. When we decided to renovate the kitchen, we knocked down the wall between the kitchen and dining room to make our kitchen larger, which means we no longer have a separate dining room – just the kitchen table that is located in the open space between the kitchen and the family room. We are hoping that the trend will be to forego the formal dining room and opt for more casual dining in the kitchen. Otherwise we will have a hard time selling this house!

    Your survey asked how much time people spend in their living rooms but I’d be curious to know how much time people spend in their kitchens. For us it is the heart of our home.

    Reply

  10. Kelsey says

    Great work on the survey! It was fun to take and will be very interesting to see the results! My only minor complaint is that not all scenarios are represented. I live in a studio apartment where the living room/bedroom/work space are all one room. Some of the questions were difficult to answer because my situation wasn’t represented.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I totally know what you mean! In NYC I lived in a tiny studio and John shared a teensy apartment with roommates and lived in the living room! It was quite the challenge to try to make the questions represent all the scenarios, but we love any and all write-in info you guys provide :)

      xo
      s

  11. Rachel says

    That survey made me realise just how messy and disorganised I am right now. Love my house, hate cleaning it.

    Reply

  12. Cora says

    Ahh! Taking this on the iPad it has closed out on me twice because I swiped too low on the page. My apologies that you will have two incomplete surveys in there from me, one at 90% complete. Not sure I have the patience to try again.

    Reply

  13. Dina says

    So fun, can’t wait for the new book! Infographics are my fave, nerds unite! #ilikebignerdsandicannotlie #dontworrysherry #myhandsareoffhesyours #haveabignerdofmyown

    Reply

  15. Jen @ Migonis Home says

    That was a really well done survey, John and Sherry! As I went through it it really helped me think about which areas of our house really still need work and helped me be thankful for the areas that I was able to say “just renovated” even if they aren’t 100% done yet. :)

    Reply

  16. Jen says

    Great survey … made me focus on the parts of the house that I love, not just on the list of things I wish I could fix up right now.

    Reply

  17. Amanda says

    That was a lot of fun! I can’t wait to see which responses you choose to use. I’ll admit – the weirdest thing I’ve got on my counter right now is 12+ dozen eggs. I’m thinking based on the comments on my FB page under the picture I posted of the freshly washed eggs, it is definitely not normal for most people to have that many eggs…..seemed normal to me until today. :)

    Reply

  18. Dana says

    Will your second book contain options for us “apartment dwellers” or “house renters” who can’t permanently change things in the home? A little paint goes a long way…but options on dealing w/horrible counter tops and carpet would be a life changer!

    Reply

  19. stella g. says

    We live in military housing and don’t have any choice in the house they offer us. (Yes, we could live off-post but choose not to for many reasons.) Anyways, I’ve always said our house was too small for our family, but after your survey I realized that although it’s not perfect, I really do like it! We’ve used our limited space well and it’s all that we need. Thanks!

    Reply

  20. Allison says

    Hi Sherry & John,

    We just moved into our new construction home, and just like you guys I started a blog for my friends & family to share the process. Last night I posted a picture of my dining room shelves on Instagram, and then Marshall’s regrammed it on their feed. Within minutes I had 1000k likes and 100+ new followers. It’s crazy how fast it happens and now the pressure is on to keep my blog going. Major props to you guys for doing it and doing it well all these years!

    Allison

    Reply

  21. Jen says

    Thank you for the giveaway! Filling out the survey now. And are you still taking submissions for the book or is that window closed? :)

    Reply

  22. Caroline B. says

    This is so fun! But I think two questions would be interesting to know the answers to: How long have people been in their house? And how long to people intend to stay? For example: are you in your forever house?

    Reply

  23. JamieF says

    When I bought my house it had what I would call two 3/4 bathrooms. What I failed to notice when I purchased the house was that the main floor bathroom had a nice bathtub and giant glass shower doors…but no actual shower head. Perhaps the gal that lived here before me just took really rowdy baths? Why else would you need shower doors and no shower? And the basement bathroom has only a toilet and shower, no sink. Makes for some awkward hand washing I tell you!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      So funny what you notice after you buy a house that you didn’t absorb during the walk-through! It took us a while to realize there are five seashell shaped sinks here! And our kitchen sink is so shallow it’s only like 5″ deep!

      xo
      s

  24. Jen @ The Decor Scene says

    What an awesome survey. Makes you realize what you do or don’t have in your home and how it works or doesn’t work for you. I loved taking this survey. Can’t wait for the book to come out. Will we get advance notice and be able to order it in advance like last time? Can’t wait to read the new book! :)

    Reply

  25. Stefanie says

    Just wanted to drop a note and say that I sure do miss the “family” part of your blog. I always looked forward to Clara Conversations and some of the quick “family outting” type updates. Any chance of bringing posts like that back? I don’t think we’ve seen any since you did away with that part of the blog. Maybe a quick Friday family post since you don’t normally post on Friday’s? I know you’re trying to cut back but know that those things are missed by your fans. =)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw thanks Stefanie! We would love to share Clara Conversations once a month on Fridays as well as working in other life stuff we’ve always shared – like trips and birthday/anniversaries and stuff like that. Book projects/shoots/writing has been really crazy lately, so hopefully once that settles down we can get back to it.

      xo
      s

  27. Maria B. says

    Just finished taking the survey. It was funny and didn’t took too much time. Glad to help with book 2!! Blessings.

    Reply

  28. Aurelie says

    thanks guys – fun to think about our house :-) and you have a standing invite to come visit and see all you’ve inspired :-)

    Reply

  29. Sarah C says

    So, what’s a Muse Room??! I tried googling it and didn’t find anything useful. Have I been living under a rock? :)

    Reply

  31. Meg says

    That was super fun! We just bought our home in May and are steadily (read: constantly) renovating some part of it, and just finished laying hardwood floors upstairs last weekend. So I was all happy and glow-y with our progress answering the questions :) Can’t wait to see the finished product!

    Reply

  32. Amanda says

    Regarding direction of TP: this was the one thing my husband I argued about as newlyweds. I grew up with it under (because I grew up with CATS and they can’t undo the roll when you leave it under). He grew up with it “the right way” — over. I changed for him. But now that we have a TODDLER, it’s kind of like having a cat, and I think we may need to change the direction of the TP. :)

    Reply

  33. Sassafras says

    Hoping some of your builder friends read your website. They need to go backwards a bit and build two types of houses – one for those of us who REALLY use our kitchens (some of us need huge farmhouse style kitchens because we garden and can) and a smaller one for those of us who use it to grab a glass of beverage and hit the microwave. These kitchys w/2 cabinets and a hotplate don’t work for everyone. We bought our house even with a too small kitchen because everything else about it worked.

    Reply

  36. bette says

    I got to the page about the office and it said I was 87% finished but it wouldn’t let me go on. How do I know if it went through?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      So strange! Anyone else having this issue? Is one of the fields left undone? Sometimes you miss a dropdown or something and then it won’t let you go to the next part.

      xo
      s

  37. Ashley N says

    Can’t wait for your next book! I remember reading that you were asking for submissions for houses to potentially feature, how can we submit photos? Thanks!

    Reply

  39. Sherilyn says

    This survey was great! I have a relatively small two bedroom apartment, but filling out this survey was a good reminder that it serves all the living needs my husband and I have now. I don’t know how you did it but this survey made me very grateful!!!

    Reply

  40. Elizabeth says

    Must be hard to come up with all the possible options people will want!

    We have a combined lounge/dining room, but with our furniture placement it is two distinct areas. I spend a lot of time on my laptop at the dining table. I am looking for a new job so a lot of my time here is searching for and applying for jobs.

    Our laundry is a separate room, but you have to go outside and downstairs to access it. I guess it could be considered to be in the basement, but I think I put “other” as we have a separate basement.

    Reply

  41. Samand P says

    Just completed the survey. But there was one point I wanted to share. I would have preferred having an option in the laundry questions that said “front loader, no drier”, as it’s really considered a luxury here in Australia.
    (And really, line drying your clothes is better for the environment anyway ;) )

    Reply

    • Margaret says

      Yeah, I wanted to make that point as well – we have a front loader but no drier. Guess the sun in Australia is better at drying clothes than in other parts of the world! Most back yards have a Hills Hoist (rotary clothes line) for drying clothes ;)

  43. Rosemary Hawver says

    I’m probably one of your oldest followers (71), but I love decorating and your blog helps me keep up with what’s current; I don’t want a “granny” house. We recently moved into a new empty nester home and I love it. Our house before last could be a twin to your current home; it was without blue trim, but with stained trim, which I hated. Both of you are so creative, skilled and brave and funny! I check your blog every day.

    Reply

  45. Jennifer says

    Just completed the survey. I was torn on some of the dining room space questions as technically I have one but it is repurposed as a playroom. The only reason it doesn’t have a dining table in it yet is because I’m trying to figure out the best way to make it a dual use room (playroom and dining while the kids are little.) I have an eat in kitchen but it only accommodates two guests so I’m dying to have an option for more for the holidays while not dedicating the space to something I would use only on occasion. I have a beautiful cupboard in there which houses art supplies, crafts and toys the kids need supervision for (little or very messy parts) as well as table cloths and table décor. I’ve contemplated making/having made an expandable table with expandable benches and end chairs as the kids could then use the bench as their ‘market space’ or the table with a basic cloth as a tent/fort with under table lighting (hey it’s out of sight). Not sure how to best keep the rest of the toys stored quickly and stylishly though for a multi use room.

    Reply

  46. Mary says

    I just did the survey. I’m afraid some of my responses may confusing. I answered I have 1 child. But actually, she’s grown & has left the nest.

    Reply

  47. Caroline says

    Just took the survey! A quick suggestion for the laundry question: we have shared laundry in our building; perhaps you’d like to make that an option as well! Have loved YHL since the beginning – thank you for being a source of joy and inspiration!

    Reply

  49. Sarah says

    I absolutly LOVED taking that survey! It really helped me realize where some of our problem areas are and where our better areas are as well. We just moved our “play area” for the kids from our basement living room into my sons room where he has a fabulous built in storage closet and it has done WONDERS for us! Our living space down there is a lot less cluttered. Love you guys!!

    Reply

  50. Tirza Guerra says

    Loved the survey, very funny!
    I live in Brazil, but I am currently in NY, in vacation with my husband.
    Just got your first book! ;-)

    Reply

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