As our sixth blogiversary winds down (and we stow the t-shirt launchers and airhorns until next year) we wanted to thank you guys for the good times. Hashtag thanks for the memories (please tell me you’ve seen this). Last year’s blogiversary concluded with a geeky graphic round-up of some of the most interesting stats from our annual reader poll, and this year nearly 30,000 of you guys took the poll at the end of Wednesday’s post, which was a pretty big contrast to our first blogiversary poll where I copied and pasted all 199 comment responses into a spreadsheet by hand). It was interesting to see what has changed since last year’s infographicized recap (and what hasn’t) along with just generally hearing what makes you tick.
In case you’re one of those people who’s like “BOO PICTURES. ME NEED MORE WORDS!” the gist is that on average you guys gals are largely 20-to-30-something, married women who enjoy reading blogs (surprise!) and reading books, who could use a little more dancing in your lives (couldn’t we all, really?). And as for anyone who’s not in the majority of a certain category, you aren’t fringe data, you’re extra special (heck, I’m a very rare species around here myself, being a guy and all). You know we love a smorgasbord.
PS: Guess Who graphic from here.
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.
Zuzanna says
Love this article!
Anele @ Success Along the Weigh says
Love the graphics!
Now I want to play Memory.
Lindsay says
The JT hashtag video is hilarious! I <3 him already, but seeing was awesome. I watched it a few times already when it floated around facebook.
Anna says
I just wanted to be the first comment of the post to say CONGRATS on six years and keep up the awesome work!
Jessica says
Guess Who graphic = Freaking Epic.
Molly says
YES.
Jessica J. says
Agreed!
Annie says
Oh my gosh, major Guess Who memories just came flooding back! If you picked a girl, a dude in a hat, or somebody in glasses, you were potentially screwed….
Alicea says
Love you guys! The “Matt Foley – Van Resident” stat totally made my morning. You’ll be living in a van, down by the river!
Hayley says
Me too! I laughed out loud and my mom asked what I was laughing at. I was all, “yeah, you wouldn’t get it.” Love it!
M says
I lift my juice glass to another great year…. Love you, M from California
Angel says
LOL @ Guess Who
Loved them all, but that was the best.
Megan @ Rappsody in Rooms says
So sad blogiversary week is over. Sigh. It’s one of my favs. I guess until next year I will just have to deal with all your other great posts. :) Life is hard. Ha!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Megan! We always have so much fun with it, mainly because you guys = the best.
xo
s
Debi says
Love you guys your the best!!!
So glad I found this site all those years ago.(2009)Maybe one day I will actually win one of those great prizes but alass not today! Looking forward to more great DIY. (I’m one of the 8%’ers.)
Alicia says
Okay so this is totally unrelated to this post , but I was just looking through the target website and the new Nate Berkus fall collection has a piece that is a metal honeycomb to hang on the wall in ORB. Couldn’t help but think of you guys when I saw it. You should check it out…
Here’s the link…
http://m.target.com/p/nate-berkus-trade-metal-honeycomb-wall-art-black/-/A-14556498
I’m going to try and recreate the look with toilet paper rolls (you know the projects you see all over Pinterest!?)
Hope you like it!
YoungHouseLove says
LOVE IT!
xo
s
Manda Wolf says
So much fun! But now I have a song stuck in my head. Do you guys do this just for fun or do you use this information for anything important?
YoungHouseLove says
100% purely for the love of making infographics. And just to hear more about you guys. We do tend to drone on about ourselves the rest of the year… so…
-John
Meg says
As a just turned 60-year-old living in Asia (Japan), I feel very special indeed.
YoungHouseLove says
You’re pretty dang special, Meg!
xo
s
Molly says
I can’t even handle you guys sometimes! You may say I’m a dreamer…
But I’m not.
Happy Friday!
Kandace says
omg…thanks so much for posting that hashtag video. i about peed my pants. #needdepends #notreally
Mandy says
These facts are great and all. But to be honest, all I am going to take away from this is remembering quotes from Matt Foley and using them as often as possible throughout my weekend. hehe.
betty (the sweaty betty) says
love the infographics, john! and the guess who was def the best one!
Hannah says
This is great and John, I love the graphics! As somebody who is currently wading their way through writing an 80,000 word thesis I would LOVE to be able to present my work like this.. So much happier than the standard Excel graphs! Did you use a particular program?
Thanks and please keep up the awesome! Xx
YoungHouseLove says
I’m all about the Photoshop. I just use some fonts and some shapes along with color washes and stuff to spice things up.
-John
Hannah says
Wow, thanks, that is so creative. Let me know if you ever decide to sell a YHL infographics package!! :) happy anniversary!
Kerry says
Yesssss to your Guess Who reference for the second stat! My brother and I used to play that game ALL.THE.TIME. growing up. (We still think it’s unfair how many women were in that game…) My bro was a big fan of eschewing the rules and just randomly guessing to see if he could get it right the first time. “Does your person have an egghead? Does your person have two red bows?” Ah, memories…
Jennifer says
Your infographics are always my favorite! You guys are wonderful and I appreciate everything you do and share with us!! Wishing you many more years of blogging blessings!
Lindsey says
Love the infographics, but that Guess Who one is the best! Loved that game.
Lindsey says
I have a serious crush on John’s graphics skills.
Laurie says
I’m amazed at how many 20 something homeowners you have! Maybe the statistics are skewed because if they are a young homeowner, they would be here but still, I don’t think I knew ANYone who was a homeowner when I was in my 20s.
Of course, I was working at Tower Records and hanging out with musicians so maybe we were just the original 80s slackers/90s grunge crowd.
JennP says
I took the poll though, and I’m 29 and 7 months & a recent homeowner! I would have never been reading a home improvement blog as a 23 year old in a studio! I bet the 20-something readers tend to be closer to 30 than 20.
Nicole says
I may be abnormal but I am 24 and we finished building our house about 11 months ago. I do have alot of friends who are still renting/living with their parents though :-)
Chelsea says
I too am in the 20’s and have owned my home with my husband since I was just barely 21… he’s owned his own since he was 18. We moved into our house just before we got married. I know this is abnormal though, as only one other friend of ours owns his home, and he’s in his 30’s anyways. Everyone else rents.
Rachel B says
Crappy housing market and husband and I having steady jobs when we bought our house (I was 23, he was 25) meant we scooped up our 100 year old home for a budget friendly price. We’re now 25 and 27 respectively and have been renovating for the past 2 years. I know when we lived in our apartment I could only dream about painting walls and hanging amazing wall decor… sigh. The desire to decorate and personalize our space was sadly… or maybe not so sadly, one of the big motivators for us to become homeowners. Anyway, I think younger people entering the house market has been facilitated by the huge drop in home prices over the past 6 or 7 years
Emily says
Love the Guess Who? graphic! From your data might I be so bold as to suggest all those busy pinning should start spinning instead (or walking – or moving). No time like the present!
Michelle says
you so totally derailed my workday with that JT skit! ha ha! I’ll go back and read your blog post now… :-)
Andrea says
Hey, can you guys get to laying your stair runner already (and posting a great tutorial)…?! We have ours waiting to be installed ASAP after you guys tell us how! :) It’s going to be an annoying process to remove all of the nails the previous owners used to install the current one (the cheapest runner from HD-ugh-so ugly!!) but we can’t start because our clumsy dog can’t maneuver down naked stairs….
YoungHouseLove says
ACK! Just got an email from the manufacturer saying our two runners are on backorder until the end of October. SO SAD! Even wrote back and said “is there any promise it’ll be ready then, because it already got pushed back twice.” Here’s hoping they hurry on over here!
xo
s
Amber V. says
It would be a fun blogiversay exercise to ask everyone about their favorite YHL moment of the year.
I’ll consider myself asked and say that despite how much I adore pretty much everything you post, my number one moment of the past year doesn’t have any stiff competition. I mean, how do you really beat “PIN SOMETHINGINEEDAMARSHMALLOW!”?
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, that is up there as favorite of all time for me I think!
xo
s
Regina says
This post is hilarious! You guys are friggin a w e s o m e !!! You had me crack up over the fact that obviously half of your readers are losing their minds. Guess what group I’m in…..
Heather says
1151.52 people are having babies! I love this! (I’m slightly seriously concerned about the .52 of the person with child though. Which half? Are they okay? So many questions.)
P.S.) Major points to J for the Guess Who infographic. Pulling out the stops!
YoungHouseLove says
Hahaha!
xo
s
Steph says
Hashtag, infographic posts rock.
Hashtag, I love Blogiversary
Hashtag, JT is the best
Hashtag, LOLOLOLOLOLOL
Hashtag, Guess Who graphic FOR THE WIN.
Hashtag, best blog ever.
Hashtag, awesome.
hashtag, i misspelled hashtag like 7 times writing this comment
hashtag, need more coffee.
ELLEN says
Steph! You totally stole my comment idea! :)
Hashtag, I guess I’m too slow.
Hashtag, Jimmy and Justin are my fave.
Hashtag, there’s a Guess Who? game in my closet.
Hashtag, glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t exercise.
Hashtag, love YHL!
YoungHouseLove says
You guys are hashtag thebest, hashtag awesomesauce, hashtag it’sfriiiiiday!
xo
s
Amy B. says
Hashtag, I almost spit my coke out I am Lol’ing so hard at this post and this comment!
Hashtag, love JT and JF and YHL!
Megan says
Love the infographics! Blogiversary is my favorite week of the year. You guys are awesome!
Melissa F. says
I can’t believe you didn’t have “Work on DIY Projects” as a choice for what we do in our spare time….or this: Researching DIY Projects online, Planning DIY projects, Starting DIY projects, Getting ADD about one DIY project and starting another DIY project…..
YoungHouseLove says
I know! I said that yesterday in a comment. What were we thinking?! Must be with the majority of people who are losing their minds!
xo
s
Amanda says
Thy hashtag skit was HILARIOUS!!! I was dying laughing when I saw it. Happy blogiversary – I love reading your posts everyday – you guys rock!
Morgan says
Ya nailed this post!!! I missed the poll :(
I am a Female, single (well in a relationship so…common-law??), home owner, obsessed with your blog, cat lover!!!!
Maureen says
Guess Who! I absolutely LOVED this game!
Thanks for everything guys. Have you ever covered in your blog how you guys save for money or what your money/budgeting system is every month?
YoungHouseLove says
Aw, thanks Maureen! We have a section about Money Saving on our Projects page that can help I think!
xo
s
Maureen says
Ok thanks!!!
Sarah P. says
Love this infographic! Keeping it interesting. WOO HOOOO on your almost 29,000 responses! That is NUTS! 0___0
Ali says
Love this! And as a minority (barely) 40-something, I loved that all of the cultural references screamed out at me. REM, Guess Who, #yourock. #sodoJimmyFallonandJustinTimberlake. Seriously, I would listen to those two read a grocery list. Or crad catalog. Of course, they would do it while rapping freestyle and dressed as cub scouts, but whateves.
Emily says
Ha ha, Ali! I just turned 40 a few months ago and I definitely had “a moment” when filling out that part of the survey! And I totally agree with you about Jimmy and JT. I adore each of them separately, but when they are together, it’s an exponential lovefest!! :)
Joanna @ Our Freaking Budget says
99% women?! Wow! This explains why my husband doesn’t get quite as excited about our home improvement/decorating projects as I do! :) John, what’s Sherry’s secret for getting you on board?!
YoungHouseLove says
I think the secret is coding, building stuff, and infographics. John’s definitely not into pillows and curtains, but the sawdust and HTML stuff… he likes it. A lot.
xo
s
Heather says
When I think of how most husbands feel about decor shopping I feel like there’s a similar internal reaction as this (from Wet Hot American Summer). Paul Rudd is awesome.
YoungHouseLove says
Heather, I think I may now need to work more WHAS references into the blog. Love that movie. So weird, but so awesome.
-John
Vanessa B. says
8% in their 40s?!?! What?!?! I guess I’m proud to represent but kinda shocked too. Feelin a little old. Boo. Guess I’m still trying to figure out what my house will be when it grows up? Trying to keep the “young” alive in my house? Who wants “Old House Love”? (Sorry, Norm Abram.) Confused. Going to HomeGoods now for some retail therapy. ;)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, fear not, we’ll all blink our eyes and be checking the 40s box! I still can’t believe I’m like 15 years older than everyone on The Real World.
xo
s
haverwench says
Yeah, what’s up with that? Is it the “young” in the name that’s keeping folks over 39 away, or are we all supposed to be too old and frail to handle DIY projects anymore? Sheesh.
Debbie says
Don’t worry I’m a young 40-something also. In fact my youngest is a little older than Clara. We bought our first house in our thirties so I feel like we’re on a similar timeline. I found your site from bathroom remodeling. We did ours after your half bath remodel in your first house. Our house was built in the 70’s and we have the same fireplace.
Laura says
Is it weird that I went back into Twitter and re-read our Twitter conversation and laughed at my hilarity alone? =/ I totally had the equivalent of your Oprah moment, jumping on my fiance “BABE! THEY REPLIED TO MY TWEET ABOUT THE VAN… TWICE!!”… to which I got many a strange, concerned face which I’m sure covered thoughts such as “I’m engaged to a maniac.”
“I don’t care… I love it!” :) Happy Blogiversary!
YoungHouseLove says
I love you. True story.
xo
s
Lisa E says
I’m sorry I couldn’t partake in your survey! This is my busiest time of the year at work and after working overtime, would go home and collapse and totally spaced the survey. Apparently I am in the 3% age group, as I am in the 50s. Yikes, I still can’t believe that fact, myself! Anyway, I really like the stats, too cool. Well done. Well done!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Lisa!
-John
Christy Niebaum says
Have you guys done a side-by-side comparison of your reader demos year-over-year? Has your reader demo basically stayed the same? Or has it evolved? I would imagine your readership has grown with you, yeah? More likely to have parents reading now than when you started, etc.
I work as a brand strategist at a groovy Midwest ad agency (wehatesheep.com), so the numbers/info geek in me is twitching with infographic excitement :)
YoungHouseLove says
Yeah, our readers seem to grow with us every year, which is amazing. Although last year and this year were the only two years we had the largest average of ages (20s) which were younger than us (since we entered into our thirties last year). Should be interesting to see what happens to blogs as a whole as we go! I’d guess some people will grow with us and others will leave and others will find us so it should be interesting to see. Maybe holographic instagrams will be the thing in ten years…
xo
s
M says
Happy anniversary!
Just wanted to point out that the the Beatles graphic and the lyric “you may say I’m a dreamer” don’t match. That lyric was from the song Imagine which was John Lennon’s biggest hit as a solo artist post Beatles breakup.
#ironichashtagalert
#beatles4lyfe
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah, you’ll have to excuse John for that. I’m the real Beatles lover (#blamemydad #hemetthem!!!), although we did tape the Glee episode of their songs… which I promptly declared weren’t as good as the originals.
xo
s
Penny says
Oh yeah the Glee versions were nowhere near as good, but Darren Criss channeling Paul McCartney? YES. GAWD YES.
YoungHouseLove says
He’s my favorite. And Mercedes.
xo
s
Jocelyn says
So interesting. I would have expected there to be more married people with kids but I guess since more than half of the ladies are in their twenties that explains that. Congrats on year 6 and I look forward to many more!
Lindsay says
I love you guys! John + infographics = awesome sauce. Also, I still have a song stuck in my head and it’s “A Whole New World” Gonna be an interesting day!
Thanushka says
I didn’t even see the poll. Ha Ha
But just realized I’m one of you very general users
Jill says
John, you’ve outdone yourself! These are your most interesting, beautiful, fun graphics to date!
Gray says
Super random but I saw this and it made me think of you Petersiks…ya know, because its free. :) Every season Lindsay over at http://www.penandpaintblog.com/ posts a free seasonal printable. I love switching them out to put in the fall/christmas/spring/summer moods! You could print them out slap it in one of your bazillion frames for an added Fall jolt :) Just a suggestion, if you feel so inclined!
YoungHouseLove says
Love it! Thanks Gray!
xo
s
Laura says
This is so great!!! #cantwaittoseewhatcomesnext #justwatchedthejimmyjustinvideo #ijustcantstop #theend
Elise says
I’m laughing so hard at the Guess Who info graphic right now… so cool! I totally forgot about that game.
John, your infographic skillz have definitely improved over the year(no offense).