Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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House Tour: Winter 2014

Something about filming the video tour of our showhouse progress made us realize that we were overdue for one of our own house (that and the fact that so many of you have been asking for one). And considering the last one we made was the “before” of this house, overdue is actually an understatement. So please forgive our delay and enjoy this little jaunt around our very much in-progress pad:

In the video you might notice a few things…

  • There are several “disaster zones” in the house (the dining room, the guest room, and the unfinished storage room) which are basically a catch-all dumping ground for things that we haven’t figured out a place for yet – so we kept those real and showed you the chaos.
  • We also take a moment to highlight the bins full of baby girl clothes in the living room that Sherry’s going to consign/donate. Why do we always point out the most random things when the camera’s rolling?
  • There’s a sneak peek of our bathroom ceiling, which is halfway done.
  • I filmed while Sherry narrated, since we’ve learned that Sherry’s a bit too Blair Witch Project with her camera skills, and I’m not as good at chatting without long awkward pauses.
  • Sherry now wants me to add that there’s nothing not-awkward about her narration. I like her last sentence the best.
  • Please forgive the couple of obvious cuts – like when I trekked down a long dark hallway towards our laundry, or when I spun around and smacked the camera into our closet wall and may have muttered something unsavory.
  • Burger makes a cameo and totally plays it cool (“don’t mind me, I’ll just keep eating.”)

And if you’re interested in making a direct comparison, here’s our original house tour video from waaaay back in May – which was before we had even moved in.

Do you guys ever walk around with a video camera (or just a regular camera) to “time capsule” your progress? It’s such an easy thing to put off doing (and it definitely feels weird while you’re doing it), but it’s kind of awesome to have them to look back on.

Psst- You can check out the video tours of our first house here, here, here, here and here – and the video tours of our second house here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Comments

  4. Heidi says

    I am amazed by the number of projects you guys have been able to tackle in such a short amount of time! I’ve been in my house for 2.5 years and I feel like I have almost nothing accomplished.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw thanks Heidi! I think we definitely work in fits and starts. Some weeks/months we’re flying along, and sometime it feels like we’re crawling and hitting every snag possible!

      xo
      s

  5. Anele @ Success Along the Weighn says

    You know, we’ve never done house tours but we should especially since I’m getting the itch to change things up. It would be nice to have a time capsule of what it’s looked like for the past 6 years. I must admit, seeing your “before” tour made me a little sad because the date on your phone is when we were on Kauai. Waaaaah! :-\

    Have a great weekend!

    Reply

  7. Lisa says

    Loving the raw wood tones going in baby boy’s room! Such amazing progress you guys have accomplished in such a short amount of time. :))

    Reply

  8. Wendy @ New Moms Talk says

    We do photo journeys instead, but sometimes we forget to document as we’re waiting for the best possible light.

    Light is so ever changing in the PNW. We’re in the midst of a 10 day spell of incredible weather (mid 50s and sunny) which is perfect, but we missed some gem shots in the 60 mph windy rainy weather last week.

    Reply

  9. Jessaca says

    This looks good guys. And can I say that I’m thankful you guys are real and have disaster areas? My house is a ranch “cottage” that’s 1600 square feet with an unfinished basement with the same amount of space. It’s 1600 square feet of disaster. LOL! I noticed that some rooms read better on camera than in some of your photos. Maybe because we’re getting bits and pieces of a room so it doesn’t seem as cohesive, if that makes sense, as it would in real person.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw thanks Jessaca! The one thing about blogging (even when sharing a ton of pics and some videos) is that people come over in person and always say it’s different! Like either “this room looks so much bigger in real life!” or “this room looks so much smaller in real life!” or “what? this room is over here? I never knew that!” – it’s always funny to us because we’re here everyday so we can’t tell any difference but some people just run around saying “ohhhh, I thought this room was in a totally different spot!”

      xo
      s

    • Kathryn says

      @Sherry
      Yup! I totally had the craft room/spare room facing the front of the house. Of course, that makes no sense when I think about it, but it is funny the assumptions the brain makes when you usually see things in isolation. And I’d totally forgotten about the wet bar area downstairs! Thank you so much for the update.

      And I second Jessica. Thanks for the continued commitment to keeping it real.

  11. Janelle @ Two Cups of Happy says

    I can’t watch this until later – when I’m not at work. But, I wanted to share that you’ve inspired me to do a video of our apartment to look back on. Even though we haven’t done much to it aside from organizing and hanging art, something about a video really captures the setup/decor better than pics. When we finally own a home, we can look back on our humble beginnings! Haha.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      So glad! It really feels so strange to do one but it’s so nice to have it to look back on later! John and I are always laughing about something or other (“why did we hang that there?!” or “remember that old ottoman that Burger peed on when he was a baby?”).

      xo
      s

  12. Cait B. says

    one of the cutest things my husband did shortly after I got pregnant was walk around our house with the video camera to “introduce” our baby to our first house that unfortunately s/he will never see :( It was cute and awkward and sad all at once. We are getting ready to move from NY to MO at the end of the month(!!!) and while we are both excited we are sad to leave our first house behind so the video was definitely necessary :)

    Reply

  13. Wendy @ New Moms Talk says

    PS Would you consider donating the girlvclothes for free on Craigs List?

    We were on the receiving end when we were in NoVa and it helped tremendously. (The clothes were up to 24 mos and in very good condition.)

    We’ve since CL’d for free. all we didn’t pay for to keep it going. That includes clothes, 2 greenhouses, a $3000 or so shed, and more.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Love that idea! We have a few different bins going on (some for relatives who have baby girls on the way, some things being returned that were hand-me-downs to us, etc) but I’ll have to look into that!

      xo
      s

  15. Katie Boss says

    I’m having a baby girl in June (my first) and would be honored to take some of those clothes off your hands! Clara is one stylish chica :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, thanks Katie! We have some going to relatives and some being returned to their original owners (our stylish girl rocked a lot of stuff from her cousin) but we’ll have some leftovers to figure out :)

      xo
      s

  16. Sudhaa says

    This is the second time around you guys are hosting us in your home…..a totally weird dream but very much recurring!! I don’t know what to read of it! anyway thought of sharing that :-)

    You guys have permeated into my life so much…something about your personalities that gets me!

    Reply

  18. Alice says

    I was laughing, if someone didn’t know you guys, and only watched the beginning of the video, they would hear a female voice and after seeing John in the downstairs bathroom mirror, would start wondering about him…then there are the girly finger nails turning on the remote lights, hope everyone watches until the end LOL

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      It’s funny because in past videos sometimes you see both of us walking by like we’re attached (we stay pretty close so my voice doesn’t cut in and out) but this time I somehow managed to avoid the camera, so it only caught John!

      xo
      s

  19. Amanda says

    I love love love that you didn’t pick up the dining room and guest room before your tour. I think part of what makes you excellent bloggers is that you are real. I truly think people are attracted to people who are real and not fake – and that’s why you have such a large following. What you see is what you get and while I can’t speak for everyone, I know that’s a big part of why I brag up your blog and find myself referring to you several times a month as “my favorite bloggers”.

    I am impressed with how much you have accomplished in such a short time and how you have the patience to do it over time. I need to find that kind of patience – we’re in the midst of finishing off 700SF of the inside of a new garage into a family room space and I want it all done yesterday – but I’m only one person and with the amount of items I am building and doing myself, it’s dragging on and on.

    Reply

  20. Crystal says

    I loved watching this video! I do have a basement but man I wish I had just one extra room in the house to throw everything into so the other areas of my house weren’t so cluttered!!

    After having my first yard sale last year, I thought I’d not do another one for a few years (they are work!) but now that I’m on a clutter-free-life kick, I’m thinking another yard sale this spring is going to be necessary! LOL just got an idea – a world-wide YHL yardsale weekend! Sort of like the Macklemore challenge – it’d probably never work but sounds like a cool bring-everybody-together kind of thing.

    Reply

    • Kathryn says

      Crystal, love that idea. For me, getting rid of junk and de-cluttering would be victory enough. I’d happily donate whatever money was made to a YHL nominated charity. Some kind of cohesive, community-spirit project might be just enough to get my kiester in gear.

  21. Kaesey says

    Hey, this is great. Walking around with a camera give your readers a much better sense of scale and layout – for example, I never realized the living room was off the kitchen! For some reason I pictured it across from the office. (Where I thought the dining room was, I have no idea.)

    I wish we’d done this when we moved into our condo. I have lots of photos (peeling paint! green and beige bathroom floor tiles!) but no video. I might just try this soon. After I patch the hall ceiling, of course. Got those track lights up but drat if the new box covers didn’t fit the old ones…..

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, that’s what I do! I say “after I finish this one thing I’ll make a video” and then we blink our eyes and it has been months! I finally just said “were doing it!” – good luck Kaesey!

      xo
      s

    • Kaesey says

      We’re having a birthday party here in two weeks and I know I’ll clean the whole place up first….maybe it will inspire me to do a video, including the “hide all this stuff!” pile on the porch. =)

  22. Elle says

    As was mentioned upthread, I totally thought your bathroom was 90 degrees different (bathroom door parallel to the front door).

    I love that you guys are such old hands at redoing a room that a completely blank nursery as you’re entering the third trimester doesn’t have you worried at all. I also love that Burger is similarly “Eh, no biggie” when he’s ambushed at the food bowl.

    Reply

  23. Jess says

    Fun! How’s the painted floor in the closet holding up? I assume you are only ever in socks or bare feet on it but just wondered.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Still looks great! I think the sealer really helped (I got a drip of trim paint on it from painting the bathroom and it popped right off thanks to the sealer).

      xo
      s

  25. Randi says

    Hi guys – great video! Thanks for sharing. I don’t think I realized how much different your new office is from your old one. Are you able to work together with only one desk nowadays?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Lately I have been working at the kitchen table (I’m all spread out there now) and John has used that desk, but I can’t wait to get a workspace in there for both of us someday!

      xo
      s

    • Tara S says

      I totally laughed out loud when you said that. I tried to convince my husband that we should paint the inside of our front door but he wasn’t on board. Win some and lose some. :-)

      As always, thanks for inviting us into your house. Its amazing to see how much you’ve accomplished. Cant wait to see the baby room come together. I have a girl and a boy and it was so fun designing both rooms.

    • Tara S says

      One more story, it puts me an ease that you have a few rooms that are just collecting things at the moment. Our guest room looks very similar. My 4 year old daughter just refers to it as “the dirty room”. I told her that I bought a few things for her friends birthday party this weekend and she says, “oooh that’s fun. Are they in the dirty room?”.

  27. Bethany says

    You’re making such a beautiful home for your family! Two questions, though – maybe I missed the answers because I’m watching on low volume at work…
    1. Is Clara’s yellow chair going to stay in the hallway?
    2. What’s the roll of carpet/rug in the hallway for?
    Love what you guys have done to the place :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, both hallway things are just randomly there. We keep meaning to put them in the storage room but we didn’t clean up very much before the video, so there they are.

      xo
      s

  28. Charlotta says

    You’ve done so much since moving in! It’s amazing!

    I’ve never filmed our house, and there isn’t that much change to record, really. But I should have filmed the garden, because some areas have changed drastically over the years…

    Reply

  29. Sam @ The Junk House says

    You guys have done SO much since the “before” video tour. I can’t wait to see more progress on the nursery and what you end up doing with the office.

    I’ve never done a video tour of our house, but I did take pictures of the living room/dining room/kitchen area last January and then took pictures from the same angle last week to compare the changes over the last year. The pictures are here, if you are interested:

    http://thejunkhouse.blogspot.com/2014/01/january-2013-vs-january-2014.html

    Reply

  30. Jessica says

    Loved the tour! Sherry, I love your cute voice and how you just chat away! Also, I could hear a little of the breathlessness of the third trimester! Yay!! Anyway, this may be too personal and if so, just tell me to mind my own business. I was just curious, since you mentioned giving away all your girl clothes, have you decided 2 is the right number of kids for you guys? I hope I haven’t crossed the line into rude territory. Anyway, the house looks great! It’s way cleaner than my house, but I blame my 17 month old for that haha ;)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw thanks Jessica! In this post a few months back we said “at this point we’re both excited and satisfied by the idea of being a family of four (well, five with the Burgs).” This pregnancy has been a bit harder than my first one was since then, so assuming everything is healthy with this little guy, we’re most likely done at two.

      xo
      s

  31. Meggan says

    Always so fun to see the progress :) Before you get rid of Clara’s clothes…I’ve heard of people saving the favorite outfits to make a quilt. Since you made a baby blanket out of the picture project fabric, thought it might be a cute keepsake!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      That’s a sweet thought! I have a bunch of bins going on, so some things are going to relatives with girls on the way, others are being returned since they were hand-me-downs from cousins, some are things I can’t part with since they’re so sweet that I’m saving to do something with – so I love the quilt idea!

      xo
      s

    • Leah says

      My mom actually saved her favorites of our baby clothes. I’m having the first grandchild of the fam in late June. Over Christmas, my mom busted out FOUR bins of clothes and blankets. We went through and picked out what I liked (most of it). I have a feeling this kid will be well-dressed. It’s fun thinking that my baby will wear clothes that I wore 30 years ago. Some are even clothes my mom wore too!

  32. Chandler Quarles says

    I love how real you guys are on your house tours! When I post house tours, I feel like everything needs to look perfect. But I’m reminded, it doesn’t! I love your balance of being AMAZING with before-and-afters, but keeping it real because you do live there after all, and everyone has a dirty storage closet. Thanks guys!

    Reply

  33. Laura says

    Excited to watch this when I get home from work, but the opening picture with the aqua door reminds me how much I love that color. Now, I just have to convince my husband he likes that color, too.

    Oh, and you have a typo in the sentence about why Sherry narrates. It should be “bit” instead of “big”. No biggie. I just do a lot of proofing for my job!

    Reply

  34. Marleena says

    Absolutely beautiful! I have to add that since you do not see Sherry in the downstairs bathroom mirror when John waves , it seems as though John is the one giggling. I had to replay it a few times because it cracks me up!

    Reply

  35. Isabel says

    Thanks for the video guys, it is amazing all the progress you have made in such a short time. I try to take pics as much as possible and think of how I want to document it in my scrapbook so that I am motivated to whip out the camera, but it’s so easy to not do it. Congrats on your billboards too! Wish I could make it down to VA to see your presentation – want to come speak at the NJ Home Show?? :)

    I wanted to share this quote from my husband that I thought was hilarious and I also think shows how this crazy DIY thing is really all about the journey. So last night, after an evening spent working on the kitchen, he says: “When this kitchen thing is done, I want to just spend one weekend sitting around and enjoying what we’ve done. You have to stop coming up with so many projects, this is crazy. Plus, you know spring is coming and I have a million projects outside…” At that point he realized the irony of what he was saying and just bust out laughing.

    Reply

  37. Crystal says

    You both are so talented, I love what you’ve done so far! Thanks for not cleaning every square inch of your house, it’s nice to know your human and not blogging robots with a perfect looking house all the time.

    Reply

  38. tiffani says

    i’ve been following your blog since finding your book shortly after moving into my first house last september. it’s given me great ideas and helped me push through feeling overwhelmed. your new house is coming along beautifully, but my favorite parts are the rooms that aren’t done yet and are still full of stuff, because over a year in, i still have rooms-which-must-not-be-opened because they’re full of things i haven’t gotten to yet. it’s nice to see that side of your experience and know that i’m not alone :).

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw thanks Tiffani! The whole “possibility” thing is very exciting. I love rooms with the promise of being awesome as much as rooms that already are! Haha!

      xo
      s

  40. Abbey says

    Sherry,
    I am totally impressed at your breathing ability as you start your third trimester! I’m due on Feb 5th and even in my second trimester I was breathing super heavily, I tried making a video tour of our nursery and the whole time I’m talking there is a distinct Darth Vadar noise in the background. Our guest room looked the same when we started our nursery too!

    Reply

  41. Becki says

    Great video! Loved it. What you have done so far is gorgeous. Really jealous of that storage space you have off the laundry room. Glad you showed the dinning space and guest room even though they were messy, we have a few rooms like that too so we are glad we’re not the only ones :)

    Can’t wait to see what else you guys do.

    Reply

  42. Julie L. says

    I said it when I saw the first house tour video but I can’t get over that my house is pretty close to identical to yours (in terms of floor plan, window placements, down to the blue trim – the only place we have it left is the master bedroom). It is kinda crazy how similar but we do live in the area so maybe the houses were built by the same builder. My next project is my ugly, original vinyl floor. I finished a Phase I update on my kitchen cabinets and am looking for a phase I update to the floor. Looking forward to what you guys do with that. I need to submit my monster brick hearth to the feedback section of your site. It’s the same as yours but the hearth is seat height and sticks out about two feet. Thanks again for posting! Love everything you’ve done so far.

    Reply

  43. Jenny Stoudt says

    I have to admit feeling a little bit sad hearing that Clara’s clothes are leaving (and assuming this means you’re done having children). Because I, for one, would love to see a whole gaggle of Petersiks in a Home Depot!

    Reply

  45. Amy says

    I would recommend hanging on to that girl clothes until baby boy comes out and you’re 100% certain that’s he’s a boy – you just never know! :)

    Reply

  46. Stacey says

    Well, for crying out loud, would it have killed you to get in front of the camera, Sherry?!?!?!?!? Everyone wants to see a pregnant mama. Nice job on the house!!!

    Reply

  47. Susan says

    Loved the tour! I have the same Samantha French print you have by your front door, as well as another one entitled Breakthrough.

    Reply

  48. Jody says

    Loved seeing the house video!!!! Amazing!!!
    But I’m worried about burger! Food is under a shoe shelf in the closet?! He’s so little so I’m sure he can get to it — but I think he needs space for his food!!! Just sayin’!!! Love your site-keep having fun with your house! It looks fabulous!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      He actually likes to have his food in a private little nook, along with his crate (we even stuffed a pillow in his crate to make it half the size because he likes to be enclosed like that). He’s a weird boy!

      xo
      s

    • Meredith says

      I have a 40-lb. basset hound who likes the “enclosed” thing as well; her crate is in a closet and she likes that, and when I can’t find her she is usually hidden under my bed! As there’s only about a foot of space between the rug and the bottom of the bed, it’s a pretty tight fit. :)

  49. Cindy says

    Love your videos! This one made me wonder, and maybe somewhere you’ve already mentioned this… but does this house have a basement? I’ve lived in the upper midwest my whole life and have never seen a house without a basement! Absolutely love what you are doing with this place!!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      This one doesn’t (it’s pretty common just to have a crawl space under the house) but our first two houses had little tiny separate entry ones under sunrooms, which were added on later.

      xo
      s

  50. Sarah Stirling says

    I love what y’all have done so far. It’s truly incredible how much y’all have accomplished in just a few short months. I also have to say that it’s refreshing that you left the “disaster zones” as-is for the tour. It’s nice to know that other people have those crazy areas of their homes too!

    Looking forward to the Home and Garden Show! I think my sister-in-law and I are planning on going :)

    Reply

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