Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

Posts By John Petersik

John Petersik is one half of the duo behind the award-winning home improvement and do-it-yourself design blog, Young House Love. Together, he and his wife Sherry have renovated seven homes, published two New York Times Bestselling books, and designed products sold in Target and Home Depot. They are currently enjoying their downsized home on Florida's Gulf Coast with their two kids and their dog, Penny.

| By | |

Corn Plant – Care Guide

Corn plants (Dracaena fragrans) are popular low-maintenance houseplants you’ve probably seen at the nursery, home improvement store, or doctor’s office. I even had one in my college dorm room! You can recognize them by their spear-shaped leaves and woody, cane-line trunks that can grow up to 6 feet tall indoors. But did you know there are several varieties of corn plants? We didn’t! Heck, we didn’t even realize some of our smaller houseplants were in the same corn plant family! Currently, we own two smaller varieties of corn plants, pictured above. The one on the left is a Dracaena Limelight (Dracaena fragrans ‘Limelight’) and the taller plant is a Draecanea Dorado (Dracaena fragrans ‘Dorado’). We

[ Read More ]

| By | |

Using Solid Stain In Our Outdoor Shower

In all of our years of DIYing, I don’t think we’ve ever used a solid stain before. But we recently had a project that was *perfectly* suited for it and, well, solid stain quickly won us over. It was recommended by a professional house painter to us, specifically because he thought it would be great for our outdoor shower. And we found it easy to apply, it gave us great coverage, and we got an even-better-than-we-expected result (which is always the best kind!). So here’s a post that covers all the pros & cons and hows & whys of solid stain. As you can see, the “canvas” for this staining project was our outdoor shower.

[ Read More ]

| By | |

Star Jasmine – Plant Growing & Care Guide

Star jasmine is a fast-growing and fragrant evergreen vine that offers great coverage & privacy as a climbing or creeping vine. Even better, it bursts into bloom with incredible-smelling white flowers in the spring! The plant is native to Asia, but is incredibly popular in the Southeastern United States and areas of California. In warm environments like these, star jasmine is also super easy to care for and grow. Just another reason we love it! Star jasmine can grow as dense ground cover or container plants, but our favorite use is as a climbing vine. This does require a trellis, pergola, stakes, or some other structure for it to grow up. Those are easy to

[ Read More ]

| By | |

The 9 Best Greige Paint Colors (According To Experts)

“Greige” is that sweet spot between gray & beige, and it’s a paint color that’s both trendy and timeless. In fact, we’ve been on the greige bandwagon for nearly 20 years – well before we’d even heard that term! But finding the perfect greige can be daunting. There are 100s of neutral paint colors that could be considered greige, so we’ve waded through dozens of expert round-ups to see what colors come up over and over again. (Yes, I made a spreadsheet. And yes, I liked it). We weren’t surprised to see our favorite greige paint show up on this Iist, but the color that ranked #1 was a bit of a shock to us!

[ Read More ]

| By | |

A Weekend In Palm Springs With Kids

Palm Springs, California may not scream “kid-friendly destination” but we recently had THE BEST vacation there with our family (our kids are 9 and 13). So here’s a quick rundown of our favorite must-see attractions in Palm Springs as well as info about where we stayed, what we ate, and what we’re excited to check out next time. Because we definitely will be back! Did I mention we also brought our nine-pound chihuahua with us? So most of our suggestions are dog-friendly too! Why Vacation With Kids In Palm Springs? We chose Palm Springs for a lot of reasons. First, our East Coast-born kids had never been to California! Of course, there are lots of

[ Read More ]

| By | |

How To Install A Ring Doorbell In 5 Easy Steps

Did you know you can add a Ring Video Doorbell without an electrician or having to fuss with any wires? You don’t even have to have an existing doorbell! We recently added one to our front door and it’s one of the easiest do-it-yourself projects we’ve done in a while. Note: This is not a sponsored post. We paid our own money ($99!) for our doorbell. This is the exact Ring Video Doorbell we bought. Why Add A Video Doorbell? Video doorbells are an increasingly popular home security device, and the Ring Video Doorbell is one of the most popular models out there. With it, we can see and hear what’s going on at our

[ Read More ]

| By | |

The 12 Best White Paint Colors (According To Experts)

We scoured 100+ white paint colors featured on more than a dozen “best white” lists to determine what are truly the most universally loved white paints. I even made a spreadsheet! These are the 12 colors that came up over & over again. They’re trusted by everyone from interior designers & architects to builders & bloggers alike. So let’s dive into why experts recommend them and how you can pick the right white paint color for your home. Why Designers Love White Paint White is a classic choice for trim, ceilings, and even cabinets. But white paint on your walls? That’s when the strong opinions come out! Critics write off white walls as basic or

[ Read More ]

| By | |

17 DIY Shelf Ideas

Over the years, we’ve added tons of shelves to our homes – from floating shelves and built-in bookcases to decorative display shelves and heavy-duty storage shelves. So in this post, we’re rounding up some of our favorite DIY shelving projects for anyone looking to add smart vertical storage to their space. We’re going to cover: Our Favorite Floating Shelf Projects Floating shelves are a great way to display or store items with a clean, modern, and lightweight look. They can be hung just about anywhere – in a kitchen, above a TV, in a bedroom for books and toys, even in a dining room – and we’ve used both storebought floating shelves as well as

[ Read More ]

| By | |

Benjamin Moore Simply White (OC-117) Color Review

White paints can be complicated. And believe me, we’ve tried more than a few over the years. Over a decade ago, we finally landed on Benjamin Moore’s Simply White (OC-117) as our favorite go-to white paint. It’s a warm and bright white that we put everywhere: walls, trim, doors, and cabinetry. Case closed, right? Well, it’s not quite that simple… What makes BM Simply White a popular white? Picking the perfect white paint for your home is hard because a true “simple” white doesn’t exist. And even if it did, you wouldn’t want it on your walls! The best white paints typically have hints of black and subtle colorful undertones like yellow, green, or pink.

[ Read More ]

| By | |

6 Smart Layout Features For A Smaller Home

Since downsizing to our 1400 square foot house three and a half years ago (as a refresher, our previous house was more than twice as large – clocking in at 3150 square feet), you’ve probably heard us proclaim that smart storage is key. It certainly makes living in a smaller home a lot more sustainable and enjoyable, but there are also specific layout features of our house that make sharing less square footage go a lot more smoothly for us. So whether you’re thinking of downsizing, considering a new home with any of these layout details, building a new home, or are just curious about what some of our favorite “living-larger-in-a-smaller-home” features are, we’ve put

[ Read More ]

| By | |

Sherwin Williams Extra White (SW 7006) Color Review

From its name, you might expect Sherwin-Williams Extra White (SW7 7006) to be the brightest, whitest paint on the market. And while it is a crisp clean white color – it has some nuances when it comes to where and when it should (and shouldn’t) be used in your home. So let’s answer some common questions about this popular white paint color so you can decide if it’s right for you. What makes SW Extra White a popular white? Extra White is one of the most popular white paints out there. Lots of these whites have names that lead you to believe they are the best, brightest, or “whitest” white around. You’ll see names like

[ Read More ]

| By | |

The Best Family Board Games

Our family LOVES a game night and we keep a tight collection of only our 30 most favorite games. They cover a pretty wide variety: card games, party games, puzzle games, and more. We believe the best family board games are as fun for grown-ups as they are for kids. So except for a couple of adults-only versions that we’ve clearly labeled below, everything linked in this post is great for the whole family. I’ve categorized our games into the groups you see below. But be warned – there’s definitely lots of overlap! I’ve included a brief description of each game, but to avoid repeating them every time a game appears in a list, you

[ Read More ]