Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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Our Hardware Designs – In Target!

It’s been nearly three years in the making, so it’s hard to believe that the day is finally here that we can share our longest-stretching side-gig to date. We’ve been designing a collection of products… and a bunch of them are now being sold exclusively at Target (!!!). Cue the sound effect of a cat sprinting out of a bag.

Liberty Young House Love Target1

We designed three or four dozen pieces before the final mix was chosen – and those designs, which are an assortment of wall storage and hooks, are available right now at Target.com and will be on endcaps in most US stores starting March 31st.

You’ll be able to find them in the Home Improvement section where they’ll be hanging out for 14 weeks. Did I mention that we’re freaking out like Clara next to a furry mascot that she “just wants to hug and squeeze”?

Liberty Burger Hook

To say we never thought something like this would ever happen to us might be the biggest understatement of our blogging careers. And even when this process started rolling waaaaay back in July of 2011, we never expected that it would end up here.

Liberty Doorknob Hooks

When you look at the collection you’ll notice that we’ve adapted a lot of things that we love – from bees and old skeleton keys to a certain ridiculously handsome chihuahua. And everything’s priced at $14.99 or less.

Liberty Bees

We even included a bit of DIY customization in the mix, thanks to these raw wood hook rails (one with a picture ledge on top, and one without) that you can personalize with paint, stain, wallpaper, decoupage, or whatever else you have on hand. Then you can choose any of the four hardware styles in either oil-rubbed bronze or white and screw them into the predrilled rail holes.

Liberty Painted Decoupaged

But let’s rewind back to July of 2011, when this whole thing started. At that time, a company called Liberty Hardware was a sidebar blog sponsor of ours and they asked to come interview us for some research they were doing about the do-it-yourself trend. A few months later, that research turned into an invitation to explore the possibility of designing some products with them. When we said yes there was no part of us that ever envisioned them ending up in a store like Target.

Liberty Key Rail

The next two years were an exciting and sometimes intense process of design and development. Never again will we underestimate the work that goes into making those everyday products that we see on store shelves. We were primarily responsible for the creative direction, which involved providing everything from rough sketches to color/finish input along with design tweaks and feedback at every step of the design process. Liberty’s team was great to work with, and had things like manufacturing feasibility and sales analysis covered – which was a huge necessity to taking our ideas from paper (and visions in our heads) to real-life objects.

162003 YHL Octopus Hook Teal1

The development process was hugely interesting to us because it was like nothing we had ever seen. From the drawings & images that we provided, the Liberty design team would illustrate some options, the best of which then got modeled either on a computer or in clay by hand (sometimes both). Those then became 3D printed models that could get cast to become real production prototypes and eventually the final product was born. There was feedback, tweaking, and even a few “back to the drawing board” moments at each step in the process. Questions of scale, symmetry, functionality, finish, price, etc. were always being considered – as well as how everything would fit together as a collection. Heck, there was even a focus group held at one point! So all-in-all we probably designed forty or fifty pieces before they got narrowed down to the current mix.

Liberty Process

While lots of the design work happened virtually (through email and conference calls), The Liberty team – which is primarily headquartered about 3.5 hours from us in Winston-Salem, NC – traveled to Richmond on several occasions. We also found ourselves traveling to see them in North Carolina, meeting with their design team in Chicago (that’s Adam pictured, who has been bringing our ideas to life from day one of the project), and even flying out to the Target headquarters in Minneapolis at one point. Despite that meeting happening in late April of last year, we still happened to catch a major snowstorm. We’re not sure how you Minnesotans do it.

Liberty Meetings

That trip in Minneapolis was especially surreal, since it happened just a few months after we had been there for our book tour. It was weird to be secretly traveling there after so freely Instagramming our previous tour travels. We actually got recognized a couple of times while standing outside of the Target offices, so we were pretty freaked out that our cover was blown (to the folks who said hi to us, we can now apologize for being SO INSANELY AWKWARD). Secrets are no fun.

Liberty Target Dog

We shot the images you see in this post (and that appear on the packaging) in our house last November. It felt a lot like our book shoots when we were trying to create a diverse mix of backdrops in a house with very few painted walls, so we had to get a little creative. You can see in this photo that we used a remnant piece of grasscloth wallpaper to spice things up behind the Burger hook. And that’s our brother-in-law/pro-photographer Todd who did all of the shooting. Nothing like keeping it in the family.

Liberty Todd Shoot

Once it was cropped, you’d never know there was painters tape and blue trim lurking just out of frame.

Liberty Burger Hook

After all those months, all those trips and meetings, all those designs and redesigns, and all of the shooting/writing for the packaging, it still feels completely unreal that this project is out in the world now. And we’re even more excited to hopefully roll out more products as the year goes on. Yup, we’re actively pitching new designs that go beyond wall hooks and storage (Target prefers the idea of tight collections, so we’re working on different home/DIY themes that could be switched out seasonally).

We owe a huge thanks to all of the people who’ve been a part of this, especially those who have put up with our silly questions or nit-picky changes. So a big virtual hug goes out to everyone who saw something in our ideas, and helped bring them to life.

Liberty Picture Hangers

And of course we have an insane amount of love for you guys for sharing this crazy journey with us (and for putting up with our “secret project” for so long – we really wished we could have told you, oh, 32 months ago). Never in our wildest dreams did we think that first post back in 2007 would lead us here. Oops, I think the orchestra is playing me out, but picture me waving my chihuahua hook in the air while Sherry gracefully trips over her gown on the way down the steps. She’s the J. Law to my J. Leto (I just have to work on my flowing man-mane).

You can browse and buy everything now over on Target.com, and then it’ll be in most stores beginning March 31st. Fingers crossed that the sight doesn’t send Sherry into labor!

Target Screen Capture

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. 

Comments

  1. Jenna says

    Oh.my.word y’all!!!! This so so amazing awesome!! Congrats! And I can’t wait to scoop up some YHL loot.

    Sherry giddy over Nate Berkus stuff at Target = Me giddy of John & Sherry stuff at Target! So exciting!

    Reply

  2. Kim says

    The YHL chihuahua hook is going to be a must have for me, and our chihuahua house!! Nice job, and congrats!

    Reply

  4. Deb says

    Coming out of “lurkdom” to tell you how happy I am for you! I am an old grandma, (with a young heart) who admires your hard work and perseverance. Keep following your dreams and know that so many of us are out here, cheering you on.

    Reply

  8. Michelle D. says

    Congratulations to you guys!!! I have been a loyal blog reader of yours for a while now, and I absolutely ADORE your style and thoughtful blog posts!

    LOVE your Target collection and just made my purchase for the octopus and the key hook!

    THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOU DO!
    <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

    Reply

  9. Cinda says

    Congratulations! This couldn’t happen to nicer people. Y’all are having quite a big spring! Enjoy this time!

    Reply

  11. Tanja says

    CONGRATULATIONS that is amazing news and the line is great. I picked up a couple of the bee hooks for my daughters big girl room.

    Reply

  16. Sarah says

    Congratulations John & Sherry! What a wonderfully exciting venture! I can’t wait to stop in a Target and see your designs in a few short weeks :) So proud of you guys!

    Reply

  20. Jennie says

    Wow! Target and YHL … two of my favorite things :) This is great news, and I am so happy for you guys. I think your secret project lives up to every expectation … how many people can say they have a line of products at Target? You guys work hard, and you deserve very good turn you earn! Congrats again!

    Reply

  22. Stacey says

    I’ve been a faithful reader for four years and have always admired your go-get-it attitudes and creativity. This is so darn cool! I am so happy that a)I can buy your hooks for my new apartment…yahoo!! and, b)that you’ve gotten more recognition for your designs that you so absolutely deserve! Enjoy this! Congratulations to the whole fam!

    Reply

  23. Heather says

    AHHHHH Congratulations!!! You guys work so hard and have such amazing ideas. I’m so excited for you!!! Target is big stuff!

    Reply

  24. Elizabeth says

    Congratulations you two!! This is such exciting news! I am definitely snatching up that skeleton key hook piece, will look awesome in my laundry room! :)

    Reply

  25. Andrea says

    Oh my gosh, this is SOOOOOO cool! I’m so happy for you guys! Will you be signing your products at our local Target? Please say yes!!! It’ll be a collector’s item! :-) Wow!

    Reply

  26. Dina says

    Ak! The licensing has begun! Congrats Petersiks! It’s the beginning of a whole new world! I will happily be making a purchase.

    Separately, since I work in licensing, 2+ years seems like a ton of time, especially for product like this which is so trend sensative. Now that you’re in the door with a little traction, you might want to push your manufacturer/end customer to have a 12 month calendar (or faster if possible). As an example, we’re just starting to launch new brands now that will be in stores at the end of September through early November. Just think: if you could have shaved off just 4 months of your timeline, you could have hit the Christmas market… Retail’s biggest few weeks of the year.

    Ok, climbing off my soapbox. Just want to see you guys crazy successful with a bunch of product lines that I can buy from, haha!

    Reply

  27. Zoe says

    Hi,

    the design process is interesting – thanks for sharing – it really takes a long time!
    But what about production? Is that in the USA too? Or because it is Target (very big/mass production) and low cost does it mean it is produced somewhere else like China?

    Just interested in how the unit cost is kept so low.

    cheers, Zoe (Aus)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Thanks Zoe! They’re designed and engineered in the US by Liberty Hardware – in North Carolina and Illinois – and they’re manufactured overseas in China, where Liberty also has an office full of employees. Liberty Hardware and Target both have very strict standards (Target doesn’t work with any factories that aren’t inspected for worker safety and ethical treatment, and Liberty has been working with them for years).

      xo
      s

  28. Tracy H. says

    This is so cool! Congratulations! I can’t wait to buy some hooks! I’m gonna have YHL hooks all over my house, lol!

    Reply

  33. Jackie says

    Oh my gosh! These are so cool! I am in love with the octopus and the key hook and the door knob hooks…And especially the prices! I love love love that everything is on a grad student budget.

    Reply

  34. ChristinaInAustralia says

    That Minneapolis shot looks like something straight out of spy thriller ;) Which reminds me: you should be selling the movie rights to your story. Seriously! And congratulations. Please tell Target Australia to stock your stuff

    Reply

  35. Meredith Jones says

    YOU GUYS! This is so freakin awesome! I can’t decide if I want to buy a few things online right NOW or wait until I pee my pants when I see your stuff during my weekly Target shop! Congrats!!!!

    Reply

  38. Karen Little says

    Sooo happy for you two!! I’ll be looking for your designs which I think will also make great Christmas gifts. (Yes, I’m one of those strange ones who buy gifts for my family year round, store them in a big bin in the basement and then I’m all ready for events. :) Congratulations!

    Reply

  40. Heidi P. says

    EEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!!!! I love this. We all knew it was just a matter of time before Target carried the Burgs. Next up, mugs with your mugs on em! Congratulations on such a huge success milestone!!

    Reply

  42. Carrie Lea says

    OMG! How exciting!!!!!!
    I want all of the things! I’m working on a landing zone in my kitchen so this is good timing too! :)

    If you ever need a large dog model I have two gorgeous, big kids! (they are dogs but they’re my kids!)

    Reply

  44. Ashley says

    Squeeeeel!!! I’m so excited for you guys! I just browsed Target’s website and I don’t think there is one product in your line I don’t adore. That teal octopus is calling my name! I am super happy that the prices are so reasonable too. Good job you!

    Reply

  45. Vanessa says

    Omg!!!! that is the most major news ever (after announcing the barnacle is coming…of course!) Super duper CONGRATS!!!!! SO happy for the nicest, most awesome bloggers ever! Glad I got a pic with you at the book tour now that you’re gonna be even more famous!!!!! Good luck! Here’s hoping they all sell out!!!!

    Reply

  49. Kim Murtaugh says

    Three little octopi are headed my way…two white and one teal to go in my little boy’s room! I saw the post and didn’t even finish reading it before I saw the octopus hook and went right over to target.com to buy them! hee hee congratulations j and s!

    Reply

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