How do you like that sensationalized title? Haha. It’s like Star Magazine up in this joint. This is basically a post idea that John and I came up with when we realized that there were a surprising amount of nooks and crannies in the house that we’ve never shared. And some things that are a lot bigger than a nook or a cranny. Which is weird for two over-sharers like us. So consider that remedied now that we’re over-spilling the beans in true Petersik fashion. Without further ado, here’s the first we-can’t-believe-we-haven’t-shared-it-yet thing. Our pantry:
We’ve mentioned that we have a pantry-ish cabinet next to the wall oven in our kitchen…
… but realized that we never opened wide and snapped a shot. All the cabinetry in the kitchen was replaced around 25 years ago, so the swing out doors and the little middle compartment that also swings out (so there’s storage on the back and on the wall behind it) must have been quite the state of the art stuff back in the day. Heck, we’re still kind of charmed by all of those little shelves to stash stuff – although we do occasionally forget where we put something which leads to a ten minute cabinet swinging search party.
Ok moving on, betcha didn’t know we had an in-ground irrigation system. Fancy, right? Since I’m not fancy I just use the term sprinklers. It’s not for our whole almost-acre lot, just for the front yard and a small portion of the backyard that’s grass. Of course we’re “frugal” with our water usage, so we only turn it on after a while without rain (when we’re not on water restriction of course), but they’re actually pretty handy (it definitely beats wrestling the hose). And Burger jumps off the couch/out of the bed and runs to the window if they turn on. Which is always hilarious. The guy loves watching them do their thing.
Up next is just an update that we’ve been meaning to share. Remember I mentioned that I got a rendering of our first house for John this Father’s Day? Well, I finally got around to framing it. First here’s a shot of the pretty little pen & ink + Prisma marker portrait:
The artist (Jennifer Ahnquist from Kentucky) also included this first-draft sketch in the envelope as well, which was really fun to see:
So here’s the portrait hanging up in our always-changing hallway frame gallery. We hung it nice and low (using the same affixed-to-the-wall-so-it’s-baby-safe method that we outlined here) since Clara loves saying “ohh hou” which is “bean-talk” for old house. So cute.
Oh and see the frame above it? That’s this page from a hand-me-down Boden catalog that my BFF left at my house. I loved the playful riff on “seize the day” so I just cut it out (following the imperfect background rectangle) and popped it into that frame. Can’t wait until Clara starts learning to read, since it’s down towards her level.
This never before seen tidbit might scare you in an is-that-the-vine-from-little-shop-of-horrors-and-will-it-try-to-eat-my-face kind of way. Yup, that’s right, the green leafy mass on the tree trunk next to our upper patio is a vine. It’s actually “hugging” a tall healthy oak tree (we had someone check things out, just to make sure), and apparently the vine down towards the base shouldn’t be invasive enough to do too much damage, but if it continues to grow and starts looking too heavy or the tree starts not-thriving we’ll be on it like white on rice.
And now for the that’s-a-shame thing that we’ve never really pointed out specifically. We love the extra wide reclaimed pine floors in our bedroom, but they desperately need some love. Check out the faded square in front of our dresser (our best guess is that some piece of furniture sat there for so long that the floor somehow faded around it).
It has also completely lost its seal, so the previous owners must have placed something brown here on the floor that was sucked right into the wood and stained it (floors with poly or some other sealer usually prevent this from happening). So refinishing it (along with a lot of other damaged areas of hardwood in our house) is definitely on the someday agenda.
We also ironically learned in the very last post about our first house how often we re-share the same angles of a room over and over again – but somehow miss taking shots from other vantage points. For example, we never shared a shot like this of the den (looking into the kitchen/laundry nook) until moving day when everything was packed up in the truck. So it makes us want to include mundane photos like this one of the hallway that connects Clara’s room, the playroom, the guest room, and the hall bathroom to the heart of the house (the hallway frame gallery/kitchen/dining room/living room, etc).
See that giant intake vent near the floor? I’m dying to add some sort of wainscoting to the hall, but I’m not sure how I can do it with this beast going on. Maybe just work it in around it and paint it glossy white and hope that it looks semi-seamless?
Ok, and here’s the thing that will probably surprise everyone the most. This is the south-west corner of our house:
Yup, it’s pointy. The entire sunroom actually slants up. Which definitely threw us off during our walk-through since the rest of the house is so mid-century and ranch-ish. This room was added in the 90’s, so that might explain the different look. But it’s actually a really airy and light-filled room from the inside – thanks to that lofted ceiling:
So it has lots of potential and we’re happy to have it – strange slanting-up roof and all. We actually have a few ideas for trying to integrate it down the road when it comes to the exterior, but who knows where we’ll end up. One thing is for sure: we’ll keep you posted. Probably in that typical over-sharing fashion that we know so well.
Is anyone on the floor? Come on, somebody tell me that something shocked them. Probably not. I wish we had crazier house secrets (although I do have a recurring dream about discovering a hidden room). Wouldn’t that rock?
Psst- Speaking of dreams, I actually had one about Beyonce last night. But the real one (as opposed to the chicken one that we mentioned yesterday). We bought a tiny horseshoe shaped necklace together (it was $100 so I put in $40 and said “you’re the rich one, so do you mind doing $60?). Ugh, I’m even embarrassingly cheap in my dreams. But Beyonce was cool with it. The oddest thing is the concept (how on earth were Beyonce and I going to share a necklace? Are we together so much that swapping it back and forth is easy?). So strange.
Karen @ The Quaint Cottage says
I love the part about your dog jumping up to check on the sprinklers. Reminds me of my little watchdog.
ListfulWistful says
I am disappointed in myself that I had not already figured out that the sunroom must come to a point! :) The inside windows totally tell that story, I just missed it… Also, the house rendering looks great framed. Reading about the bean-talk got me excited for the day that Clara gives the house tour. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man I can’t wait for that!
xo,
s
Cheri s says
A few months ago when I found your site….I looked high and low for an exterior shot of your sunroom. It looks about like I imagined it must! Our house is similar to yours, with a family room addition off the back and a screen porch addition built on that. This puts a narrow alley between our kitchen and screen porch….and leaves us scratching our heads.
Squeeze the day!
Devon @ Green House, Good Life says
My maple floors are finished with Bona Traffic (which several readers, inluding myself, recommended when you mentioned your wood floors some time back). It’s been great, but after a year, there’s a faint but visible fade line around the rug in our master bedroom (which gets a lot of sun). Like a Sponge Bob Square Pants crime scene outline. Still, I’d take a water-based finish (like Bona) over oil-based any day.
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh good to know! Thanks Devon!
xo,
s
Maureen @ This (Kinda) Old House says
Your secrets are funny. My household secrets would have people dropping on the floor. Here’s a secret I will share: There is a ledge above our stairs going down to our basement that I have NEVER cleaned. It’s disgusting and I am scared of it. LOL. Someday, I will get around to it. It’s just so out of sight, out of mind (deliberately).
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, totally sounds like something I’d do.
xo,
s
Michelle says
Totally diggin the pointy roof. Also, I’m NEW here!!! But I must say, I am truley obsessed with your blog. You inspired me to paint and reupholster two $2 thrift store chairs as my first DIY. YAY! Anywho, thanks for keeping my entertained at work!!
Melanie @ Mailbox Journey says
thanks for sharing! love that drawing of your first house.
Felicity says
My husband and I just bought our first home. I came across your blog when I was googling DIY decorating!! Love the page. Question- What color is your kitchen? Or living room? I am painting our kitchen next weekend, and I LOVE your colors!
Thanks.
Felicity
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks! You can see all the paint colors that we used in our house by clicking the “our paint colors” button on the side bar. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Mollie says
I actually had a dream about you guys several weeks ago and didn’t share because I didn’t want to come off as a total creep-o. Welp, here goes it: I randomly ran into you guys shopping and started chatting and you had a little boy with you who I asked about. John said that it was his son from a relationship ten years ago, but didn’t want to disclose it on the blog fearing that it would put a damper on his wholesome image. (!!!) I remember being CRUSHED in my dream thinking what else is a lie?
like what the heck is wrong w/ me dreaming of such a thing??
happy weekend and don’t be mad at john for his behavior in my dream. i had a dream once where my bf cheated on me and i remained chilly at him through at least breakfast, by no fault of his own. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Oh my goodness!! A dream scandal! Hilarious.
xo,
s
diana says
I didn’t share either: some days (a week or so) ago, I dreamed I bumped into the Petersiks at the mall’s playground, and they had a little boy who was older than Clara, but still a toddler. And he was hidden from the blogworld for an understated but not disclosed reason. He had a name too, but I don’t remember. At the time I thought that it was a lesson for me, not to check the blog before bedtime (the second post of the day comes up at about 23:00 in my timezone, and sometimes I wait for it and read it in bed, falling asleep in the comments, and I sleep half of the night with the laptop on my tummy. Well, thank YOU, Sherry and John, it’s nice how it keeps my tummy warm!)
YoungHouseLove says
Wow- two different dreams about a secret older boy! I would have loved to hear his name. We have a bunch of girl names that we like but might have name trouble if we have a boy someday. Maybe his name in your dream was the missing link. Haha.
xo,
s
GreenInOC says
OMG, LOVE the pantry! What are the dimensions of that cabinet? If I can, I am totally going to copycat you on that!
I dream ALL the time that I have a hidden room. In my dream, I keep saying, “I can’t wait to wake up and see this room in real life!!!”. It’s so real that every time, when I wake up and realize it was just a dream, I get all disappointed and sad.
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, I think it’s 32″ wide x 60″ tall and 28″ deep. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Alisa says
Hah, I was totally just going to ask the dimensions. We are putting in a pantry in our kitchen and I’ve been looking for practical storage ideas. Off to send a pic to my dad to see if he can copy this :)
Skooks says
I would kill for that kind of pantry. Mine is roughly the same size, ridiculously deep, no pull out shelves though so it’s very hard to organize in there and know what you have at any given time. Still trying to figure out if there’s a way to do slide out drawers that’s isn’t going to cost me a million dollars. Rev-A-Shelf and I have a love/hate relationship. As in, I love their stuff but hate how expensive they are. ;)
Katie G says
That roof is in fact crazy. Does it make it difficult to clean leaves/snow since presumably they all slide down the wrong way??
YoungHouseLove says
We don’t get much snow here in VA, but we did get a bunch after moving (two separate storms of about 6+ inches, which is really rare) and we didn’t have any issues. The roofline is really hard to explain, but it’s made in a way that accounts for rain runoff and snow, etc.
xo,
s
Angela says
Actually in VA it’s best to run your sprinklers in the early morning hours. Keeping the grass wet overnight when it’s humid can cause brown patch! I also live in VA and learned this from experience!
Love that pantry!
YoungHouseLove says
No way- thanks so much for the tip!
xo,
s
Alana says
I recently discovered wainscotting or beadboard wallpaper. I’m working on putting the paper on my bathroom ceiling. It’s about $20 for a roll that covers 11 square feet, I think and can be found at HD and Lowe’s. I’m using the allen + roth brand. I’ve seen it used on cabinents and walls…it’s made out of a foam spongy material so when touched it feels like the real thing. When framed out with wood trim it looks awesome. It comes pre-pasted so the projects is pretty quick. Maybe that would work for your hallway and you could just add some trim like you did with the mirror around the vent. I’ve seen a few people do this on pinterest and it made it look like a neat detail vs. an unfortunate placement of a needed vent.
YoungHouseLove says
That’s a fun alternative! We’d love to see pics!
xo,
s
Lara says
I have to say, I WAS really surprised about the sunroom roofline. I always wondered why you mentioned trying to integrate it more with the style of the rest of the house.(It didn’t seem that different from the interior shots.)
LOOOVE your pantry, too.
Thanks for the new glimpses:)
Elizabeth Prevatt says
At first glance, I swore the reference to the sun room read “south-west wing,” and thought, “they sure are getting fancy with their irrigation system and south-west wings.” :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, woah now. That’s hilarious.
xo,
s
Holly says
I can’t really see the “brown spots” in the hardwood floor, could they be worm holes….???? I can’t tell if it’s flat or if they are ridged. We have some worm holes in our flooring, but we choose to use the worm hole boards in our house (hub has a hardwood flooring business). The house is wonderful!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Nah, sadly they’re just stains from something (maybe a small stain can that was placed down a few times in that location). So weird!
xo,
s
Isabella says
Would love to see how you organize that pantry eventually. We have the same shelves and swing-out but also end up with vitamin bottles laying down so they don’t fall out each time the door closes. It’s awesome for can storage, but larger packages (I see those marshmallows hanging out!) are tricky, and I am scared to put glass bottles on the shallow shelves!
YoungHouseLove says
Yeah, we’ll definitely share the goods if we ever get a good organizational system going!
xo,
s
Anna Barlowe says
Mmm, you had me at the pantry full of snacks. Looks like pretty healthy snacks too! I’ll be right over. Can I have them in the awesome pointy sunroom, or is that a munching-free area? :P
YoungHouseLove says
Come one over. We can eat in the sunroom. We’re casual like that.
xo,
s
Julie says
I just had to share this when I read that line about finding a secret room. When my husband and I were househunting we looked at a house that had one – hidden behind a swinging bookshelf and everything. It was an addition put onto a typical ranch. The owners had converted a living room into two rooms; a tiny gym, and a tiny secret room accessible only by a swinging bookcase/door. I have no idea what purpose it served since the room was tiny, maybe five feet wide by eight feet long, but it had it’s own closet too. Even the realtor was like “I guess you could use it as a nursery or an office …?” It was so bizarre.
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so funny! I bet Clara would love a room like that as her “castle.”
xo,
s
Leslie says
Sweet collection of never-seen before areas! Looks like you have the same issue that many have with the lovely plastic bag collection – google “plastic bag origami” for a cute little bag folding technique. A great idea to tame the bags, perfect for keeping them in the car, your purse, diaper bag, etc. Anytime you just might need a bag, might come in handy if you stop by a garage sale or farmers market too!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip!
xo,
s
Lindsay@Tell'er All About It says
So here’s a question – how does that weird slanty roof do with drainage? I’m sure it’s not a problem since you’ve managed to make through a pretty rainy summer without issue, but I was just curious…
Love that fancy-schmancy pantry!!!
xoxo,
Lindsay
Tell’er All About It
YoungHouseLove says
It’s hard to describe but it’s designed to be ok with lots of water runoff/snow/drainage (no issues even after lots of snow last winter and Irene, whew!).
xo,
s
Hannah@The Eroh's says
Question. Are those three boxes of Mother’s Milk tea up in the left hand corner of your pantry? Sure looks like it. I purchased some wondering if it works like they say (haven’t tried it yet). If it is, did you notice any…improvement? :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, yes. I drank that stuff just to keep my milk up since I breastfed for 14 months. Seemed to work I guess (since I was able to feed Clara until she was over it and ditched me, haha).
xo,
s
Kristen says
I can’t see any of the pictures! Am I the only one with this problem? Not sure if it’s my browser (IE 8).
YoungHouseLove says
So sorry! We haven’t heard of anyone else with this issue and we didn’t change anything on our end. Here’s hoping they pop back up soon!
xo,
s
Bboss says
That vine still looks a little scary to me. Vines in general going up big trees means chainsaw bait.
I work in architecture. We still put in those types of pantries. One of the architects puts them in, the other hates them. Too many movements to get what you need. Plus, what if the hardware starts to go on them and you can’t get them open.
YoungHouseLove says
Ours just has one interior part that swings around, so we don’t really use any hardware in there to get to stuff. I can definitely see how some folks prefer other pull-out versions though!
xo,
s
shannon says
love the little peek into your home! i keep trying to figure out how you get into your basement that you have mentioned in the last few weeks. is there a door to it on the inside or can you only get to it from the outside (like your old house?)
YoungHouseLove says
There’s an exterior door (separate entry) that we get to from the back of the house. I think you can see it in this post (it’s in some of the far shots of the background): https://www.younghouselove.com/2011/05/lets-take-it-outside-again/
xo,
s
shannon says
spotted it! all makes sense now :)
Elin Glenn says
I’m sure you saw this post, but I wonder if it would work for your hallway wainscotting… Or would you call that hallwainscotting?
http://www.remodelaholic.com/2011/09/living-room-wainscot.html
Good luck, and I love all of your posts!
YoungHouseLove says
Wow- that’s awesome!
xo,
s
Bea Pankoski says
Your pantry cabinet is wonderful! When you paint your cabinets, are you going to keep the hinges? That was one of my pet peeves about the cabinets in our recently purchased home. I had had new Kraftmaid cabinets with European hinges in our previous house. Did you know you can buy European hinges for your old cabinet doors, so they look more modern? Unless of course you prefer seeing the hinges.
YoungHouseLove says
I think we’ll probably replace the hinges, just for a fresh look. We did that when we painted the cabinets in our first kitchen and really loved it! As for the european hinges – so interesting!
xo,
s
Iomay says
Sisterhood of the traveling… horseshoe shaped necklace?
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, totally.
xo,
s
Kristin says
So until reading this post I thought I was totally alone in having that awesome swing-out pantry with storage in the back! We have almost the exact same thing, except ours has two identical swing-outs that fold flat/lock into place instead of one. We love it and have never seen it anywhere else. It’s so cool you have one too! Our house is a colonial built in 1986 and the cabinets are original so that type of pantry was around at least 25 years ago.
And we also have those faded wood floors where furniture or a rug used to be – both in our dining room and office. I cannot wait to refinish them. Right now our floors are a similar color to yours and I’ve considered going darker – what are your thoughts on dark wood? I’ve heard they’re super hard to keep clean because you can see everything on them – dirt, dust, fingerprints, etc. I definitely don’t want something that involves a ridiculous amount of cleaning, but our style is what I call “contemporary casual” and I think they’d look perfect in our home.
YoungHouseLove says
We love medium dark wood (we went with “mocha oak” from Lumber Liquidators in our last house). Too dark wood does tend to show lots of dust, but medium dark is nice because it’s rich but not too shows-everything-annoying! Haha.
xo,
s
Kim says
Your Beyonce dream makes me feel so much better, because it finally happened…I had the YHL dream. You guys had invited me over for dinner, and when I asked if I could do anything to help, Sherry said, “sure-could you put these pillows into their covers?” (the ones for your sofa) And I thought, wow, that’s what they do they store them so they stay neat and clean, and only pull them out for guests. But as I started to take them out of the bag, what was actually in there were two mismatched cafe curtains, which threw me off. So I hung them up anyway. Then Sherry came in and laughed and said, “oh my gosh, that must have been the bag with my fabric scraps! Oh well, looks kinda fun!” Also I was worried because Clara and wandered in to the room and I didn’t want her to get the cafe clips and possibly choke on them. I would never have been able to get over that. I think it was not so much a dream about you guys as a dream about decorating, because we are having a party tomorrow night and I have been trying to pull things together! So weird!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, that’s so funny! I think I’m neurotic in 95% of the dreams people have about us, which is hilarious (and probably indicative of something, haha).
xo,
s
Jenny @ DIY Newlyweds says
I have a dream about finding additional rooms in my house too! It’s always a maze of hallways and rooms I never knew existed and I get so excited in my dream to have the extra space.
Maggie says
Your blog is the best blog. Hands down. When I have my own place (soon, please, soon!), I will hire you and your hubby to bring Clara and Burger to play and decorate it for me. I will pay in dinero and cupcakes.
Amy @ this DIY life says
Gotta say that the thing that surprised me most about this post was the “Squeeze the Day”. My mind went “Squeeze the Day” -> “When life gives you lemons…” -> lemons -> your wedding -> that goes *perfect* with the painted number 7 and the keys in the frame. My mind did all that in 2.3 seconds. Yep, definitely have ADOS (attention deficit…ooo shiny). Love the tidibts and quite jealous of the pantry.
Allison says
Regarding your intake vent, maybe John could whip up a custom intake vent using something like this: http://www.amberradiatorcovers.co.uk/products/Grilles.aspx painted a glossy white. Then the cover would be a pretty accent to the wainscoting?
Eventually I’ll get my blog up and running so I can post pics of these ideas. . .
YoungHouseLove says
That’s a great idea – they even sell some patterns at Lowe’s and Home Depot. Definitely something we’re gonna consider.
-John
Allyn says
I love your pantry! That’s so fun!
When we were in Scotland on our honeymoon, one of the older manor houses we toured had a secret bookshelf that swung out in the library, revealing a good sized space where you could hide plenty of things, including a person.
Pretty sure I squealed.
Loudly.
When I was a kid, I used to go around our house and push on random things, convinced we had a secret passage. Sadly, I never found anything.
Amber says
I’m so jealous of your pantry! Ours is hard to organize because of deep shelves spaced at weird heights.
I also have recurring dreams about finding new rooms in our house. Just last week, my dream revealed a whole basement I knew nothing about! If only…
Erin C says
My friend in high school had one of those pantry cabinets with a bunch of the swing out shelves. I could never figure the thing out. I was always confused in there.
June says
You could DIY one of these babies for that air intake vent.
http://www.vandykes.com/luxury-return-air-grille-premier-primed/p/208185/
Doesn’t look too hard to do since it’s basically the same thing as shutters trimmed to size. It would look great with the wainscoting.
YoungHouseLove says
Yeah, that looks fairly straightforward. Adding it to our list of possibilities!
-John
stephanie says
call me strange…I kinda like the outside of the sunroom.
Amanda @ Our Humble A{Bowe}d says
I’m most surprised by the giant pantry. My sister has those in her house and I’m completely jealous. We have a large pantry, but it’s just a deep closet, so getting to things in the back can be tricky. Thanks for sharing the different vantage points. And happy Friday!
Tia says
You guys are so lucky to live where you do. My partner and I are in the process of relocating and 300K doesn’t get you much of anything. We would LOVE to have the space and trees that you have… plus irrigation, a pantry, and a sun room, BOY HOWDY!
Rachael says
I love, love, love the sunroom! When the Hubs and I were looking at houses, we looked at a couple that were built very much like your sunroom! We loved them, but not the neighborhood :( It’s funny that you mention recurring house dreams, because I have them ALL THE TIME. I keep having this dream that I have a basement completely full of furniture and stuff left behind by the previous owners, and the further you go into it, the scarier it gets (like it’s haunted or something)and then it turns into a fleamarket, and then there are secret rooms too. I always wake up shaking my head at this dream whenever I have it. Weird huh?
Jennifer says
I feel like the only one who WASN’T surprised that the sunroom slanted up that way! From previous sunroom pictures, I saw the lines of the ceiling and the windows and just sorta figured that it had to be that way. Or I’m psychic. Coulda been that too.
Bridgit says
I love that your plastic grocery bags are stuffed in your pantry–I have a whole shelf devoted to the same thing! Must organize. On a different note, can you recommend a good table saw? What kind do you all use? My husband and I are working on our deck this month and need some direction because it’s kinda a big purchase.
YoungHouseLove says
Believe it or not, we actually don’t own one yet. Anyone have any recs?
xo,
s
Evin says
The dream is funny. I actually had a friend in real life who suggested we go halfsies on a fancy handbag to share. I had no idea how it would work logistically and I think not accepting her idea hurt her feelings. Nice to know dream Beyoncé was so considerate of your feelings.
Ariel says
Sherry and John, This pic looks strikingly similar to your new desk and chairs! http://www.decorpad.com/photo.htm?photoId=85709&bookmark=1¤tPage=0&index=7&relatedPhotoId=
YoungHouseLove says
Totally. Too funny!
xo,
s
Laura @ Unpunctuated Life says
I am in jealous awe of that pantry. :-)
Victoria R says
Finally accepted my invitation to Pinterest today, and after they asked me about my interests, guess who popped up as the first person I should follow? None other than Sherry @ Young House Love. Lol! Btw, love the pantry! Super jealous…
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, we’re a match made in Pinterest heaven.
xo,
s
Janelle says
You must have been prepared for the slew of comments about your food. Haha. What kind of medicinal tea is up on the right? I’ve wanted to try a few but I’m not sure how well they work. Thanks!