Young House Love

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Our DIY Column Is Here: He Said, She Said

This is old news for any of you who’ve already picked up the latest issue of Do It Yourself magazine, but our inaugural column is out and we couldn’t be more excited (geeked out to be exact).

DIY Winter 2009 Cover

As you probably know, DIY asked us to pen a column answering decorating questions from both sides of the gender line. So we kicked things off by fielding a question from Nicole who was having trouble convincing her husband that they needed to upgrade their storage situation in their living room. Check out our response below (click to view it larger) and be sure to flip through the issue on newsstands for a bunch of other cool projects (like some festive bird’s nest bowls) and a round-up of great handmade items (gift season is around the corner…). Plus Burger made it onto our page so we can die happy. We think his little mug makes the story.

And if you guys have a he said, she said question for our next issue, just submit it on our Facebook page under our call for entries (and include your email addy so we can contact you). We can’t guarantee an answer to all the queries- our editor actually selects the ones that make the column- but you never know! And next month we’re getting two whole pages so we’ll be adding more graphics (like an illustration of the “after”) and even answering more than one question! We’re nerds, but this stuff just makes our month. Woo to the hoo.

Oh and speaking of decorating disputes, have you and your other half battled over something for what seems like decades only to reach the perfect compromise? We’d love to hear what situation had you heated and what compromise saved the day (from clashing styles to your hubby’s odd obsession with a beat up La-Z-boy).

Images courtesy of Do It Yourself magazine.

Comments

  2. Brittany says

    You really have no idea how excited I am for this!! I just texted my husband ” John and Sherry might be able to help us decide on our bathroom tile debate” and got back “huh, who are they??” lol, I think he might be a little confused with me talking about you two like we are on a first name basis! Super excited to submit our big question though, we have been debating about it for a month…usually our tastes are VERY similiar, but this one we are both dead-set that we are right and the other one is completely crazy wrong!!

    Reply

  3. Chelsea says

    OOO… so cool, I know you cant tell but I am totally doing a nerdy “raise the roof” for you guys! When it comes to debates about decorating, we haven’t had the big one yet…becuase little does he know change is coming to the bedroom….BIG CHANGE

    Reply

  4. Laura says

    I remember picking up the last issue, when you guys did the final tour of your home, and then this issue — it’s so cool to see you guys in paper! Congrats!

    Reply

  5. Kim Hannemann says

    Fantastic! And just my advice, too, which always makes everything more agreeable! We (I) built in shelves/cabinets in both our living room and our family room. And we did the paint-the-back-the-same-as-the-wall thing, too (actually just left wall there). The bottom cabinets provide lots of storage space and hide some not-necessary-to-see electronics, and the addition of the built-ins helped to square off the space for a much more visually appealing room.

    Reply

  9. Amelia says

    The biggest designing dilemma for my husband and I (well, so far!) has been the wood paneling in our dining room. It was dark, beat-up and, all-in-all, just plain dingy. I would like to say that we came up with the perfect compromise, but thinking of it now, I just waited him out! I wanted to paint it all (except for the trim – keep that a nice dark wood), but he was resisting the idea – for MONTHS. But when we put up a new ceiling (the old 70’s drop-tile was not cutting it), he eventually came around to my idea. WOO HOO! A lighter and more sophisticated space – and one VERY stubborn person and her spouse living in it. ;)

    Reply

  12. Christa says

    You GUUUYS!!! Awesome!!! Did you get signed on for a certain number of issues?

    I also refer to you on first name basis to my boyfriend, usually as a qualifier to have him let me do something (C’mon…John and Sherry painted THEIR wood table and it looks great!). He knows what I’m talking about by now and just laughs/shakes his head.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Christa,

      Good question! We actually just got asked to be “regular contributors” so that means we’ll be in every issue for a while. Now do you see why we’re so crazy excited?! We’re already hard to work on the next issue and we can’t wait to see it all come together! And of course we’ll share it right here as soon as it comes out. Stay tuned…

      xo,
      s

  16. Jamie says

    Congrats on the DIY feature – looks great. For some reason when I saw that space I thought it would be nice to sink the shelving into the wall – I don’t know what you would call that – but I think it would make the built-ins a lot less bulky since they wouldn’t be sticking out. Of course I don’t even know if that would be possible in their case, and it’s a much more difficult construction job, but I think it would look nice.

    Reply

  18. heather s. says

    I was wondering when you were going to feature this on your site. I saw it roughly three weeks ago (my boyfriend gets the mag in the mail) and was excited to see your first article!

    Reply

  19. Katy Campbell says

    Congratulations – I loved reading it, you all will have fantastic advice to offer! I love the format too- great to get both of your perspectives. Because of you all I’ve been toying with the idea of subscribing:) Maybe I’ll ask for it for Chirstmas? Thanks for sharing the article!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Lacey- I actually have been to the Meredith home base a while ago (I actually worked for Meredith’s Country Home magazine in NYC back when I was in college so I got to see the Des Moines offices a few times). They’re beautiful- and the gardens are amazing too!

      Bree- Yup, it’s a quarterly magazine which is nice because they very clearly cover decorating and projects for all four seasons and are also packed with lots of ideas since they have a few months to pull things together. Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  23. Bree says

    Question about the magazine (I’m thinking about subscribing): do new issues of the magazine come out quarterly? I was noticing that a two-year subscription is a total of 8 magazines.

    Reply

  24. Lara C says

    Love that you guys are hitting the national scene, but I was a little bummed that I didn’t see you in the last RHome I got in the mail (all the way in Colorado)…did I just miss it, or are you guys just sticking with the big guns now? Either way – love your work and keep sharing your fantastic, chic ideas! I’m still keeping my fingers crossed for seeing you on HGTV some day…ahh… :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Lara,

      Good question! Unfortunately after a year of contributing to R. Home magazine we just couldn’t find a spare moment to squeak out our monthly columns anymore (they’re extremely involved since we have to brainstorm the theme, shop for project materials, style everything ourselves at our house, and then work with a photographer to shoot them on our own home turf- not to mention actually completing the projects and writing the column beforehand). So sadly we had to take a little break. We’re hoping to return to R. Home someday though- whenever we can find more hours in the day! Until then we’ll just be sharing all of our DIY stuff right here on the blog- so you won’t miss a thing!

      xo,
      s

  25. Jen Z. says

    Congrats! Great article. I will have to pick it up soon. {clapping}

    I always ask my husband his opinion before we do anything to the house. Sometimes he doesn’t care what I do, sometimes he does. When he does, I either come up with something we both like or I talk him into what I like. ;-) LOL! But I usually just find something we both like. ;-)

    Reply

  26. Amanda says

    I love this. I always struggle with the TV- especially because I can’t yet afford a flat screen. Do you have any tips on how to display an old-school TV? It doesn’t necessarily have to be hidden, but maybe… camouflaged? Not the focal point?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Amanda,

      Good question. We’re actually fans of TVs out in the open on sleek clean-lined media stands but that doesn’t exactly hide a big old TV. I guess the obvious solution would be an armoire or some other cabinet that hides your TV but it might actually be a lot cheaper to upgrade to a flat screen (maybe ask for money towards one for Christmas?). The reason we say this is because you can spend a lot more money on big pieces of furniture to hide an old TV than you would on a nice new flat screen TV (they’re not that much these days) and instead of spending money to hide something you don’t like you’ll be spending money on something you’ll love to look at. But it’s totally subjective (some people hate seeing a TV, even a sleek new one) so if that’s the case just look for some large media cabinets with doors at places like overstock.com, target.com, etc. Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  28. Jody J says

    So to enter a he said/she said question do we just ask it on your facebook page? Do we need to send a picture or anything?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yup, just sent the question through facebook and we’ll contact you for a pic if we need one (just include your email addy with your submission). Thanks!

      xo,
      s

  29. Mary says

    It’s funny you mentioned a Lazy-Boy dispute. That’s what’s been happening at our house. He insists on keeping his big, ugly, red leather recliner. I would prefer he had something a litte sleaker. I had even considered trying to make slipcover for it but that wouldn’t hide how big it is. What to do? What to do?

    Reply

  30. Annie says

    Totally cool! BTW, I was an extra in the movie, “He Said, She Said.” The movie? Not so awesome. Your column: totally awesome. Congrats!

    Reply

  31. Susan says

    Congrats on your column!!! How thrilling! Also, I just wanted to say that I love when you guys say “woo to the hoo,” I laugh out loud. :)

    Reply

  33. Sarah says

    Awesome work you two!! You should ask your “questionees” to submit and “after” picture with what they decided to do!!

    Sarah :)

    p.s. I’m a graduate student at Emory and I saw someone that looked like John – apparently he has a lookalike in Atlanta!!

    Reply

  34. Amanda says

    Haha thanks for pointing out the obvious! Seriously, I didn’t realize how cheap flat screen TVs are now, I just assumed they were still in the thousands and that I’d never be able to afford one. A quick look around the web taught me otherwise. I like that idea better than buying a big armoire that would not fit in my 816 sq ft house. For the next little while though, I think I’ll put some plants I have on either side of the oldie.

    Reply

  35. threadbndr says

    You all asked for a couples decorating debate. For W and I it was not a specific design issue, but more like we were trying to find a style that we both liked.

    Originally, I liked a more Victorian look, but W hated the layers and ruffles. We finally settled on Craftsman because the sturdy, handmade quality of the furniture appealed to W and I liked the fact that it was “older, not modern”. The thing that cinched the deal, though, was finding our house – which is an Art & Crafts bungalow. We both loved this place, and that made it simple to compromise on a decorating style that was true to the house.

    We didn’t want to live in a “house museum”, and our little bungalow is in no way historically significant. So we tried to find ‘inspired by’ and ‘reproduction’ pieces to go with our few period finds. Our rooms are probably lighter than they would have been in the actual time frame, and have fewer decorative elements. We kept the vintage 1950s kitchen (from the first time the house was remodeled) but didn’t try to find appliances that did more than give a ‘nod’ to the styling.

    We did discuss colors quite a bit, and had to compromise – I picked out the one for the living/dining room, and he got his choice for our bedroom.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Jen,

      Hmmm, my hair does look a bit longer in that pic Jen. They took that back in Fall 2008 when they were here shooting our three-article before & after feature so it could’ve been that I was just in need of a haircut at that point. Sometimes it does get a bit shaggy, but never super long. I leave all the ponytails up to Sherry. :)

      -John

  38. Jessica G. says

    For me, sanity would come from not having to look at my husband’s massive VHS collection every time I go into my closet. We keep all our clothes in our walk-in closet. We also keep 17 milk crates full of stupid guy movies including 3 separate editions each of the Star Wars trilogy and the Back to the Future movies.

    I think, what with DVDs and all, that the solution to our problem involves the trashcan.

    Reply

  39. Christa says

    Short comment on Des Monies for Lacey and Sherry:

    My mom’s side of the family lives there and I visit twice a year. I was there three weeks ago and they recently opened the Papajohn (not pizza…art collector guy) Sculpture Park next to the library downtown. Ultra, ultra chic!

    Whenever people hear I’m going to Iowa on vaca they always are like ???? but then I explain how progressive, well read, clean, friendly and cultured the city is for being basically the only thing between Chicago and Denver (sides Omaha). I love Des Moines!

    Reply

  40. J - Pacha Mama says

    Hubby picked this magazine for me on one of his many runs to the “big orange” ;) He was scanning it before I got a chance to, and said “Umm…those Young House Love people are in here.” Ha! Congrats again.

    Reply

  41. Amanda @ Serenity Now says

    Oh, wow! I gave a copy of that issue away on my blog, but I had no idea your column would be in there. Now I’m kicking myself for being too “polite” to flip through the magazine before I sent it to the winner. ;) Congratulations. My hubs and I have had a few disagreements lately on decor stuff…I think his taste is more traditional and country than mine–making things hard!!

    Reply

  42. Linda L says

    OK, I have one for you. We have a mattress and box springs, but no headboard. We argued about what to do about that blank space on the wall above the bed. Our compromise – a friend turned me on to using wall decals (the ones from http://www.wallslicks.com have a matte finish so they look like they’ve been painted on by a professional). He choose his design, and I choose what I knew would be the right one (!). Put his on first – ugh – even he agreed! No problem – the decals peel right off. Put mine up – we both loved the entire look – so classy!

    Reply

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