Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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Thrifting Vintage Wooden Stools For The Kitchen

Soooooo smething crazy happened. Here’s a little hint: It all started when John and I were lying in bed one night talking about what we’d love to do to make the sunroom more useful slash function slash awesome (it’s currently packed with secret book projects, but come fall we can finally clear it out for a charity auction – and hopefully start working on making it a room that we actually hang out in). We came up with the idea of a long chunky floating bar/counter made from rustic imperfect wood with a few stools pulled up to it along one currently unused wall. You know, sort of like this one or this one (but

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Fab Freebie: Pop-O-Matic

***This giveaway is now closed – see who won below!*** This week’s random winner is… Megan (who simply and politely just entered “Pop me, please”). Congrats Megan! Hope everyone’s having a great Labor Day! We thought we’d drop in with today’s giveaway and solve the little hint that we gave you in Friday’s post about this week’s prize. The three clues were: soda cans (aka: pop), a canvas, and the fact that the photo was taken in Instagram (hence the border and that signature square size). So, fellow Instagram addicts, this one’s for you. Well, I guess it’s for anyone who takes pictures or generally enjoys putting art on their walls. Canvaspop is the first company to specialize in

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August Superlatives: Accidents & Fish Baskets

Happy Labor Day weekend everyone! That means that both summer and the month of August are coming to a close. Let’s all shed a communal tear. But before we mentally check out for the long weekend, it always helps us keep the ol’ momentum up by taking an appreciative look back on all of our happenings from last month (along with some bonus never-before-seen stuff). It definitely inspires us to keep plugging away, plus it makes browsing our archives a lot easier (you can read back through January of 2011 right here in just 19 posts instead of 665). Woot! And below you’ll also find a hint about Monday’s giveaway, so feel free to guess

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A Sunroom Makeover With Wood Tile By Jenna Sue

Maybe this is just me trying to hang on to every last vestige of summer. Maybe it’s me wanting a big sunroom makeover (we haven’t even touched ours since we moved in). Or maybe it’s just that Jenna Sue has a knack for awesome makeovers (you may remember her entryway transformation). Whatever the reason, feast your sunshine-loving eyes on this cheerful update. Here’s her letter: Hello once again! Our sunroom began with white walls, green trim, carpet and a sagging ceiling. We removed the ceiling, added insulation and fresh new humidity resistant drywall (which I painted a light blue and added recessed speakers and lights). And we replaced the carpet with gray ‘wood’ tile planks.

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How To Spray Paint A Plastic Basketball Hoop

Hoop, there it is. File this under my weirdest “Dude, Get On That Already” challenge to date. Much like many of our other DGOTA adventures, this mini update involves something that sat around bugging me way too long + a trusty ol’ can of spray paint. But this time it’s not an animal. I know. Total shocker. John actually laughed at me for this little tweak (and I’m fully expecting you guys to as well), but they say it’s the little things that make ya happy… and seeing a bright red and blue plastic hoop against the back wall of our carport every. single. time. we pulled into the driveway (it was so bright you

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How We Finished And Furnished Our Deck

Well, our goal was to get to enjoy our deck by Labor Day and we squeaked in with just a few days to spare. And in case you couldn’t tell, I’m jazz hands excited about it. Don’t ask me what this move is called. John just picked up the camera and aimed it at me and this happened. It’s a pose straight out of Kids Incorporated. We probably would have taken a rickety card table and some metal folding chairs, so we’re psyched to have found actual end-of-season discounted furniture to put out there for the long haul – but we definitely have more in mind for finishing things off (more on that in a

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How Do You Decide What To Post About?

Q: How do you decide what to post about every day? I’m new to blogging and feeling a lot of pressure. I worry what I write will be boring. Do you ever worry about that? Do you have a checklist that you go through to see if something is good to write about? Do you ever worry that people won’t like what you share? Do you ever skip a post if you think it will be poorly received? Do you try to pace things out in a strategic way? – Nina M. A: Aw, I’m sorry that you feel any pressure at all, Nina. Figuring out what to post about sounds like it could be

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How To Protect Outdoor Furniture With Varnish And Teak Oil

T-minus twenty for hours until we have furniture on the deck!!! Woah nellie, I’m excited about it. Hence the use of three exclamation points and the term woah nellie. Heck, I’m about to break out some coordinated and not at all bizarre dance moves. Watch out now. We still have to choose what stain or sealer to use on the deck (some require a waiting period for pressure treated wood to dry out/acclimate while others can be used sooner) but we decided (read: I prodded John until he agreed) that putting some furniture on the deck in the meantime just means that we can start enjoying this baby. It’ll only take about twenty minutes to

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Fab Freebie: Bliss Full

***This giveaway is now closed – see who won below!*** Thanks to random.org, the person who’s about to experience $750 worth of bliss is… Eryka (who also finds bliss in clean sheets and sleeping in!). Congrats! Who doesn’t love a good house splurge? Especially when it’s blissfully free because you win it. This week’s prize comes from Bliss Home & Design, a high-end home furnishings boutique that curates luxurious furniture, accessories, bedding, and antiques that blend old-world craftsmanship and timeless style. Basically, tons of statement pieces that can take any corner of your room and immediately posh it up. And did I mention that they’re giving away a $750 store credit? Not a bad way

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Painting Words Over A Canvas For Customized Quote Art

Remember when I shared our possessed painting that jumped off the wall cheap painting that we got for $20 at a yard sale… … and mentioned that we: mostly liked the size of it and the chunky frame (which actually came with a little dent in it – a total sign that this guy was a trouble-maker) weren’t in love with the art itself (it just felt sort of generic and hotel-ish in person) Yes? Me too. And then remember when a bunch of you (seriously, like at least a dozen of you guys) recommended that we do some sort of letter stenciling over it like this genius creation by Emily Von Henderson or this

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Some Ways We Save Money With Kid Clothes

One of the most common questions on instagram/Facebook/Twitter when we share a photo isn’t “what paint color is that?” or “who makes that lamp?” – it’s “where did you get that shirt/dress/skirt?” – and they’re not talking about me (or John)… they’re talking about Clara. Yes, there have been a bunch of requests for a post about how we score deals/save money in the kid clothing department along with where we get her clothes. So whoop, here it is. And thanks to all of those aforementioned instagram photos that we’ve shared, we have a whole bunch of shots to use throughout this rundown. Admittedly it’s kinda weird to analyze your kid’s clothing in so much

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Thrifting A Vintage Moroccan Side Table

This morning we shared pics from our recent thrifting trip and I promised you more details about a certain table that we adopted (along with my cleaning/restoring ritual for old musty wood) so here’s the rundown. We really liked this cool Moroccan accent table that we found at the first place we went (Love of Jesus Thrift here in Richmond). Especially since it reminded us of a few designer ones like this that are selling for $260+. So at $25 for a solid wood table with awesome lines, we took it home. Boy was in rough shape, so I: gave him a wipe down with a damp cloth with a tiny amount of Mrs Meyers

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