Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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#170: The Two Totally Different Ways That We House Hunted

This week we’re taking a deep dive into the two methods that we used to find our Florida house, including how we prioritized our wants versus needs, sifted through hundreds of real estate listings, and used technology to overcome the fact that we were 800 miles away. We’re also sharing how a bad news call from our contractor ended up saving us from a huge future headache (that may or may not have involved having zero functioning bathrooms in our new house). Plus, Sherry’s unique way with words comes back to haunt her. And John takes spreadsheeting to a whole new level. What’s New Here’s a sneak peek at the renovations going on at our

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How To Pressure Wash A Rug

Pretty much every vintage runner we own is one that we have ordered online, never having seen them in person. Generally, we’ve had great luck. But it’s always kind of a gamble because you can’t fully trust a photo to show you what something truly looks like in person (especially under the specific lighting conditions of your space versus theirs – plus your computer monitor’s brightness can alter things too, etc). It might arrive and look darker in person. It may be a bit more worn when you actually lay eyes on it. The colors may be a smidge yellower or grayer or whatever. But as long as you understand that up front and are

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#169: How Exactly Do You Downsize Your Stuff?!

As we prepare to move into a house that’s less than half the size of our current one, we’re taking a long hard look at our belongings to figure out what should come and what we no longer need, love, or have a use for. And today we’re outlining the systematic criteria that we’re using to evaluate what to bring and what to leave behind (yes, we actually have four questions that we consider for every last object). Plus we’re sharing how we’re getting rid of the things we don’t need, including different ways to donate (and some great causes to consider), along with a recent technique that we tried (and it worked!) for selling

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Our T-Shirt Line Is Baaaaaaaack!

Over 10 years ago we launched a small t-shirt line featuring designs for women, men, and – yes – even dogs! I’m not kidding. Who remembers that?! We eventually retired it, so who knows how many still exist out there in the wild – beyond the dozen or so in my dad’s closet (he was our best customer) and the one below that showed up at a book signing in 2015. Earlier this year we got the itch to relaunch the line, but this time with a shift away from logo shirts and towards styles that could fit easily into anyone’s closet… all while maintaining a distinctly Young House Love look. So for months we’ve

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#168: Our Florida Renovation Kicks Off With (Surprise!) A Plumbing Issue

We knew our new house in Florida would involve some big repairs, but we didn’t anticipate a certain plumbing curveball to get lobbed our way (although given our past plumbing luck, maybe we should have seen this coming). So this week we’re sharing how it popped up, why it cost thousands of dollars, and what we’re doing to resolve it. And with so many people suddenly working from home, we’re sharing our top tips for being productive in a home office (even a temporary one) – including what has and hasn’t worked for us over the last decade. Plus, the app that’s blowing our minds and the binge-worthy show that we still can’t believe. What’s

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The Best LED Light Bulbs

I am, shall we say, particular about my light bulbs. And as we switched over our entire house to LED bulbs recently, I wanted to make sure I got it right (especially since one big pro of LEDs is that you won’t have to replace them for years – maybe even decades. So in this post we’ll cover everything from our favorite general use LED light bulb to some fancy-schmancy, special use bulbs too. “Buying Bulbs Used To Be So Easy“ That’s a direct quote from my mom when she texted me about what LED bulbs to buy. While I’m not 100% certain what “heyday” of light bulb shopping she’s referring to, I can completely relate to

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Making An Arts & Crafts Room For Our Kids

Some of you will remember that way back in January, Sherry talked about grabbing these wood chairs from Target on Instagram Stories for “a side project we’re working on that we’ll share after we complete the bathroom.” And then the bathroom dragged on for a few more months (you can see the finished product & full budget breakdown here) and somewhere in there this big thing happened too. So while we’ve been enjoying this completely new room for a few months, we’re excited to FINALLY share the update with you guys. So let’s show you around and tell you why we decided to revamp this room. The space you’re looking at is actually our old

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#167: Have Our Moving Plans Changed?

With everything that’s going on right now, we’re the first to admit that house stuff feels trivial, but we’re keeping our podcast going in the hopes that it’s a welcome escape for anyone tuning in (it’s definitely a nice distraction for us). This week we’re answering the most common question we’ve gotten in the last few days: how the coronavirus is impacting our Florida move and our house sales (spoiler alert: one contract has fallen through). We’re also having a strangely thorough discussion about high-tech toilets and bidets. Plus, we’re sharing two things that are helping us make the most of being home with kids 24/7. What’s New Can We Just Talk About Bidets? We’re

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#166: We Sold Our House!

Our Richmond home is officially under contract (!!!) and it all came together unlike any other house we’ve sold before. So today we’re breaking down how it all happened, why it was surprisingly emotional, and what it means for our move in June. We’re also highlighting an unsung hero in our bathroom renovation and exploring whether we’re all doing bathroom storage totally wrong. Plus, the app that may be bumping Instagram out of the top spot in Sherry’s heart. What’s New Over a whirlwind weekend, our house saw lots of foot traffic and at the end of it all… a signed contract! And boy are we grateful! The full story is in this week’s episode,

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Before & After Photos Of Our Bathroom Makeover & How Much It Cost

We waited over 6 years to start our bathroom renovation and now, nearly 6 months later, it’s fully completed! And you know what that means – the ensuite bathroom curse that we discovered over the last month definitely seems to be in play (more on that here). All jokes aside (but really, is the curse a real thing, because it seems like it might be?!), let’s put all of this waiting to an end and get to the goods. Including a source list and a full budget breakdown at the end of this post! Believe it or not, the “after” photo above was taken in virtually the same spot as the “before” picture below. As

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#165: The Dumb Thing We Did Before Listing Our House

We’re fessing up to an extremely poorly timed project that made our house look WORSE right before it hit the market. Whoops. Plus we share the smorgasbord of ways we’re selling our houses. All three are being sold differently (including some with and some without the help of a real estate agent). So we’re breaking down how and why we chose each route, including why we paid to have a “pre-inspection” done for our Richmond home and how that changed our preparations for listing the house. Plus Sherry talks about an unconventional (and completely accidental) way she decluttered her digital life. What’s New This is literally the cleanest, emptiest, cobwebless-est our garage has been since

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Quick Demo-Free Bathroom Makeover

This bathroom came together so quickly, we almost can’t believe it ourselves (and we witnessed it with our own four eyeballs). If we hadn’t watched it fly along ourselves, while everything just seemed to line up perfectly, we probably wouldn’t have thought it was possible – especially after the longest-bathroom-reno-of-our-lives that we started way back in October. (Yes it’s still going, but next week we’ll have a full reveal & budget breakdown! FINALLY!). Meanwhile, in less than a week, this upstairs hall bathroom went from looking the way that it has looked for years (old painted double vanity, two yellow-beige sea-shell shaped sinks, bare white walls, old seams in need of some fresh caulk around

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