Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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Building Shelves And A Floating Desk For An Office Nook

I know, I know – the idea of adding a little DIY office area at a vacation home seems borderline ridiculous, but back when we were debating what to add to the other side of the pantry, a bunch of people said a little desk area for email or writing or reading quietly would be nice to have in a rental. We definitely considered it, but went with more cabinets for general storage in there (you can see it here). But we kept the idea of adding a little desk nook somewhere else in the back of our mind. And we’re so happy with how this turned out. It’s a small room, but now it’s

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#108: Science Says These Rooms Are A Waste Of Space

Welp, it’s official: new research shows that we aren’t using all of the square footage in our homes. But we sure are paying for it (and then paying to heat & cool it, decorate it, plus spending time cleaning it). Why are we doing that?! Well, this week we’re diving into a study that shows what specific spaces aren’t being used – and what we all might want to consider focusing on instead of house size – even if you love having people over and entertaining large groups. We’re also sharing a failed painting project that shines a light on some of the peculiar pitfalls of sharing your renovations with the world. Plus, as summer

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House Crashing: A Jaw-Dropping Old House Transformation

It goes without saying that we’ve always been suckers for a good before & after (show me someone who isn’t and I’ll show you someone who hates fun). But thanks to our adventures in 100-year-old-beach-house-renovations over the past few years, we’re especially fond of seeing people bringing old houses back to their glory. Oh the things you’ll find behind the walls! So when Mandy shared photos of her and her husband Joe’s project in nearby Charlottesville, VA, we were basically cooing over them like two pigeons discovering an old pizza crust on a New York City subway platform. Even without furniture (they fixed it up and then sold it before even needing to furnish it)

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#107: Are We All Getting Sick Of Watching Big Renovations?

We can’t be the only ones noticing that all of the renovations on TV and online seem to be snowballing. Whatever happened to those budget decorating shows and use-what-you-have makeovers? And who remembers when a blog post might have just been “I ordered some new art” instead of “here’s the entire before & after of our kitchen gut job!” Our own projects certainly have ratcheted up over the years too, so this week we’re discussing how we all got here, if we might be approaching a tipping point, the understandable craving to scale back, and how bloggers & design TV are contributing to the escalation. We’re also breaking down some surprising features of something you’ve

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DIYing A Long Hook Rail For Your Mudroom

Warning: the following project may contain subject matter that is remarkably easy to do, but highly satisfying. Reader discretion is advised. We’ve now made two large DIY hook rails and each time they’ve been low on effort and high on reward. Read: these get used ALL THE TIME. The first one is in our garage (you can see it on page 216 of our second book, Lovable Livable Home) and the second is the one we’re detailing for you today: this six-hook rail that we made for our beach house’s laundry/mudroom. blue towel / black baskets / shelf brackets / gold hooks / cabinet pull / pendant / gold frame  If you’re unfamiliar with hook

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#106: What’s It Really Like To Downsize?

Sure it’s fun to imagine what it would be like to downsize and live in a significantly smaller space, but this week we’re talking to a family of 4 (with a giant dog!) who took the leap and moved from a large builder-grade home to a 1,200 cottage bungalow with just one full bathroom and two bedrooms. Designer Shavonda Gardner shares extremely frank details about the pros & cons – including who in her family resisted it most, what space issues they still struggle with, and what they’ve done to make it work a heckova lot harder. We also talk to her about designing smaller spaces (is lighter paint really the only answer? she says

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Four Tips For The Best Secondhand Finds

I take pride in some very strange things. Being able to cartwheel into a pool for example. Or knowing every single word to old commercial jingles and 90’s rap songs. Or the fact that John and I, two righties, somehow made two lefties, which clearly means they’re brilliant (not sure how I can even take credit for this phenomenon, but I do, as well as the fact that our kids are super tall, which is amazing to me as a 5’2″ lady). But one thing I don’t really think about much is my secondhand furniture hunting mojo. I don’t think I have any magic luck or special searching skills. I would generally describe the key

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#105: Sherry Vs. The Bathtub, Duplex Edition

We seem to have a sore spot with tubs, and the duplex renovation has proven to be no exception. So today we’re sharing how a strategic money-saving decision saved us 30% off a huge renovation line item, but sent us on a tub-induced stress spiral. We’ve also got some exciting updates about painting our brick house white, our gross backyard experiment to keep the deer from eating our plants, and whether Sherry is still known as Laura in Cape Charles. We dive into the pros & cons of laundry location too – plus we explain when to choose a variety of wall colors for your house (and when one whole-house color can actually work like

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Ikea Hacking A Malm Into A Built-In Dresser

There will always be a special place in my heart for a good Ikea hack. Not that I’m dubbing this one especially involved (it’s actually wonderfully simple – which means anyone can do it). All it took were a few small tweaks to a basic $99 Malm dresser to make it look like a custom built-in at the beach house. And it has turned out to be the perfect thing for the funny little nook at the top of the back staircase in the beach house’s back bedroom. rug / striped towel / leather hardware / gold mirror / bathroom table  You’ve probably noticed that one of our favorite ways to hack Ikea pieces is to make

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#104: This Is How You’re Annoying Your Contractor

We turned the tables and asked dozens of contractors – including our own! – what THEY wish we, their clients, did differently. We learned their biggest client pet peeves (we’re certainly guilty of some!) and got great advice for how we can all help renovations go smoother, progress faster, and even cost less. We also share how we hacked our dining table to make it a harder working space, and the big purchase we recently splurged on for the beach house. You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, and Spotify – or listen to it below! Then use this page to check out any links, notes, or photos we referenced. Note: If you’re reading in a feed

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Fourth of July Party Recipes & Ideas

Every year on Instagram Stories I share photos from our friend’s insanely over-the-top party for the Fourth of July. And each year we gets tons of requests for a post with all the photos and links to the recipes she uses, so we’re finally giving the people what they want. Our friend Justine has been hosting these backyard soirees for years – and the only way to describe them would be: EXTRA. And we love her for it. She and her husband John basically just throw this huge party every year for all of us to gather and hang out with our kids and each other. It’s such a great time of year to get together

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