It’s that time again! When we take a moment to look back on all that we’ve done in the past month at a glance (and gather all the links in one handy place for ya). And of course we tossed in some never-before-seen stuff, just because we’re over-sharers. This month felt pretty scattered since we did everything from finding secondhand night stands and starting to stencil some walls to building a 13 foot desk, altering a light fixture, framing out a mirror, making free art, and beyond. So let’s take a walk down memory lane, with yearbook-esque superlatives. Why? Because that’s our idea of a good time.
Most Pro-Banquette: Starting off the month with a half-baked idea to add a kitchen banquette.
Most Pro-Banquette (Runner-Up): The continued discussion on the topic in this follow-up post, which included a reader submitted rendering (where I looked a little bit like a receptionist).
Least Pro-Banquette: Ending the month with the exciting revelation that we’re over the banquette idea and happy to our true love: a peninsula.
Weirdest Giant Metal Chicken: This girl (aka Beyoncé) that we spotted on our way to Delaware (if you don’t know how she got her name, you must read this (warning: there’s profanity, but it might be the funniest thing on the interweb).
Best Deal: Our $11 yard sale night stands, which we added to our bedroom (along with a faux gold banding treatment on our bedposts).
Least Appetizing: Our empty fridge after Hurricane Irene, which we refilled with a coupon-tastic trip to the grocery store. (Update on that: we put in a $250 “spoiled food claim” with our electric company, who actually accepts those – so we don’t have to worry about insurance premiums going up or meeting a deductible at all – hooray!)
Most Improved: Our $1 (each) orange secondhand cabinets became slightly-taller, white office built-ins thanks to some wood and paint.
Most Tall, Long, Dark & Handsome: The 13-foot wood tabletop made for our built-in desk out of framing lumber and dark stain (for just 27 beans).
Most Inebriated: The walls in our office, after getting their Moonshine on (see what I did there? Moonshine is the name of the paint color, but also a reference to alcohol…).
The Josh Groban “You Raise Me Up” Award: Our office light fixture, which got hung higher (no more head bumps for me), sprayed indigo, and covered with a discounted drum shade.
Most Grounded: The trim that we added to the bottoms of our desk to give it a more built-in look.
Most Secretive: These never before seen parts of our house that we hadn’t highlighted before now, like our spaceship-like sunroom roof line:
The “You’ll Be Missed… But Not Much” Award: The tree growing on our house that we finally removed (to avoid any risk of foundation damage), along with trimming some overgrown shrubs nearby.
Most Persistent: Not giving up on this bathroom mirror framing project (even after a false start with too-small trim and, oh yeah, the whole thing crashing down after the first attempt).
Most Photogenic: Our television. Yes, we have a weird habit of taking pictures of the TV to document decor inspiration.
Easiest: Making a fast & free food coloring print for the hallway frame gallery.
Easiest (Runner Up): Sherry’s simple faux cross-stitch that she broke out to make a personalized anniversary gift for her brother and his wife.
Most Likely To Result In Claw-Hands: Stenciling the walls of the office, which isn’t exactly a quick project – but should be well worth it in the end (we hope to share final pics on Monday).
Best Sentence Ever Uttered By A Sixteen Month Old: “Iss my hoo hat.” Which was said by Clara after insisting that we help her put on a jacket and a crocheted hat (that looks like an owl) over her pajamas. Such a snappy dresser.
Most Three Dimensional: My take on the pros & cons of three different 3D interior design tools.
Most Intense: All of the Blogiversary posts last week…
… so if you missed any of those – here’s a quick recap of what was covered:
- An hour-by-hour look at a day in the life of us Petersiks
- Pie charts illustrating topics like how we spend our time & how we make money
- A breakdown of interesting (and weird) numerical stats about YHL
- A video response to various personal questions you asked us on Facebook
- A chance to talk about yourselves by answering our reader poll
- Setting goals for year 5, while evaluating how we did on year four’s
- Basic tips and advice on the coding side of blogging
- A play-by-play recap about how a post goes from concept to completion
- Ten lessons we’ve learned over our four years of blogging
So there you have it. September at a glance. What have you guys been up to this month? Have you ever made a list of accomplishments to look back on? It’s nice to take a break from adding things to our to-do list and take a moment to appreciate what we’ve accomplished. Just for a minute. Then it’s back to that $%@**&ing stencil…
Psst- You can check out July’s superlatives here and August’s here.
Pssssst- We’re so excited about the curated collection that we put together for Joss & Main (it comes out this Tuesday!). Click here to sign up and get alerted when the sale goes live!
Betsy says
ok, so now that the banquette is gone, can I poke a little fun at the fact that John looked like a receptionist in the middle of your kitchen?
Sarah @ w30 says
Annnnd … now I need a nap. That is one impressive month!
Betsy says
oh whoops, you wrote that already. uh, oh, got caught skimming…
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I told him he needed a Dwight Shrute costume and he could sell paper from there.
xo,
s
Betsy says
haha, Dwight would be an awesome Halloween costume. …an old brown suit form Salvation Army… then just to get the right glasses and bangs. (Although you guys in real life are much more “Pam and Jim” :-) )
YoungHouseLove says
Haha. I would need a fake belly and John could just look at the camera and make the Jim face.
xo,
s
Katherine says
Sherry, I gotta say. I’m a young twenty-something. The thought of tiny kids right now (from holding other people’s to having my own) makes me want to run and hide say fie and ick and all sorts of insensitive nonsense.
But “iss my hoo hat” literally just turned me into a pile of high-pitched, uncontrollable “AWWW!”
Oh my gerd. I am ded. Hoo hat. I melt. Clara is SO sweet.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I might be biased, but she’s the best!
xo,
s
Laura says
OMGOSH!!! Clara is so cute with her “hoo hat”! I love the owl hat. I can’t wait til we have kids and get to document all the insanely adorable things they say. =)
Emma says
Such a cute hat!!!
toni from says
You have got to get a video of the hoo hat comment and post it for us. She is way too funny and adorable. I can’t wait to see your stencil pics on Monday, good luck with that Sherry and I hope you don’t end up with claw hands.
Robin @ our semi organic life says
How did it go down with the $250 with the power company for lost food? I’m really curious because we’re fellow Richmonders and would love some bonus cash.
YoungHouseLove says
We provided our receipt for the purchase of replacement food and they could see in their system that we had lost power for three days so nothing would have kept in our fridge (we also had photos from the blog of things spoiled, haha). Then they sent that “claim” off to their internal departments and we got something in the mail saying that it was submitted and pending. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Maureen @This (Kinda) Old House says
Ok, so this totally has NOTHING to do with this post, but I was just looking through your house tour (again), and noticed that your microwave is a different color than your other appliances. We have the same issue. White fridge, white stove, black microwave. It makes me crazy, but we can’t afford a new microwave. I may be painting it (YIKES!) with appliance paint, but wondered if you guys ever did anything like that. Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
Our appliances all have some serious problems, so we have plans to upgrade them as we afford to (we knew when we bought the house that they were on their last legs, so our offer reflected that we’d have to replace them). As for appliance spray paint, I have heard good things about it on fridges! Hope it helps.
xo,
s
jenny says
I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only one who takes inspirational photos from paused TV. I even do it with fashion inspiration too!
jenny says
I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only one who takes inspirational photos from paused TV. I even do it with fashion inspiration!
Teresa says
so…. does that mean Clara is a UVA fan too?? lol LOVE that hat!! I have a little owl obsession.. and owls on cute little kiddos can’t be beat!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha. She’s a Wahoo already!
xo,
s
Melissa@Julia's Bookbag says
“Iss my hoo hat” LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!!
JWat says
Oh.My.God will you please move to Atlanta so I can babysit Clara and hang out with her!? She is SO cute in her hat!!! My heart can’t take it.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, we do love Atlanta…
xo,
s
Jessica says
While reading your recap, and looking at your nightstands, I immediately thought of maybe “dipping” the legs in white paint (similar to this pin: http://pinterest.com/pin/257561000/ although in the reverse) and that it might help tie them together in the room more. Just a thought – wanted to share! =)
YoungHouseLove says
I actually pinned dipped legs a few weeks back with the same thought! Too funny. Still thinking about it though (the natural wood is so pretty in person).
xo,
s
Wrenaria says
I am in shock that September is over. Also, I think I need a hoo hat. XD
Have a fab weekend, you guys. <3
Alice says
Two of my all-time favorites have to be the stained console table in your living/family room and now your desk in the office! I so wish I had a desk like that (don’t have the room for it), so I will just drool over yours instead!
susan says
Another great month.
Robin says
I just can’t stop learning new things from you, even in a monthly recap!
Taking photos of TV shows to document design ideas … Genius!
So this morning I went through the DVR “library” (that would be the entire disk that I hogged for **my** shows), took photos of the inspirational scenes, moments, and ideas I needed, and deleted all those shows. My husband is going to be so thrilled that we now have space to actually record a movie! Actually, having photos is going to be a much more useful reference tool than the actual shows.
Thanks for great ideas,
Robin
Kristina says
My favorite project was the stencil. It’s simply gorgeous.
Okay, this is so very random, but Sherry just came up on my Facebook as “People You Might Know”. It made me laugh at loud. After reading your blog for 3 years, it feels like I know y’all!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, we do know each other! Readers = friends.
xo,
s
Amelia says
Thanks to YHL for kicking me into gear this past month. Just quick run down of my to-dones:
Repaint kitchen island fixture from cream to ORB (We remodeled the kitchen in May and I just got around tot he light)
Cover said light fixture’s shades in a fun Kelly green ikat fabric
Finally hang curtains in family room (lived in house for 18 months now)
Made a photo gallery over family room sectional modeled after your ikea & craft paper model (OMG people love them)
New pillow for FR and a mantel make over
Accessorized the dining room table
Made curtains for my kid’s playroom (no sew valances that are so chic)
Finally got around to converting a spare basement playroom into a home office for the hubs…including free, handmade artwork .
Changed the furniture layout in our master bedroom
Re-accessorized my daughter’s room to make it more “big girl”…yes guys 5 1/2 is that magic big girl number where all things baby must be banished from the room.
So thanks for the swift kick in the rear to get me moving:)
Have a great weekend!!
YoungHouseLove says
Wow you’ve been busy! Love it.
xo,
s
Amanda says
Thank you for linking to the chicken blog post. It had me laughing until I cried, although silently and awkwardly because I’m at work. :)
My absolute favorite part is:
Then when the UPS guy came I hid, but he was all “Dude. Nice chicken” and Victor yelled, “IT IS NOT A NICE CHICKEN”. Which was probably very confusing to the UPS guy, who was just trying to be polite, Victor.
Heh heh heh.
YoungHouseLove says
Hahaha. So hilarious. It gets me every time.
xo,
s
LARY says
You guys are so inspiring! I’m sure you most hear it every day… is so true! Thanks for all the details. You guys rock!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thank you. So sweet of you to say. We think you guys all rock for dropping in on us!
xo,
s
Sheena says
Bahahah.. I think my whole office just heard me cracking up laughing at the Beyonce post!!! I can just picture the whole thing! Your whole office/desk reno is probably one of my favorite projects you’ve shared on here. And Clara is so frickin’ precious! I shared this post with a coworker/friend & the first thing she commented on was how “their little girl is soo cute.. she’s like a tall, thin string bean!” hahah ironic, huh? Keep it up!
YoungHouseLove says
She really is a real life string bean! Haha.
xo,
s
brett says
y’all make me tired … and you surely make me look lazy!
YoungHouseLove says
No way! Remember that projects are part of our job!
xo,
s
Nik says
Your metal chicken picture reminded me of this blog story I read a few weeks ago that had me (excuse me for this) rotflol.
http://thebloggess.com/2011/06/and-thats-why-you-should-learn-to-pick-your-battles/
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah that’s our favorite blog post ever! We linked to it too!
xo,
s
Melissa says
I melted at the cuteness of the hoo hat picture! I can’t take it!!!
lara says
where did you get the hoo hat? please share–too adorable!
YoungHouseLove says
That was a gift from her aunt. So sorry we dont know more!
xo,
s
Colleen in MA says
I think this is the month that can be called the tipping point. It’s looking a lot less “new house” and more “Petersik home”. I’ve loved seeing how your decorating choices are really coming together and complimenting each other. Nice job!
Senora H-B says
It’s official. I just died over the picture of Clara in her ‘hoo hat’. The end.
Sandy says
I will name my next child “Younghouselove” if you trip your new office chandilier shade in the same yellow green that matches your stencil. Just sayin…
Sandy says
And by “trip” I meant “trim” :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I knew what you meant. Such a fun idea! We’ll have to see after we hang art and window treatments if we think it’s too much!
xo,
s
Nicole says
So… a bit off topic, but I’m dying to hear Clara so “sah purty”!
She’s so cute!
YoungHouseLove says
We keep trying to get the chattering on video and she clams up and tries to steal the Flip cam. Haha.
xo,
s
betty in munich says
You guys do more in 1 month than the average bear in 1 year!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw you’re sweet. Remember it’s our full time job to take on projects. And we’re probably more DIY obsessed than the average bear. Haha. So we don’t mind spending Saturday night sanding or painting something…
xo,
s
Ashley Jensen says
I did my first furniture redo this month (link at the bottom)! My next project I am going to refinish/stain and old end table using Clara’s dresser/changing table as a reference. Any suggestions on how to match the remaining dark wood in the house? Take a picture maybe?
http://joyfullyjensen.blogspot.com/2011/09/new-old-nightstands.html
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, I would try to take a photo on your phone or camera that looks really true to life when you hold it next to the trim. Then bring it to the hardware store and compare stains to see which one looks closest! Good luck.
xo,
s
Kim says
Love the ‘Hoo hat’ – Clara just takes the spotlight each time! Good luck with the stencil Sherry – you’re a trooper for keeping at it and I can’t wait to see how it looks when you’re done! Looks awesome already :) Try to enjoy your weekend a little too though!
John@ Our Home from Scratch says
Hey if you guys are thinking about doing concrete countertops… I did some at my parent’s shore house a few years ago. Came out pretty good. Wanted to let you know that you’re totally welcome to borrow my wet grinder and the pads as I haven’t used it since! It may be difficult to find a rental place that carries one. I paid $300-$400 for it and it’s a good one, but it’s really not worth it buying it if you’re only going to use it once.
I have a lot of “lessons learned” from that whole project that I need to post on too.
YoungHouseLove says
Wow that’s so kind of you! We still have some other research and options to weigh, but we definitely might email ya!
xo,
s
Jen @ Paisley Print Shoes says
Man I just really, really like your blog. Thanks for writing it. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw shucks Jen. Thanks!
xo,
s
Melanie @ Mailbox Journey says
Awesome Month!
I somehow missed the finger paint art? Where the heck was I that day? LOL
Sarah says
I just read the chicken story you linked to fo rthe first time & it was ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS! I’m at work & was trying so hard not to bust out laughing, but a few bursts slipped & my coworkers probably think I’m nutso…
John says
Don’t worry about trying to match the other kitchen cabinets. Perhaps the space next to the existing cabinets could be open for a trash can. The new peninsula counter could be open underneath and paneled and painted to match the walls.
Just a thought.
YoungHouseLove says
We just want everything to be functional as possible! And we love when something new looks like it was always there (as opposed to added on). We’ll have to see where we end up!
xo,
s
Claire says
I love, love, love the owl hat! Do you mind sharing where it’s from? I’d love to snag one for my 10-month old daughter, Ava!
YoungHouseLove says
That was a sweet gift from John’s aunt. So sorry, we have no idea where it’s from! Maybe try eBay or amazon.com for “wool owl hat”?
xo,
s
alex says
If she talks alot a dinner or in the living room when you guys are spending time together, tripod the flipcam and just record for thirty minutes…maybe she will say a gem haha. My parents set up a camcorder before I was going to eat lunch (it was sitting on the counter facing my highchair) and because my parents weren’t holding it, I was none the wiser and just jabbered away while my mom asked me questions. maybe Clara needs a covert mission to wrangle out the cuteness. Goodluck!
Kelly says
Your blog is wayyyyy better than any TV or book (except the Bible) and throughout the day, I find myself reading your blog instead of working. Darn job!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the new stencil in the office.
heather says
Delurking to politely point out your italics weren’t closed at the end of your post so all the comments are italicized…
:)
(ps “Iss my hoo hat” might be the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.)
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip!!!
xo,
s
Molly says
Can’t wait to see the stenciling in the office finished!! Good luck this weekend- you can DO IT! :)
Diana says
Definitely the best sentence by a 16 month old; she is so smart!! I told my husband that I would be tempted to buy Clara all kinds of animal hats just to see what she would say! Love her expression too…. just melts my heart.:)
monica says
I think the peninsula will be cool because if you are sitting there you will be able to watch what’s going on in the living room! (it will open to the living room, yes?)
Donna says
LOVE your stencil, but what are you going to do when Clara colors on the walls? :) With three kids, it seems like we’re always repainting! Great work, Sherry!
YoungHouseLove says
Hopefully she’ll just color where she can reach: under the chair rail where it’s not stenciled. Haha.
xo,
s
cc says
Glad you have nixed the banquet. Any time you sit down at such a table by yourself in a private home, it always feels like you’re waiting for someone at a restaurant, only there’s probably not going to be a server to bring you another iced tea or an appetizer. At least, that’s my experience. The receptionist desk wouldn’t be so great either! :/