Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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The Blog Begins

If we were really on top of our game, we would’ve started this blog 16 months ago when we bought our beautiful, one-story brick ranch here in Richmond, Virginia. But I guess we were too caught up with home work (literally) to even think about recording our progress online.

When we bought the place in May of 2006, we were its 3rd owners in its 50-year-old history. We were completely charmed by its strong bones, and happily challenged by its complete lack of style (the beautiful backyard was also a plus). We moved in with big dreams of what it could become. And a mere 12 hours after closing, it was already on its way…

Just to get a sense of where we were starting – check out this shot of our old den.

Beforeden

No wonder we often referred to that room as the hunting lodge in the first few weeks of homeownership. But if there’s anything we’ve learned throughout the process of making our old house a home, it’s that you should never underestimate the power of a few coats of paint.

Comments

  1. rosieswhimsy says

    Good Luck “on your new baby” ! Blogs take a lot time and attention just like the real thing. I’ll keep an eye on you and see how she grows !!

    Reply

  2. YoungHouseLove says

    Thanks! We’re about a month into blogging and we’re still loving it. It’s a lot easier than writing a million email updates about our various house projects and now everyone can be privy to all of our adventures (and misadventures). Thanks for the comment!

    Reply

  3. elvira says

    I just found your blog today and I am totally smitten!! I just spent a few hours looking through in awe. My first attraction was that you have a 50 yr old ranch house that is so very similar to what I just purchased back in Oct. Then I loved your backyard wedding!! So simple and beautiful. And then your decorating taste – totally love it. So, I hope you don’t mind if I pilfer a bunch of your ideas!! My house is in DC so no one will know! :-)
    But seriously, I love it all. Definitely one to bookmark.

    Reply

  4. Lindsay @ Likely Design says

    Hey guys!

    I don’t even know how I got here (I think I was looking at the chairs in your den and link after link I found my way to the beginning!) so I just had to leave a comment on your very first post. :) You know I’m a fan…see ya’!

    xo, L.

    PS – As I’m in California, I don’t really know the East Coast geography that well, but I just realized that you’re not too far from where my dad lives – he’s in Maryland, works in DC. Let me know if you’re ever on the West Coast (not that I live on the coast, but you know what I mean!).

    Reply

  6. Cas says

    Hi I am another who has finally reached all the way back to your first post after a month of catch up :)

    Just wanted to let you know that I am loving your blog and have had so much inspiration from it even though here in South Africa we don’t have all the great home stores that you seem to!

    This Christmas my table was much admired, thanks to the great ideas from you and there are many home improvements planned for the future including the biggest… a complete kitchen renovation!

    Wishing you luck with your growing family x

    Reply

  7. Cheap Freeman says

    Wow, seeing this first post is like opening an old library copy of a classic book. Always seems like no checkouts since the 50s or 70s or something. I wonder how many of your recent fans have seen this.

    Reply

  9. Andreisa says

    all right! i found the first post! now i’m going to start reading ALL of them!!!! YAYYYYYYY!!!!!! [2]

    Reply

  10. Jenny T.A. Nguyen says

    What incredible growth and passion. I’ve started reading backwards, and am only now jumping to the beginning, but you have both inspired me. Although it is in no way the same, as I am only 21 and am merely renting my first home on my own, I am excited all the same to put as many loving touches to my home as you have to yours. Thank you for sharing and allowing strangers to join in your love and joy of life and each other!

    Reply

  11. Jaime Scott says

    I just wanted to leave a comment on your very first blog. I found your blog a few weeks ago and I’ve been hooked ever since. I was reading backwards, but then decided to try to find the beginning. I love it! You guys are so inspiring!

    Reply

  12. Kaitlyn says

    I stumbled upon your blog about a month ago (through apartmenttherapy.com) Today, (call me a creep…) I have reached the end of the YHL internet. If my boss ever found out how many hours were spent on here…well…I probably wouldn’t still have a job….

    Keep up the great work! I love you guys!

    Reply

    • Kristen says

      I did the same thing! I don’t even remember how I found YHL – probably through another home decor blog – and I read through all the posts from the very beginning and loved it! Here’s to hoping your boss (and mine!) don’t have trackers on how many hours we’ve spent here!

  14. Clare says

    Found your blog while planning my wedding and got a lot of inspiration from yours! Now that wedding planning is over it is nice to have a blog to go to for real life things! My husband and I are renting a townhouse right now but we are still doing things to make it feel more like “ours”. I am getting a lot of great ideas from your blog – not just for the house, but for married life as well! Thanks to you both!

    Reply

  15. Angela says

    So earlier this year my husband and I were in the process of purchasing a house and one fateful day I was searching for info on patio renovations and stumbled across your blog with your one about the new patio lounge chairs and I must say that I was hooked (I think Burger may have been the driving force to begin with but I later found all of the tutorials for different projects which is great…and now my husband has the joy of listening to all the things I have found on YHL). Anyways we have now been in our house for a few months and the advise on here has been great for us to see things in different ways when it comes to home improvement. And since I have been enjoying it so much and things at work have been kinda slow I must admit that I went back into the archives and read myself from blog one to the current and just had to come back to this first fateful blog and say a big THANKS for all the time you put into this :) Happy blogging!!!!

    Angela

    Reply

  16. Meghan says

    Hiiiii! One of my friends recommended Burger’s blog to me….cute idea by the way (:, then I found your blog, and as is my tradition when I find a new blog, I start at the beginning and read through the blog’s entirety…you seem to have lots of faithful followers, you can now add one more…ME! Have a great day !

    Reply

  18. Leah says

    I’ve been following your blog for a few months now. I decided to start from the begining as well as following the new posts. Great to see how far you have come in just a few years :)

    Reply

  19. Karina says

    Hi youngsters,

    You really have inspired me! This blog has become some sort of daily ritual, if there is no new post that I have not read i start reading some older ones. I thought that I would search for your first post and see how it looks…it looks great!!

    Thank you for sharing your ideas and all your hard work with us.

    luv,

    Reply

  20. Julia @ Chris loves Julia says

    It took me about 7 months. But I read every last post. I can’t believe how much you have grown. I started following your blog about 9 months ago and I am so glad I back tracked to your humble beginnings where your pictures are smaller, the posts are shorter but it is the same YHL voice that I check in on twice a day. You have a friend who feels like she’s your sister, in Utah. :)

    Chris Loves Julia

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw thanks so much for reading all the way back Julia! You guys deserve some sort of medal for making it through! It’s almost 2,000 posts!

      xo,
      s

  21. Mimi says

    Found you guys about a month ago and read you backwards…a little disappointed I got to the first one and now have to wait like everyone else for the daily posts to get more SherryJohniliciousness! Hugs and Kisses to Clara and Burger.

    Reply

  23. Becca says

    Holy Cow! I just finished going through your entire archives… only took me 3 months :)(definitely dont tell my boss!) How appropriate that I finished just in time for your 4th blogiversary…which also happens to be the same day as my birthday! I have to say that I tend to jump from blog to blog and very rarely check the same blogs every single day…but can’t go a day without YHL. (Haha as writing this comment I’m imagining myself as a buck-toothed 13-year old girl wearing a t-shirt with your faces and “#1 fan” asking for your autograph on the red carpet for some reason…) Anyway, love you guys!

    Reply

  24. Kat says

    I just moved to a new town with my husband. We moved for a new job-for him. I haven’t found one yet, so I’ve been keeping myself busy with obsessively monitoring the real estate market here (we too, soon hope to be in a YHL situation :D), learning to sew and knit, and starting to blog about it. There are SO many blogs out there, and I’ve been looking at through those almost as obsessively as real estate listings. Yours is by far my favorite so far. I haven’t quite pinpointed the why. But you add good fun to the blogoverse! Please keep it up and congratulations to you both!

    Reply

  25. Irene says

    Hello from Greece!
    I’m Irene…I dont exactly remember how I found out about your blog (I read many decoration-dyi blogs, probably one of them recommended yours for a dyi project and I kept you in my favorites).
    Today I decided to read your story from the beggining!!! So here I am, and although 428 pages are a lot of work for me I just feel that I want to watch your life from the beggining and dont miss a thing!!!
    I wish you are always in love, always inspired and have a wonderful life with your adorable little girl!
    So see you again through your posts, cause I’m definately gonna have questions about your dyi projects!!!!
    Kisses!

    Reply

  26. Krissy says

    Hello! I’ve read random posts here and there, picked through projects, and really enjoyed everything I’ve seen. The first time I heard of one of your adventures was when Sherry dyed her wedding dress! I’ve got a long, lonely weekend ahead of me while the boy goes on his annual ice fishing trip, so I decided to start at the very beginning and spend the weekend with your history!

    Reply

  28. Laura says

    I finally got to the beginning! I love your blog! It’s given a lot of ideas on my room makeover. Thank you for sharing your work with us!

    Reply

  29. Col & Kate says

    Found your blog by accident a few weeks ago and think it is the best DIY site I have come across. I like how diverse it is and how detailed your posts are, and like many others I had to come to the start and read forwards (which is where I found myself late last night ;o)

    Keep up the great work guys !!

    Reply

  30. Coasting anon says

    Not sure HOW I originally found you all but I remember it was around October of ’09, when my (now 3yr old) son was only 3 months old and we crazily decided to redo our master bedroom! I used your sheer drapes paired with woven shades to complete our inspiration board (http://www.otherpiecesofme.com/2009/10/master-moods.html)…so I’m guessing it was a google image search that ‘brought’ me to your front step. So fun to take a peek back at the very beginning. Thanks for participating in my my-first-post linky :)

    –Coasting anon

    Reply

  31. Sandra says

    Love your site! I know you are both very busy, but I wanted to let you know how much you inspire me to complete projects in my own home as well as continue to blog. Thank you!

    Sandra from simpleispretty.com

    Reply

  32. Mizden Medina says

    Hey!

    I found your blog around Aug 2010 (2 years ago wow!) and have been loyal to your posts ever since, but now I’m kind of itching to know what happened before Clara was even born (I have read post before that date when you link it for a specific reason but haven’t read all post in order).

    I shall say later on how long it will take me….but not a month like some other people I’m sure! haha

    Happy Labor day! btw, here in Mexico we celebrated May 1st but September is all about Independence! (16th Sept) we are all about green/white/red around here!

    Love your blog! Keep the great work! :D

    Mizden

    Reply

  33. Jordan says

    Oh my goodness I’m so glad I looked at your first post! My husband and I just bought our first house– built in 1969– and we haven’t even moved in yet but I have been doing research on DIY projects (like painting oak cabinets white) to start turning it into the home we dream of (hopefully beginning just hours after we get the keys!). Your blog is great with so much information on all of your projects, not to mention you guys are just so stinkin’ loveable! I had to check out the first post :) Thanks for all that you do and I loved checking out your pre-Burger-and-Clara roots. I might even be feeling inspired to start our own blog to document our house progress from the very beginning… Who knows? I’ll holla back atcha if that happens. (P.S. ummmmm, “holla back atcha” is/has never been part of my daily language. I just typed it, so now I’m leaving it.)

    Reply

  34. Eowyn West says

    Always love to see how a story began…you all are very inspirational, yet relatable & very refreshing. And so much fun! I toy with starting a blog but really don’t know how, so I’m interested in how people start their blogs and what were their first posts like. Hubby & I are starting a major remodel of our small 60+ yr. old ranch home for our 11 yr. old daughter who has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair. (We also have a 13 yr. daughter & almost 24 yr. old son) Our home will potentially become her adult home too. We also live on a lovely lake in Southern N.J. Yeah, I’m a Jersey girl too! Our families have homes in Ocean City & Ship Bottom. Sorry for this long message! Hope to purchase your book soon…Congratulations & MANY blessings to you four!

    Reply

  35. Elisa says

    Hello from Italy!! I found your blog in 2009 and I’ve been reading your adventures ever since, starting from the beginning. But now, during these long sleepless nights with my three months old son, I want to start all over again… And I also would like to get your book, but on Italian Amazon it’s a little too expensive… I guess I will consider it my Christmas present! :)
    (Sorry if my English isn’t that good!) Ciao ciao

    Reply

  37. Liz says

    Found your blog while searching for how long does it take to refinish wooden floors. This was yesterday night and since then I have read a lot of your blogs- floors, kitchen, wedding, comparing old house to new house, sun room, … You guys are great! You have a beautiful family and home. Thank you for sharing and inspiring us into making our home as AWESOME as yours without spending a lot of money.

    Reply

  38. Shaly says

    Hello from Malaysia!!
    Yeay.. I made it to the first post and really hope that your book would be in my country soon..please please pretty please.. ;)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh man we hope it makes it there Shaly! If you check out the book depository (it’s a website that I think they ships internationally) it’ll hopefully be there!

      xo
      s

  39. Kate Carter says

    Phew! I made it all the way to the very first post. Strange to read your journey backward, but I enjoyed every page! I’ll be looking forward to reading many more of your inspiring adventures. <3

    Reply

  40. Donna says

    I stumbled upon your website and then realized that I had seen you in HGTV mag and on Nate Burkus. While I am considerably older and in a different stage of life, our child is in college. You have inspired me to tackle some things we seem to never have enough money or time to do. I am off from work today and will spend way too much time reading about your various projects. May God continue to bless you and your daughter as you inspire us to do it ourselves!

    Reply

  41. Kerstin says

    Here I go! Embarking on the joyful adventure of reading your whole blog from start to present day and beyond. Let’s see how long it’ll take me. :)

    All the best!
    Kerstin

    Reply

  42. Kathleen Swenson says

    Had been meaning to stroll check out the archives and this seems like the perfect opportunity. Looking forward to the inspiration. Have a nice break! XOXO

    Reply

  43. Mary Beth says

    I’m going to take advantage of your break and go back to post #1!
    I hope that this time off brings you whatever it is that you guys need, and I want you to know that I for one will be waiting for you to return.
    I think that above all else you guys need to remember that this is YOUR space. YOUR little slice of the internet to share whatever you choose.
    People can read or not read – that’s their choice.
    What matters is what you two want this place to be.
    ????
    Enjoy your time, and I can’t wait for what lies ahead
    MB

    http://www.hystericallyeverafter.com

    Reply

  45. Dalenna says

    My iPad brought me to this page and I got so giddy you were back and then got really confused by the post (the date was even Sept, just the wrong year). I swear I am an intelligent person :). Anyway just wanted to let you know that no matter what you decide is right for you guys in this season of life I still love your blog and hope it can stay up forever as a resource. And maybe it is also like rewatching a favorite movie, just nice to enjoy it again. It’s nice to pursue around the blog too.

    Reply

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