The end of 2009 marks the end of our stint on the True Value DIY Blog Squad (which we excitedly introduced just three short months ago). Cue the nostalgic music: “it’s so haaaaard, to say goodbyyyyyye, to yesterdaaaaaaaaaaay.”
But don’t get all teary-eyed on us. We have tons to be grateful for thanks to our amazing three month gig. After all, True Value is the reason we took major leaps forward in getting ready for new additions in 2010 (i.e. the bean + all of the bean’s stuff). They provided gallon upon gallon of Drylok to make our basement storage-ready and supplied the rented demolition hammer that helped get the bathroom project rolling (so we can soon turn attention to the nursery). Not to mentioned that they also offered up a slew of other much-needed items (dimmer switches, paint cans, storage bins, drills, spray paint, puck lights, rollers, paint brushes, drop cloths, etc) to keep us going and tossed in some great advice along the way. So a big “muchos gracias” goes out to those master hardwarians over at True Value. Thanks so much for having us on your squad.
And speaking of the squad, our fellow DIY Blog Squaders also took on some pretty cool projects over the last few months. So be sure to check out their undertakings as well- like the basement tiling project that the Bowers tackled over at All Bower Power. Let’s just say I referenced their how-to advice more than once during our own bathroom tiling blitz.
Or the old door that Layla and Kevin at A Lettered Cottage transformed into a beautiful new piece for their guest bathroom.
Josh over at at Bungalow 23 is in the midst of a bedroom project that involves testing out a couple different types of paint strippers.
And the fellas over at The Handyguys Podcast served up tips for our favorite type of project (painting!) including a nod to the power of Frog Tape (which we can’t wait to try).
And that’s just a sampling of the projects that our fellow Squaders tackled, so be sure to poke around for more True Value projects on each of their sites if you have a minute. Looks like they all had as much fun as we did, although I think Burger’s the only one of us who got to ride in a shopping basket. Oh the perks of being eight pounds.
So here’s to a year of demo-ing, painting, rebuilding, organizing, accessorizing and functional-izing! Somehow we think 2010 will be packed with more of the same. And we’d love to know what you guys accomplished this year in the name of home improvement and space sprucing. Any big plans for 2010? Do tell.
Middle four images courtesy of All Bower Power, A Lettered Cottage, Bungalow 23 and The Handguys Podcast.
meaghan says
about frog tape!!
i recently tackled my bathroom with a painting project, and the very nice lady at lowe’s suggested the frog tape… i was hesitant about the extra $2 cost then thought, “what the heck, i’ll try it”
all i can say is that i was AMAZED at how well it worked! the lines came out completely distinct and straight and perfect (if i do say so myself!)… totally worth the extra $2!
ShannonJex says
Happy New Year John and Sherry! I am an advid home renovator, redecorator, and artist and I just love keeping up with your witty blog! Thank you for inspiring me and making it not only okay and COOL to be frugal. You make $7 look like a million bucks! Totally my style!
Happy 2010,
Shannon Jex in Mississippi
Eric says
happy New Year to you guys, too! And I loved hearing all the T.V. Stories (my dad used to own a True Value Hardware store, back in the ’70’s
Janell Beals says
No kidding about Frog Tape!! Amazing stuff and worth the extra $. Glad I found your blog in 2009, looking forward to what you post about in 2010! Happiest of New Years!
Janell
Kim at Yellow Brick Home says
Oh, how I LOVE frog tape! My hubs discovered it this past summer during a spree of painting projects, and we haven’t looked back since! We can definitely say that the extra money is SO worth it. Lines are so crisp and clean. I thought about it when I read your bathroom post (when you painted horizontal stripes). That’s an ideal example of when to frog tape!
Jaye Leigh says
Lots of plans for 2010! Our neighbors recently cut down a gigantic water oak tree that was just inches from their house (and several feet from ours) – now we’ll actually be able to get grass to grow in our front yard as well! Yay for sunshine! We’re excited to do some landscaping in the spring to increase our curb appeal.
Also, we just found out we’re pregnant with Baby #2, so we’ll be making plans to convert our home office into his/her room! :)
Jeannine @ Small and Chic says
I think you two integrated the DIY Squad role into your blog beautifully. While it was clear that you provided materials, you still sounded like YHL, not like a True Value commercial. :)
Cindy @ The Saga says
We’re super excited for all that’s coming our way in 2010! We’ll be completely overhauling the exterior of the house, planting grass in the backyard (first time that yard will have grass in probably 4 years!), landscaping the back yard, replacing a ton of trim inside and re-doing our kitchen cabinets.
Wow, I’m tired already….
Jacci says
Hmmm. Frog tape. I’m not usually one to tape off before painting, but the new trim might just call for some of this stuff. And caulking! Bed it would be great for clean caulking lines :)
Projects for 2010? Oh, yeah, we got ’em. Finishing up the first layer in at least 3 of the bedrooms (including the master bedroom, yay!), our ensuite bath overhaul, painting all of the paneling and brick in the family room, and another phase in the kitchen redo. Too much for 12 sort months? We’ll see! :)
Happy New Year to you all!!!!
~Sam and Jacci and crew
Sara says
BIG plans for ’10!
Including:
Unpacking, decorating, painting, sealing up cold drafts, switching out regular light bulbs for energy efficient light bulbs, painting kitchen cabinets, replacing hardware, etc etc etc, I could go on and on…so much to do and I am excited about it!
Happy New Year you guys!
-Sara and Michael
Jessica @ How Sweet says
Happy New Year!!! :)
Jeannette says
2010 is going to be a BIG year in renovation projects for me and my DH. We are closing on our first house at the end of January, and the place has ZERO curb appeal, gross blue carpets and laminate countertops! We can’t wait! Thanks for a year’s worth of inspiration.
Jackie Smith says
We will be moving back into our house in 2010! We gutted it entirely and haven’t even lived there for over a year! Left to do? Finish drywall and paint, put new kitchen in, lay floors,(slate & wood) and finish master bath and bedroom! Whoa…we hope to be in by my daughter’s fourth birthday on March 9th. Then when summer comes, let’s do the deck and relax!!!
Keeley says
My husband and I need to have our bedroom repainted (including installing new window treatments) by MLK Day because we’re finally getting new bedroom furniture! Real, grown-up furniture! We’re considering painting with Glacier from Restoration Hardware.
We’re also going to power wash and re-stain our deck, power wash the exterior of the house… I could go on and on, but I bet we’ll run out of $$$!
Happy New Year!
Meredith says
By far, our biggest decorating and renovating project of 2009 was the nursery. But it’s finally finished, and I am in love with how it turned out!
In 2010, we plan (funds permitting) to finally work on a backyard…and turn the mounds of dirt and rock into lush rolling grass for the bambino (and us!) to play on!
Jen Z. says
It’s been a great 2009 following your blog. Can’t wait to see what you have in store for 2010.
2009 we did lots of projects – it took us a year to finish our Family Room, we did some landscaping and we took our pool & deck down.
2010 we plan on redoing our laundry room, seeding the yard where the pool & deck was and of course some land scaping around that area, we also plan on doing all of our cement in the front to pavers, but we are leaving that up to the experts ;-). We save in every other place, so we figure we need to let others do something for us. lol!
Happy 2010 John & Sherry!
Adrienne says
Love all the great tips you brought us throughout the year! 2010 will be a huge renovation year for us as we will finally move into the house we bought back in April of this year…which means no more of the “fun” painting jobs and picking out curtains we’ve done up till now. Now it’s time to bring out the big guns: a new roof, finished attic?, completely new kitchen, new ceiling here and there, and much more. We look forward to referencing your blog for some how-to’s!
Natalie says
Happy New Year! I recently found your blog and am already looking forward to what you have in store for 2010! My husband and I just finished our kitchen counters this week – we had 1940’s laminate (ACK!) and we couldn’t afford to replace the counters for the whole kitchen (it’s BIG). We love the look of granite, so we decided to paint it to look like granite! It turned out AMAZING! I have pics if you would like to see them. Instead of spending over $5000 we have “new” counters for less than $100. In 2010 I am planning on repainting our beige kitchen cabinets to white and repainting the hardware as well. Good luck to all your new projects!
YoungHouseLove says
Of course we’d love to see those pics! Send away!
xo,
s
Bromeliad says
This is totally unrelated – but congrats on getting the most votes on Apartment Therapy’s Homies run off.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Bromeliad! We’re still just insanely psyched to have been nominated among so many great bloggers! We love the blog love-fest and we love Apartment Therapy!
xo,
s
Lise M says
Wow, what a lovely blog! Thanks for sharing your ideas!
XO
Lise M.
http://www.urbanstylevibes.com
Erin says
Thanks for a great year of posts! I really only discovered you guys in fall, but I refer back to your old posts for advice frequently (for instance, I’m just about to run out to buy paint for the trim and I was looking through the old posts to see if I should be buying semi-gloss or what). As for what the big projects in the 2010 plan? How about ripping the roof off half our house to fix a roof design problem and at the same time add more room and more light to our bedrooms and ad a much-needed second bathroom, all without adding square footage? Stay tuned … if all goes as we hope, we’ll be sleeping under the stars in our house (hopefully only for a night or two) come spring.