Home Design

by John Petersik on November 18, 2019 at 6:00 am

Today we’re exploring an expert’s theory that your childhood passions (specifically around 5th grade) could hold the key to what you’ll love doing most as an adult. It was fascinating to take a look back and see if the idea really held up for us. We’re also confessing to a mistake we made when hiring a pro for a recent house project and sharing what we’ll do differently from here on out. Plus it turns out that plants aren’t the powerful air purifiers we were promised, and the nerdiest decorating project you’ve ever heard in your life. You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, and Spotify – or listen to it below! Note: If you’re reading in a feed reader, you may have to click through to the post to see the player. Continue reading #155: Can “The Rule Of Age 10” Really Predict Your Future? at Young House Love.

by John Petersik on November 13, 2019 at 11:58 pm

We’ve gotten hundreds of questions about the financial side of running an Airbnb or other short term vacation rental. Specifically: “can you detail the expenses and fees that take a bite out of the profit? Are there hidden costs? How exactly do rental taxes work? Insurance?! ACK!“ Whether the person asking us was considering doing one themselves, or just plain curious (talking about money = interested face emoji), we’re laying it all out in the hope that it demystifies it a little bit, and is helpful to anyone who might be on the fence about whether or not this is a viable side hustle. We actually really enjoyed learning the ins & outs of this stuff – so it’s fun to share what we learned. Obviously there are expenses like actually purchasing, renovating, and furnishing a home that you’ll be using as a vacation rental. Continue reading The Costs Of Running A Vacation Rental (With Real Numbers) at Young House Love.

by John Petersik on November 11, 2019 at 6:00 am

Getting rid of stuff is hard, especially when it comes to kids and their creations. So this week we’re sharing the simple trick we use to keep everything from arts and crafts to forts and cardboard box villages from taking over our house, without putting a damper on creativity. Spoiler alert: this trick works for adults and our favorite things too! Plus, armed with an expert’s advice and a new guideline for how much indoor greenery a home should have for optimal air quality, Sherry doubles down on our home’s plant collection. Also, why things got weird when we switched sides of the bed – and the embarrassing dangers of moving furniture. You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, and Spotify – or listen to it below! Note: If you’re reading in a feed reader, you may have to click through to the post to see the player. Continue reading #154: How To Pare Down When Everything Is Precious at Young House Love.

by Sherry Petersik on November 6, 2019 at 5:58 pm

If you’ve been hesitant to jump on the wallpaper bandwagon, let this post be the soothing voice that gently strokes your hair and says “don’t worry my pet, wallpaper doesn’t have to be hard, permanent, or expensive. Also your hair looks good today, and I should probably stop touching it because I don’t know you like that.” Adding wallpaper to the middle bedroom at our beach house took us just a few hours and cost us less than $100. It’s a whole lotta bang for not much buck (or extra high skill level). Plus it’s 100% removable so if we ever tire of it or want to swap it for something else, it’s not a big deal. So in this post we’ll show you exactly how we hung it, including a video I took of my lovely husband hanging a panel for you in real-time while I talk and point (you know, the things I’m most known for). Continue reading How To Hang Peel & Stick Wallpaper (On Video!) at Young House Love.

by John Petersik on November 4, 2019 at 6:00 am

You guys submitted your favorite life hacks over the last few weeks, so today we’ve got an episode bursting at the seams with all of those cheap & simple tricks for making your home run smoother and your day a little less frustrating. We’ve got everything from clever cleaning tips and unconventional storage ideas to both high and low tech ways to keep you more organized. We’re also sharing why we’re giving a BIG EYEROLL to the latest part of our master bathroom renovation and a new money saving tool that we got for our kids. You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, and Spotify – or listen to it below! Note: If you’re reading in a feed reader, you may have to click through to the post to see the player. Continue reading #153: Easy Ways To Make Your Day Less Annoying at Young House Love.

by John Petersik on October 30, 2019 at 5:53 pm

Did you catch the sneak peeks of the board & batten that we installed in the middle bedroom at our beach house on Insta Stories? The picture below was also in last week’s podcast shownotes, where we discussed the wallpaper – and we got TONS of requests for a tutorial so here we go. I am not kidding when I say this was an easy project. Completely beginner-friendly – and it makes such a big impact in the room (especially since we added wallpaper above it – we’ll break down that process in a future post). This is actually our third house where we’ve installed some sort of DIY board and batten. We did a really affordable treatment (only $57!), and then we made a “fancier” version in our current house by adding some extra molding details within the boxes. Both of those projects were in hallways, so this latest project was our first go at using board & batten in a bedroom – and we tried a couple of new techniques this time which helped it turn out especially well for this space. Continue reading How We Installed Easy Board & Batten At The Beach at Young House Love.

by John Petersik on October 28, 2019 at 5:00 am

In honor of Halloween, we’re sharing a spooky occurrence at our beach house that we legitimately couldn’t explain for a few months (even I, the perennial skeptic, was like… “how did that just happen?!”). We’re also chatting with author Miranda Anderson about how her entire family took on a yearlong shopping ban, and how that choice led to more gratitude, patience, and a sense of adventure for the entire family. Plus, an update on how things are getting real (and real messy!) in our master bathroom reno – and a tool we’re using to help keep our sanity throughout the process. You can download this episode from Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, and Spotify – or listen to it below! Note: If you’re reading in a feed reader, you may have to click through to the post to see the player. Continue reading #152: The Haunted Room At Our Beach House at Young House Love.

by Sherry Petersik on October 23, 2019 at 2:35 pm

Before it gets too cold to do any more outdoor updates around here, we snuck in a fun little project that I’ve been dying to try for, oh 10 years now. Actually the first time I was like “yeah – I want that” was upon seeing one of those cool diamond trellis things waaaay back in 2009 on the outside of this house that we crashed (yes, that’s 10 years ago! Even though I swear 1999 sounds like 10 years ago in my head). I wish we had captured a picture of it for that post, but I think there was blotchy sunlight on it so it didn’t make the final cut. But that family still lives in that house, that diamond trellis continues to thrive, and I continue to gasp at it every time we walk by. It looks a little something like this: source The Diamond Trellis Urge (let’s capitalize it because it has grown into a legitimate condition for me over the years) grew even stronger after we painted our house white last fall. Continue reading Creating A DIY Vine Trellis at Young House Love.