Can we go a whole month without buying anything we don’t need? That’s the challenge we’ve handed ourselves as part of a self-imposed month-long shopping ban. So this week we’re sharing how we were inspired by Cait Flanders’ “Year of Less” and how we’re adapting her rules for our own lives. Plus, the duplex renovation is (finally!) racing along and we’re answering some of your top questions about it. Also, how filming our April Fool’s video was even more embarrassing than it looked... and why a m...
Apr 23, 2018•38 min
Do you reject certain “household staples?” We do! And it turns out a lot of other people do too - to the point that experts are saying they might someday disappear. So this week we’re breaking down how and why the typical home (and its contents) might be changing, along with revealing what modern comforts we’ve deemed unnecessary in our house (one of them is weird, I'm warning you). We're also sharing how we found the best spring break home we've ever rented, and how we navigated the stresses of...
Apr 16, 2018•38 min
This week we're talking about when you should undo a personal or customized change that you made to your house that might turn off potential buyers (and when we'd recommend leaving it the heck alone). We're also getting into store returns and how they're changing, because the ability to return decor items that don’t turn out the way you hoped is a great safeguard... but did you know that some stores may be cracking down on that practice? Here's what we learned about the policing of returns that'...
Apr 02, 2018•37 min•Ep. 91
We all know that deflated feeling when you’ve lost your mojo for a major project or renovation. So how do you reignite that excitement or energy you had for it in the first place? We’ve struggled with this at the beach house lately, so we’re sharing five tips for combating project fatigue. Plus spring is a big time for home maintenance, so we have an easy way to guarantee that you'll never forget about routine tasks again - plus a new trick for barreling through those other little lingering proj...
Mar 26, 2018•37 min•Ep. 90
Could you put your wallet on lockdown for 365 days? Sherry shared the story of a woman who did, including why she took on the challenge, the few exceptions she allowed to make it possible, and how it’s inspiring us to adjust our spending... and maybe even try out a ban of our own. Plus, how much should you involve your kids in the design of their rooms? We share some tips and tactics for keeping everyone happy in the process, so the result is a room that they love (and that you also like to be i...
Mar 19, 2018•36 min•Ep. 89
Doorless bathrooms? Toilets behind glass walls? Showers and tubs just sitting in the corner of the bedroom? These “open concept” bathroom trends seem to be showing up more often, and they’re alarming to some and exciting to others. So this week we attempt to understand what sparked this growing trend, and we explain where we land on the bathroom privacy spectrum. Also, Sherry concocts a new date night idea for DIY enthusiasts and John recaps how a few months off of social media has affected him ...
Mar 12, 2018•39 min•Ep. 88
It’s never fun to get a call saying that you have to tear down something that you just SPENT AN ENTIRE WEEKEND CONSTRUCTING, but that’s exactly what happened with our beach house bunk beds. So this week we’re sharing what went down behind the scenes, and what we did to get around it. Plus, we’re talking to Matt Paxton who's one of the extreme cleaning experts from the A&E show Hoarders, and he sheds a ton of light on why people hoard, how you can help someone who does, and what tricks he has...
Mar 05, 2018•38 min•Ep. 87
We’re getting personal this week, and sharing some early setbacks and hard choices that almost steered our lives in a totally different direction - no houses, no blog, even no marriage! We also dive into how some failed attempts at making over a certain area of our home led to us giving up and calling in the pros. Plus, an easy way to up your drawer organization game, and a tool that makes nearly every project easier. Be sure to check out younghouselove.com/podcast-86/ for notes, links, and phot...
Feb 26, 2018•37 min•Ep. 86
This week John's fessing up to a design choice that he insisted we make in our beach house kitchen, but we now realize was - shall we say - misguided? Thankfully it's not too hard to undo, so we're explaining our change of heart, and what we're doing to fix it. There’s also a polarizing design “trend” that we’ve been asked to weigh in on, so this week we’re sharing our take and why we think it gets people so worked up (this trend literally can make people get rage-y). We’re also sharing some sec...
Feb 19, 2018•39 min•Ep. 85
We don’t always see eye-to-eye on our projects and decorating decisions. In fact, we’re stuck in the midst of some pretty "active" home arguments right now. So in honor of Valentine's Day, we're sharing everything we love about each other. Just kidding, that would be boring. We’re walking you through three of our home-related disagreements and how we’re planning to work through them - hopefully without too many hurt feelings (although Sherry's pretty heated about one of them already). We also co...
Feb 12, 2018•38 min•Ep. 84
We’ve encountered a few frustrating setbacks with our beach duplex renovation, but thanks to a small technicality we were finally able to charge ahead and start demolition. Gotta love a loophole! So we're sharing our work-around, and the surprising thing that was discovered during demo. Plus, when it comes to buying things online without touching or seeing them in person first, we've become much more willing to go for it these days, so we’re sharing our tips for minimizing your risk when shoppin...
Feb 05, 2018•38 min•Ep. 83
If you’ve ever had dreams (or maybe nightmares?) of living in a tiny house, you’re not alone. Lots of people have lots of different feelings about them. So we called up a couple who have lived in an 188 square foot space for over two years, and we asked them all of your burning questions to find out the rosy (and not so rosy) parts of tiny house living. And it was FASCINATING. Plus, we’ve hit a big sentimental milestone at home, and Sherry's finally jumping on the bandwagon of a certain decorati...
Jan 29, 2018•37 min•Ep. 82
The beach house has thrown us plenty of curveballs, but frozen pipes was not something we ever saw coming. This nailbiter had a (mostly) happy ending, except for one stupid move we made in the final moments. Plus, is expensive high-end paint really worth it, or are you better off sticking with the stuff at your local hardware store? The answer might surprise you. And find out how Sherry’s battling back against the clutter of little accessories and why John’s fighting off social media FOMO. Be su...
Jan 22, 2018•38 min•Ep. 81
Making the decision to move is one of those big life-changing choices, and we learned the hard way that doing it under the wrong circumstances might not work out as well as it could for you in the long run. So this week we’re sharing our own personal test for knowing when the time is right to move (hint: it has nothing to do with "when the market is hot"). Plus, we look at what’s trending for kitchens in 2018 and we share why we upgraded our TV. And lastly, if you wanna know when you can come st...
Jan 15, 2018•35 min•Ep. 80
When a neighbor shared some historic documents about our 100 year old beach house, we were stunned to find a story from 1936 of jealousy and even murder. So this week we’re sharing what we learned along with some other surprising facts about our old home’s past. We're also helping a listener find some creative ways to maximize the storage she has AND uncover additional places to stash things ("I have too much storage space" said no one ever). Plus, we share a Christmas gift to help Sherry fight ...
Jan 08, 2018•32 min•Ep. 79
Christmas often flies in the face of our efforts to cut down on clutter and simplify the stuff in our house, so this year we employed 4 tactics to minimize all the excess without sacrificing the merriment of Christmas morning. And it worked! Well mostly (there was one memorable fail). We also both take wildly different approaches to New Year’s resolutions so we’re sharing a few things we’re resolving to do in 2018. Plus, our big duplex renovation has already hit a snag before we could even start...
Jan 01, 2018•39 min•Ep. 78
The beach house feels like it’s coming together in fast motion these days. After over a year of working on it, we can’t believe it finally has working appliances, a kitchen island, even a functioning kitchen sink! But taking the freshly plumbed clawfoot tub for a spin didn’t exactly work out the way Sherry thought it would. We also dive into advice for mixing and matching wood tones in a room for a look that’s collected, not chaotic. Plus the autopilot Christmas decoration we’re both loving this...
Dec 18, 2017•24 min•Ep. 77
You haven’t heard a lot about the duplex that we bought three months ago. It might seem like not much is happening, but we’re actually working on three things behind the scenes that are inching us closer to demo day! We also learn what really goes into creating a home magazine (the good, the bad, and the sweaty) from HGTV Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, Sara Peterson. Plus, some simple ways we’re automating our home on the cheap (without the use of any more smart home devices) and how to make your c...
Dec 11, 2017•36 min•Ep. 76
As much as we love the holidays, all the “stuff” that goes along with it (gifts, decor, things piling up on every surface) can get overwhelming. So this week we’re sharing how we’re approaching things differently in an effort to maintain the joy of the season. And one of the most common questions we get is “who do I figure out my style?” so we’re spelling out exactly how we do that when we’re feeling torn, which actually happens more than you might think. Plus, Sherry revisits a controversial op...
Dec 04, 2017•37 min•Ep. 75
People always ask if we ever argue, especially with all the house projects we tackle together. Well, the short answer is yes. And the speed bumps we hit while installing our beach house kitchen are a perfect example of what can spark a spat. So we’re sharing what we fought about, how we solved it, and who was right all along. We’re also dispelling a myth about a commonly espoused “real estate deal killer” that might not be as scary or expensive as you think! Plus, our take on the new “it” room t...
Nov 27, 2017•35 min•Ep. 74
Young House Love turned 10 years old this fall (!!!) so we're looking back at our last decade of renovating houses, building a business, and making plenty of mistakes along the way - all while on a public stage called the world wide web. You’ll hear how both in decorating and in business there were some pivotal moments that led us to where we are today - literally without them, we wouldn't be here - and they didn't all feel great at the time. In fact, some of them felt downright terrible. Be sur...
Nov 20, 2017•38 min•Ep. 73
What we thought would be an easy swap of an old sectional for a new sofa has turned our living room on its head. So this week we’re sharing how we’re rethinking the layout and reinventing the space to work a little harder. We're also sharing countertop pros & cons, since we've lived with 3 different kitchens with 3 different counter choices. So you can hear our regrets to hopefully avoid making the same mistakes. Plus, we run into some hiccups in our meal kit delivery experiment that may hav...
Nov 13, 2017•33 min•Ep. 72
Keeping your kids safe at home is hugely important and creating a house that looks nice but is also livable (and not too precious) is basically the holy grail. So this week we’re sharing specific tricks and tips for how we childproofed our house without running down the safety aisle and buying every last foam pad and cabinet lock. We also finally got to meet Vern Yip in person, and he taught us a lot (like our favorite new term for choosing the right lighting) and made us laugh so hard (the hote...
Nov 06, 2017•37 min•Ep. 71
Our week was sent into a tailspin when we got a last-minute invitation to appear on The Rachael Ray Show, and within 24 hours we were on a plane to New York so we could DIY in front of a live studio audience the very next morning. As you can imagine, we have some pretty hilarious stories from behind the scenes (it turns out Rachael Ray was NOT trying to hug Sherry) and the whole adventure was bookended by two other big beach house milestones: moving furniture in and spending our first night ther...
Oct 30, 2017•37 min•Ep. 70
This week John is laying out why he thinks the end of HGTV’s Fixer Upper might actually bring some good things, and Sherry’s revealing the secret screw-up that almost ruined our beach house floors. Plus If you’ve ever dreamed about buying a second property or wading into the real estate investing waters, we’re getting pro tips from real estate expert Dana Bull. She’s breaking down a less risky way to buy your first rental, explaining why being a landlord isn’t as scary as it sounds, and sharing ...
Oct 23, 2017•36 min•Ep. 69
This week we’re giving a listener whose house flooded after Hurricane Harvey some advice on finding the right people to help get her kitchen back together again after the storm. We also share why we’re loving a new “smart” platform for buying and selling secondhand stuff. And we’re sharing a series of recent faux plant scores that make us proud to be fake plant owners. Plus John’s shares a free tool that’s finally putting the kibosh on one of his worst habits. Be sure to check out younghouselove...
Oct 16, 2017•36 min•Ep. 68
When we look back at how we updated our previous homes, there are more than a few design decisions we regret - so we're breaking down five things that we’d go back and do differently if we had a time machine. And ding-dong, the deck is gone! Yup, we ripped that monster off the house, and the yard’s already feeling awesomely open - but checking this item off our to-do list has actually just added more to it (it's like the plot of 'If You Give A Mouse A Cookie'). We also check Sherry’s Color of Th...
Oct 09, 2017•37 min•Ep. 67
Some people have declared the stainless steel appliance trend over (cue the gasps!). We used stainless appliances in our kitchen, but have decided against them for our beach house, so we're weighing in on when you might want to pull the trigger on stainless - or avoid it completely. And speaking of the kitchen, we've been trying some new things in there lately, including jumping on a certain culinary bandwagon, bringing some organization to our fridge, and finally taking a couple of those meal d...
Oct 02, 2017•38 min•Ep. 66
We’ve probably all got dual purpose rooms like a mudroom-slash-laundry room, a breakfast-nook-slash-homework-spot, or the ol’ guest-room-slash-office. So today we’re sharing the key to making one space actually work in multiple ways - instead of feeling like it does one thing waaay better than the other. We also chat about a recent attic clutter revelation, and John shares a negotiation technique so covert you might not even know you’re doing it. He also gets a tool he has daydreamed about for y...
Sep 25, 2017•34 min•Ep. 65
We’ve got some big news this week that you probably didn’t see coming (also: we might be crazy). Plus we share how we were able to pay off our mortgage (!!) and how the groundwork we laid over a decade ago in our first house made it all possible. We also chat about stuff you should NOT pass down to your kids (there’s some surprising stuff that experts say don’t make good heirlooms anymore) and we cover everything from our first house's cost to how our mortgage for our third house was actually sm...
Sep 18, 2017•37 min•Ep. 64
