Home Dec Month: Q&A with Young House Love

Get ready for a treat - today for Home Dec Month, we're excited to bring you a quick Q&A with Sherry & John Petersik. Hardly needing an introduction, they're the fabulously creative and talented duo behind the popular home improvement and lifestyle blog Young House Love. They were kind enough to take a quick time out with us to answer some questions, so without further ado, we hope you enjoy our chat below!

All images courtesy Young House Love.

SCC: Woodworking and major home renovations can be pretty intimidating for newbies, but they seem like the "next step" for anyone interested in doing their own home dec. What's your advice for overcoming that fear?

YHL: I think the key is to do one small thing at a time. Build your confidence, start slow, and keep your expectations nice and low (pressuring yourself to build a giant armoire in an afternoon makes for an almost positively frustrating battle, but setting your sights on something nice and manageable as an afternoon project to get your momentum up is always a great way to start out - like spraying painting a lamp base, for example. A small project like that can be all that you need to get the DIY ball rolling! 

SCC: We love YHL - but what are some of YOUR favorite home dec blogs?

YHL: Oh man, I read over 200 blogs - there are so many inspiring folks out there! A few favorites are Nicole at makingitlovely.com, Stefanie at brooklynlimestone.com, Katie at bowerpowerblog.com, Jessica at howaboutorange.blogspot.com, and Ana at ana-white.com. There literally are dozens more though. I can't get enough of blogs!

SCC: We really enjoy seeing Clara, your daughter, and Burger, your dog, on the blog, and they're obviously a huge part of your everyday! How do you manage to get major home projects done at home with them underfoot?

YHL: We don't! Haha. We get nearly 95% of our projects done when Clara is either napping or in bed for the night. Thankfully Burger hears the power drill or the squeaky paint rollers and usually likes to stay clear - but we can't manage to get anything done with a curious toddler around, so the hours between eight pm and midnight are when we dive into the DIY zone after Clara's in bed for the night. 

SCC: Sherry, you have a "thing" for white animal figurines. John, do you have any similar home dec obsessions?

YHL: I love old wooden boxes. You know, the ones with weathered stamps or words stenciled onto them. I'm obsessed.

Young House Love: 243 Ways to Paint, Craft, Update & Show Your Home Some Love
Coming in November and now available for preorder!

SCC: You've got a book coming out in November that we're so excited to get our hands on. What else is on the horizon?

YHL: Aw thanks! We always say that we had no idea we'd be here five years ago so we don't have a clue where we'll be in five more years. We're completely humbled and thankful to be right where we are today, so if we're still blogging and DIYing the days away, I think we'll be happy campers!

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A huge thanks goes to Sherry & John of Young House Love for helping us out with today's Home Dec Month Q&A! Visit them online at www.younghouselove.com to keep up with their current projects, plus check out gobs of archives for countless home improvement tips, techniques, how-to's, before & afters and so much more - including outtakes and plenty of good humor!