Our blog has received the ultimate makeover, and no longer lives here on WordPress.

Please click here to be redirected, and be sure to change your bookmark to www.thisyounghouse.com.

(Post by Sherry)

By now you know what this blog is about. Two people making over a house to rid it of its dated style and truly make it their own. So we figured it was about time the same thing happened to this blog.

Over the past two weeks I’ve been learning a functional amount of coding and Sherry and I have designed a fresh look for This Young House. Not that our current little theme isn’t nice, but the cookie-cutter template feels a little like we bought a home and left the previous owner’s wallpaper up. Catch my drift?

To tease you a little bit, here’s our site’s new color palette (hopefully it looks reminiscent of another color palette you’ve seen around here). As usual, you’ll just have to stay tuned for the full reveal.

The new look will be making its official debut this weekend as I transfer all of our files off of WordPress.com to a self-hosted account. Which means www.thisyounghouse.com will be your one-stop-shop for us and thisyounghouse.wordpress.com will be no more (this is the first of many reminders to change your bookmarks, folks).

Lastly, please bear with us as we make the transition. I’m no fancy-pants web programmer, so like any home improvement project it may take a few tries to get everything in perfect working order. As usual, I’m just trying not to set anything on fire or lose a limb in the process.

So wish us luck. We can’t wait to share our brand spankin’ new blog remodel!

(Post by John)

Inquiring minds wanted to know what I got for my lovely hubby in return for my fabulous four legged friend. Well, inquire no further. The answer is: a super fabulous jumbo sized electric griddle with a removable plate that can be popped in the dishwasher. You see, John is The Pancake King. Notice the capital letters because it is actually his title. He makes pancakes with chocolate chips, peanut butter, vanilla, banana, apples, honey, or anything else he can possibly find around the kitchen. And they’re magnificent.

So about a year ago when we were putting together our wedding registry, we found the most amazingly fabulous griddle, and registered for it on the spot. The heartbreaking part came after we received it as a wedding gift and only then realized that it didn’t fit into any of our tiny, 50 year old kitchen cabinets. Major bummer. So we begrudgingly exchanged it for a normal ol’ stove top griddle pan of a much more reasonable size. And I swear I saw a tear gleaming in John’s eye.

But now for the happy ending. With our new super-sized kitchen we have room for ten jumbo electric griddles. I settled for one and wrapped it up with a big red bow (just like someone else’s V-day present) and even taped some heart shaped pancake cut-outs on the front of the box. And this time John’s eyes were gleaming with excitement.

(Post by Sherry, who’s craving pancakes)

This morning as John headed off to work he mentioned that he’d hidden “a little something” around the house and encouraged me to “go on a scavenger hunt.” As I embarked on a journey that I expected to include lots of looking under, over and between objects in every room, imagine my surprise and delight upon immediately finding this huge concrete greyhound statue waiting for me by my desk- complete with a big red bow.

You see, my obsession with greyhound statues began eons ago when I spied a pair of white glossy, ceramic greyhound statues flanking a fireplace in Jonathan Adler’s book, My Prescription To Anti-Depressive Living. I then began seeing them everywhere, from hotel designs by Kelly Wearstler to the pages of Domino. And I was itching to adopt one too! And then one fateful day about three months ago we stumbled across a concrete version at a local home and garden center. How cute of my man to remember my greyhound crush after all this time and make one mine. And as always, we saved a pretty penny since I recall that our concrete pup was priced somewhere around FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS CHEAPER than these glossy ceramic versions going for $465 at Perch).

Originally when we discovered the concrete version at the home and garden store, I daydreamed about topping it with white semi-gloss paint to mimic the sheen of the ceramic statues. But after setting my Valentine’s Day puppy down next to the living room fireplace, his subtle matte finish is actually perfect.

And speaking of perfect, I can’t have a post about puppies and not mention our other adorable accessory. Burger wishes all the ladies out there a very Happy V-day. And guys, guard your girls, he’s a little heart-breaker.

(Post by Sherry)

I know I’ve already hinted at this in past posts, but who the heck would’ve ever thought that JC Penney would end up being a resource when it comes to undeniably good looking decor on a dime? Well, they’ve gone and done it again, this time with a few sale items too good-looking and affordable not to share. So if you’re on the prowl for an affordable couch, chair, or even a classic little ottoman (all the rage as a coffee table with a tray on it these days) then look no further.

Exhibit A: A classic slipcovered couch you’d swear hailed from Pottery Barn…

… and here’s the kicker. It’s on clearance for $479. Totally unheard of. You can’t even find most futons in that range these days.

Exhibit B: A cozy and clean looking slipcovered chair and matching ottoman…

… which will set you back just $299 for the chair and $199 for the ottoman. Both marked down hundreds of dollars. But wait there’s more.

Exhibit C: A swanky 100% leather couch that screams “uptown loft”…

… for a down-low sale price of $397.99. And no that’s not a typo. And last but not least, one of my favorites.

Exhibit D: An adorable olive houndstooth armchair with casters…

… for the somebody-pinch-me price of $349. Now do you see why I just had to share?

I hope somebody will make room in their homes for some of these great finds. Meanwhile I’ll try to make room in my head to process the fact that JC Penney might not be as atrocious as I thought it was for all these years.

(Post by Sherry)

Did I just make a “bed wetters” pun? Gross, I did.

Now that we’ve all moved past my fourth grade humor, let me tell you why. It was the perfect way to introduce the answer to a question that we’ve been asked a lot lately: What’s in those three frames above your bed?

The answer: “J and S.” Call it a monogram or, more functionally, our designated sleeping arrangement, but either way this fun little take on our initials was all Sherry’s genius. She simply hit up Google and found three differently designed letters (a curvy spiral staircase inspired J, a sign language A-N-D and an architecturally drawn S). Then she framed them separately above our bed to fill that long, awkward space under our long, awkward window.

While we’re on the topic, the opposite side of our bedroom boasts another three-framed art piece. And this one’s my creation. Back when we first painted the bedroom blue, we looked for some “warm” art to cozy it up. We struck gold with a sunset photo I took in Santa Monica on our very first vacation together.

Having only struck metaphorical gold, however, the three-frame design was actually inspired by our tiny budget. Sizing the image across three 11″ x 17″ IKEA frames was the economical way to create big impact on that wall, especially since we got the images printed at Kinko’s for cheap (around 50 cents each). And now every morning we wake up to the sun and the sea. It’s like an ocean view on a budget.

Despite both being simple projects, they’re two of our favorites - and have literally hung in there for almost two years. Which is practically a lifetime considering how often things change around here.

(Post by John)

We see tons of home photos everyday from reading countless design mags and scouring other blogs and websites that we love. And every once in a while a photo grabs us like an overly friendly coworker at a Christmas party. So we thought we’d feature a super-inspiring photo and break down what you can do to get the look on a budget. If you like this feature, feel free to let us know and we’ll make it a regular occurrence on the blog. Inspiration is everywhere. Observe:

How absolutely amazing is this outdoor room? It completely encapsulates all of our favorite styles, colors and textures and it just looks like the most fabulous place to be. It’s exactly what we’d do to our back patio if we had infinite resources and impeccable style. But the best thing about inspiration photos like this is that you can totally copy them. And it’s not even that hard.

Take that casual, understated chandelier for example. I’ve seen lots of candle versions so expensive electrical wiring isn’t necessary (try eBay or this $34 one from Ace). And we love the look and texture of that rattan furniture- and thanks to Ikea, a rattan lounge chair or ottoman can come home with you for less than the cost of plastic lawn furniture at some other stores.

Oh and the skirted table is fantastic. It means that you can grab a bargain table on Craigslist or even use a folding party table (since it’s gonna be covered anyway). For the tablecloth, you could pick up some burlap at a fabric store. Or for something a little more weather resistant you could get some neutral outdoor fabric and some no-sew hemming tape and whip up a table covering with nothing more than an iron and some scissors.

For chairs you can probably use any of the ones you already have- even if they’re mismatched. Just paint them all the same neutral color if they’re wood (use exterior paint or a bleached neutral exterior stain), and add a neutral seat cushion to any metal versions. You can even put wooden ones on one side and metal ones on the other side like in the inspiration photo. We also adore the metal sconces on the wall. Everyone can hang a frame or a sconce on an interior wall, but who ever thinks about decorating the exterior ones? Here’s a pair for $4.99 that we found on eBay- and you could spray paint them black or pewter or any other color if hammered gold isn’t your thing. A big metal medallion or even some plates mounted to the wall with plate hangers would be super fantastic as well. Or try hanging some tin signs like these for a touch of glam (we’d probably only use the white ones for the space above since they’re more subtle and low contrast- like the rest of the room).

Then all you need is a wooden bowl fulla lemons and you’re in business.

(Post by Sherry)

Ok, you’ve waited long enough. It’s time for the big bedroom reveal. A few weeks ago when I talked to our installer about crown molding, I mentioned that I wanted a more “built-in” look with regard to the two Ikea wardrobes that we installed last month. Instead of having two refrigerator sized boxes on either side of the bed, I asked the installer if he could mount a wide piece of wood to the ceiling that would hang in front of both wardrobes to make the bed feel like it’s tucked into a built in nook. I know that sounds confusing, so I’ll just let a few pictures do the talking.

Here’s a photo of the wardrobes before the installer got to work adding the header:

And here’s a during shot:

Now I’ll ask for a drum roll. After painting the header and re-hanging the curtains, the eight inch plank of wood makes a major difference. And the crown molding is the icing on the cake. Here’s a detail shot so you can get up close and personal with our new master bedroom built in:

And here’s a shot of the full monty:

Now laying in bed truly feels like you’re tucked into a cozy little nook instead of squeezed between two large, unrelated pieces of furniture. The whole layout looks a lot more deliberate, which is exactly what we were going for.

And while we’re at it, here’s a shot of the other side of our much more master-ish master bedroom:

So that’s the story of two people trying to turn a 12 by 13 foot room into something special. Fifty year old houses don’t have giant master suites with monster closets and attached bathrooms, so you gotta do what you can to make a tiny room (that looks just like the other bedrooms) appear special. So what do you think? Mission accomplished?

And yes, John still loves to sit and smoke imaginary cigars in his big leather arm chair. It’s adorable.

(Post by Sherry)

We promised more photos of our two guest bedrooms sporting their new crown molding, so here they are. First, we bring you the second bedroom, with crisp white three inch molding to swank things up:

And the third bedroom (also known as our old converted dining room) looks mighty fine with the same polished white molding adding some architecture:

But the real transformation took place in the master bedroom, with the addition of an 8 inch plank of wood that makes the wardrobes look like custom built ins. Stay tuned for the juicy reveal tomorrow. We can hardly wait…

(Post by John)

Is it just me or is every every store boasting “50% off all home goods” these days? Sale season is upon us, so today I thought I’d share one of my stellar sale finds. After all, I do consider myself to be a sale super-sleuth. And if you like the deals that I discover, feel free to tell me so, and I’ll make it a regular occurrence on the blog.

Today I thought I’d feature a non-rash-inducing bed-in-a-bag. The reason I specify that it’s non-rash-inducing is that most comforter, sham, and bedskirt sets are either literally so rough and gritty that they give you a rash, or just so gosh darn ugly that you break out in hives upon seeing them.

Now I haven’t actually touched this set so I can’t promise a cashmere-esque texture, but it’s 100% cotton which is always a good sign. And you can’t beat the 50% off sale price of 99 beans for a full sized comforter, two shams, a tailored bedskirt and a reversible diamond quilted coverlet. It’s a complete bedroom makeover for under a hundred bucks. And it’s totally hotel-chic, non?

Now for the shocker: it’s from JCPenney. I know, I couldn’t believe it either, but a deal like this is too good to overlook just because of the name on the door. Check it out on their website. And look, it’s equally as enticing in a muddy gray-blue:

(Post by sale super-sleuth Sherry)

That’s what John thought this gift represented when he unwrapped it on Christmas morning.

But by around his third guess he’d cracked the code: crown molding. And his gift finally came to fruition this week when our crafty installer returned to hang beautiful 3 inch molding in our living/dining room and three bedrooms. The finished product is polished and purty. And best of all, John didn’t have to lift a finger. He works hard enough around here as it is, so I was glad to let him sit this one out.

Here are some detail shots:

And here’s the whole living / dining room in all of its crowning glory:

It looks just as dapper in the bedrooms, so stay tuned for some more pics. In the meantime you can find John not complaining about a sore back or a nail gun injury. Life is good.

(Post by Sherry)

When this Sunday lived up to its name (and brought us beautiful weather in the mid 60s) we contemplated several parks that we could visit to take little Burger for a long walk. In the end, our love for Richmond’s old neighborhoods won out and we ended up hitting up Park Ave instead.

Richmond’s Park Avenue slices right through The Fan, one of the coolest and most historic parts of the city (and former home to our cousin Erin). There’s no shortage of homes to admire, so we’re glad we remembered the camera.

Here’s a sense of what the colorful streetscapes look like:

Did you see Burger and me in action in that last shot?

Sherry was especially enamored with a lot of door designs that we spotted. She’s planning to repaint our yellow door sometime soon and is “in the mood for red” at the moment. Here are a couple of entryways that were especially inspiring to her (there were also a lot with elaborate glasswork and cool house numbers- but we were doing our best not to get arrested while taking photos on people’s porches):

And if you’re interested in making Park Ave your home, we saw plenty of “For Sale” signs and even got a chance to pop into an Open House - a gorgeous home with 2000+ sq. ft, 10′ ceilings and lots of historic details for $399. It was definitely a nice place, but there’s no way we’re leaving our home sweet home anytime soon.

(Post by John)

Ok, so we’re in the middle of finally getting that crown molding installed (that I got for John as one of his Christmas presents). But you may not realize, I certainly didn’t, that it takes a lot of prep before crown molding can go up. Everything has to come down off of the walls and all furniture has to come into the center of the room so that the ladder can easily navigate the circumference of the space. So here’s what all of our living room stuff looks like crammed into the third bedroom.

But enough about the molding. When it’s completely finished we’ll have some purty before and afters for ya. But the purpose of this post is to share the shwitcheroo I pulled on our best-purchase-ever-Ikea-shelves. Since I had to take everything off of them for the crown installation, it was the perfect opportunity for a little presto-chango. See, they used to house everything from frames to vases to plants to books to shells to canvases. And they had a broad range of shapes, sizes and colors on display.

I thought bringing in some kitchen items (dishes, bowl, mugs, etc) would make sense now that the side of the room that houses our shelves has semi-recently been turned into our dining area. And lo and behold, I adore the end result. It’s a lot simpler when it comes to the color palate (it’s pretty much exclusively white and green) and it just feels so fresh and new (it never hurts to change the scenery every once in a while). So without further ado, I present to you my new shelving arrangement:

Thoughts? Ideas? General musings? Haikus?

(Post by Sherry)

I love surprises, and John’s an expert at pulling them off. He’s done everything from arranging for my best friend to fly in for my birthday to pretending to go to work and retuning home 5 minutes later to say that we’re going on a trip to the beach. So from time to time I like to stage a little sneak attack of my own. And when I saw an amazing leather arm chair at Target.com, I just had to order it for him asap. It’s usually scary to buy furniture without actually seeing it (or sitting in it, in this case) but the 5 star rating accompanied by a bunch of rave reviews made it a no-brainer.

And when it arrived two short days later it was everything I hoped for and more. It’s big and super comfortable, the leather is soft and supple, the coloring is a rich brown tone- it even arrived almost completely assembled. And it looks great in the corner of our bedroom (since our room’s similar in size to the guest bedroom, we’re always looking for ways to make it seem more master-y). Here’s a picture that does it absolutely no justice.

But what I really wish you could see was John’s reaction when he got home. There were a lot of excited outbursts followed by what can only be described as a Tony Soprano moment. John sauntered up to the chair, took a load off, and pretended to smoke an imaginary cigar. The only thing missing was his club jacket. Absolutely priceless.

And when I mentioned that I scored the chair (which was originally around $500 with shipping) for a mere $230 thanks to a few promotions, he raised his imaginary cigar in my honor.

(Half of a post by Sherry)

John here. Ok, so I’ve pulled myself out of my new chair long enough to write the second half of this post. One the best parts of getting that surprise yesterday was not only the fact that my wifey scored another great deal, but the fact that I already had a little surprise in store for her.

Mine wasn’t quite as creative, but it went right along with the tradition I set back when we first got the house. And how can you go wrong with flowers?

This little bouquet from ProFlowers.com arrived on our doorstep today (afterwards, I told Sherry not to read into the fact that it was called a “baby bouquet”). I had attempted to order an arrangement short enough to fit on the kitchen counters, but no luck. So, here it is in the living room instead:

I promise it’ll look even better once the lilies and irises bloom - just in time for our company this weekend (see, I was thinking ahead!). But the best part, if I do say so myself, was the sweet note that came along with it… but it’s private so you’ll just have to trust me.

(Other half of a post by John)

We just added a new tab called Lighbulb Moments that’s chock full of realizations and revelations that we’ve had throughout our never-ending home improvement process.

Please feel free to learn from our mistakes.

(Post by John)

At this point you all probably know three things about me: I love a good transformation, I adore a good bargain, and I’m obsessed with my dog Hamburger (that last fact is unimportant to this story, but is too obvious to ignore when stating defining facts about myself). Anyway, I recently found a big round mirror at Home Goods so hideously ugly that the deeply discounted $20 price tag didn’t surprise me. But most round mirrors of this size are around 90 to 150 bucks, so of course I had to buy it.

Since I forgot to take a “before” pic, please allow me to describe my grotesque purchase in detail. The frame around the mirror was made of that fake fiberglass stuff that plastic outdoor urns are made of, and it was faux-finished with swirly brown and bronze splotches. TERRIBLE. So bad that I almost told the cashier that I was planning to do some major surgery on the mirror before hanging it for fear that she was judging my taste. So here’s where I’m asking you to envision that tacky splotchy plastic abomination of a mirror.

And here’s what it looks like with a fresh coat of glossy white paint:

Not bad huh? It looks just like one I saw a while back in a Pottery Barn catalog for 250 beans (plus shipping). Who spends that much money on a basic round mirror anyway? The cool thing is that now you’d swear our mirror was painted wood, even when you touch it. Is there nothing that white paint can’t cure?

It looks great in the den above the tv where that big clock from Target used to hang (which has since been relocated to the sunroom where it should have lived all along).

Here’s a wider shot for the full effect:

I just love a good frog-turned-prince home improvement fairytale, don’t you? Now send us your best home makeovers. Apparently we just can’t get enough of them.

(Post by Sherry, who is probably painting something white as you read this)

Our TV’s been off for 72 hours. That’s not like us at all. (Between house projects, we’re actually shameless television junkies.) So what gives? Are we just that distracted by our shiny, new kitchen? Or maybe we’re mere casualties of that friggin’ writer’s strike.

If the strike’s got you down too, show your support for fair resolution at BringBackTheDialogue.com. Our friends are part of the effort and they’re reaching out to get you folks involved. Check out the site’s cool graphics and the rallying cries they’ve written. And while you’re there, try to find us in the photo gallery (hint: Burger’s there too). Feel free to submit a pic of your own. Just let us know if you do so we can be sure to check it out.

‘Til our efforts pay off, it’s a good thing HGTV’s still going strong.

(Post by John)

When it comes to decorating a dining table I’ve always stuck to a simple formula. One thing in the center of the table.

Sometimes it’s a large platter. Sometimes it’s a simple candle. Sometimes it’s a huge clam shell (which by now you’ve probably noticed is our new kitchen’s fruit bowl). I guess I never really thought about my table decorating technique until I started seeing cute little dining table vignettes in every publication from Domino to Pottery Barn. You know what I’m talking about, those perfectly asymmetrical arrangements with some plates and a cup full or spoons- or a casual stack of napkins and a collection of glasses like this:

Well, I never thought I could pull of such a breezy “accidental” look, but when I actually thought about it there was nothing particularly difficult about the execution. So yesterday morning when my momma-in-law and I went on a mini-shipping spree, I decided to recreate the look on a budget. First we hit up Target, where I grabbed a $14 linen runner that’s identical to a spendier version I saw at Pottery Barn a few weeks ago. Next we ventured into Sur La Table, where I enthusiastically snatched up some gorgeous beachy glasses with woven straw sleeves (that slide off for easy dishwashing). Did I mention the glasses were originally $5.99 each but I got 6 of them for $12 since they were on sale for $1.99? Go team! Then I picked up two glass Pellegrino bottles at the grocery store for around $3.

So for less than 30 beans (plus an old vase, some free backyard greenery, and three mercury candle holders I already had) I ended up with this:

What do you think? I love it because it just seems so fresh and unexpected, especially to a girl who used to have a bare table with one measly candle in the middle.

I’m sure most of you already have everything you need to create this look for absolutely nothing. Try a stack of plates with some linen napkins, or a bottle of wine with some wine glasses and a bowl of apples. I even think a few bottles of Tang would be super cute grouped with some glassware and a few branches from outside in a vase (or even a ceramic pitcher). So go ahead and make a little vignette of your own. But don’t forget to send us the pics!

(Post by Sherry)

Ok, so remember how we didn’t have a kitchen for 113 days? And remember how excited we were to cook? Well, we were SO psyched to have our kitchen back (and better than ever) that we invited a few of our fabulous-chef-friends over to show our kitchen a little action. The four of us quickly whipped up some veggie hummus from scratch to nosh on while we cooked the main event: a delicious thai curry chicken and veggie dish over jasmine rice. Amazing.

But somewhere between the appetizer and the main course our kitchen rebelled. As in both sides of the sink refused to drain. And then we noticed that the dishwasher was filled with about 3 inches of nasty standing water as well. We had a full-on clog.

So we proceeded with dinner sans sink and it was fun and fantastic. In fact, it was so good it was almost worth the 4 hours we spent the next day taking apart the pipes, snaking the drain, and breaking up the nasty veggie ball that had clogged up the works the night before. (We may never eat zucchini again).

But we’re happy to add drain-snaking to our metaphorical toolbox, and to pass along a great clog-busting tip: boiling water. We dumped gallon after gallon of boiling h20 down the drain and about the 5th or 6th time the clog fully broke up and the water rushed down the drain like a mini tornado. Victory!

And we learned a valuable lesson: the garbage disposal has to be ON if stuff’s flying down the drain. Or it’ll just slip right through without getting chopped up and hang out about 5 feet under the floor in the pipes and have a little dinner party of its own.

So now we know.

(Post by Sherry)

After our big kitchen reveal yesterday, it seems like the million dollar question still lingers: how much did it cost? (Hint: It wasn’t millions… and it was WAY below the national average spent on a major kitchen remodel, which is $44,000 according to realtor.org)

After crunching some numbers last night we figured out exactly how much our wallets really bled during this project and (thankfully) how much we managed to save in the process. And we’re talking start to finish- wider doors, new floors, electrical, lighting, appliances, etc, etc. This wasn’t just your average cabinet and countertop update.

Here’s the breakdown:

Demo & Construction: $1,400 (negotiated down from $2,400) A local contractor and mason removed old counters and cabinets, widened 2 doorways, and closed off 1 existing doorway.

Electrical: $900 (negotiated down from $2,100) A local electrician wired the microwave, dishwasher, disposal, and added 5 recessed lights and 1 pendant fixture over the sink.

Wood Flooring: $1,200 (on sale from $3,000) Oak floors from Lumber Liquidators were installed by a local contractor.

Appliances & Fixtures: $800 (originally priced at $1,500) We purchased a pendant light, cabinet hardware, a stainless steel hood and microwave, a garbage disposal, a wholesale sink and a faucet (and we got a free dishwasher along with a laundry appliance purchase). We reused our existing fridge and stove.

Kitchen Design: $0 We used Home Depot’s free, in-house Certified Kitchen Designer (thanks Nancy!)

Cabinets: $9,500 (after $500 cash back promotion) We ordered KraftMaid Bel Air cabinets through Home Depot with reinforced drawer slides, Thermafoil protection, one glass-front cabinet door and a wooden two-tiered lazy susan base cabinet. This price includes installation.

Countertops: $3,700 (after $300 off promotion) We ordered Stonemark granite counters through Home Depot. This price includes installation.

***GRAND TOTAL: $17,500***

So thanks to purchasing a wholesale sink and faucet on eBay, buying drawer pulls in bulk, picking up deeply discounted wood flooring, taking advantage of a free kitchen designer, timing our purchases to score promotions, and negotiating with local contractors (and getting second- and third- estimates) we saved $5,500.

Savings aside, this was still a pretty hefty expense for us. But when we look at it as an investment in our home - both in its livability for us and its resale value - it’s definitely money we can already tell was well spent.

(Post by John)

Who would have ever thought we’d be without a kitchen for almost four months? Not us. But it’s baaaaaack. And it’s better than ever.

First a shot of the kitchen that came with the house when we purchased it almost two years ago:

And now for the dramatic transformation we promised. The granite was totally the icing on the cake. Here’s a shot of the whole shebang as seen from the living/dining room:

And here’s a shot of the left side with that sexy hood that we just used while MAKING DINNER. Sorry for the caps, we just haven’t made dinner at home in ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN DAYS!!! Oops, there I go again.

Here’s the right side with our stainless dishwasher, fridge, and microwave- is there anything we can’t cook in our new kitchen? Well, yes. But at least we’ll burn the filet mignon in style.

This is a shot of the little microwave nook, a really cute little bonus area in a corner of the kitchen that we originally planned to leave bare. Thank goodness for our kitchen designer Nancy Kulik, who convinced us that storage is better than floorage.

And here’s a closer shot of my favorite corner, which sports all sorts of little extras. A cabinet with a glass door (which does wonders for making the kitchen seem less “boxed in”)…

… and a built in double-tiered lazy susan for an insane amount of storage in the base cabinet:

And no kitchen is complete without a little jewelry. Our brushed nickel faucet fits the bill. And check out that undermount sink. Me-ow.

We hope the wait was worth it for all you lovely readers. We’d love to know what you think!

(Post by Sherry, WHO IS SOOOO SUUUUUUPER EXCITED)

The counters are in and boy are they better than sliced bread. After months of waiting for a surface to dice upon, any old counter would do. But our sparkling new granite is just the bees knees. And instead of revealing the new counters, we’ve decided to make you wait until tomorrow (when the faucet, sink, and dishwasher will be fully installed) and then post the FINAL BEFORE AND AFTERS! Can you tell we’re excited?

But the start of the day wasn’t nearly as thrilling as the end. It was full of the usual trials and tribulations of home improvement. First, when the truck pulled up I thought it was some sort of joke. Check out the vehicle that delivered our gorgeous 520 million year old stone:

That’s right, it’s an Arnold Bread Truck. I thought I was hallucinating. And then when they struggled to transport the insanely heavy slabs into the kitchen and proceeded to wrestle them into place, I expected to peek into the kitchen and see scratched floors, dented cabinets and obliterated appliances. In fact, at one point I passed by only to be greeted by my stove in the middle of the doorway. I never thought the kitchen would have to come apart again only to be put back together after the counters were placed.

But by some small miracle, three ulcer-inducing hours later it looked great. Better than great, actually. And save for one small paint touch up (that I completed once the bread truck pulled away) the kitchen was utterly…

…well, you’ll have to come back tomorrow to see the results for yourself.

(Post by Sherry)

Between the numerous pieces of Swedish named furniture I’ve owned (or still own) and my collection of complimentary allen wrenches, there have been plenty of times in my life when I felt like I practically lived in IKEA. I’m sure plenty of you can relate. Especially if your name is Mark Malkoff.

On January 7th, Mark took this notion to the extreme and literally moved into everyone’s favorite meatball-servin’ furniture store. As the comedian documents on his website, he was granted permission to live in an IKEA in Paramus, NJ for six days while his New York City apartment was fumigated for roaches. And this is apparently not his first PR stunt, he’s also known to have visited all 171 Starbucks in Manhattan within 24 hours (which makes me doubt the truth behind his “fumigating” excuse).

Cockroaches or not, it’s definitely an amusing story. If you’ve got a tolerance for overacting, there are plenty of videos to browse on his website. But if you’re like me, you may be better off reading the story here. Either way, I’ve got to hand it to the guy: this is one gimmick that’s hard to ignore.

Maybe I’ll call Target and see if they’re interested in hosting me and Sherry for a little while. We wouldn’t even need to pack any clothes.

(Post by John)

We’re currently blogging from the beach. Now before you get jealous let me just say that it’s about 20 degrees outside and we even got some light snow last night. But we’re loving the chance to relax and recharge at John’s parents’ lovely beach house just outside of Rehoboth, Delaware.

They recently purchased the house and it’s amazing how comfortable and homey they’ve been able to make it in mere months. And while we’ve spent our time playing board games, reading, watching movies, and snuggling Burger- we thought we’d take a quick break to share some fun decor ideas with you.

First, meet the beautiful beach house (love those starfish in the window above the door):

And now for a little inspiration. How cute (and functional!) are these toiletries displayed in a decorative basket with shells:

All the kitchen accessories are red, from the coffee-maker to the toaster to the tea kettle. So cheerful and fun:

And for the first time in over three months we had a functioning kitchen at our disposal, and boy did we take advantage of it. Among many delicious homemade meals, we feasted on this tomato, basil, and mozzarella pizza:

We’ll be returning to Richmond tonight, and while we’ve certainly been enjoying every second of our mini break from home improvement, I’m sure we’ll be wielding a hammer or a paint brush within a few hours of returning home. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.

(Post by Sherry)

 

 

Our new and improved granite slabs moseyed into town this week and, unlike our last visit to the stoneyard, it was definitely love at first sight. Here’s Sherry gettin’ friendly with our two hunks of Pashmina before they go in for cutting.

The best news of the day was that our beautiful new counters are coming home on Tuesday. Score! That means our Home Depot installer can come back on Wednesday to hook up the plumbing and - dare I say it? - our new kitchen will be COMPLETE.

‘Til then, you’ll find us drooling over this photo we snapped of our soon-to-be countertop.

(Post by John)