Book 5: Young House Love

TITLE: Young, House, Love: 243 Ways to Paint, Craft, Update & Show Your Home Some Love
AUTHOR: Sherry and John Petersik
STARTED: February 1, 2013
FINISHED: February 24, 2013
PAGES: 336 Pages
GENRE: Non-Fiction

FIRST SENTENCE: Hi. We're sherry and John petersik (picture us tipping our hats to you with a not-smary grin).

SUMMARY: [From BN.com] Design ideas for every style, skill level, and budget, from the beloved couple behind YoungHouseLove.com. This debut book by bloggers Sherry and John Petersik is filled with hundreds of fun, deceptively simple, budget-friendly ideas for sprucing up a home. With two home renovations under their (tool) belts, 5 million blog hits per month, and an ever-growing audience since the launch of Young House Love in 2007, Sherry and John are home-improvement enthusiasts primed to pass on a slew of projects, tricks, and techniques to do-it-yourselfers of all levels. Whether an experienced decorator or a total novice, on a tight budget or with money to spend, any homeowner or apartment dweller will find ideas for his or her own home makeovers here. Learn to trick out a thrift-store mirror, spice up plain old roller shades, "hack" your Ikea table to create three distinct looks, and so much more.

Packed with 243 tips and ideas—both classic and unexpected—every project pictured was exclusively executed for the book. With more than 400 photographs and illustrations, this is a book that readers will return to again and again for the creative projects and easy-to-follow instructions in the relatable voice the Petersiks are known for. Adding a little wow factor to your home has never been more fun!


THOUGHTS: I adore the Petersik's blog, Young House Love. I save their posts to read last so that I can linger over them when I have a moment and enjoy them fully. When I found out they were writing a book, I pre-ordered a copy as soon as it was allowed. As much as I wanted to give this book a 10, I simply couldn't. While this book was, for the most part, wonderful, there was one thing that bugged the heck out of me...

... they're unrelenting cheerfulness. No, seriously. It drove me nuts.

I have no problem with authors showing their personality, in fact, I normally love it. In this instance, the upbeat attitude of the author's was so positively sweet that it was cloying. Anytime they wrote a chapter introduction, I couldn't wait to speed through to the projects. I'm all for cheerleader-ness, but man did I want it toned down a bit.

Now, aside from that... this book as fantastic. I love the projects (I've marked several to do one day) and how they are structured. The instructions are easy to follow and understand, the images are great, and I love the extra ideas they throw in.

So, if this had been not so "THIS IS AWESOME! YOU'RE AWESOME! YOU CAN DO IT!" I would have adored this book. As it is, I'll skip re-reading anything but how to do a project.

RATING: 7/10 [Very Good]

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