Many readers know that Sherry and I launched our blog, Young House Love, to help family and friends follow along with our kitchen renovation. The idea came to us on an evening walk with our dog Burger last September, and we even picked the name before we finished our block. That casual, spontaneous moment sparked a project that would grow into a public journal of DIY projects, design experiments, and everyday home improvements.
That very night I signed up for a free WordPress account, selected a ready-made template that I liked, and wrote a short introductory post announcing the start of the blog. You can still find that first post under the title “The Blog Begins” on the Young House Love archives. What began as a quick, honest update for family and friends soon turned into a place where we documented paint choices, cabinet decisions, flooring dilemmas, and the small wins that come with renovating a home.
That steely blue theme we used in the first months looks almost quaint now, but it was our pride and joy during the earliest phase of the blog. The simple template let us focus on photos and stories from the kitchen renovation without getting bogged down in site design. Over the first five months we posted progress updates, shared lessons learned, and described the little decisions that make a renovation feel personal. As more people began to read, comment, and offer advice, it became clear the site deserved an identity that matched our evolving aesthetic.
Once the dust settled in the kitchen and the major work was done, we felt ready to give Young House Love a proper refresh. I took the opportunity to learn some basic web coding so we could design a homepage that reflected the home we were shaping. Instead of sticking with an off-the-shelf template, we created a cleaner, more neutral design that echoed the palette and lines appearing throughout our actual spaces. The goal was to make the site feel like an extension of the house: warm, practical, and approachable.
On February 16 we launched the new design. The revised layout emphasized photography, clearer navigation, and a balance of visual calm and welcoming content. We organized posts so readers could more easily find renovation timelines, project tutorials, and the design choices behind each room. We also added features to help new visitors understand the blog’s purpose: a clear “about” description, prominent project archives, and a logical flow from inspiration to finished space. The update wasn’t just cosmetic; it was an intentional step toward making the content more useful for people tackling their own home projects.
Running a renovation blog taught us a lot about the relationship between process and presentation. Writing daily updates encouraged us to think more intentionally about each decision, photograph progress stages, and document setbacks alongside successes. That documentation has been valuable not only for readers who want to replicate a project, but for us as a record of how the house evolved over time.
We’re still learning and iterating. If you follow the site, you may notice subtle changes over time as we tweak layout, experiment with content formats, or respond to reader suggestions. Given how fast tastes and technology change, don’t be surprised if you one day see a Young House Love v3.0. For now, though, we’re enjoying our refreshed homepage and the way it mirrors the home we’ve built. We hope it feels welcoming and useful to you, and we always appreciate thoughtful feedback and ideas for future updates.