Book Project Bananza Vol. 1!

It is no secret that we are big fans of Young House Love.  Afterall, it was their blog and encouragement that sparked the start of our own blog.  And I’m sure meeting them twice – first in Cincinnati then again in DC helps make the case.  But a big part of why we are fans is just how REAL John & Sherry are.

J&S have managed to create a wonderful home for themselves that is functional and comfortable and beautiful all at the same time.  And they even wrote THE BOOK about it.

And yes, we’ve started working on projects listed from THE BOOK as it will now be referred to as.

We won’t be doing them all.  Some we just can’t in a rental setting, or because we simply don’t have the resource/space/second floor to make it happen.  And a lot of these were done and then realized after-the-fact that they are book projects.  We’re still counting them.  Though yes, as much as we are fans, there are some things we just don’t agree on taste-wise.  We’ll get to those at some point, but for now here’s the first installment of Book Project Bananza!

First up we have # 172 – Get Something Special For Your House by Getting Away From It.  That arrow points to this sweet set of skeleton keys that are weathered and rusted.  They were actually crafted that way by a local artist in the Outer Banks so that the keys would appear to have been salvaged from a sunken ship.  The Outer Banks have a great deal of pirate lore and these keys have such awesome character.  You’ll see them appear all around the apartment, from our Thanksgiving decor to most recently in some of our Christmas decor.

Number 67 – a Nightstand Alternative.  Our bedroom is not quite wide enough to fit two full nightstands, so Bill crafted me this sweet little one using a floating shelf, then added a hand-cut cup holder to it!  It even has a magazine rack beneath for extra stowing space.

Number 11 – Make a Headboard from an Old Door.  We technically finished this project before the book came out, so it won’t be added to the link-up on YHL’s blog, but we’re still counting it because, well, that’s exactly what they meant!

Number 18 -Do something with a niche.  Here we had this empty corner of the kitchen/dining area while we were lacking a drop-zone for things like mail or my purse.  Then we found this curvy beauty and it was a match made in heaven!

Number 99 – Tame Your Mail.  We wanted to create a cleaner way off holding on to coupons and flyers and even mementos, while also making the intercom a little less imposing.  So we used an antique frame and cork to create a memory board to do just that.

So there you have it, the first installment of Book Project Bonanza!  We’ll be back later this week with a few quick & NEW book Projects to share with you!

~ Beth & Bill

For more Young House Love book projects, check out these posts!