Psst — thanks so much for the warm response to our little announcement this morning. You all seriously rock. For real.
We’re not making 2,013 resolutions, but we do have five goals for the year. Each January we post our resolutions publicly to light a little fire under ourselves (you can find prior years’ lists linked on our site), and this year is no different. Ready? Let’s get to it.
#1. Hold On. If you’ve ever worried we’d run out of spaces to renovate or projects to tackle, don’t. This year is shaping up to be our busiest yet—packed with new DIY projects and room makeovers. We can’t share every detail yet (there are some pretty big surprises waiting in the wings), but we can’t wait to unbox them and share the process. We’ve got several untouched areas to address—Clara’s big-girl room, the front porch, the carport, the guest bathroom—and a few major things beyond those. We’ll be sharing the full journey, step by step. And no, Mom, I’m not pregnant.
#2. Talk More, Share More. You are the heart of Young House Love, and we want to incorporate more of you into the blog. Many readers have asked for forums where people can share photos, seek advice, swap ideas, and inspire each other. We’ve been researching forum tools that won’t crash our site or require daily, time-consuming maintenance. Our plan is to move forward with a community area in the spring, after the book tour craziness. Fingers crossed for a smooth launch—no crashies, no crashies, no crashies.
#3. Be Realistic. It’s easy to pretend we’re writing for ten readers to avoid blog stage fright, but the reality is that many more people stop by. Sites with millions of monthly visits often have whole teams behind them, while our blog is run by just two people: one guy and one gal juggling DIY projects, writing, a book tour, site coding, parenting, and a handful of secret projects. This resolution is a reminder that we’re only two people. We’re committed and passionate, but we can’t be a team of ten no matter how hard we try. This year we’ll stop beating ourselves up about that and focus on what’s sustainable for us.
We like a grassroots approach and don’t plan to hire staff to answer comments, write posts, or program the site. That means we’ll be smarter and more efficient about how we work, embracing the fact that we’re John and Sherry from the block blog. You tell us that’s part of the appeal of YHL, so it’s time we truly embraced it.
#4. Reclaim Our Lives. This ties into being realistic. For years we’ve struggled to find balance and answered “how do you do it all?” with “we don’t sleep—maybe next year.” Well, it’s next year now, and we want to stop staying up until 1 a.m. finishing projects, writing posts, and managing book stuff while trying to keep up with laundry, cleaning, and grocery shopping. We moved from New York City to Virginia to escape a nonstop work lifestyle, so it’s time to return to better balance.
To help reclaim balance, we’re adjusting our posting schedule slightly. Instead of eight posts a week, we’ll publish seven on this site, while continuing our regular two posts a week on Young House Life. When we look back at our monthly roundups, we’re always surprised by how much we accomplish, and this small change won’t reduce that. It mostly means spacing out recurring features—Window Shopping, House Crashings, Budget Blooms, or Reader Redesigns—so there’s one fewer of those posts each week to photograph, edit, proofread, and respond to. Hopefully you’ll barely notice the shift. Our plan is to post twice on Monday, once on Tuesday, twice on Wednesday, once on Thursday, and once on Friday, with two additional posts on Young House Life as usual. That pacing gives us more time to brainstorm, complete projects, and recharge with family—three things that lead to better, more thoughtful work and help us avoid burnout.
#5. Be Free. You surprise and delight us by how much you respond to spontaneous, personal posts—like the ones about breastfeeding or running—which often spark far more conversation than a typical DIY post. Those unpolished, stream-of-consciousness posts keep our blog fun and relatable, and they’re clearly something you enjoy too. A random post about “five weird things” once drew over a thousand comments and produced some of the funniest conversations we’ve had on the site. We want to keep that freedom to share both home projects and everyday life moments that make this blog our happy place.
So those are our five resolutions for the year. What are you resolving to do? Personally, I’m determined to simplify aggressively. I’ve collected too many gadgets, decorative items, pillows, gift bags, pens, and other clutter, and I’m excited to pare things down and live more like we did when we had tiny NYC studios with no attic or basement to stash stuff. Less really is more—in style, in life, and in the projects we choose to tackle.