Featured in The Washington Post: Our Blog’s Big Moment

Getting my first job delivering The Washington Post as a sixth grader—yes, waking up at 5 a.m. every day—made this full-circle moment feel surreal. The fact that our blog landed a prominent feature in that same newspaper is hard to process. My dad, who used to be my delivery partner, has never been prouder. When we saw a large cover photo in the Local Living section, we were equal parts stunned and thrilled. After the initial vanity checks (is my hair weird? does Clara look cute?), we couldn’t stop smiling.

Below are a few shots of the paper (click to enlarge). If you get The Washington Post, you can see the story in print; there are three related pieces in the Post’s coverage. We’ve also preserved PDFs of the articles for reference. The feature included pieces on our blog, a Q&A, and tips for furniture makeovers—some images in the online pieces differ slightly from the print layout.

One especially nice element was a call-out listing of items in our old den, where the paper credited sources and prices for pieces we’d used. It felt great to see our work and buying decisions laid out clearly for readers who are always curious where things came from.

The Post’s photographers even captured a few projects that hadn’t yet made it onto the blog. Since our process often takes several days—project, photograph, write—some images appeared in the paper before we published the corresponding posts. That was a fun surprise and gave us a little preview of what we’d be sharing soon.

We want to thank Terri Sapienza for the thoughtful write-up and for coming to our home to conduct the interview. She was friendly and made the whole experience feel like hanging out with a neighbor rather than an intimidating press visit. It helped that the conversation flowed easily, and we realized her husband and I have surprisingly similar routines—beyond simply being married to women with rhyming names.

One of the most surreal moments was seeing a quote from Nate Berkus in the article. Sherry nearly couldn’t speak when she read it. Nate’s kind assessment—calling us “adorable,” praising our delivery and information, and suggesting Young House Love could transition to TV—was wildly flattering. We’ve actually been approached about television ideas before, but the idea of starring on TV doesn’t appeal to us. We love watching television, but we’re more comfortable creating content from behind our computer screens. As Sherry puts it, “we don’t wanna Jon & Kate ourselves,” and taking the blog offline for weeks of filming would be tough for us and our readers.

“First of all, they’re adorable,” says talk show host and designer Nate Berkus. In the fall, the Petersiks appeared on “The Nate Berkus Show” as DIY experts and judges for a design challenge. “Their delivery is particularly charming and endearing, and their information is delivered in a smart way,” Berkus says. “… I think Young House Love could easily transition into a TV program.”

Another big piece of news that appeared in the article: we’re in the early stages of writing a real book. When book agents and publishers reached out more than a year ago, we thought an offline project might be a natural extension of the writing we’ve done online—more than 3.5 years of consistent posts and hundreds of thousands of words. After a long period of refining our proposal (yes, it took a long time and grew into a detailed document), we were thrilled to be signed by Artisan/Workman. For a while we worried they might change their minds, but the deal is real and we’re moving forward.

There’s still a manuscript to write, so details about the book’s exact content are evolving, but we want it to reflect the same approachable, don’t-take-yourself-too-seriously DIY spirit of the blog. It won’t be a high-end coffee-table design book or a behind-the-scenes expose; instead, we aim for fresh, budget-friendly ideas with fast, doable projects that any reader can try. Publishing takes time, so the book is scheduled for release in fall 2012, and we’re thrilled to finally share the news after months of holding back.

We’ll also write a detailed post about our book proposal and publishing experience for anyone interested in the process—what worked for us, how we developed the concept, and what to expect when pitching editors and agents. For now, the blog remains our top priority—it’s our first real creative baby (well, second, if you count Burger first, then Young House Love, then Clara).

So that’s what’s new with us: a major feature in The Washington Post, some sneak-peek photos in print, and a book deal that we’re excited to develop into a full manuscript. We’d love to hear what’s new with you—what projects are you working on, and what DIY plans are on your horizon?

UPDATE: See our follow-up post about the book-writing process for more details on how the manuscript is coming together.