Considering that delivering The Washington Pos t was my first real job (because what 6th grader doesn’t like getting up at 5 a.m. every day?), it feels surreal that this blog has landed us back in that very newspaper. My dad — my newspaper delivery partner — has never been prouder. We had no idea the write-up would be so extensive (including a large cover photo in the Local Living section). After we calmed our vanity (is my hair weird? does Clara look cute?), we just felt thrilled and a little bewildered. Who are we to deserve this? I tend to gush when I’m excited, so I’ll try to keep it brief.
Here are a few photos of the paper (click to enlarge), and of course you can see them in person if you pick up The Washington Post. There were three parts to the online story, and some of the printed photos differ from the web versions. We’ve also archived PDFs for those who want to download them.
We especially loved the call-out they did about our old den showing where we got things and how much we paid for them. It was a nice, practical touch that fit our style.
The Post even beat us to a few photos of recent projects. Since it takes us a few days to complete projects, photograph them, and write posts, they captured some things we planned to share later. That surprised us but made it even more fun.
Many thanks to Terri Sapienza for the thoughtful feature and for spending time at our house for the interview. She made the visit relaxed and enjoyable; what sounded intimidating at first turned into a great conversation. We also discovered that her husband and I lead eerily similar lives — beyond being married to women with rhyming names.
One of the most exciting surprises was that the Post reached out to Nate Berkus for a quote about us. Sherry was speechless for about ten minutes when she saw his words — a rare event. Here’s what he said:
“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. . . . I think Young House Love could easily transition into a TV program.”
It felt unreal to see the paper that morning. We laughed that Nate thinks the blog could translate to television — we’ve been approached about TV before and always politely declined. We enjoy watching TV, but we don’t want to be TV people. We prefer the comfort and privacy of our computers. As Sherry likes to say, “we don’t wanna Jon & Kate ourselves,” and taking extended breaks from the blog for filming would likely give us serious withdrawal symptoms.
On another exciting note mentioned in the article: we’re in the early stages of writing a book. Real book. The idea first came up when agents and publishers contacted us over a year ago. After more than three years of daily blogging — over 1,700 posts and nearly a million words — writing a book felt like a natural extension. It’ll focus on DIY and home projects, but the blog will remain our top priority. The blog is our first baby — well, second if you count Burger first; the order would be: Burger, YHL, Clara.
Our book proposal took over a year to refine and ended up being more than 150 pages. We sent it out, held our breath, and were thrilled to be signed by Artisan/Workman. For a few weeks we worried they might change their minds, but it’s official. Because the publishing process is long, we plan to share a detailed post about how writing the proposal and pursuing a deal worked for us for anyone else interested in that path.
There’s still a full manuscript to write, so specifics about the book will evolve. We do know it won’t be a fancy coffee-table interior design book or a tell-all memoir. We intend to capture the playful, don’t-take-yourself-too-seriously DIY spirit of the site while offering fresh content rather than rehashing posts readers have already seen. Expect budget-friendly ideas and easy projects anyone can tackle. The book is scheduled for a fall 2012 release, and we’re excited to share more as the process continues.
That’s what’s new with us — what’s new with you these days?
UPDATE: Check out this more recent post about the book-writing process.