Last week we vacationed in the Yucatán Peninsula region of Mexico with our two kids (ages 8 and 12) and yes, even our dog Penny came! This was our second time traveling internationally as a family, so we definitely don’t qualify as experienced world travelers or aspiring travel bloggers. But just like the last time we went abroad, we wanted to share the details for anyone who is considering something similar – especially if it’s your first time going to Mexico. So here are a bunch of answers to the most common questions we got. We’ll also cover where we went, what we ate, and how we navigated the logistics of bringing a pet with us.

Oh, and as usual, no part of this trip was sponsored. We paid for all of the flights, lodging, food, and activities ourselves (thanks in part to a lot of saved credit card points, which is our favorite way to book big trips).

Continue reading Our Trip To Mexico With Kids… And A Dog! at Young House Love.

If you follow our Instagram stories, you’ve probably seen the news that we welcomed a new member of the Petersik family recently. But I wanted to take a moment to properly introduce her here on the blog. So… say hello to Penny!

After Burger, our chihuahua of 15 years, passed away in October, we were wrecked. It was a huge loss for our family, and in the initial days after Burger’s passing we donated a ton of things he left behind (our vet was able to pass along his treats, food, crate, and heart medication to other dogs in need of those items). Of course we saved a few keepsakes like his collar and blanket, but we tucked them away in a box because we couldn’t bear to see “dog things” all over the house when the absence of his clicking paws and jingling collar felt so loud in our ears.

Continue reading Introducing Penny Petersik! at Young House Love.

When we thought about all the functions that would be helpful to have in our son’s bedroom, which can definitely be described as “cozy” when it comes to the size (real talk: this room is small), he needed:

• a bed to sleep in
• clothing storage
• book and toy storage out in the open
• some concealed storage for papers and other toys/games
• added bonus: a hangout-y lounge spot for reading or playing with his sister or a friend who comes over
• he also requested his own desk for drawing/homework/playing with magnets (yes, we have a current magnet obsession going strong right now)

light | striped wall tutorial | closet baskets | toy baskets | brass shelf | piggy banks | quilt

We definitely could have pulled the “your room is really small for a desk, not sure we can do that” card – but we thought it was worth a try thanks to the idea of customizing a built-in desk right next to the bed that could double as a nightstand.

Continue reading A Small Kids Bedroom With Lots Of Functional Storage That’s Built Right In at Young House Love.

We shared some sad news on Instagram Stories last week, but wanted to make sure to post something here too, because Burger was such a huge part of our blog. Last Monday, our sweet chihuahua Burger passed away at the age of 15. It was a long wonderful life, but we miss him so so much. The house is way too quiet without him.

We got him when we were 24 years old. Before we got married, before the blog, before we had kids, before almost every adult experience we had together. He was there through it all.

He was always such a happy boy. We are so grateful for all the years we shared. He seemed to pass away peacefully in his sleep. For a dog that was diagnosed with a severe heart murmur six years ago, we are grateful for all the extra years that he defied the odds after that.

Continue reading A Tribute To Burger at Young House Love.

Hoo boy, today’s post has all the good stuff: murder, mystery, INTRIGUE! Just kidding it actually has none of that. But it does have a riveting step-by-step tutorial that involves ten test pots of paint and a whole lot of lattice. So let’s get right into how we created this colorful wood wall treatment in our son’s room.

Last time you saw this room in July, we had installed this easy upholstered headboard and built-in bookshelf. It made his room so much more functional (and extra cozy), but we mentioned that we were all looking forward to adding some more color & personality in there for him over time – especially on that wall at the foot of his bed which, because we vaulted the ceilings in here, is over 9 feet tall.

After we added this large colorful wall mural to our daughter’s tallest wall, our son became even more eager to have something bold and fun in his room too.

Continue reading How To Make A Colorful Planked Wall Treatment at Young House Love.

The big, colorful mural we recently painted in our daughter’s room was one of the most fun and impactful painting projects we’ve done in a while. It was a combination of both careful planning and some last-minute improvising that was so easy to do, even the kids broke out some paintbrushes to help. Plus, it extremely was budget-friendly too.

The whole thing was painted by hand, just using regular ol’ paintbrushes and rollers. No fancy paint sprayers. No projector. Not even any painter’s tape! So today we’ll talk you through:

• How to plan your wall mural
• The materials needed to paint the mural
• A step-by-step process for painting
• Why you can’t really screw this up!

Our painted mural only took us about 5 hours of real working time to complete, but it was spread across 2.5 days since there was a lot of time spent letting parts dry before moving on to the next sections.

Continue reading How To Paint A DIY Wall Mural In Your Home at Young House Love.

After using our favorite method to make a simple headboard for our son’s room last week, we actually had enough leftover materials to try out a new trick in our daughter’s room – which yielded a completely free headboard for her. Three cheers for $0 projects, right? Especially since she helped us settle on the design and make it, so it’s not only cozy to lean back on (you know that function is my love language), but she’s also super into the finished result because she had a hand in it. Literally.

Before we dive into that how-to, we realized you haven’t seen how her room has shaped up since we moved in. In case you forgot, it looked like this when we first saw the house.

Just like with our son’s room, we discovered we could vault the ceilings to make the room feel more spacious (there was nothing but an empty attic above this room and the roof always sloped this way – so nothing structural had to happen).

Continue reading How To Make A DIY Channel Tufted Headboard (& How Our Daughter’s Room Is Coming Along) at Young House Love.

Now that we’ve checked off the basic needs in each of our bedrooms (you know like beds, window coverings, clothing storage, etc), we’ve shifted our focus towards… adding even more function (hello, I’m John “Practical” Petersik). Last week we shared the current state of our bedroom and today we have a few projects that we did to make our son’s room work a lot harder for him.

twin bed with built-in drawers / frame / fabric baskets / brass doorknob

We still have some plans to bring in more color, pattern, and fun – but things have definitely gotten a lot comfier & more convenient in here in the past few weeks.

light fixture / bed / frame / similar rug

For reference, this is what his room looked like when we first laid eyes on the house back in February.

Continue reading DIY Headboard + Custom Bookshelf = Cozy Built-in Kids Bed at Young House Love.