It’s been almost 4 months since we held our “$5000 Remodel, Blog & WIN Contest“, and my sincere apologies to our Grand Prize Winners, John and Sherry of ThisYoungHouse.com for my belated post about how their amazing blog won our contest. It’s sort of a blessing in disguise though, as I can take this opportunity to announce that they’ve remodeled! - They have a new blog design! ….Very nice, I might add - it reflects the style and motif of decor for the house. Great job John & Sherry, your home and blog provide inspiration to me and many others!

We had over 50 entries into this contest, and gaining entry wasn’t simple. There was lots of work involved for each contestant - not just in the remodeling project itself, but contestants were required to extensively document and blog about their project in order to gain the favor of the judges. We were very happy at the high quality of many of the blogs that entered - it meant judging wasn’t easy either.

I must admit, our judges did an excellent job of selecting this outstanding example of what our contest was looking for. ThisYoungHouse.com exceedingly met all of the judging criteria we set forth, and we’re sure you’ll agree they made it fun and interesting to learn about their extensive remodeling project. The following will describe what John and Sherry did to meet all these requirements, and you’ll see why our judges were so impressed.

At the bottom of this post, I’ve embedded a recent video from ThisYoungHouse.com, featuring Sherry bringing the viewer on a guided walk-through of their close-to-being-finished-but-never-done remodeling project.

12 MORE Ways to Enjoy Your New Sunroom, Conservatory or Patio Enclosure.

1. Leisure Room- Many homeowners want a sunroom so they can use it as a breakfast/sitting area. These rooms are the perfect space for drinking your morning coffee and reading the paper. Specially designed to include cable and electrical outlets, homeowners can enjoy a quiet place to read, watch TV, or just enjoy the scenery.

2. Guest Room- More and more, families are looking for a convenient yet attractive way to accommodate overnight guests. Instead of putting your family and friends in a cramped office or in the middle of the living room, a sunroom can double as a leisure room during the day and easily be converted into a comfortable guest bedroom at night with the use of a day bed. You will find this a welcome alternative to adding a conventional, single purpose bedroom to your home.

A Conservatory is really just another, wonderful class of Sunroom.

Other names used for Conservatories include: Orangerie, Solarium, Green house, Atrium, Garden Room, Patio Room, and more.

A well-designed, high quality conservatory or sunroom will quickly become the most used room in your home.

As with any addition to your home, you should absolutely seek out the help and advice of an excellent contractor, designer and/or architect to help you decide what styles and materials will best compliment your home, your lifestyle, and your budget.

Installing exterior vinyl window shutters is usually a simple, straightforward task when installing on wood or siding. However, if you are installing plastic shutters on a brick surface, some things need to be taken into consideration.

First of all, some bricks are reinforced with metal. This makes it an extremely difficult task to drill through the brick. I tried this once and it took me all day just to mount 3 pairs of shutters because I had to continually switch back and fourth between a masonry drill bit and a steel drill bit.

So, you’ve been going crazy trying to decide how to decorate your kitchen backsplash. What materials should you use for your backsplash? Should you use tile or marble, glass or copper? What would look best, as well as be functional?

Here’s a unique idea!

(Above is a sample of Julia’s hand painted kitchen backsplash tile mural, called “Wine and Cheese”)