Grand Prize Winners Revisited - ThisYoungHouse.com

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.

Our Judging Criteria

The judging criteria was simple,

REMODELING:

• Best Use of Space (Layout)
  HINTS: Does your new design enhance or make better use of the available space(s)? Does your use of the space ’speak’ your design? Did you come up with a creative new idea for your space?
• Best Use of Materials (Design)
  HINTS: Did you use your materials creatively? Did your choice of materials serve purposes other than design? What motivated your choice of materials, colors?
• Best Use of Budget (Savings)
  HINTS: Were you creative with your budget? Did you introduce any cost saving ideas? Did you get lots done for a little?
• Project Types
  All rooms, interior and exterior, as well as upgrades, including additions, siding, roofing and utilities, qualify for this contest.
• Qualified Individuals
  Teams (families) or individuals who do work on the remodeling project may be entered, but only one entry per team project is allowed. This also means only one blog/web space is allowed per project. The second or more entries from one team or project will be disqualified - only the first entry will count. Project may be completed by professional contractors or yourself and team.
• Budget Requirements
  Budget and/or size of project is NOT an issue or part of judging criteria. No project is too big or too small for this contest.

BLOGGING:

• Best Use of Blog/Web space (story)
  • Is your story captivating and easy to read?
  • Did you include pictures, or videos? ‘Before and After’ pics are great!
  • Did you clearly explain your ‘best use of space’, ‘best use of materials’, and ‘best use of budget’?
  • Do you tell your readers how/where you got your design inspiration from?
  • Did you tell readers about funny little anecdotes - or nightmares - that happened during your project? Any side stories?
  • How often did you update your blog/web space? (Did it need it - re: small projects?)
  • Did you describe your budget, how you stuck to it, how you got creative with it, where you saved money?
  • Do you offer how-to or cost saving tips in your story?
  • Do you link to and explain ‘what and how’ about resources you used from RemodelingMySpace.com?
  • Do you offer your readers links to other resources you feel are helpful for their home improvement projects?

Why The Winners Won

What I’ll do here is go through each of the criteria mentioned above, and show examples of how John and Sherry met this criteria, and what they did to impress the judges.

REMODELING:

• Best Use of Space (Layout)
  John and Sherry’s entry was for “Kitchen Redesign + General Updates”, but as you’ll see they did a whole lot more than that. Their home is a 1950’s bungalow located in Richmond, Virginia that they’ve transformed from bland and old, to simple, sophisticated & modern. Upgrades were done to virtually all rooms, as well as landscaping, patio and garden work that was done. Walls were added, new rooms were created, floorspace was transformed into closet space, TWO kitchen remodels in one year, sunrooms were brightened, bedrooms were transformed, and the project is still in progress. And I’m sure if you’re a homeowner, you know this project may never end.

  This image below is a great example of the efficient use of space. John and Sherry transformed their living area, into a dining room/living area. Looks great, doesn’t it?

  

• Best Use of Materials (Design)
  This remodeling project tended to minimize the use of any new materials, other than coatings and surface refinishing. From the opening of the laundry area and the use of frames to hide pipes and utilities (which reduced materials - see image below), to conserving the 50’s bathroom tile floor by restoring it rather than ripping it out and installing new materials, to the simplistic use of area floor coverings and picture frames. John and Sherry have complimented the minimalist and modern motif of their remodeling design by minimizing the use of new building materials. Great job getting green!
  
  

• Best Use of Budget (Savings)
  Sherry and John are professional bargain hunters! Not only do they search out and find great deals for furnishings, appliances, decor items and building materials, they do their best to reduce overall costs by providing a very comfortable minimalist design, that requires minimalist investment! Some of Sherry’s great bargain finds include this great under-storage bench - she has 2, and this much talked about range hood (see below).
  
  
  Under storage bench.

   

  
  Kitchen range hood.
  

• Project Types
  As mentioned above, our winners initially entered as “Kitchen Redesign + General Updates”, but turned out that most every room in the house was updated or upgraded in some way, and each was well documented on the blog. Even the backyard patio received some TLC from these two.

   

  
  Backyard patio upgrades.

• Qualified Individuals
  John and Sherry have done all this fabulous work themselves!
• Budget Requirements
  This was a mid-sized project. Avoiding any major renovations, John and Sherry have transformed the entire house from bland, to bravo!, without breaking the bank, or even the piggy-bank.

BLOGGING:

• Best Use of Blog/Web space (story)
  • Is your story captivating and easy to read?
    Both John and Sherry are captivating, and humorous writers. Posts are focused and succinct, while being entertaining as well as easy to read and understand.
  • Did you include pictures, or videos? ‘Before and After’ pics are great!
    This is very important when trying to convey design ideas. Pictures say a thousand words. Videos say a thousand words at 30 pictures per second - that’s a lotta words. Not only did John and Sherry provide a complete Before and After gallery, they have produced a few very entertaining videos that take viewers on a guided tour of the home. Sherry, a born entertainer, is destined to host her own TV show one day soon.
  • Did you clearly explain your ‘best use of space’, ‘best use of materials’, and ‘best use of budget’?
    Each item added and all upgrades to the house were very well documented. Always sure to mention deals, where they found their buys, why and how they created space, why they have a chihuahua as a mascot, and what they plan on doing next, our winners provided all the info we asked for. If you want to know more from them, they’ll gladly answer any inquiries…, in fact they even have a newly created section of their blog called Design Dilemmas that answers questions from readers needing design help!
  • Do you tell your readers how/where you got your design inspiration from?
    Virtually all posts deal in some way with where their design inspiration comes from, it’s very easy to see the design tastes in their section titled Swoonworthy Stuff.
  • Did you tell readers about funny little anecdotes - or nightmares - that happened during your project? Any side stories?
    Side stories and funny anecdotes galore on this blog! John and Sherry are very humorous people, and it is prevalent throughout the blog. From their mascot Burger, to fully involving readers in decisions about remodeling choices (ie: saving the bathroom tiles), John and Sherry always keep the reader involved. As for side stories, a complete history of previous residences they shared makes for some very entertaining video!
  • How often did you update your blog/web space?
    Posts were regular, almost daily. John and Sherry kept us up to date, not only covering what they had done, but what they intended to do, what they learned, as well as links to great web finds.
  • Did you describe your budget, how you stuck to it, how you got creative with it, where you saved money?
    Sherry, who is the consummate deal hunter, was always sure to let us know where and how much they were able to make the great finds they did. They even have a section called Steals & Deals!
  • Do you offer how-to or cost saving tips in your story?
    Yes they do. See above point.
  • Do you link to and explain ‘what and how’ about resources you used from RemodelingMySpace.com?
    John and Sherry mentioned our site a few times, but the first is when Sherry saw a backsplash she liked on our backsplash ideas page.
  • Do you offer your readers links to other resources you feel are helpful for their home improvement projects?
    Yes, ThisYoungHouse.com has a few very helpful sections of their site called Swoonworthy Stuff, as well as Odds and Ends. They also have a very extensive blogroll.

Well, after seeing all that, don’t you agree John and Sherry deserved to win our $5000 Grand Prize! To add icing to the cake, the ‘youngsters’ donated 20% of their winnings to a local charity just before Christmas. These are real winners.

Thanks so much John and Sherry, you made this contest very enjoyable for us! Please visit ThisYoungHouse.com for your remodeling inspiration.

A Video Tour of This Young House

Here’s the video I promised. Expect to see Sherry soon hosting her own upcoming TV show!

Visit their site to see the newest video tour!

Stay tuned! We’ll be featuring other contestant blogs in coming posts.

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