X-Long post ALERT! Today’s post is LOTS of reading and not a lot of DIY eye candy. (Lame, we know!)

We promise we’ll be back with our normal routine next week, but today we thought it would be fun to share some of the survey results from our birthday survey. We got a ton of awesome feedback and sweet comments and are so thankful to everyone who took time to tell us a little bit about you & your perspective. We can’t wait to use this feedback to make the DIY Playbook better. Today, here’s a little commentary from both of us on just a few of your comments.  Oh and before you dive into the “data”, grab yourself a snack and a cup ‘o joe… you’ll probably need it.

Survey Stats:

• 60% of our readers are 26-34
• 67% of our readers are married
• Most of our readers own their own slice of suburbia
• A few of our readers don’t follow us on any social media outlets & we didn’t put that as a multiple choice option on the survey #bloggerfail
• 73% of you said that 4-5 post a week is PERFECT <— Did our husbands put you up to that?! Seriously though, our marriages thank you.

Survey Feedback:

“I honestly don’t know how you busy ladies do it all. You have full-time jobs, DIY things, AND blog! Kudos to you because I love reading your blog and find things to be so helpful. I also enjoy getting to know you through your site and in a way feel connected as friends. I think of you gals when I visit Chicago.”  We are blushing and so grateful for your kind words. But let’s be clear, we do NOT do it all. We’re just taking it one day at a time just like everyone else.

“I know this sounds geeky, but I appreciate the attention you ladies pay to good spelling and grammar around the blog. SO MANY BLOGS I read are riddled with errors that only make the writer look stupid.” Yes, typos definitely fall through the cracks, but not nearly as many because Caseý is in charge of the proof reading around here. Casey is solely responsible for making our posts as close to error free as we can get!

“I really enjoy the behind the scenes. Your photography is great and it might be fun to get some tips on that. (I really liked learning about what cameras you recommend, etc.) Also, the admission that sometimes it’s All Blog All the Time was honest and refreshing. Maybe a little breakdown of who does what—who writes more? Who takes the pictures? Who has the project ideas?”— Great suggestions! We are definitely putting this on the calendar. Until then, this post answers a few of those questions.

“It would be nice if you added the writer’s name to the TOP of the posts so we could see who we’re hearing from when we start reading.” We actually had quite a few readers suggest this. Uh…. GENIUS!! Why didn’t we think of this? We love this idea and implemented it right away! You may notice that now we identify the “author” of the post right under the title of each post. #thankyou

Advice to Tackle the Terrible Two’s:

1.  “Wine!” Cheers to that!
2. “Be Friends First.” What a great reminder, thank YOU.
3. “I can tell you my absolute favorite blog was YHL before they quit and now it’s BowerPower. So you should check them out for inspiration.” We LOVE both of these blogs & actually had the opportunity to meet Sherry and Katie at Haven a few years ago! Surprisingly, we had quite a few YHL references in our feedback, and just like you guys mentioned, we too miss YHL. Selfishly, we are sad that they’re not a part of our daily routine, but beyond that, we are happy that they made a decision that makes them happy. That decision took a lot of bravery and we totally admire that!
4. “You both are awesome! (And so are your hubbies for supporting you!)” Thank you, and we couldn’t agree more… we couldn’t do ANY of this without the love, support & PATIENCE from each of our better halves.
5. “People love giveaways!” Noted…expect more goodies this year!
6. “I liked Bridget’s short hair, flat-iron tutorial, but how does Casey style her long loose wave locks?” This is actually so funny because I always tell Bridget my hair is jealous of hers, since her cute hairdo gets all of the attention! I texted her right away after reading this comment…ha! Don’t worry you wonderful commenter…it’s on the calendar this Spring!
7. “You’ve probably heard this before, but don’t let people made brave by the anonymity of the internet get you down. You can’t please everyone, so just do what you love and what people you trust encourage you to do.” Can we have you over for coffee?! We need more of you and your amazing advice in our lives!
8. “Don’t be afraid to get personal.” We struggle with this a lot and we are so grateful for everyone who mentioned they want to hear more about us. Getting personal and putting ourselves out there is scary. We are constantly trying to find that perfect line between sharing too much and not enough. And let’s be honest, we usually air on the side of not enough. We’re planning to share what’s going on in our lives at the end of each month in our short recap post. It’s a nice way to bond with you guys and share a little about what’s going on in our everyday lives.
9. “Remind each of your husbands that you love and appreciate them every day. And also remind them to never harshly judge your decisions– they are one of them!” Oh my goodness, we have to remember this…. hilarious!

We asked, “What is one thing you would like us to chat about?” You Answered:

1. We actually had lots of you mention that you want us to tackle BABY DIYs, nursery ideas, and new mom posts. — Hmmmm, did our moms put you up to these tips?! Although we are extremely excited for this stage in our lives, The DIY Playbook isn’t turning mommy blog anytime soon. When it’s time, you can bet we will be doing lots of Nursery DIY around here!

2. “Cooking 🙂 Ha, totally kidding. You guys rock it.” We’re not sure who you are, but we need to be best friends! You clearly know us and our lack of talent in the kitchen. We literally laughed out loud when we read that.

3. “Making rental spaces your own (without paint or holes in the wall as options)” A post about this is now in the works (lots of you suggested this!) In the meantime, here are a few TEMPORARY things Casey has done to jazz up her rental space without losing her deposit:

• No Nail Plate Gallery Wall
• Removable Office Accent Wall
• Removable Measuring Spoon Cabinet Storage

4. “I’d love to hear you talk more about how you inject nature into your homes. I know Bridget has a yard…do you guys work in it at all?” — Bridget is absolutely tackling that this summer! Let’s see if her brown thumb can turn green!

5. “Travel.” Lots of exciting travels coming up. Casey’s honeymoon, Bridget’s spring break, and a couples trip to the west coast!  Of course we’ll be keeping ya up-to-date and sharing some pics here on the blog. We also received a few requests for more Chicago posts, so we’ll start working on those as well!

6. “Products you can’t live without that are home related.” This is a FANTASTIC idea. Adding it to the list!

7. “Think outside of the box. We go to your site for your positive outlook just as much as your DIY projects. What else do you apply your cheery, uplifting attitude to in life?” Wow, we are so honored you shared this with us. Thank you! Don’t get us wrong, our lives are not perfect but we are two very positive people and always look for the positive in any situation. Plus, who comes to a blog to hang out with Debbie Downer?! Not us!!

8. “I think you guys should do an update on Puffy Paint shirts” hahaha YESS!!! Just like the good ol’ high school days. Puffy paint shirts were our jam and ironically where our DIY adventure began together… circa 2003. Go eagles!

Again a big thank you for taking the time to give us some feedback. We take your comments and ideas very seriously, and can’t wait to make our little slice of the internet even better!