Anyone who knows me is typically shocked when they learn that I now have - and sleep next to! - an actual real-life cat. Even I can't believe it most days. But if you follow me on Instagram, you know my cat obsession is currently cranked to 11 and my cat possession currently stands at 1. So today I'll share my personal experience about managing and essentially eliminating my cat allergy - including the products that have (and haven't) helped.

Continue reading How To Get Rid Of Cat Allergies: What Worked For Me at Young House Love.

Based on the DM pet naming requests I've been fielding lately, many of you seem to be just as obsessed with pet names as we are. So today we're rounding out our series with the last remaining category. We've shared posts full of ideas for girl dog names, girl cats names, and boy dog names - so last up we get to cover boy cats names! We've never owned a male cat together, but John has had two in his lifetime. His childhood cat Casper (named for his white coat) and his sister's cat Monty (named for Montague Street in Brooklyn, where she lived at the time). So this list was a fun thought experiment, and who knows... with the way the universal cat distribution system works, we might end up with a male cat someday.

Continue reading Boy Cat Names: 200 Names + Naming Tips at Young House Love.

Naming our first dog "Hamburger" (aka "Burger," seen below as a new puppy) back in 2006 officially kicked off our obsession with unique pet names. So much so that we actually pitched a pet naming book concept to several literay agents before starting this blog (unsurprisingly, it was rejected). But we recently returned to our first love with posts rounding up 200 Girl Dog Names and 200 Girl Cat Names. So naturally, we are back today to continue with 200 name ideas for a boy dog. We've got everything from popular human names to quirky food names and more...

Continue reading Boy Dog Names: 200 Names + Naming Tips at Young House Love.

We're just as surprised as anyone that we officially own a cat. And to maintain balance in the universe (since we did a dog naming post) here is the cat version for all the cat people out there - INCLUDING US NOW! WILD! We've pulled together 200 ideas for naming a female cat or kitten, along with tips for picking the perfect name... or should I say purr-fect.

Continue reading Girl Cat Names: 200 Ideas + Naming Tips at Young House Love.

Before we started this website, we actually pitched a dog naming book to a bunch of publishers. This is a completely true story. We had so much fun naming our first dog, Hamburger (aka Burger), it inspired us to write a book with more dog naming ideas. Sadly (but unsurprisingly), our proposal went nowhere... but our love of fun pet names persists. So whether you're looking for something creative & unique, or just cute & meaningful, here are 200 girl dog names along with tips to keep in mind when naming your fur baby.

Continue reading Girl Dog Names: 200 Ideas + Naming Tips at Young House Love.

It's safe to say that we love traditional baby names (aka classic names or old-fashioned names). We named both of our kids after our grandparents – one on J’s side and one on mine. I recently heard names like that for baby girls being called "old lady names." Not sure how I feel about that - but a timeworn and classic name just feels like it's lovely and enduring. A friend of mine recently had a baby girl and it was fun to talk about all the names they were considering for her. And since I already shared a list of 100 classic boy names, I also loved compiling this list of my favorite classic old-fashioned baby girl names.

Continue reading 100 Classic Girl Names at Young House Love.

A friend of mine is pregnant and it’s reminding me how exciting it was to name our own kids. We love traditional names (aka: old-fashioned names, aka classic names) and both of our children are named after our grandparents – one on John’s side and one on my side. So I had fun putting together this list of my favorite 100 classic boy names, along with this list of 100 classic girl names. They feel established, like they stand the test of time, and can carry special meaning if they’re already names in your family. ALSO IS THERE ANYTHING CUTER THAN BABY SUSPENDERS?!?

One interesting thing I found when I was writing this post was that many of the top ten most popular names for boys in 2024 in the USA are arguably pretty classic:

• #1: Liam
• #2: Noah
• #3: Oliver
• #4: James
• #5: Elijah
• #6: Mateo
• #7: Theodore
• #8: Henry
• #9: Lucas
• #10: William

But beyond that short list of the most popular boy names this year, there are so many other classic boy names to choose from.

Continue reading 100 Classic Boy Names at Young House Love.

Our family LOVES a game night and we keep a tight collection of only our 30 most favorite games. They cover a pretty wide variety: card games, party games, puzzle games, and more. We believe the best family board games are as fun for grown-ups as they are for kids. So except for a couple of adults-only versions that we’ve clearly labeled below, everything linked in this post is great for the whole family.

I’ve categorized our games into the groups you see below. But be warned – there’s definitely lots of overlap!

• All-Time Favorite Family Board Games
• Best Group Or Party Games
• Best 4-Person Games
• Best 2-Person Games
• Best Fast-Paced Games
• Best Chill Games
• Best Easy-To-Learn Board Games
• Best Small Or Travel Games

I’ve included a brief description of each game, but to avoid repeating them every time a game appears in a list, you may need to scroll to a different category to find the summary.

Continue reading The Best Family Board Games at Young House Love.