A Year of Blogging

I looked at my calendar the other day and realized that this week marks the one year anniversary of the first day I hit publish on this blog. Where did time go??? I feel like I’ve said that statement on repeat for the past year.  Seriously, time flies when you’re having fun and I have definitely been having fun with this new thing called blogging.  I thought I’d take you through this past year of blogging and share everything I didn’t know and what I’ve learned in 1 year.  Wow. What. A. Year!

I never dreamed what this blog would become when I first journeyed into it last summer. Before I even started to blog, I created  The House of Silver Lining Instagram account as a way to basically throw myself out to the big ol’ world of social media, really thinking no one would notice.  I have loved design and decorating for so many years and basically couldn’t contain myself anymore as a bystander reading blogs and seeing everyone’s creativity.  I wanted to be a part of that world as an outlet but not quite knowing what that meant. I’ve written in the past about how my blog got started after my Instagram took off to a following I never saw coming. Take a moment and read that story {here} (it’s a good one!).  So one year ago, TODAY, June 24, I hit publish on my first blog post {here} (#dontjudgethephotography ;))

Everything changed for me that month. Life took a turn in a direction that I wasn’t sure where it was headed but I felt like I was a dog with a bone being dangled in front of it along a trail. That inner instinct to keep on chasing that “bone.” Okay, my bone was a dream, a passion, a constant drive to express creativity, a desire to grow, to inspire, and to connect with others just like me. As I was obsessively whipping out blog content weekly, I was also learning how to blog. It wasn’t easy for me, technology does not come naturally to this blondie by any means. Just ask my girl (AKA my rock, my lifesaver, my very patient friend) Tana at YourMarkettingBFF.  Well she has become one of my BFF’s for real. She has coaxed me out of many almost ugly cry moments when the blog was having some tech issues.  No one told me a blogger should know how to do coding.  Ummm, excuse me, I can sew my own drapes and cheetah stencil a wall, but I draw the line at learning computer code. That’s what BFF’s are for (ha! literally).

In a nutshell I’ve listed a few points of everything I didn’t know about blogging:

1.  You must become a photographer.  Say wha? You mean I need to actually open up that really nice camera Tim got me for Christmas a year ago and learn how to use it? Procrastination time is over. Yes. To have an appealing blog, learning a few photography tips is key. I do not claim to be a pro photographer by any means at all. I’m still learning and fine tuning. However, dark gloomy photo days were over when I was introduced to the need for a tripod. Apparently I wasn’t using a tripod in my first blog post or even a few months of blogging.  I look back at those photos and cringe a little, but it is a good feeling to see that my photo quality has progressed over this past year and it’s moving in a brighter direction.  I won’t get into my camera settings and how I adjust those during this post. That’s a whole other blog post that I could spend some time on. There are tons of tutorials out there on Pinterest though.
2. I can make money. Shut.The.Front.Door…really? I had no clue. Blogging can be a very lucrative business.  No, I’m not rolling in the dough, but over the year I have enjoyed being sponsored on some blog posts to use products that I love enough to use in my own home and write about.  I never started this blog to make an income. I really only thought it would be a good way to share my portfolio of client work I was doing locally and also all the projects and designs always going on in my home. Still though, I blog because I need this outlet to share my creative mind and to mingle with other bloggers.  That is enough to keep me going.
3. Blogging would change my career path. Funny how that turned out. Decorating the homes of friends, family, and clients started as a hobby for me. I began charging when I was spending hours of my time thoughtfully curating room designs for these homes. Once my blog started, I found myself with less and less time to decorate for others. Maybe it was because last year was a big year of renovations in our two homes. In our Colorado home, our basement was under construction for a few months, and then last Fall we started the major renovation on our beach cottage which just wrapped up in December. I was receiving a steady stream of emails of readers asking me to design rooms in there homes.  My heart was full of gratitude that these people trusted me enough to design their homes, but yet I felt guilty for putting them off because I was too busy with the blog, local design work and still doing my best at my number one job of being a mom.  I didn’t realize that blogging is a full time job. Decorating the room is the easy part. All the research, and prep that goes into one blog post can take a considerable amount of time. Staging a room, photographing, editing those photos, and then writing about it eats up those hours in the day when my boys are at school. It’s something I’m still working on balancing. Let’s just say that these days I drink more coffee and stay up way too late. Is it worth it? Yes.

What I’ve Learned in 1 Year of Blogging:

1.  There’s always another blogger willing to help.  Beginning this blogging journey was a big scary stretch for me. I didn’t know a single blogger personally. I had admired other bloggers for years but couldn’t say I ever had a conversation with one blogger before I began blogging. I was the new kid on the block. The newbie. Still in pampers phase (not literally..haha!).  When I had that total #pinchme moment last year when Better Homes and Gardens invited me to their Stylemaker event in NYC (a snippet of that story here) I was blown away by the kindness and support of all the bloggers there who are the kind of bloggers we all have been following for years. The big league bloggers. I made friendships there that have been so treasured over this past year. The advice and direction they gave me was so invaluable. Since then, I made great connections that gave me the opportunity to participate in some fun home tours like my office tour HERE and HERE, and my Summer Beach Cottage tour.
2. Instagram networking grows your blog. My blog basically started through Instagram and I have to say that it is the reason why my blog continues to grow.  Through very intentional and thoughtful networking with other instagrammers and bloggers, I have carved a name for myself in that community.  I definitely have had to take a huge step back from my constant commenting presence over there the past few months however, only because that funny thing called LIFE takes priority over and over. Which leads me to my next point.
3. I don’t need to say yes to every opportunity or request.  I’ve learned this after reaching a point these past few months where the blog was growing, the demands were getting high, and I was feeling like the scale was tipping between balancing the family life I strive to have and maintaining the blog career I wanted. For those who know me well, my boys and my husband are my priority. I truly enjoy nesting in my home. I love cleaning my home. I’m a true homemaker at heart.  When all of that was getting interrupted by me taking on clients that I probably should not have or a sponsored post that I maybe could have passed on, I had to take a hard look and re-evaluate. I read THIS BOOK a year ago and it was kind of a life changer for me and how I plan my days.  I had to go back and reread all the highlighted areas again recently. There are some really exciting things in the works this year and I’m prioritizing everything to balance my sanity.
4. I have met my SQUAD.  I love my friends whole heartedly. Then I met my blogging friends, the ones that get what I do. They understand what it feels like to live, eat, breath all things design. They’re a special people. I love my blogging buddies so much I even invited some of them to the beach cottage recently for a girl’s trip (that story HERE). We are all hooked now and already talking about the next trip.  Blessings. That’s what they all are. Mingle with those that can relate with you, be your sounding board, your word of advice, your friend to bounce ideas off of.

Looking back at my first year of blogging is just a mix of emotions of happiness, excitement, and gratitude. This journey is so fun despite the stresses involved at times. The opportunities that keep coming really make me pause and thank the Lord.

What now? 

The journey has really just begun. I’ve dipped my toes in the water, now I’m ready to dive in deeper. In the coming months I’ll be sharing some of those big things that are in the works. I can’t wait to tell! Just when I think things have settled down a while with design work, something else comes my way. I’ve been working hard on this one, so stay tuned.  Now that summer is here and my boys are out of school, I’ll be taking a more laid back approach to the blog. Of course, I’ll still be whipping up my design tidbits but I don’t want to miss out on time with them.  Instagram is a great way to also keep up to date with all the happenings going on over here, so be sure to follow me if you care to join.

I know this post was extra wordy. Goodness, it’s 2 a.m. and I’ve been a chatterbox. Pretty sure I’ll be swigging straight from the coffee pot in the morning. So goes the life of a blogger. I just want you all to know how much I appreciate you and all the support you have shown me over this past year of blogging. Truly, I am so honored that you all stick around and keep coming back. For those of you that are new, I hope you want to stick around. We have fun over here and nothing is too serious. I’m just a girl that loves a pretty home.

xo