A conversation that was sparked by a post from Jess Constable a few weeks back has become an avalanche – first there was Jess’s post, “Things I’m Afraid to Tell You.”, followed by Ez, Erin, and a host of others. What is this all about? Basically, it’s meant to put a few chips in the shiny facade that is so often presented on design blogs. Sadly, even though most of us know it’s not really true, it is all too easy to believe that the polished-up, perfect pictures served daily on our favorite blogs is 100% real. It’s so not. So just in case any of you dear readers have ever felt the least bit frustrated/wary/thrown by anything I’ve featured or said here, I decided it would be a scary good idea to add my voice to the mix. I for one have felt great reading others posts on this topic – honesty and openness is so refreshing, don’t you agree?
Things I’m Afraid To Tell You:
1. My house is usually a mess. Right now I am staring at a giant pile of paper toppling out of the cute little white tray that is supposed to contain it – and I’m sure there are some crushed crackers and a sippy cup buried in there somewhere, too. Most of the time, when I want to take a picture in my house, I first clear all of the crap to one side in order to get a decent shot. The only reason it doesn’t look like a total disaster is because I am a nut about decluttering, so we don’t have tons and tons of stuff.
2. I don’t really like twitter. I know, crazy, right? I mean, I use it, but mostly because I feel like I should be using it. Sometimes I happen to catch a current of fun news or conversation, but in general, I feel more like an out-of-the-loop grandma. I’m serious! I still don’t even really get the whole hashtag thing.
3. The past few years have been the hardest of my life. They have also been some of the most rich, emotionally, and some amazing things have happened that I am so grateful for – and I don’t want to downplay that at all – but guys, times have been rough. Between moving thousands of miles away from all of my family and friends, adjusting to life with baby, shifting from working full-time to being a stay at home Mama and also trying to get a new creative career off the ground, I’ve been dealing with a lot of changes. Plus, things have been extremely tight financially – sure, I’m doing what I love, but it doesn’t pay very well (at least, not yet), and we had to deal with a long stretch of unemployment that left us with a significant financial burden, so that continues to be a major headache.
4. I don’t buy most of the stuff I feature on this blog, and I don’t really expect you to, either. It’s not that I don’t want to – I love everything I show here, otherwise I wouldn’t bother to write about it – but I simply can’t afford to decorate my home the way I wish I could, and I expect you feel the same way. I hope that the pretty things I choose to feature inspire you and don’t leave you feeling like you are missing out on something. For me personally, it’s almost like by blogging something I release myself from having to pine over it anymore. Instead, I can just share it and then let it go…well, most of the time (don’t get me started on white floors!).
5. I have no talent in the fashion department. I can see what looks good on others, but I feel strangely incapable of pulling together a cute look for myself. Most of the time I’m in jeans and some form of tee shirt plus ballet flats or sandals. Also, I still haven’t lost all of my baby weight, so I am not feeling as comfortable in my skin as I would like. I try not to beat myself up about it, but I would really like to pull myself together fashion-wise, so that my outfits are at least somewhat as stylish as the interior looks I put together. As it is now, I don’t feel that my outsides match the insides, so to speak.
If you’ve made it through all of that, thank you for listening! And feel free to chime in with your own post or simply add your two cents in the comments section. Also be sure to check out some of the others who added their voices to this topic in the lists below. xoxo Laura
Participating bloggers:
Design for Mankind | Little Brown Pen | Beautiful Hello | Curating Style | Sweet Fine Day | The Jealous Curator | Happy Days | Sage & Berries | Really Handmade | Peck Life | Satsuma Press | Rena Tom | For the Easily Distracted | The Hemborg Wife | Vitamini Handmade | Courtney Khail Stationery and Design | Meg in Progress | Dando Photography Blog | Widdershins22 | Alison Citron | Pink Moon Daily | Just Pretty Things | From China Village | Tea with Me | The Darling Ewe | Not Your Average Ordinary | The Electric Typewriter | Elleby Design | Parsimonia {Secondhand With Style} | Life as an Artistpreneur | Hello Cupcake | Dellie | The A & B Stories | Pretty Little Things | Feistyelle | Nib & Zed | Well and Cheaply | I Ripple. I Dance. | Whitfield Awesome Blog | Foxtrot Press | Dry As Toast | The List of Now | Apple Blue | For the Love of | Four Flights of Fancy | Miss Modish | Snapshots & Secrets | Dirty Laundry | Bubby & Bean | Penelope’s Press | Little Nostalgia | Vale Design | Pikaland | Fleurishing | Print Pretty | Vespa Tales | Hazel & Agnes | Amanda’s Musings | Mo’ Funk Designs | Ordinary Mommy | Camp 1899 | In Honor of Design | Liberty’s Yarn | Love, Life & Pictures | Stacey Winters | Owl in the Rain | Living Life Creatively | Emma Elizabeth Clease | I Live in Vacouver Now | British Cream Tea | Maquette | Little Paper Trees | Change is Necessary for Growth | Practically Perfect | Lovely Indeed | Radiant Republic | Teacher Goes Back to School | Acute Designs | This Little Street | The Proper Pinwheel | Kellee Rich | Gluten Free Travelette | Benbrie House | Sierra BB | Lost in Cheeseland | Going Home to Roost | Creative Soul in Motion | Quietly Fabulous | L’elephant Rose | The Anna Delores Blog | Some the Wiser | JRebecca Style | I Saw You Dancing | Wolfie and the Sneak | Threadbare Supply Co. | Lemonwood and Honey |
TIATTY – Wave II (list found at Mimi + Meg):
Coco + Kelley / Court & Hudson / Sacramento Street / My Cup of Te / Crystal Gentilello / MIMI+MEG / The Decorista / Modern Eve / Apartment 34 / Design Blahg / Vmac & Cheese / Miles to Style / Life in a Venti Cup / The Zhush / Radiant Republic / Savvy Home / The Doctor’s Closet / Design Manifest / Because It’s Awesome / {extra}ordinary wonders / Sparkling Footsteps / Hitha On The Go / Note To Self / So Much To Smile About / Blogstar / The Goods Design / Style & Pepper / Small Shop Studio / Long Distance Loving / Maggie Rose Blog / The City Girl In Me / The Best Laid Plans / Concrete Jungle DC / Food Fashion Fitness / East Coast Chic
Post image courtesy Ez Pudewa for Creature Comforts
