As a very young girl, I loved to redesign my bedroom. I remember flipping through home decor magazines and having Home and Garden television often playing on the TV. But these things are not what drew me to Interior Design; it was the antiques my Mother had carefully placed throughout our home. The heirlooms that decorated our walls and her careful selection of warm and inviting colours that started my love for design.
As far back as I can remember, I loved decorating with old chippy items as well as layers of blankets and quilts.
Inspiration comes in so many forms for me, we live on the beautiful West Coast, and the beach is always at our fingertips.
We also have family land very up north that has been in our family for over 100 years. The old store building had crocks, old windows and pretty much anything you can think of – this is what decorated my childhood home.
If you were to ask me what my style was, I couldn’t really tell you. I love having the foundation of sharp and modern lines layered with chippy antiques and neutral and coastal colours. All of this embodies White Picket Farmhouse, yet I can’t place my finger on a specific name for it.
I started this blog in late 2015. We were in the middle of owning an extremely exhausting home-based business. We had three kids under the age of 5, and I didn’t need to add anything extra to my plate. But when you know, you know.
Shortly after starting my blog, my projects and home decor posts started going viral on Pinterest, which caught the eye of Crate and Barrel Kids. They were the first brand to collaborate with me back in early 2016. To be honest, I didn’t even know collaborations were a thing back then, so to say I was blown away was an understatement.
But life shifted. On November 5th, 2016, we lost our sweet little girl at 17 weeks. This catapulted me into a deep depression, and I mostly stopped blogging all together. You can find her story here and here.
Then in 2017, we had to close our business and file bankruptcy. Not only were we falling behind on orders due to life and lack of money to be refunded back to our clients, but there was an online hate group started, and we were forced to close.
I thought our story had ended there, and I couldn’t see any way up. We had no prospects, no talent, and it was a very, very bleak time for all of us.
We had lost everything except each other, and we held onto that and counted our blessings.
In September, it will be four years since we had to part ways with our business, and life has grown so much sweeter. We pressed through even when the days choked us with anxiety.
For some reason, I came back to blogging in early 2018 by the grace of God and learned to push through the negativity.
As of 2021, I’ve been featured in HGTV Magazine, Real Homes Magazine and a few others to follow. I’ve partnered with World-known brands like Samsung Canada, Crate and Barrel, The Home Depot Canada, Valspar, Canadian Tire, Tide, Hudson Valley Lighting and countless others. Their trust in me and coming back to re-hire me, again and again, gives me confidence in myself and shows me that I am worthy of second chances.
Aren’t we all?
So what are we doing currently? We have lived in our rented 1970’s bungalow for 2.5 years now and have made it our haven while building, DIYing and thrifting.
Glen is my right-hand man, and without him, I cannot do what I do. He single-handedly homeschools three out of the four kids, while our youngest is usually making a mess somewhere. Glen Makes sure I eat when I spent 10+ hours on the computer a day and is always game for all of my crazy last-minute spontaneous plans.
He is the builder and helps me with almost every project I blog about. We’ve grown to both love what we do, and I’m so thankful for this time spent together.
Over the years, I’ve taught myself photography, whether I’m behind the camera or the camera is on a tripod. This past year I had quite a few brands purchase the digital rights to my images, and I continue to improve my composition, editing and skills.
The greenhouse above is Glens’ newest project. He dreamt this up back in early 2020 and started building it in late summer. You can find the blog about it here. It’s not near completion, but we had to capture it under the season’s first snowfall.
Our goal for 2021 is to start being more self-sufficient. Glen is taking his hunting courses, and our greenhouse will help us grow a lot more of our own food.
Thank you for being here and taking the time to read. I hope my blog inspires you, and you take something away from it every time you read it!
