blogging Archives - Emily A. Clark

New Year, Same Thoughts

Jan72019

Man, it seems like it gets harder to start back up in January every year. I always go through this reevaluation phase of trying to figure out what I want my blog to be, if I need make changes, and if I even want to keep going. (I’m going into my 10th year!) I think that comes from all of the noise I see on Instagram (and Facebook and Pinterest and Twitter) and how everything looks and feels ands sounds the same. (It seems like I talk about this every new year.) Instead of feeling refreshed and inspired, I end up feeling bored, annoyed and indifferent.

I think this means two things for me: I need to personally stop scrolling so much. I want to concentrate on providing good posts and helpful tips and then put my phone down. Instagram told me the other day that I had spent one hour and 47 minutes on the app. Talk about feeling like I wasted my day! (I’m not looking at that stat anymore, but I am trying to do better.)

And second, I need to refocus on who my audience is when I’m writing. This means reminding myself that most of you are just looking for easy decorating ideas (the heart of my blog!) and ways to make your homes feel happier. Most of you aren’t concerned with algorithms or perfect lighting or maybe even the trendiest accessories. You don’t care if I attend a blogger conference or write a book or design a product line. (I have no plans to do any of those things this year, by the way.) I feel like I know you and want to keep my posts running with the “design simplified” theme that I love most.

While I work on putting together a few of my favorite things from 2018 (to be posted later this week), I’d love to hear your thoughts on blogs in general. There’s still a buzz that they’re going away and everything is moving to Instagram. (I personally hope not. How would I ramble like this on IG?) Are you still reading them as often? What would you like to see in the new year?

PS– A free download of that colorful art is available here.

Monday Thoughts. . .

Sep182017

In case you haven’t noticed, things have slowed down a bit on the blog lately. I’m about to hit the eight-year mark and looking back, I can’t believe I’ve managed to do this as consistently as I have for so many years. Maybe it’s turning forty or the fact that my kids are needier now than when they were babies (nobody tells you that part about motherhood) but I can definitely feel some internal changes happening.

Last week, I worked on a post in small five-minute increments until about Wednesday when I finally just gave up and gave myself permission to take the week off without fretting over it. I’ve rarely done that since starting this site and it was good. In fact, I think I’ll do more of it. Between dentist and orthodontist appointments, helping with late-night homework (ask me the greatest common factor of any numbers!), and searching for a lost school-issued laptop (don’t ask me about that), I took some time to get my own house in order instead of just writing about it. It was strangely freeing and I remembered how much I love just piddling in my own space for my own enjoyment. That’s why I started a blog about decorating in the first place.

Over the weekend, we hosted a ton of church friends and their (young) kids. I spent most of the week beforehand cleaning dirty corners and dusting forgotten places. But again, another reminder of how much I love working on our house for actual people and not just for a staged photo. Real life is the best, isn’t it?

And then there’s social media. As entertaining as it can be at times, it honestly just sucks the life out of me other times. I’m sure that’s not the proper thing to say for potential sponsorships, etc. But seriously, if I spent the majority of my day looking at what people are posting and what other people have to say about it, I could easily end up thinking the world is a very angry place. There are still some happy people out there, right? Right?! They probably just aren’t spending all of their time with their heads down in Facebook or on Instagram.

So, no, I’m not going anywhere. I’m just breathing a little more; putting less pressure on myself where there really shouldn’t be any. And, I’m realizing more and more that driving and picking up kids for hours each day, staying up late to study vocabulary words and cleaning my kitchen counter off four times a day is actually productive in the long run.

What are you doing to give yourself a little breathing room?

Hope you all have a good week. Tomorrow, I’m touring this year’s Southern Living idea house in Bald Head Island, NC, and will be sharing pictures on Instagram, if you’d like to follow along.

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FrogTape Paintover Challenge Winner Is. . .

Jun142017

The FrogTape Paintover Challenge that I recently participated in is over and the winner is actually. . . St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital! Thanks to your votes, my porch makeover was the winning project which means FrogTape will donate $5000 to the charity I chose. If I haven’t said it lately, I’m really thankful for those of you who read my blog and take the time to support me in these kinds of things. You’re the best!

Last week, the really nice people from FrogTape and a film crew came to our house to film our porch and a short interview about my process. You can watch it here. I’m not sure why it surprises me how southern I sound every time I see myself on video. :)

Thanks again to each one of you who voted and to FrogTape for sponsoring such an awesome contest. You can find more details and all the pictures of my completed porch in my reveal post.

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