Making it Lovely » Business

Bing Loves Pinterest (and Bloggers)

Making it Lovely — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 19:07:14 +0000

I’ve been working with Bing, along with several other lifestyle and design bloggers, to help them understand our searching and social media habits. (When I mentioned being in Seattle last December, it was to visit the Microsoft headquarters.) Our focus group discussed some of the irksome technical aspects of blogging that we deal with, such as finding original sources for images. We all had plenty of love for Pinterest, but it can be frustrating to come across photos we’d like to incorporate, only to find that the source listed is a search engine.

Bing has worked to include the feedback from us bloggers, which led to (among other things) a ‘Pin to Pinterest’ option in their image search. You can search, using their image filters (by color, size, etc.), then pin directly from the results. The source will be credited, not just bing.com, and you can narrow down results to a specific site as well (e.g. site:makingitlovely.com).

It was interesting to be a part of the process. From a traffic standpoint, a search engine would benefit by acting as a middle-man and retaining their URL as the source. We bloggers though, as content creators, insisted that pinned images should go back to the original page and I’m glad to see that was implemented. It makes the feature more useful for us, and also for you and the Pinterest community as a whole. Hooray for making our internet lives a smidge easier!

This post was sponsored by Bing.

2013 Making it Lovely Reader Survey

Making it Lovely — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 03:21:11 +0000

Thank you, everyone, for taking my 2013 reader survey recently. Below are the results. I would have had this information to share with you much sooner had I not insisted on attempting to make the charts and graphs pretty. (Silly me, trying to make it lovely.)

Survey Results

I asked several questions about posting frequency, blog reading habits, and about your feelings on sponsored posts. I’m glad to see that so many of you are supportive, long-time readers — I really appreciate that.

“I love your style , pretty and feminine- but somehow there’s an edge to it. Also I enjoy your writing style- its smart and to the point- with a healthy dose of sarcasm. Your level of transparency seems perfectly balanced to me, I know enough about you to understand your point of view- yet you are not living your entire life on your blog. I am also a young(ish) mother of two perfect darlings that rock my world and I just wanted to say from one momma to another that I think you do a really wonderful job of acknowledging and honoring motherhood, while still making plenty of thoughtful conversation about other things. I feel as though so many blogs are JUST about mothering or they’re about interior design exclusively and their children are just another prop to style. You are a rare gem, indeed. Cheers to your anniversary, dear! “

“I like your aesthetic, but also feel like yours is a more “grounded” blog — sometimes when I read a lot of blogs I get the feeling that I need to buy all of the things. I generally don’t have that feeling from reading yours — I get ideas, inspiration, etc. but don’t feel like if I only changed everything in my home/wardrobe I would be better. Hope that makes sense. “

“I’m inspired by your decorating posts. Whether or not we have the same style doesn’t really matter. I like to see the things you put together and try to think about how I might do something similar in my own home, with my own twist. That’s why I like “Making it Yours” so much. Of all the design blogs I follow, you’re the only one doing that. I love seeing how the same item can seem so different when accessories are switched. “

“I love your tone and the pictures you take are great. I also like that you seem down to earth and honest. You have a realistic price point for most of the stuff you share and you are able to mix the high with the low in such a fabulous manner. Your kids are adorable and it is fun to see them growing up plus you are from the Midwest, where I am originally from. “

“You grabbed me with the pink living room, held on tight with the Madeline Wienrib rug, and cinched the deal with the refreshing quirky personality. I return again and again to read your words and to be inspired that smart is cool and individuality is cooler, and that anyone can have a beautiful home that expresses their passions. (And not just the designers, though I do love them too :) “

Topics

Looks like you love seeing photos of my home, makeovers for readers, and DIY projects, and you’d like to see those topics more often.

“I love hearing about products, services, apps, screen savers (I still have that flip clock screensaver on my iMac), etc. that you’re using. I know it’s hard to walk the line between a casual ‘I’m loving this’ post and an endorsement, but I really love hearing about the things you’re loving, using, crushing over, etc. And I miss your font crush posts!”

“I live in Chicago, close to Oak Park and I’d love to see more posted on neighborhood. I think it’s charming.”

“More before and afters. Remind us of your space, keep us in the loop about what has changed. Show the evolution of your style. Take more photos yourself (fewer mood boards and things pulled from the net).”

“I like posts that give me the feeling of going shopping with you– explaining how you select different items, why you reject others, how you think they work together. That can be accomplished with actual make-overs/purchases/projects (in either fashion or home stuff) but also with mood boards.”

“I’d love to see periodic photography tips and tricks. I know you say you’re still learning, but we can learn with you.”

Demographics

The average reader is a married woman between the ages of 25-34, a homeowner, well-educated, with young children.

“I’d just like to say that, a while back you wrote how you’ve decided to remain the only writer/contributor to your blog & I LOVE that! I meant to comment that on that post but I never did. I don’t know why I don’t comment. Perhaps it’s because I think there’s no possible way you read them all? Do you? If you do, I’m sorry I haven’t been commenting & encouraging you in that way. I super love your blog & think you’re an inspiring lady!”

“I follow way too many blogs. I need to clear out my reader. However, I think – without cheating – you are a former bookstore employee? I think you love books. Anyway, our daughters are similar in age and I think it would be a cool feature for you and Eleanor to review a children’s book every week/month. Maybe? Random thought.”

“I love reading your blog for many reasons. I certainly love looking at pictures/projects of your home, as I feel my style is similar. There are things I would love to do in my own house. I also really like your writing. I always find it positive and encouraging. You are a person who I would spend time with in life! Down-to-earth. I find you inspiring, and look forward to reading new posts every day. I find myself at a point in life where I can’t decide what I need to do next. I come to Making-it-Lovely because it makes me feel happy. A lot of your personal posts make me feel like I tackle things calmly. In my job I do some online work already, and I’d love to take it a bit further. I read your posts and feel better about taking on challenges. Anyway, I really love this blog. THANK YOU FOR WRITING IT.”

“You do a great job, and have a unique style. I hope the feedback doesn’t make you change things too much. Hats off to you for being able to support your family from this!”

“Keep up the good work. I’m proud of the decisions you’ve made and appreciate your candidness, and your ability to not pontificate on your life. Your blog isn’t so much ME! ME! ME! as so many are prone to be. It’s thought provoking and minimal, as if you trust your readers’ ability to think and form their own opinions. You give us something to think about without shoving it down our throats. Thank you. “

The Homies

Making it Lovely — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:11:17 +0000

The Homies

Thank you, everyone, for your votes during the nomination period of The Homies, Apartment Therapy’s awards for bloggers. I’ve moved on to the finalist round because of your support! I really appreciate it.

You can vote for your favorite now through Wednesday. I think Jenny’s going to take the prize (and good for her — I like her, and she deserves it), but I’m thrilled just to be in the company of so many other fantastic bloggers. Thanks.

What I’ve Learned From Blogging

Making it Lovely — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 22:00:18 +0000

Summed up in 3 images…

sources: 1, 2, 3

…and 5 sentences.

You have to hustle.
Push yourself.
You can’t please everyone.
Ask for what you want.
Do it for love, but know your worth.

How My Blog Went From a Hobby to a Job

Making it Lovely — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 22:59:39 +0000

As I mentioned yesterday, there are several topics to not discuss in polite company: money, politics, and your stance on wood finishes. Since I have already, at various points, touched on the other two, why not go three for three and talk about finances?

I’ve held a job, self-employed or otherwise, since I was sixteen. I have been an amusement park ride-operator, a handy(wo)man, a telephone surveyor, a face painter, a babysitter, a record store clerk, a muralist, a bookseller, a web designer, a stationer, and a blogger. Most of those overlapped. For instance, I worked at the bookstore while also face painting for the village events in Oak Park, the combination of which somehow led to my being awarded Employee of the Year for Downtown Oak Park! I didn’t even know that was a possibility, but I gave a brief, awkward acceptance speech at the end of a TIF meeting, and was presented with a plaque. (It used to hang in our apartment bathroom, because that’s a pretty funny thing to see when you visit the loo.)

I’m sure you can tell from my résumé of odd jobs (literally) that I have been raking it in!

Brandon and I were married in 2004. I started my stationery shop in 2005, and I began offering web design in 2006. Making it Lovely began in 2007, and I had intended for it to be a complement to the shop and design business, but mostly just a fun place to chronicle what we were doing as we moved into our first house together. Over time, the blog became successful, and I was able to earn some advertising revenue. Each year, the balance of our finances changed a little (2008 took a hit from doing the National Stationery Show — ouch), but Brandon’s job was always the anchor.

He and I had dreamed of the day he would be able to quit. Steadily, each year, we grew a little closer. Then, in January 2012, we were pushed over the cliff when he lost his job. We weren’t ready to make that leap, and we scrambled for a while. Slowly though, I began to find my footing with the blog and its potential to support us, and in September 2012, I wrote about our decision for Brandon to stay home and watch the kids while I worked full-time on the blog.

Though our income is now fully funded by Making it Lovely, I have tried to diversify the sources as much as possible. Keep reading for a breakdown of how this blog supported us in 2012.
(more…)

Now We Are Six

Making it Lovely — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 19:31:57 +0000

The blog, that is. Here’s a look at what I’ve shared over the last six years here on Making it Lovely.

2007

January 2007 – Brandon and I bought our first house, and I started this blog.
April 2007 – We ripped out carpet and laid new bamboo flooring, finishing our bedroom.
June 2007 – Hello, home library.
August 2007 – We took on a complete reno (everything except the original wood floor) and finished our DIY kitchen remodel, coming in at under $11,000.
September 2007 – Apartment Therapy House Tour! We had only lived in the house for four months when it was photographed.

2008

March 2008 – I put together my first style post. I still use the same wallet every day that I hesitated dropping so much cash on back then, and I still love it.
April 2008 – The blog broke 100,000 monthly page views for the first time.
August 2008 – Our library was featured in Home Magazine. Brandon was proud because the library/landing was his idea.
October 2008 – I created a super-cute studio for my shop, using one of our home’s bedrooms.
October 2008 – A pregnancy announcement!
November 2008 – My stationery shop, Pink Loves Brown, was voted #1 in Venus magazine’s Hottt List. I remember thinking there was no way I was cool enough for that honor. (I still can’t believe it.)
December 2008 – I wallpapered the dining room — not an easy job. Even less so while pregnant.

2009

March 2009 – Nesting instincts made me make the bedroom very white.
April 2009 – The blog hit 250,000 monthly page views.
April 2009 – I painted a rug on our front porch while 9 months pregnant because I had the opportunity to participate in a contest for Better Homes and Gardens, and I didn’t want to say no. I was cold and extremely uncomfortable, but I loved the way it turned out.
April 2009 – My Periodic Table of Sentiments cards were featured in ReadyMade magazine, but then I had to close up shop for my maternity leave about a week after the issue came out.
April 2009 – Eleanor was born.
May 2009 – My home and blog were featured in the Chicago Tribune Magazine, and my name was even mentioned on cover (along w/ Simon Doonan’s!). My extended family finally sort of understood what I did all day.
May 2009 – I started a monthly series of photos of Eleanor.
June 2009 – I finished Eleanor’s nursery. (She slept in a bassinet in our room for the first few months.)
June 2009 – We won the Better Homes and Gardens contest!
October 2009 – I reopened my shop after a six month leave.
December 2009 – Making it Lovely was named one of the World’s Best Design Blogs. Amazing.

2010

January 2010 – I had my first speaking engagement! I was on the very first panel at the very first Alt Summit.
March 2010 – I published my 30 Before Thirty list. I accomplished a lot over the next six months!
June 2010 – I was sick of the white bedroom. Where was the color? Where was all the pattern? Boom, there it is. (You’d think I could have learned a lesson there about too much white…)
August 2010 – Another pregnancy announcement!
August 2010 – I contemplated new dining room chairs, and mentioned my intent to paint the wood trim in my house. People freaked out.
September 2010 – I explained why I was painting the trim. People freaked out.
November 2010 – I showed photos of the painted trim. Guess what? People freaked out. (I get it, I get it. It’s a controversial topic! Things to not discuss in polite company: money, politics, and your stance on wood finishes.)

2011

January 2011 – The blog received over 500,000 page views in a month for the first time.
February 2011 – I closed up shop for my second maternity leave. It’s still closed (“on leave”), nearly two years later.
February 2011 – August was born.
March 2011 – We finished construction the basement remodel. (There were workers in the house when I left for the hospital to have August.)
March 2011 – August had his first monthly photo.
April 2011 – I finally learned to use my camera in manual mode!
April 2011 – I finished the basement bathroom and laundry room.
April 2011 – Eleanor had her last monthly photo.
May 2011 – Eleanor got a new “big girl” bedroom.
June 2011 – I finished August’s nursery. (Like Eleanor, he slept in our bedroom for the first few months.)
November 2011 – I published my Lovely Life List.
November 2011 – I completed my first makeover for a reader: Kathryn’s bedroom.
December 2011 – I completed my biggest little project yet, a Dollhouse, made lovely.

2012

January 2012 – Brandon lost his job and began searching for a new one.
February 2012 – I finally painted the trim in the living room, almost finishing it throughout the house. I think people were about done freaking out by that point.
May 2012 – I gave my first keynote speech! (Turns out this introvert really likes public speaking, and giving a keynote was on my Lovely Life List.)
July 2012 – I updated the bedroom again, this time making it gray and coral, but all it took was some new bedding and a huge print from downstairs.
August 2012 – I flew to New York to do three apartment makeovers in three days for a small video series.
September 2012 – Brandon officially became a stay-at-home-dad, and I became the sole breadwinner. It hasn’t been easy, but I’m so thankful to have been able to make it work.
October 2012 – I met and interviewed my idol, Martha Stewart.
November 2012 – Hey, I finally got around to getting some new dining room chairs.
January 2013 – I painted the kitchen white, and I couldn’t even blame it on pregnancy hormones this time. Not loving it so far, but we’ll see how it all turns out (or doesn’t).

Thank you all for following along, whether you’re brand new here or have been reading since the beginning. I’m fortunate to have such lovely readers — truly.

Let’s Hear It

Making it Lovely — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 05:22:33 +0000

Making it Lovely is now six years old. (Wow!) To celebrate, I’m turning a little introspective. I’ve put together a condensed timeline with all that has happened and been documented on Making it Lovely over the last six years. There will be a post about what I’ve learned, and I’ll also be sharing a post about how my blog went from a part-time hobby to a full-time job that supports my family of four.

Today though, I have a favor to ask of you. My last reader survey was in 2010, and I’m sure much has changed since then. I would like to know what you love, or don’t love, about Making it Lovely, and I’d appreciate your honest feedback. Would you please take my 2013 reader survey? I’ll share a summary of the results next week, for the curious.

A Look Back at 2012

Making it Lovely — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 20:31:41 +0000

Brandon lost his job while I was out of town for Alt Summit last year. We were nervous and worried, and it threw our family dynamic out of whack. After several months, we decided that Brandon would become a stay-at-home dad, and I would try to support the family through my blog and other writing opportunities.

Throwing myself into the blog, full-force, brought about amazing things, but it was scary too. I was the sole breadwinner — realizing a dream of mine to support the family — but I had plenty of fears and doubts. I questioned my past academic failures and non-traditional career path. I was afraid, but I forged ahead. Now, as I look back on the year, all seems right and we’re in a good place.

I worked hard on the business aspect of my life, but I also actively sought opportunities to cross off a few of my Lovely Life List items. I put aside my fear of water and took the Chicago architecture tour by boat. I’ve never considered myself to be athletic, but I did the Color Run 5K. I helped break a world record on roller skates with some of my roller derby ladies. I learned that maybe I don’t have such a black thumb after all. I gave a keynote speech (and visited Canada). I met and interviewed Martha Stewart.

Next up on the list to cross off? Sequins. Watch out, 2013.

This past year, I also experimented with something new for the blog: working with a contributor. I had watched as other blogs have grown (sometimes rapidly) by adding more content and expanding from just the original author’s voice, and I thought it would be a good model to follow. I had been wanting to bring more craft content to the blog (like my handpainted clothespin dolls or my colorblock Christmas trees), and I felt like it was a good time to bring on a contributor to share more of these types of posts.

Andrea Howe was a fantastic addition, bringing us posts like this neon table setting and tutorials like how to make a statement necklace (which has been pinned over 27,000 times to date!). I love Andrea and was grateful to have such a wonderful experience with a contributor, but ultimately I decided that I felt best keeping this space 100% my own. I may be missing out on potential growth by not being able to produce more than one post per day right now, but it feels like the right decision.

And of course, throughout all of the professional and personal highs and lows, I decorated my house and doted on my kids. As Eleanor and August continue to grow into their own little persons, I feel myself becoming more protective of their individuality. Their stories are theirs to share one day, when and if they choose to do so. They aren’t gone from my blog and I’m sure I’ll always share my life with them here to some extent, but I want to respect their privacy too.

I’m still working on my house to-do list, but I’ve already changed out my coffee table, painted my vintage nesting tables, made progress on the bathroom, and switched up the dining room. My home office was featured in a magazine, and my home was photographed for a Christmas magazine issue to come out next year. I also went to New York and did three apartment makeovers in three days, which was amazing and exhausting.

I think that last phrase sums up all of 2012 for me quite nicely. Amazing and exhausting. Here’s to what’s next.

Young House Love

Making it Lovely — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 08:56:33 +0000

The Day John and Sherry Showed Up at My House

I’ve ‘known’ John and Sherry Petersik of Young House Love since 2007. We started our blogs around the same time and we’ve chatted plenty of times via email over the years, but we had never met before. When I read that they were going to be in Chicago for their book tour, I sent them an email hoping to find a little time to meet up. Sherry wrote back and said that they were down for one of their infamous house crashes, and so we set a date.

Do you know how weird it is to meet someone you’ve known for five years by them coming to your house? I mean, it was awesome, but it was also a little surreal to see John and Sherry walking up to my front door.

They came in, we all hugged, and then they house crashed. Brandon and August were home the whole time, and John and Sherry met Eleanor for a few minutes too after Brandon picked her up from preschool. Clara was back at home with her grandma, but we all agreed that she and Eleanor would have been toddler besties.

I drove John and Sherry to their hotel when they were done taking photos of the house, and on the way I tried to point out interesting things around Chicago. “There’s the Sears/Willis Tower, over there is the Trump Tower” and so on. And of course I blurted out “here’s where R. Kelly shot Trapped in the Closet!” I’m not sure if they were into that (but man, “En Vogue… with a new lead singer” had me and Brandon cracking up in the latest installment). Later that night, Sherry and I realized that we (professional bloggers that we are) forgot to take a picture of “Young House Love and Making it Lovely” together with a decent camera. We made sure to get one with the three of us the next day, but of course I only had my phone with me. Behold!

(Pics or it didn’t happen.)

See all those people behind us there? The line for them at their book signing was crazy long, with people wrapped around the store and waiting out in the rain. It was a dedicated (and really sweet) group of people. I’ve worked and attended a lot of book readings, but this was a particularly good one. A few people in the crowd even recognized me and had me sign my page in the book (I contributed project #199), which felt really cool.

John and Sherry are now New York Times best selling authors for their book, Young House Love, and I couldn’t be happier for them. (Congrats, guys, and thanks again for coming over.)

The Bing it On Report

Making it Lovely — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 02:06:22 +0000

I’ve been participating in a challenge with several other bloggers, in partnership with Alt Summit. It has been a week of searching with Bing instead of Google, and today it’s time for the report. Did you try it out too? I use my browser’s built-in search bar and I installed Bing’s plugin for this challenge, so switching for the week was easy.

So, what was different? Well, I didn’t notice much of a difference a lot of the time. Sometimes I liked it, sometimes I was frustrated, and most of the time I felt pretty neutral about the whole thing. There were lots of little differences that you only notice because of the novelty of having them or the strange feeling of missing something. For instance, I like autofill. Bing does it to a lesser extent, but only on its homepage. You know what I mean; like when you start typing “why” and it gives you a drop-down of queries and suddenly you want to know, yes, “why are manhole covers round?” I missed the serendipity. My productivity improved without the internet rabbit hole though, so there’s that.

I did like the social media integration a lot. I also liked Bing for travel because of its Price Predictor (buy those tickets now, or wait for a drop in price?). Shopping searches were a toss-up, but image search goes to Google. I find Google’s reverse image search is pretty indispensable as a blogger.

Switching was an interesting experiment. I think I’ll probably switch between Bing and Google moving forward, depending on what I need. I figure it’s good to shake up old habits from time to time, right?

This post is brought to you by Alt Summit and their partner Bing. I’m taking the Bing It On challenge this week.