Hi friends! I’m short on time tonight.. (what a day.. I feel like I’ve been putting out one fire after another! Is it the weekend yet!?). I wanted to pop in quick to share some of the results of the Reader Survey I posted in the beginning of January. HUGE thank you to everyone who took my survey! So many of you took time to comment (thousands of you!) and I can’t tell you all how much I appreciate it! So much great feedback. Sometimes blogging can feel a little one sided.. I seem to be the only one doing all the talking around here.. ha! ;) I love having this survey to hear all of your thoughts and opinions! You are all my people! And so kind. Your feedback means a lot to me. I had so many favorite comments. Here is one of them..
“Do a survey and ask your readers what the best softest sheets are. Love you sweetheart. Have fun doing your survey. Now get to be early and get some rest. Call me tomorrow. We love you.”
Ha ha.. from my mom. :) I’m a grown adult with kids of my own and she still worries about me not getting enough sleep. You never stop mothering once you’re a mom, right? She is looking for good sheets at the moment so if you have a favorite let me know so I can tell her. {I actually just bought some new sheets mom so I’ll also let you and everyone else know if I love them. ;) } My husband also left a survey comment. It was hilarious and slightly inappropriate and I said to him later that night “you won’t believe what someone said about you on my blog!” He started laughing and said “I wrote that! I just wanted to see if you were really reading all those responses..” I swear.. that man! I told him of course I was and then banned him from my blog forever moving forward. ;)
So yes.. I read all of your responses! :) Here is a quick re-cap of what the majority of you had to say…
My first question asked how long you’ve been reading my blog. The majority of you 1-3 years, but a lot of you are long time readers or newbies. That’s always just fun info. for me to know.
My second question asked what your favorite types of posts are and just like last year the majority of you voted that you like the variety. That made my day! Because as you all know I enjoy posting about about multiple things. :)
Third question asked if you enjoy collaboration posts with other bloggers and the majority of you said you enjoy those posts once in a while. Also good info. to know!
The fourth question was…
This was close! I was just so curious on this one because during busy weeks I always wonder if I should write a couple of quick posts or spend a little time each evening on one big post. Looks like the majority of you would rather have one quality post, but just by a smidge so I’ll just do whatever works best with what I’m sharing in this situation. :)
Question five..
This was another question I was curious about and I’m so glad I asked! Definitely the majority of you want to see the messy progress pics. No problem because we have lots of those around here. :) My master bedroom I’ll show you finished because it’s almost done (just on the hunt for two more things!) but everything else going on around here I’m going to just show you where I’m at right now and post progress updates along the way. Kole’s room is half way done and there are two spaces I’m starting from scratch this year so there will be lots of “in progress” going on for sure. :)
The next question asked if there was anything I could do to make my site more user friendly for you all (I’m in the process of a minor re-fresh right now!). There was a lot of good feedback here. A lot of you are happy with it the way it is (thank you!) and I’m really not changing it too much. A new header and a clean look. I’m giving my blog a little makeover because I want it to be more organized than it is. I know.. shocker right? ;) I have written so many posts with answers to all of my house info./sources and other questions, but they are spread out all throughout my blog. Those of you who read regularly know most of this info, but I get so many new people popping in daily asking a lot of questions that I’ve already answered and it’s not easy to find the answers. The new look will have a very organized header with all sources and info. that is easy to find! Some of you said to add a search bar and I wanted to let you all know (if you didn’t already) that I have one! If you are on a desktop it’s on my right sidebar. If you have a question about anything or want to see how something in my house is organized, type a few words in the search bar and you’ll most likely find what you are looking for. :)
Ok.. there is one thing I want to address that some of you brought up. Some of you asked if I would stop truncating my posts (making them short so that you have to click over from readers to my website to read the post.) You guys. There are SO many reasons bloggers are all truncating their posts these days and it’s not just to get more page views! There are all sorts of issues that can pop up when you don’t truncate (shorten) your blog posts. Scrapper sites can steal your content (great posts about that here and here) and there can be issues with Pinterest (people using your content to bring more readers to their site instead of yours – great post about that here). I totally get that if you read my blog in a reader like Feedly this is inconvenient and I’m so sorry about that! I know it’s a pain to click over to my blog. My hope is that it’s worth the click to you. If not I understand, but I have to do what I can to protect my content and the crazy amount of work that I put into this blog. For me personally as a blog reader, I prefer truncated posts (lots of you said in the survey that you prefer them too!). I don’t like to read blogs in a reader. I have all of my favorite blogs book marked on my computer and on a Friday night (seems to be my routine!) I like to go down the list and catch up on all of the blogs I read. I wish I had more time to read blogs daily but at the stage I’m in with life and kids once a week is all I have time for. When I get to a blog, I like to see as many posts as I can on the main page so that I can decide if I want to read all of the latest posts or just certain posts that I’m interested in. Everyone has their own preference when it comes to this. Because of all of the reasons above, my posts will be truncated in my new blog makeover so that you can see more posts on a page, hopefully making it easier for you to catch up on posts you missed or choose what posts you want to read.. while also ensuring that my content isn’t stolen. Like I said, I’m so sorry for the inconvenience that might be for some of you! I truly hope that by now we’re friends and I’m worth the extra click. :) p.s. My site will definitely be mobile friendly for those of you who enjoy reading on your phones!
On to the next question!..
Oh my word.. LOVED hearing the responses to this question! What did you all say? Basically everything.. ha! You all gave me SO many good post ideas! Some things that were repeated over and over were paper clutter, kids’ stuff and school work, time management, and family/kids/husband not being on board with keeping things organized. All things I will try to address this year! Also a lot of you mentioned living in small spaces and struggling to stay organized without a lot of storage. Friends. I’ve been married for almost 20 years. We’ve lived in our new home for 3 years. That’s 17 years that we lived in small spaces (some really small!) and I kid you not.. in a lot of ways it was easier for me to stay organized when I didn’t have room for anything! I actually wrote more about that in this post last year. My point is that I hear you! I know your struggles! And when I share newly organized spaces in my current home that does have more storage space, I’ll also make sure to share how I used to organize the same thing in our last home that was tight on space. Again, thank you for your answers to this question! I have them all saved and am going to really try to address a lot of your organization struggles this year on the blog.
And finally..
These are always my favorite responses to read! Most of you were so kind and said to keep doing what I’m doing.. thank you! So much. I think I will. ;)
There were a lot of other fun suggestions too that I’ll try to address this year. So many of you want more posts on our routines! Day to day how I get everything done type of posts. Well. As my mom knows.. I don’t get much sleep. ;) Honestly, I don’t get everything done! But I do have a lot of systems in place that help me to be mostly productive most of the time and when you have kids, that’s about all you can hope for right? :) I’ll make sure to share more of our day to day routines with you all.
Some of you want to see more about my process when I’m designing a room so I’ll try to share that also.
Kids fashion came up a lot.. I’m happy so many of you like those posts! A lot of you love the fashion.. some of you don’t. :) I know my blog was fashion heavy in the Fall.. which some of you loved and others didn’t. That’s really just a seasonal thing. I’ll always share clothes I’m loving here and there (I’ve been doing Fashion Friday posts since Kole was born!) but generally I share the most clothes in the Fall beause Fall fashion is my personal favorite and most people are looking for clothes/gift ideas that time of year. Then December is always heavy with decorating posts because Christmas decor is my favorite. And of course, January and February are mostly organizing posts. That is the way my blog has always rolled and I don’t see that changing much. The rest of the year I try to maintain a good mix of all three topics. I am going to try to include other things in my fashion posts this year (other favorites and every day life pics) so that those of you who aren’t as interested in the fashion still enjoy the post. I know I can’t please everyone, but sometimes I like to try anyway. ;)
A lot of you mentioned seeing more posts on life with the kids, marriage and pics of our vacations. This is always a tricky one to juggle for me! When my kids were little I didn’t worry about it as much, but as my girls are getting older I find myself really wanting to protect their privacy. I don’t want to post things they might not want out there on the world wide web down the road. They have teachers and friends who read my blog and I just always want to be respectful of what they are comfortable sharing. That said, all three of my kids are hams and have no problem smiling for the blog here and there. ;) I can definitely share more of my day to day with the kids! I’ll just keep working on finding that balance that I am comfortable with. Our vacation pics I always mean to share! The problem is that I take a break from the blog and all things when we go on vacation and then when we come back I’m always so slammed with getting back into life I can’t find time to go through the hundreds of pictures I took! (The laundry and e-mail catch up always wins even though it’s not by choice!) ;) I’ll try to be better about that and I’ll definitely share Paris pics at some point!
Many of you love the gift ideas and home decor items I buy so I’ll continue to share fun things I’m finding and loving. A lot of you asked for more of my easy family favorite recipes. You guys! Man. You all asked for this last year and I know I didn’t post many. I’m so awful at not only the cooking but also taking pics of food! It’s just NOT something I enjoy. But I get it. Some of you want quick, easy, kid friendly recipes too. And some of you are just totally curious about what we eat around here since I’m known as the anti-chef. Ha ha! :) I’ll try to share a handful of favorite recipes and things we often eat here and there this year. Only because I love you all so much. And if you promise not to judge me or laugh. ;) My friend Katy is an amazing cook and she has actually promised me that she’ll teach me a few things this year. We’ve talked about a fun little “cooking with Katy” post here and there on the blog so hopefully we can make that happen! She knows how incredibly brave she is to volunteer for this. It’s always a good time with me in the kitchen. ;)
Lately I’ve been getting A LOT of questions about blogging in general. I’m going to write a post about my blogging story and try to answer some of your questions soon so if you write a blog or are thinking of starting one and have questions for me shoot me an e-mail or ask in the comments and I will try to address all of those questions together in a post.
Whew! Do you all love how I started this post saying it would be a quick re-cap! That was a novel that I didn’t plan on! Bottom line.. the survey was SO helpful for me and more than anything it was just wonderful to hear from so many of you. I feel a connection to so many of you even though we’ve never met. Like a lot of you tell me.. I know we’d be friends if we met in real life. :) Thank you friends! Thank you for your support and for your kind words and for reading. Good things to come this year!
And yes mom. I’m going to bed now.
;)
Thank you for all the time and effort you put into your blog. You do such a great job of keeping the balance of “down to earth” and inspirational/information that it feels like having a great conversation with a girlfriend after each post.
I am incredibly grateful with how open and helpful you are with sharing details of your home. When I saw the drawer storage that you added to your playroom, I knew it was the perfect solution I was looking for in our new build. I even asked for rough dimensions, and was so grateful when you responded so quickly. It’s so fun to send my friends to your blog whenever they come up to the playroom and ask how we thought of such a great storage solution!
And on a side note, I have to say how much I LOVE them (yes–the love I feel for the deserves all caps!;). Just a note to say Thank You!
Katie I’m so happy to hear that! I’d love to see a picture of how they turned out if you ever have time to snap and send one! Those drawers really are such a huge help for toy storage. Thank you for your sweet words! I’m so happy you found me and that you enjoy my blog! :) xo
As I’ve said before, I really enjoy reading your posts…all of them. I’m love that you always put your family first. That seems like a no-brainer, but I know that not everyone does that. :( Your blog posts are always so positive, full of fun-stuff and/or good info. Even at my ripe old age (68 in just 2 days…YIKES!!!), I love learning new skills, techniques, and I still use a planner….it’s a MAMBI Happy Planner, because even cleaning the bathrooms should be listed on a cute page! I’m thrilled and amazed that you manage to respond to all of us who leave comments. You are one of only a very few who do that….sad but true. You just keep on being your sweet self, and “get more sleep!” I’m with your mom on that!
Warm hugs,
Carol
Ha ha.. I will try to do that Carol! :) Thank you so much! You have always been so kind to me and I’m grateful that you enjoy spending a bit of your day here! And yes.. even cleaning bathrooms should be scheduled on cute paper.. I couldn’t agree more. ;)
Above ALL…. I hope you are encouraged today because one of the main reason’s I’m drawn to your blog is because you seem genuine and REAL. Although you post the “perfect” room from time to time – fully decorated and organized – you also post the in between messy, life happened – I got sick daily stuff. At my house we call that KIR – Keep it Real. Thank you! In my opinion, that’s why so many of us love you!!! Keep it up and be encouraged today! :)
So sweet of you Amanda! Thank you! I love that.. KIR. We’ll have to call it that too. ;) xo
Love this post and super excited about what is to come this year on your blog! Thank you for sharing as much as you do. I always get excited when I see a new blog post waiting for me in my inbox in the morning :) I moved in to a new construction home this past summer and have really benefited from going through a lot of your older posts. I also am thinking about starting my own blog this year! I continue to do research and MANY ppl say that the email list is key, what advice do you have on growing that list? I would also like advice on taking photos! Thanks so much Erin :)
Tiffany! Thank you so much! What a sweet comment. And congrats on your new home! That’s so exciting. :) I know.. growing your e-mail lists definitely seems to be the thing right now doesn’t it!? I will address that and photos at some point! Saving your comment. :) Thanks again cutie! It means a lot to me that you enjoy my blog! xo
So excited for another year of your insights and advice! Love your blog so much, Erin! You are so down to earth, fun and SWEET! Thanks for taking time out of your busy life to share things with us each week. It is GREATLY appreciated! xxoo
You are greatly appreciated Pam! You always have something nice to say and I’ve loved getting to know you a bit this past year! Thank you sweet friend! xo
Looking forward to the upcoming changes even though i totally LOVE everything about your blog the way it is now :)
I don’t think I’ve ever commented before (maybe once?) but i’m an avid follower of your blog. I adore your style in design and your organizing ideas, and like everyone else, also enjoy reading about your family life and your kids (who are adorable btw). And of course, I love your home. Just looking at the beautiful pictures of it makes me happy!
It’s funny because sometimes I feel as if I know you so well through your blog, and we have so many shared interests, that I can just picture meeting you and chatting like an old friend :)
Something I wonder about as a photographer too is what you do with your thousands of pictures!! Do you print them? most of them? albums?? I know you used to do Project Life bit you haven’t talked about it in a while. I feel like i’ll never be on top of my picture situation. there are just too many! and i love most of them! maybe you can do a post on this someday :)
Also, I know you mentioned this but I missed taking your survey and just wanted to say that I’d love to see more posts on organizing with limited space as I live in a tiny apartment and this is always a struggle.
Thanks again for everything, I can just imagine what a tremendous amount of work goes into your blog.
Rochelle! This was such a sweet comment! Thank you! I’m so happy you enjoy my blog and that’s how I feel when I post.. like I’m just chatting with my friends. :) Ahh! Pictures! I am definitely working on what to do with mine this year. I haven’t done PL for years but I need to start doing something. It’s so hard to keep up with them all! I will definitely share a post on this as soon as I figure out a good system! Thanks again for your sweet comment! It means a lot to me that you enjoy reading! :) xo
This post reminded me that I’ve been meaning to tell you how much I love your holiday gift idea lists. They were so helpful to me this past Christmas! MANY of the gifts I gave to my family and friends (….. and self) came right from your lists. So thank you, the lists were a huge help to me! I’m fairly new to your blog and I absolutely love it. Thank you for your hard work :)
Love your mom’s comment! She’s so cute. And I totally want to know what Kenny said in his response now! I’m sure it was good!
Obviously a lot of people love your blog just the way you’ve been doing it, or it wouldn’t have ever become what it is now! So I always just think do what you want to do, it bugs me so bad when people complain or say negative things about any post, I just want to say, if you don’t want to read about that, then don’t read it!! But I do hope you’ll share more everyday pics because I love them so much and miss that! I totally remember your first blog post, you sent an email saying you had started a blog and I read your post and remember thinking that we didn’t know each other that well and after reading it thinking how funny you were and how it totally made me feel like I knew you better. You were a big reason I started my blog and I loved how we used to keep up on each other’s kids and lives that way. Fun memories! Maybe I’ll resurrect my blog someday! I’m so glad I have what I do though! Sorry, comment turned novel! Glad you had good responses, just keep being yourself and try and throw some family life pics in for those of us that have been there from day 1! And I do have to say that I love how so many of your readers who don’t know you still say they would love to see more family posts! See you guys are just so loveable!
Oh my word Josie.. it’s so fun to remember the early days of blogging isn’t it!? It was so simple and fun! And I agree – our blogs really brought us closer together. LOVE that. I will try to post more family pics here and there.. just for you! ;) Love you cutie! xo
I’m super excited to see all the fun blog posts you come up with this year! I love the way it is now and I have gotten so many great decorating, organizing and fashion tips from your blog that I have incorporated into my crazy life with 4 kiddos! Thank you for everything you share with us!! 😘
Thank you so much Mandy! I’m so happy to hear that! :) xo
I love everything about your blog. I don’t always have time to go shop but seeing something on your page that you’ve found gives me ideas and I can just click and go to the site. It’s organized, thorough and fun. You do a fantastic job–I don’t know how you do it?!! That’s why I’m thankful for people like you who enjoy it and take the time to do it. You have so many great ideas and they are practical!! Thank you so much! I’d say more fashion and fun stuff you like! I love all those great ideas! So seriously–thank you!
Joy your comment just made my night! Thank you! What a kind thing to say. It seriously makes me so happy that you enjoy my posts! Especially the fashion and favorite things because I always enjoy writing those. :) Thank you again sweet friend! Enjoy the rest of your weekend! xo
I’m so glad I found your blog when I was searching paint colours to recommend to my customers. I love the variety, I love the pictures, and I hope you keep doing what you do. I know we would be great friends if we met IRL because we are great virtual friends ! Thanks for being you Erin ! Xo
Thank you so much sweet Tracy! Yes we would.. and I’ve loved being virtual friends too! So happy you found me. :) Thanks again for your thoughtful comment! Enjoy your weekend! xo
Hi Erin, I always look forward to your post after a long day at work :) And want you to know that there is absolutely nothing wrong with your post and blog. I like the way it is and happy that you are True to yourself and Real :) . Don’t change who you are and your blog for anyone! And thank you for always sharing, keeping it real and keeping it non political.
Kai you are the sweetest! What a kind comment. It completely made my day! And it has been a long one so I really appreciate the love tonight. ;) Your last sentence was the best… ha ha.. NO politics around here! You never have to worry about that. :) Thanks again sweet friend! xo
I have to recommend Boll & Branch for hands down the best sheets you will ever sleep on ! Great little company that produces high quality products!! Tell your mom to check them out !!!!
Love your style and enjoy reading your blog!!
Oh my word LeAnn! I am checking them out for sure! Thank you so much for the recommendation! I will tell my mom.. and probably buy some from there too! Thanks again cutie! For your kind words about my blog and the recommendation. :) xo
Love your blog/instagram. One of my favorites. You’re the kind of person we all want as a neighbor, and if I was younger, a friend. Thanks for asking our opinion. Thanks for all the hard work you do.
Lisa that is such a thoughtful thing to say. THANK YOU! Your kind words made me so happy tonight. I wish we were neighbors (and friends!) too. :) xo
I may be late to the party, but I really enjoyed reading your survey responses. Such a fun read. I was one of those who had asked awhile ago about the truncated posts and you were so sweet in your response. It used to bother me to have to click over (to any blog, not just yours), but not anymore, especially after your reasoning. You are worth the click for sure! :) There are blogs that are not! I have SO enjoyed getting to know you a little bit via your blog. It’s so fun and I always smile when I see there is a new one from you in my Feedly (I do love a blog reader) I have them organized (yay me) by subject area. I know you are super busy, but there are times when I have responded to a question you have asked me that I think went to you directly, but am not sure as I never heard anything more. I hope you are getting those. ;) Looking forward to another great year of happy reading! :)
So glad you enjoyed reading them Jeanne! I loved them too. It’s so interesting to me to see what people are thinking! Love that you have your blogs organized by subject! You go girl! ;) I do get your responses Jeanne and I’m so sorry I don’t always write back! My inbox has seriously become so out of control this past year. Just crazy. I’m trying to figure out how to deal with it! But I read them and love them and always plan to write back! I just need there to be 3 of me OR 10 more hours in each day.. is that so much to ask? ;) I know all moms know the feeling. I always love hearing from you! Thanks so much sweet friend. :) xo