Faith & Family#purposeinstyle November 9, 2015 I’ve felt the winds of change blowing for awhile now. At first it was an occasional breeze that brushed past, just long and hard enough to let you know it was there. And then, it evaporated as quickly as it came. Lately, it’s gotten stronger. The gentle breeze has turned into a loud, screaming roar of a wind that I can no longer ignore. My soul started to listen and a stirring was created within me. A stirring to ignite change, if even just for myself. After talking with some friends, I realized it’s a wind felt by many of us and it’s time something was done. For awhile now, there’s been a lie going around. A lie that says if you want to be successful and grow, you need to be a professional brand. Professional brands don’t show real-life. Professional brands don’t show pictures of their kids. Professional brands show perfection. They sell a lifestyle. And that lifestyle is void of tiny, smiling faces and messy fingers. It’s void of story and history and meaning. They’re selling a lifestyle that is actually missing life. I’ve bought into this idea that if you’re a design blogger, the only way you’ll grow is to share pictures of pretty rooms. No kids. No dogs. And don’t get too personal. I tried that and I grew some, sure. But here’s the problem with that kind of growth. It leaves me feeling empty and frankly, like someone else. And it couldn’t be farther from why I started blogging. The reason I design is for those tiny smiling faces. I am passionate about creating a cozy, homey place for my family, not for my Instagram followers. I love actually celebrating holidays and sharing traditions, not just a picture of a perfectly styled, themed Christmas tree that changes each year. God forbid you re-use ornaments or feature that “Baby’s First Christmas” ball. I took a long, hard look at my feed and some that I follow recently and I realized that real-life is almost nowhere to be found. And for me, that’s a problem. For too long, I’ve thought there was no middle-ground. I either needed to share these perfectly styled rooms or two weeks worth of laundry piled onto my dining table in what could never be called a pretty photo. What can I say, I’m all or nothing. I’m joining up with some of my favorite blogger friends for a little movement we like to call Purpose in Style. These ladies, Melaine from My Sweet Savannah, Anissa from House Seven Blog, Brooke from Nesting with Grace, Kristin from Bliss at Home, are the cream of the crop, y’all. They each have talent galore and gorgeous homes, but their hearts are what really draws me to them. We got together and came up with a crazy idea. We’re passionate about our homes and design, but instead of just sharing pretty, perfect design shots, we’re going to show life being lived. We’re going to bring back the stories and the meaning. We’re very literally going to share the purpose behind our style. Each Monday on Instagram, we will each be sharing a shot with #purposeinstyle and we’ll be inviting you to do the same. We’ll collectively choose our favorite each week and share it on our accounts on Friday. At the end of each month, we’ll all do round-ups on our blogs featuring the four Purpose in Style favorites from each week, plus we’ll each choose a wildcard from the past month that we just love. For us, there are several goals in this. We want to combat the design and perfection-only stigma that’s rampant in this social media world and infuse real-life back in. We want to create a community that encourages and inspires and doesn’t leave you and your life feeling “less-than.” We have been so excited to kick this off and we hope you’ll join us! There are no criteria to what needs to be shared. Some shots will no doubt have kids in them. Some may be home and design shots, but with them we’ll share the meaning or story behind it. This is totally up to your interpretation! We won’t be doing any weekly themes. We just want to see how your real-life style and how you’re living purpose-filled. Our first week will go live on Instagram this morning! Head on over and check out how we’re living out #purposeinstyle.
Kristin says November 9, 2015 at 6:26 am So beautifully written my friend. Love your heart ๐ xo Reply
Lindsay says November 9, 2015 at 10:24 am Thanks so much, friend! Happy to have you on board ๐ Reply
Chris H says November 9, 2015 at 7:23 am I love this! I hope this is a trend that continues. If I want perfection and a styled home I’ll look at a catalogue. I want real life. I am older that many of the bloggers today so in my mind I wonder how you all do it-have perfect homes and raise kids at the same time. I know I didn’t do that when I was a young mother. Please keep it real. Reply
Lindsay says November 9, 2015 at 10:24 am Chris, I dont’ think any of us have perfect homes!!! I’m passionate about decorating and just enjoy it! But our home is not perfectly clean around the clock, far from it! Glad you’re on board for this shift ๐ Reply
Anissa says November 9, 2015 at 7:56 am So glad to be a part of this movement with you!! Such a beautiful post. Thank you for sharing this!! Reply
Lindsay says November 9, 2015 at 10:23 am Anissa, so honored to have you friend ๐ I’m excited for this!! Reply
shar y says November 9, 2015 at 11:04 am I absolutely love seeing your baby and your dog and hearing about trips and anything else you want to share with us out here. These things are what makes a person’s style. I find myself skipping over blogs or articles that are ‘too perfect’. That is just unreal! Love your blog and what you said! Reply
Lindsay says November 9, 2015 at 11:27 am Shary I’m so happy to hear that! Baby and dog you will get ๐ Reply
Mikalah says November 9, 2015 at 11:22 am I absolutely love this! This is why I fell in love with blogs years ago, it made the whole idea of home dรฉcor and creating a welcoming space for your family come together in a way that was inspiring and encouraging. It makes me sad to see that most bloggers I followed and loved either succumbed to the idea that everything has to be perfect, look like a magazine and be promoted, or completely gave up on blogging. I am purposefully looking for blogs that inspire and yet maintain a realistic vision of what life is like (especially with kids!). Love your blog! Reply
Lindsay says November 9, 2015 at 11:27 am Love hearing your perspective, Mikalah and so happy to hear that I’m not the only one who isn’t happy with this shift! Glad you’re here ๐ Reply
kristin says November 9, 2015 at 12:47 pm THIS is perfection!!! Congrats to all you ladies for reaching deep into your hearts and being REAL!! So many feeds and blogs are too perfect. I love to be creative and decorate/DIY. I started an Instagram site to share my creativity. I am going nowhere as far as followers. I have debated stopping it twice now. I can’t compete with all the perfect shots. In my home they look great. I am not into the staged for perfection shots. I do it for myself!!! So I am going to stop and focus on my Etsy shop site which is more important anyway (and growing daily). I decorate for ME and I have no more desire to try to compete with the big guys. ๐ LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this!! Do we have to have a blog to join in? Reply
Lindsay says November 9, 2015 at 3:20 pm Kristin, NOOOO you absolutely don’t have to be a blogger to join in!!! Come on! We want anyone and everyone taking part ๐ Reply
Austin says November 9, 2015 at 1:00 pm So excited to see what comes of this! I definitely struggle between feeling inspired and feeling inadequate when it comes to social media and the blogs I follow, and I think it’s awesome that y’all are tackling those feelings head on! Selfishly, I hope Gracie makes it into more than a few of your Monday posts. ๐ Reply
Lindsay says November 9, 2015 at 3:20 pm I will definitely try to incorporate more Gracie! Every time I try to take a photo of her, she darts toward the camera, so I’ve got to learn to take her by surprise ๐ Reply
Amy says November 9, 2015 at 1:23 pm More Gracie pics please! I have 2 great Danes and a Lab and real life is NOT picture pretty with 3 huge dogs, but I wouldn’t change it ever. I would like to see your reviews of products that stand up to dog slobber, toenails, tail wags, etc. Keep up the good work, glad things are returning to “real”! Reply
Lindsay says November 9, 2015 at 3:18 pm Aww I love hearing that! I love meeting fellow Dane owners ๐ I’ll definitely share more Gracie! I actually try a lot and she has a camera sensor or something! She’ll literally be laying or sitting there perfectly and then the minute I get the camera out, she darts toward it or off other direction so I just get a big black blur! I’m not sure how, but we’ve never had an issue with her knocking things off with her tail! I was told that would be an issue and she somehow missed that. We did just choose our floor color based off of minimizing visible scratches from her though! Reply
Monica says November 9, 2015 at 2:48 pm Love it!! I can’t wait to see more. I have a blog that I can’t devote much time to right now because *ahem* I’m living my life. I would love to see more *real* photos of you and living life. I think some of my favorite design bloggers are ones that show their real lives and I think it’s because I (& others) feel we can relate to them. I love your style, it is so similar to mine and you have been inspiring me lately. I completely understand how it is though to be a new mom and trying to figure it all out. I’m headed over right now to check out the hashtag!! Reply
Lindsay says November 9, 2015 at 3:19 pm Thanks so much, Monica! I completely understand. This blog is my full-time income and life definitely still keeps me from devoting as much time as i’d like or feel like I should. Glad you’re here ๐ Reply
Sherry Mullis says November 9, 2015 at 8:18 pm This sounds like a great idea. I do like seeing all the pretty table settings on other blogs but wonder if they actually eat that way or do they have the ketchup bottle on the table just like me?. I expect they use the ketchup bottle too. Reply
Ann Flora says November 9, 2015 at 8:40 pm I agree with you ladies. Beauty and reality together are life. That approach has worked smashingly for The Nester, and I love it about your blog, too. Keep up the good work! Reply
Sarah says November 10, 2015 at 10:40 pm Hello, I read many blogs but the ones I am most attracted to are the ones with a mix of ‘beautiful’ rooms/houses and real life. I am always so sad when bloggers pull away from sharing their ‘boring’ lives. I love to see and hear what other people do in their real lives. Bring one the real moments/stories/traditions! Reply
Jenna says November 12, 2015 at 3:15 pm Looking forward to these imperfect posts! Is the grout in the bathroom (first photo) black? Reply
Jill says November 12, 2015 at 8:39 pm This is SO refreshing for me to read – I am an ‘old’ blogger who refuses to be a brand or blog for a living. I guess it’s fine if that’s what you want to do but I find it disingenuous that design bloggers show gorgeous spaces that are completed by products they received for free – not attainable for most. And I often wonder if they play with their children or make dinner, do laundry etcโฆ.?????? My girls are now teenagers and you are just embarking on a wonderful journey with your sweet girl – no blog post is worth missing all the moments you have waiting for you. Keep showing the real, messy, complicated, beautiful life you are creating! xo~Jill Reply
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