This is a quick post today, mainly to say thanks for whoever nominated me and secondly I’m just sharing a link if you want to vote.
I started this blog almost five years ago now and I mainly started it because I wanted somewhere to document our old home in all its finished fully-renovated glory before we moved on. I wanted a place I could easily access those memories and a blog seemed like a good shout as I could even add words too. Who knew?! From there, I figured my new blog would be a great place to share progress updates on our new home, week-by-week, month-by-month, to document its transformation. Instagram wasn’t really a thing back then and guess what? I didn’t even have a smartphone – ha!
The blog has been on quite a long journey since it began. After about a year of writing, I realised people were beginning to find my blog through Google, so instead of writing just for my own memories, I started writing for people who would read it instead. I tried to combine simple updates of the house along with how we were actually doing stuff; what we were buying, how much it all cost, what we did wrong. Things that could potentially help others too.
Now, five years on, I have over 300 odd posts on here. I’ve *tried* to be consistent (and failed) but the blog has really become part of my life. Creating content on here inspires me to create. I love DIYing even more because the blog keeps it fun, and the more you create, the more creative you become. And I love sharing it with you guys. And for that, I love blogging! On the other side though, blogging is hard work. Every little bit of DIY I do takes about 10x longer because I’m constantly taking photos (often with a tripod – no cameraman here!) and faffing. Then when it’s done, I spend hours writing about it. The blog doesn’t earn me money so it can be hard to find and put so much time into it. Hence the inconsistency. I love it, but it’s hard work. And I’m definitely not very pro at it.
In relation to the *blogging world*, this blog is teeny tiny. I’m absolutely shit at promoting the blog (it makes me feels somewhat narcissistic) and I’m even shitter at reaching out to companies and turning a blog into a business. I’m just pretty shit at that stuff and confidence is not my strong point. But that’s OK and these things were never my goal. My only hope from blogging is to simply encourage others to give a DIY a try. Give ideas, spend less, do more. You can DIY with no experience, you can renovate on a budget. And you can create a home out of almost nothing. It takes time and effort, but it’s doable. Even if it means living without a kitchen for 18 months. If that’s you, I feel your pain!!
Over the last 12 months, I’ve shared how we fitted our whole kitchen DIY-style, how we transformed a cupboard into a Pantry, how we built Scaffold Board Decking, Pallet Seating, Pallet Fencing, I could literally go on. All created on a budget and 100% DIY. I started this journey of DIYing seven years ago with no experience in DIY whatsoever and everything I know is entirely self-taught. So to be nominated for the AMARA Interior Awards, and in the category ‘Best DIY and Home Improvement Blog’ is pretty craaaazy. I’m certainly not an expert and not even a great blogger, but I do feel really bloody honoured to even be in there.
I’m not going to say it would mean the world to me if you voted for this blog and quite honestly, I’m up against some far more professional and just all-around better blogs who are probably more worthy of a vote. But, if you want to vote – I would be very grateful. Having your support in general (I mean someone even nominated me for this award – that’s success enough for me!) is more than I could ever have expected from starting a blog. Having a simple shoutout on Instagram or when someone sends me a photo of something they’ve created, inspired from reading the blog, is the kind of stuff which keeps me blogging. And I honestly couldn’t ask for more than that. So really, I should be saying thanks to you guys for motivating me to keep going! Both with the blog and the home renovation.
So thanks for reading over the years, sticking with this long-ass renovation, and thank you SO much for the nomination! I feel somewhat unworthy but bloody darn chuffed. So, thanks 🙂
Kezz X
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