Okay…I’m warning you. This might get a little scary!
Behind the scenes of my DIY blogging life:
I can’t believe I’m going to share this but sometimes blogging isn’t as glamorous as it looks from the front side. And seriously, I have had my fair share of un-glamorous days this summer. You know what I mean, right? So if you’re here and you see that profile picture and pretty staged photos of my home…I want you to know that for every day look I like this…
Just kidding! I’m told that’s my movie-star twin, Rachel Griffiths.
{me with my girls}
there are 10 more days in a row when I really look like this while I’m working on a DIY project…
and some days when I’m editing photos, writing a post, reading blogs, catching up on my social media or doing laundry (or not) and unloading the dishwasher and not leaving the house, {maybe even enjoying a little laziness and re-energizing}, I look like this behind my laptop surrounded by cat fur, dusty end tables, a spray bottle for when the cat gets wild…oh, and my dirty lunch plate.
{curse those hereditary dark circles! Rachel Griffiths never looks like this!}
{real friends will NOT pin the above picture! lol!}
{curse that old comfy couch that I don’t like}
YES! This is how I show up when I visit you but remember, it’s perfect acceptable attire for showing up to any web address. Party dress, black tie not required. And when you visit my web address, I’ll embrace you and only see your beautiful smile and hear your kind words if you’re leaving a comment. Most times, I have a feeling we visit each other when we don’t look our best. And we’re still friends. 🙂
And while my dining room looks so pretty when it’s all cleaned up, especially for a photo shoot like this…
{source}
in real life while we’re working on the apartment renovation and collecting things for baby girl’s first place and boxes for a moving day AND there’s no time to clean {catching my breath} – my house is neglected! It looks like this…
“Dining Room! Dining Room?”
“Where are you? I know you’re in here!”
{Inspiration! Makes you want to get up and clean, doesn’t it?}
Or my guest bedroom in a magazine looks so pretty and cleaned like this…
{see the guest bedroom before/after here}
but a few months later:
Real life happens and a daughter takes over the room, there is little storage, a family room is emptied here to redo floors and teenagers have little regard for folding clothes and it looks like this (and I highly doubt YOU have a room that looks this bad in your home!) See if you can spot the painted/stenciled floor in this room? haha! It’s there…somewhere!
hides face in embarrassment….
why yes, that’s a pillow in an empty fish tank sitting on an old media center on the left, thank you for noticing.
When I get to feeling overwhelmed, discouraged and wonder how in the world anyone can have such a perfect life…I stop and remember, we can all make it look fabulous when we only share what we want to.
And right now this is my life. I will find the time to catch up. When the apartment renovation is completed and baby girl is moved, I will see my dining room and guest bedroom again. I can’t wait for the day when my stairs won’t look like a “build-a-cat” store.
And did I want to share these images with you? Not really…but I love reading honest real life stories. And this is the blessed one I’m living right now and I know sometimes when I’m working hard but feel like I’m running in circles and not everything is getting done and my life isn’t as perfect as I share {with the exception of today}, that…
Real life is beautiful and amazing. But it’s also dirty, messy, busy, lazy, hectic, crazy, overwhelming and you are just 1 person.
Not superwoman.
Not perfect.
But a friend just the same.
So if you’re feeling overwhelmed and under dressed, remember that you are amazing, talented, kind, generous and thoughtful and real. And if you spend a day here and there in your pajamas without makeup and if you have a cluttered neglected home until you get the time and motivation to clean, just know that I love you most those days because you’re just like me…not a fictional character but real with lots of blessings and life going on around you. And if you share those crazy days too, I won’t think less of you because it makes me realize that we share something in common…being human. This is my real life.
Thanks for being here, reading along, leaving comments, sharing your DIY, pinning, your support and encouragement and friendship, for liking me just the way I am. I may not always have time to show it, but I try and I appreciate it so much! Now, I think I’ll go get dressed. 🙂
Enjoy the weekend!
Want to join me in being real, revealing a look behind the scenes? If you write up a blog post, share the link in the comments. I’ll pop over and give you a shout of encouragement and support.
AMEN, sista! amen! and i never noticed how much you look like rachel griffiths! i always get “you look like my cousin, sister, neighbor, friend”….. no movie star looks here!
haha, Cassie! You, lady are gorgeous! I did meet you in person! And my plan to get you to NOT focus on commenting on my messy house worked! hahahahhaha! 🙂
Well, this definitely made me feel much better ~ I’m so glad to see that it’s not just me. Thanks for sharing. : )
You’re so sweet, Mary Beth. I can’t even picture that you or your home ever look this way!
I love this! I recently posted a similar post- and I look waaaay worse than you! It is nice to drool over all the purdy shots but it is always good to see real life shots!
Thank you!
Kerry at HouseTalkN
Well, I’m coming over to visit you looking just like this then {to your web home} because I missed that post and I seriously doubt you every look way worse, girl! 🙂 Always good to know we’re not alone!
You nailed it. I’m sitting here in my nightgown, with my hair pulled back, and no make-up. Love that you shared your messy moments…I did the same yesterday, and it felt kind of nice! Have a great weekend!
Fantastic post! I love that we are all just real people with real lives, and all of our homes and selves are not perfect! Thanks for the fun peek into your life – I love it all!
Jo-Anna
Thanks, Jo-Anna! I agree – reading real stories, real makeovers, seeing real people and real home life is more enjoyable. Enjoy the weekend! I’m pretty sure I’ll get dressed tomorrow! haha! xo
How refreshing. And needed. Thanks for your wisdom. I am so grateful. Putting up a link to this on my Facebook pages so others can breathe a sigh of relief too. Thanks!
Stacey of Embracing Change
As long as you don’t pin that picture of me – thank you, Stacey! hahaha! It is good to see a not so perfect world once in a while, isn’t it? If this is as bad as things get, I can deal with it. We’re so blessed and a messy house and not getting dressed…no big deal. Thanks so much for sharing. Have an awesome weekend!
My husband just asked me what exploded in the basement! I am getting ready for a party and my decorations are everywhere, but I have plenty of spaces that become dumping grounds for stuff! I think I need to take more stuff to the Goodwill! Have a good weekend!
Hi Susan!
haha! I know – for every cleaned up project for people to see (in real life and in blogging), there’s a messy room to show for it! 🙂
And for every drop off at GoodWill, you’ll probably find some new things to put in their place!
Have an awesome weekend, girl!
Roeshel–If I turned on my webcam right now, you’d see me in a paint covered tank top, and pajama shorts-sitting on a love seat (covered with a “pet” sheet). The dog snoring beside me, the cat laying on the back of the love seat. Sitting in my little corner, with notebooks and magazines strewn on the coffee table, along with my CAMEO that never seems to get put away.
Most of the time when I stage something, I’m halfway tempted to turn around and take a picture of the “other” side of the room. hahahaha
We’re all the same, but thanks for keeping it real, and making the rest of us feel normal. Loved all the pics!
I hope you have a super weekend, and find some time to rest!
gail
haha! So true, Gail! All of the clutter behind me in my staged photos most of the time and like I’ve been saying, for every room makeover, there’s always a room destruction piling everything unwanted and in the way. I have a feeling we’re all just comfortable behind the computer screen too…surrounded by slumbering pets. Hope you have a great weekend too!
I love the honesty and words of encouragement! My house clothes get so much worse in the winter! I love the cat fur/water bottle comment – we’re forever picking up random loose hair (we’ve got 4 long haired cats)!
P.S. I’m still in love with your guest room rug. It is gorgeous!!
haha, Crystal! That’s what I’m wearing in August. We had a chilly day. Or maybe it was my lack of moving around that made me chilly. lol Ever since I started that apartment reno last month, I haven’t had the time/energy to vacuum and every day I walk up those stairs, I could grab the dust/fur in the corners and create another cat!
Guest room rug? I haven’t seen that in months! But soon. Very soon I’ll reclaim that room!
Have an awesome weekend!
Oh, Roeshel- You can come visit me no matter what you are wearing! It is amazing what most of us look like at certain times “behind the scenes”….and there is always something that needs to be done, or cleaned, or put away, or trashed, or painted…etc.
Thanks for your honesty- Love coming here- xo Diana
You are so right, Diana. There is always something that needs to be done…no point in stressing over the little things! 🙂
Have a great weekend!
thanks for sharing Roeshel, I tend to think that all my blogging friends are always dressed perfectly and their house is perfect. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You. And you’re much prettier than Rachel Griffiths!
Awe, thanks! And it’s so true, Kathy! I do picture my blog friends looking all dressed up, blogging in a perfectly clean beautiful home. haha! When we stop to think about it, that’s probably very rare and we’re all blogging surrounded by real life. 🙂
This is an AWESOME post!! I can totally relate to building an animal out of the stairs. That dog of mine creates more hair than I ever thought possible. Sheesh!
I say you look like her everytime I see a picture of you. When I saw Haven pictures I thought you were her!
I Love how real you are!!!!!
IN LOVE with this post – thanks for sharing!! I shared on my FB page because I think this is something we ALL need to remind ourselves of. It’s amazing how we get these ideas in our heads about everyone else’s lives being so beautiful – and looking at ours and feeling like we have somehow failed. Thanks for shedding some light into your reality – which ALL of us can relate to!!
This was really nice to read. Our house is an absolute disaster these days (and my blog posts infrequent), but I’m trying not to feel bad because it’s summer and we’re out living our lives, and I’d so much rather be making memories than spending time cleaning house.
Thanks for this, Roeshel!!
Well, my house always looks like your ‘reality’ pics, I call it LIVING in the house! ha
THANKS, I needed that! I currently have 4 rooms undergoing some sort of “renovation” I think that my telephone is probably in the kitchen sink along with the mail and probably an onion.
I have a dog hair poodle rolling around my hardwood floor while the yellow lab that the “hair dog” came from is sleeping on the white chair in my office. I’m painting the kitchen tonight because I’m getting my oldest ready to go back to college tomorrow. Well, actually, right this minute I’m stalling because I don’t want to get back on the ladder which is blocking the back door.
YOU ROCK and you’re welcome at my home any day! Come as you ARE! (just watch out for the ladder) xo, Kimberly
I LOVE this post. I read every word of it and I think it is one of the most wonderful things I’ve read in a long time. Your lovely magazine picture showed up at my home yesterday. Wow! I’m so happy for you! P It won’t surprise you to know I’ve got a VERY SIMILAR bed in my guest room. I hope you have a lovely weekend.
I am so glad to have read this today. With all the hours I have been spending building our country home, I have spent the same amount of hours neglecting our current home. Laundry is piling up, the floor is getting harder to see, the dishes have exploded all over the kitchen and I cannot figure out where all the fruit flies are coming from!! Yes, I would love to be able to walk into a super clean house all the time (not like it was that way before we started building) but there are only so many hours in a day and I AM only one person (trying to keep a house tidy where 7 people live). I keep telling myself it will get better eventually (not perfect but better) — until then, I will continue to encourage myself by rereading your post!
I LOVE when you give us glimpses into reality like this. I’m feeling so inspired by your courageousness, showing how things might look on an unstyled day. Even on a busy day, though, your rooms still look pretty and cozy!
Thanks for making us all feel normal. I would love to do a post like that and I would if it was only strangers who read my blog, but all my aunts read my blog and some of them are serious neat freaks. My mom gets it when my house gets wild, but some of my relatives are very tidy and I’m not sure would understand.
Hi Roeshel,
I’m a new reader, but am so glad I found your blog! This post is so refreshing and makes me feel so much better. Reality is so much more appealing, I think, and more relatable. Thanks so much for sharing your reality! I wrote a post talking about this exact thing, and although I didn’t post any photos in this particular post, I did share some not-so-blog-worthy truths about our home and life. http://thestimsonchronicles.com/2012/05/18/the-things-that-are-real-2/ is the post. Have a great weekend! ~Cameron
Ahh…I love it girl. You are still cute as cute can be even with dark circles, which btw, I did not see!~
Great post and SO true! Thanks for sharing!
Oh, and I’m visiting you in my pajamas 🙂
lol your bed is versatile! Love that! I just posted recently titled “This mess is my house.” It could be a new blog name.
GREAT post! Yup….to make progress, you have to make a mess. We have many craft bombs go off in our house, and my husband usually tells me that my craft closet has thrown-up all over our hallway.
Love seeing the reality of it all 🙂
–Katie
Oh thank you, thank you. I feel so much better knowing you’re normal like me! haha. My husband, who’s not exactly neat with his office room, told me my studio was messy. Ok so there are several projects in the making strewn around! Not to mention my daughter just dumped several of her very large canvases in here because she didn’t have room for them in her new, tiny apartment. It would be lovely to live in a staged-looking house but hey, life happens. And with 2 cats and a dog, pet fur is everywhere. Such is life. Maybe I’ll do a blog on it when I’m feeling brave. 🙂 Thanks for keeping it real. Just love your blog. You can come visit me anytime no matter how you look!
Hugs,
Cecilia
Thanks for sharing your “real life”! As a newbie, everyday I ask myself, “how do these bloggers do it all?” I can’t keep up! I am still amazed by everyone no matter what conditions it’s all done in. Don’t sweat the small stuff!
Oh I needed to hear that today! Sometimes I feel like crap just moves from one room to the next so I can work on a project and take pictures! I’m glad its not just me! But somehow even when you’re wearing your painting clothes or blogging on your couch, you still look amazing!
Hahahaha, I love the real life. Such a great post, life just happens, doesn’t it?!?! I’ve been on vacation and totally out of the blog loop. Hope the apartment is coming along. 🙂
I loved this post, because it looks like your house is lived in… To me it’s much more inspiring than a picture perfect dining-room or bedroom that doesn’t look real at all…
I love when bloggers “keep it real”. The fact that you can make these spaces look that good in the first place is so impressive. No one can live like that and be comfortable. Like your workpants by the way!
Roeshel you’re beautiful no matter what! What a lovely (and very REAL) post!
Loved reading this post! Thanks for sharing your behind the scenes photos. I have a two boys and my home looks like Lego’s took over most of the time. LOL
You are beautiful inside and out! Thanks for the reminder not to be intimidated by other people’s presumed perfection.
I love you even more now. I think it’s so important to show the real side of “perfection.” xo
Oh. You mean real life happens at YOUR house too? hehe
You know, that only make us like you MORE right!! That darn life sure messes up those grand plans to have everything looking nice, all at the same time. It so seldom happens… I think it’s an urban myth!!
Rachel Griffiths got nothing on you! I made my girls help me do a massive clean up this morning! I was being buried under dust bunnies and clutter (and I even found a few spiders)! It gets to a point where I can’t take it anymore then I have to declutter – but where to put the clutter? Under the bed, in a box, shoved in the closet …
Oh well, I have kids, they are messy (so am I!) but we have fun, make homemade pizza and watch late night movies. I’d rather have that any day of the week than have a picture perfect house!
Trust me – you are not alone!
Kelly
I love the behind-the-scenes look. Thank you so much for sharing! None of us have perfect lives; we can only do the best we can! But you rock, and I can’t wait til we get together again. I say we do lunch AND shopping this time. We’ll both dress nice and wear makeup, too, just for fun!
Thank you for sharing the not so glamorous side of blogging life. I’m a newbie to following blogs and often wondered “How in the world do these women keep such beautiful homes with babies, toddlers and teenagers running around”? Now I know your secret!!! And I love the NO MAKEUP confession!! After such a hot sweaty summer, I ditched the makeup and the hair went up in a ponytail. So thank you (and a shout out to Hilary too for confessing to no makeup and hair in a ponytail). I’m feeling much more normal now.
Very refreshing, Roeshel. This is why I do sooooo many close up shots. lol Wide shots can be a little scary more often than not. I buy, sell, and redesign. I blog, answer questions, and give advise. I spend a lot of time creating, finding, and helping others make their home beautiful. By the time I get to my own surroundings, I’m wiped out. Thanks for sharing the reality that many of us can very much relate to.
Love it Roeshel! It’s so true…as a gardener I deal with dirty.pretty.things…lol, most of the time I look like PigPen from the Peanuts gang 😛 I recently did a post about doing a name change for my blog, in it I reveal a few not so glamorous pics of myself. It was about being authentic and the name I was using didn’t best describe me ( however, until the new website is ready I am still using the same URL 🙂 Thanks for just stating the truth….it makes me love you and your blog even more! My reveal post….
http://www.sewanddipity.com/and-sow-it-is/
I know all about messy and imperfect! I live in it every day. But I am working towards beautiful!
I love how you show the REAL look of the spaces! I think that’s part of being real and honest. I had a room in my house in a magazine way back in 2006 and I felt like the biggest phony because people seemed to believe the professionally staged and lighted room was the ‘norm’. Felt so guilty! I love your candor!
Roeschel:
THANK YOU for that post! So inspiring!! People think that since I work from home, my home always looks clean and picked up because, well, I’m ALWAYS here. Reality is, I’m here at my computer, usually no makeup on (praying no one comes to the door), in my comfy clothes 8 hours a day, and I get up about 30 minutes before my son and husband are due home and make sure everything (including me) looks “presentable”.
P.S. Love your apartment transformation – the countertops look amazing!
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OMG this SO funny and refreshing. I love the before and after guest room shot. Now I don’t feel so bad. You and your room are still gorgeous though. 🙂
You crack me up… I hear you on the comfy work clothes, the laundry that piles up and the so not photo shoot ready rooms and YES you DO look like Rachel Griffiths! Boy do I miss Brothers and Sisters~ what an awesome show!
Love this post! I was working on (now we are moving again) my daughter’s room reveal… I was going to show how it looks in my picture, and then all the stuff I shoved behind me and just kept moving it all around the room in order to get my pretty pictures : ) Life of a blogger : ) Oh and I LOVE your crafty clothes!
Thanks for the real life look! Seems like my life, my days, and me are like this so much of the time. The battle of why I am not more together in my head gets me down sometimes. Nice to know I am “normal”? Thanks for your less than perfect … Perfect!!!!
This was a great post Roeshel. Primarily because you’re so unafraid to share everything. Thanks for the great words of encouragement and for always making us laugh. I think we can all relate to having a less than clean bedroom or dining room. It’s weird how one day you can host a birthday party on the kitchen table and the next day it turns into a complete disaster. LOL.
Oh…you would still look lovely in a paper bag! Your inspiring nature and your amazing heart shine right through everything! loved this post…as with everything else…you are just simply amazing!
Okay, you had me convinced that was you in the first picture. If you hadn’t told me otherwise, I would have believed it. Seriously, did you get separated at birth??
Love everything about this. My hair is beyond scary right now. Although I am disappointed that you don’t visit in a ballgown. 😉
I agree with everyone else who loved this! It’s so nice to see that everyone is just as messy and their lives can get just as chaotic as mine!
Oh, Roeshel – Your heart is beautiful, no matter what your guest room looks like – and ain’t that what counts? I’ve been so frantically busy getting the wedding ready, as well as getting our two lives combined (we actually have two rooms – our bedroom and my studio – cleared and ready for paint and flooring – yay!), that I haven’t blogged in more than a month. Back soon, tho. Thanks for keepin’ it real, sista! Hugs!
SO TRUE! (This is me on the couch with the cats and cat hair)
Thanks so much for sharing!
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Love the behind the scenes look! It shows that you are really human! 🙂
I loved your post so much that you made me publish mine! http://www.prettyhandygirl.com/2012/08/the-girl-behind-the-blog-about-brittany-aka-pretty-handy-girl.html
Yup, I even told my audience that it was all your fault ;-D
I love this post. Really, really love it.
Oh Roeshel, I feel so much better! And, sadly, I can’t write up that post just yet … give me a week or two though. You see, my house was SERIOUSLY out of control. But I was determined to get it under control before heading out on our summer vacation. The idea of a week of relaxation followed by having to come home to the disaster that was my home freaked me out. So I went on a crazy cleaning and putting things away frenzy …
But thanks for sharing your real life with us all!
🙂
Linda
Why hello my fellow “dark cirlcles around eyes” Sister! I’m blessed with those, too. I was driving myself crazy trying to “Live Staged” …. it doesn’t work. I have a small home so I have to keep clutter to minimum. I have serious “issue’s” with clutter, nevertheless, when the camera’s not pointed and ready .. I have towels laying around and papers Everywhere! Gorgeous Home and Gorgeous You and the Girls.
Thank you for posting – I knew I was not the only one in the world who was living life and my house was proof.
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This is SO ME!!! Lol I’m thankful you shared, just to remind me I’m NOT the only one!
Thank you for sharing this. It is so nice to see other people’s lives Cain be imperfect too. I AMA stay at home mom of a toddler and infant, I am constantly looking at DIY and starting new projects working on clean inning trying o make the “perfect” home but get distracted to pay or we’ll no:)
Great to see the reality behind the inspiration!
BTW — I got such a pang when I saw the tablecloth on your dining room table — my mom had one like it, so I lived with it for many years growing up!
Its wonderful to see this post. An honest potrayal I would say. I always browse online and feel how on earth these women manage things so pretty and perfect always especially with kids and family. And do they have 48 hrs a day?? This post was the most encouraging one to me and your blog is too. Its filled with honesty. When I see you have not got your dream overnight, that you got a house full of back breaking work waiting round the corner and over years converted it, that you took time (I believe that each work needs its own sweet time and nothing came be faster nor slower than that) and not hurried for your success I am so filled with praise for you. 🙂 Now this is inspiration !!!