Ok ok, this is the last one of these new year posts and then we can move on to more fun stuff I promise, but hopefully you find it fun to fill out a really quick anonymous survey telling me more about yourself which can then help me with making this blog better for you.  Eh?  Eh??  Anyone???

Last I did a reader survey was for HOM’s 2nd birthday, and what I thought would happen again for HOM’s 3rd birthday this past September ended up being me completely forgetting the blog was turning 3 until it was the end of the year and then I thought I’ll just do it at the beginning of 2017.

So, happy 3 years HOM!!  What an insane thing to think about.  I clearly remember my first goal was to stick with it for three months, then it became six, then it became 1 year, then everything until this point has felt like it all happened over the course of 5 minutes or something like that.  So much has changed and improved, and I can’t thank anyone else more than you guys for guiding me through that.  None of this can happen without your feedback, and I value your time and attention immensely, even now with you just reading this.

Before I get into the survey, I want to very briefly touch on what to expect for the blog, which is just to ensure you that no sharp turns or upsets will be happening.  Sorry, nothing exciting beyond that!  I won’t be turning into the next wannabe fashion blogger or taking away DIYs.  Current plans (subject to potential change after the results of this survey) are to focus more on home than craft, though like I said, those aren’t leaving.  I mentioned in my 2017 goals post that incorporating more of myself into the blog is something I want to put good effort towards, which means I won’t shy away from getting personal or experimental with the type of projects or posts I share.  Hope we’ll find it all fun if nothing else :)

I want to cover one more thing.  Lately from my perusing of social media, I’ve noticed a lot of discussion on “overly curated,” “overly staged,” or  “too perfect” imagery, and I understand where that frustration is coming from, especially with how this kind of content is bombarding us from every direction.  I felt compelled to touch on the topic being that my work largely involves creating imagery I find beautiful, and to share a few thoughts on my take and intentions.

Staging, styling, curation, all the like, is art, another way of telling a story or evoking a feeling and doesn’t always equate to a person trying to convince others that their life is perfect, unless the dialogue attached with it is of questionable “I woke up like this” nature then yea, side eye is going to happen.  I trust you already knew this, but I’ll let it be extra clear: I am never trying to convince you that my life is perfect and that you should be more like me- it feels so gross to even write that.  Rather I hope you can take what I have to share and see if it sparks something in you, makes you realize something about yourself or your style or something you love and want to do, and I’d like to encourage you to seek it in a way that makes sense and works for you.  This is my goal with everything and the positive feeling I want to evoke whenever you visit HOM, and the way I hope I can encourage you to approach any source where you are seeking inspiration.

I also understand there’s inspiration in sharing the struggles, the mistakes and the messy processes, and I can certainly be better at opening up about that stuff so long as you want it.  I’m wary though of feeling like I need to share the ugly just for that point and that it’s somehow the best way to validate me as a real person.  I don’t think you guys come here to see the garbage and need me to prove it to you, and I appreciate that you can fill in the blanks for me and see that this is all an exercise of creativity with genuine intentions for us to connect through.

On that note, I’d love to hear from you about what you want to see, what you like or aren’t liking, and a little more about you in general.  Thank you thank you thank you thank you for your time and for caring enough to fill out my little survey.  Of course if surveys aren’t your thing, leave me a comment or reach out however you feel comfortable, though the survey is, again, completely anonymous heyyy.

The survey is below but if you can’t see it or it’s not working, you can access it here too.  I made all the questions required to answer so that you don’t accidentally miss one, but if you don’t want to fill out any of the free response questions at the end, feel free to just enter “n/a”.  Thanks, guys <3.