Lake Life Lately: Behind the Scenes

I find it so interesting how people (myself included!) like to peer into the lives of other people.  Long before reality TV and blogging, my Mama would pop in on family, uninvited, "to see how they really live".  When she visited the townhouse for the first time, she unabashedly peered inside each and every one of my cupboards and closets, eager to ascertain whether I was actually a tidy homeowner, or I has just cleaned for her visit.  When I said the garage was off limits (because the house alarm would sound), she was convinced that's where I was keeping the mess.  I repeatedly asked her not to open the door, but that just made the garage more enticing.  When the house alarm went off at the crack of dawn one morning, I knew that her curiosity had gotten the better of her.

I laughed when I caught her red-handed!  I couldn't fault her, because my favorite hobby was to go for a walk at dusk - so I could nonchalantly peer into our neighbors' homes as I slowly sauntered by.  That was the reason I started reading blogs.  And I know this isn't some weird family quirk because that passion for voyeurism is what makes reality TV such a lucrative industry.

What's funny to me, is that the authenticity and realism we seem to crave is so illusive.  The Hills?  Turns out much of it was scripted!  Blogger homes?  A lot of those Pinterest-worthy images are staged!  Instagram was, for a long time, a place for those candid snaps, but it too has become more glossed over by highly edited and stylized shots.  The "way people really live" is driven deeper into the depths of the internet - now you can find it mostly in short-lived Instagram stories and Snapchat whatevers.  But in this world, where cash is king, there's no conspiracy to hide real life, it's just that glossier depictions perform better: better show ratings, better blog stats.  So do people really want "to see how people really live" after all?

I think about this so much.

I struggle with this as a blogger, because I feel pressure to produce Pinterest-worthy images but I'm still passionate about the function blogging used to serve: a glimpse into real homes, to see how people really live and decorate.  That's more difficult these days and the monetization of blogs blurs the lines even more.
  
The biggest lie I perpetrate is in my food photography and flat lays: I photograph so many things on the floor!  Not so scandalous, I know - until you see how heartbreaking this is for Szuka...

Szuka will come lurking and just hang out, staring longingly at the food that's within her grasp and yet so far away.  I can leave the room and she won't touch it, but she's there.  Watching. 

When I see blogging from her eyes ("why is the food on the floor, human, and why aren't we eating it?") it all seems so strange...

P.S. that's a diabetic-friendly cheesecake!

Do You Love/Hate Truncated Posts? P.S. Dans le Lakehouse Has Moved!

After way too many years of forcing people to type "www.dans-le-townhouse.blogspot.com" - which really made no sense once we moved from the townhouse to the lakehouse - I finally, finally switched to my own domain: "www.danslelakehouse.com"!

It's so much easier to type and remember - plus it looks pretty.  Is it a sign that you've been blogging too long when you think a URL is pretty??

For you, nothing will change.  All of the old links and the former URL redirect.  But from now on, if you're someone who types in the URL, you can type www.danslelakehouse.com, instead!

In other news, I'm experimenting with truncating my posts (which means including a photo and only part of the text before imploring you to click "read" more to see the rest, instead of leaving posts whole so you can land on the blog and just keep scrolling).  Bloggers and blog readers often have strong opinions on the topic of truncated posts, so below is my reasoning - but then I'd love your input!

Reasons FOR Truncated Posts

After I bought my new blog template, I realized that the mobile version defaulted to truncated posts and I immediately liked how chic the mobile version looked.  I've even been considering a different template that is much more like a clickable Instagram feed with only images and post titles on the main page, because I really like how it looks.

As a voracious blog reader, I've started to prefer truncated posts because I can breeze through posts that aren't my jam without having to slog through endless steps/photos/jibber-jabber about topics or projects that don't interest me.  Instead, I quickly skim content, open posts that seem interesting in new tabs, read them at leisure, pin my heart out, and move on.  Truncated posts make pinning so much easier for me (and at 14,000+ pins, I'm a pretty enthusiastic pinner!).

Because I like truncated posts, I recently switched Dans le Lakehouse to a format with page breaks.  I feel like the blog looks much tidier now and I enjoy that new readers can see so many posts at once and immediately get a feel for my aesthetic and content.

And, this might make me seem overly sensitive, but I feel inspired to blog more freely now.  There's so much pressure to create perfectly curated, pinnable content and to ensure that every photo is styled to perfection - even in-progress shots, which tend to be messy by nature.  Sometimes this pressure is a creativity-squasher.  I have actually decided not to post some projects because, although the "after" photo looked good, my progress photos didn't turn out well (maybe too messy, poorly lit, etc), and I didn't want to put those photos on the blog because anyone who landed on my blog would see them mixed in with better photos as they scrolled.  I've been really struggling with wanting to share stories and make things with wild abandon, but then feeling this defeating pressure to constantly produce really amazing photos, every step of the way - and it's difficult for me to take a magazine-worthy shot when I'm covered in dough or paint, or feverishly working on a project in the wee hours. 

With this new layout, though, only my favorite photo shows to anyone skimming through so I feel like I can make a great "first impression" and, once someone is hooked (mwahaha) and starts delving deeper into posts, seeing some imperfect progress photos won't ruin the overall aesthetic.  I feel so much more motivated to make and share - which is a surprise!  I really just wanted to make the blog prettier, but I think it might actually have a big impact on my creativity and passion for blogging.  Maybe.

There are other, less emotionally-fueled reasons for the switch too:  the site should load faster, an issue I've had because I always include a ton of huge photos and probably way too many meandering digressions.  As well, truncated posts supposedly deter scraper sites that steal content, which is a good enough reason for me because it's been disheartening to see so many of my posts stolen verbatim by these sites.  I'm not writing Pulitzer-worthy material here, but I log a lot of hours on each post - no matter how mundane it seems.

Reasons AGAINST Truncated Posts

Blogging experts have long advocated truncated posts for boosting pageviews, but because truncated posts can be off-putting for many readers, I wonder if that's even accurate.  Perhaps each person who lands on a blog will generate more coveted "clicks" for a blogger, but what if the overall number of regular readers shrinks as a result? 

I don't want to make visiting the Lakehouse less fun for anyone!  I love chatting with you and hearing your input.  I'm so grateful for your support and encouragement.  In return, I hope I can make you laugh from time to time, or spark an idea for a creative project or budget-friendly room makeover.

I know that truncated posts can be cumbersome if you read a blog regularly, because you're not scrolling through like a new reader - you just want to read the newest post, without having to click twice.  Which totally makes sense!  An extra click is frustrating when every single blog makes you do it - on top of annoying pop up adds and pop ups begging you to subscribe by email when you've barely made it two sentences into a post.  It can slow down and make reading blogs so much less enjoyable for some.  Ideally, I'd love for the first post to be regular and the others truncated, but I can't figure out how to do that and although I found code to truncate all posts at once, and fiddled a bit with that for an evening, I'm not savvy enough to figure out any tweaks beyond that.  I can't even get the truncated posts to look exactly how I'd like (I'd prefer a full size image and the first few lines of text below, not to the right).    

What is Your Take on Truncated Posts???

I'm not fully committed to this new format, although I do like it quite a bit, so while I noodle on it, please do chime in: do you love or hate the new truncated posts!  Or perhaps you're completely ambivalent and you just want more posts?  Less jibber-jabber?  Let me know!  

First and foremost, I really want this blog to be easy to use and enjoy - because it's nothing without you! - so please feel free let me know if there's anything I can do (or should stop doing) to make your visit easier and more enjoyable.

(And if you want to be really honest and candid, you can always leave an anonymous comment and I'll have no idea who you are.  Seriously, I appreciate the feedback - big time!)

Thanks for reading!

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Hello Again.

Hello again.  Thank you so much for all of your kind and thoughtful emails and comments (both here and on Instagram) about the passing of a family member.  To those who expressed concern for my family, I wanted you to know that they're doing well.  Sad, of course, but figuring out how to move forward.  I wasn't sure whether it would be appropriate/necessary to write about my family's loss in more detail on the blog.  I felt uncomfortable writing a deeply personal story that really isn't all mine to tell.  But it seemed heartless to jump from "a relative died" to "do you think subway tile is too predictable a choice for the bathroom reno?" 

I asked some of my family members what they thought and they said to keep on truckin'; to just return to my regular posts because what I had written was sufficient.  So that's what I will do.

 
Tomorrow's post is in queue.  I'll be switching up my posting schedule a bit moving forward.  I started slipping into random posting mode and I'm trying to right the ship.  I am now going to post every Tuesday and Thursday, with extra posts (like Etsy shop updates or random musings) slotted in, every now and then, on Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays.  This will give me a combination of the structure and randomness I crave in equal parts.   

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Lots of Happy News

It's been too long since I shared some happy news and fun happenings behind the scenes so today I'm spilling some of my beans.  I hinted at a camera crew crashing the lakehouse and here are the very limited details I can share: I've partnered with my good friends at Canadian Tire again, this time with a roster of talented bloggers, to help promote the launch of a new line of products.  I've signed a contract that prevents me from sharing any more details just yet, but let's just say you might be a bit surprised!  I can tell you that crafting, styling, and DIYing were involved.  When I was first approached to submit ideas, it was explained that once we had all submitted ideas, suitable projects would be given the green light and we would be shipped products, after which we could go ahead and produce the content.  Ideas that really tickled the creative team would be chosen for videos that would further highlight fun ideas/projects/styling.  I didn't really pay too close attention to that fine print because I really didn't think my ideas would dazzle so much.  To my surprise, some of them were a hit and a camera crew came here to film me yammering away.  I took some photos of the process and I'll be able to share the videos (unless I look too goofy), more behind the scenes gossip, and the projects soon.  The neat thing is that a few of the crew members were hired locally and I'm now wondering if any of them would help me create a lakehouse video tour...

Neat, right?  In other news, some townhouse and lakehouse projects have been popping up here and there.
Apartment Therapy has showered my with a lot of impromptu love.  It's always exciting when a project or room I submit is featured, but when they share photos of my space in an article or story without my having to beg "pick me, pick me," it's even better, although it's a super weird feeling to be munching my breakfast, scrolling through my morning blog reading, and then stumble across photos of my own home.  It has a twilight zone feel about it.  Anyway, our budget-friendly lakehouse bathroom was featured in a story on 6 ideas for making a boring bathroom more dramatic.  My DIY black and white painting was highlighted in particular:

Additionally, the dark grey fireplace was highlighted on Apartment Therapy in a story about 6 bold design details to try:

Bliss at Home also featured the living room (still sporting it's chrome lamp and black chair) in The Style Mix. More recently, Kristin also featured the turquoise kitchen (which might be getting a splash of orange and might just be featured in a book - details soon):

It was really interesting to read a Hungarian article about my turquoise kitchen update.  I think I read correctly that the translation for cabinet/furniture hardware (like drawer pulls) is "furniture buttons".  I can easily see why my kitchen makeover was appealing for the Hungarian blogger who featured it.  The average home there has a small kitchen and the economy isn't awesome, so working with what you have is really appealing to many Hungarians.  We say things like "budget-friendly," "thrifty," and "work with what you have," a lot in Canada but I have a friend in Hungary who literally didn't buy a single new (or used!) item of clothing for three years.  Three years!!  Never mind home decor items - she just didn't have any disposable income.  She wouldn't consider buying accessories on clearance from Target, or budgeting only $100 on seasonal decorating, "thrifty".  Actually, although our kitchen makeover was proposed as a budget-conscious option, the folks who left comments complained that it would be too costly - it's not thrifty enough.

I recently found out that Good Housekeeping featured my layered sheer curtains (from the townhouse) on their website!  That's an older post, but my Mom and I are still pretty proud of that idea.  I wonder if the new owners changed the draperies...writing this I'm feeling kind of sad about the possibility.  I might be visiting a friend in Ottawa soon and I'm hoping she'll drive me slowly by our old home so I can peer in the windows and hopefully not make eye contact with the new occupants.

Knock Off Decor featured the mod raised bowl stand Hubby and I made for Szuka (see the original tutorial here). 

Did you read about the Ikea Hackers controversy?  Hopefully Jules can keep her url - and keep making a profit from advertising - moving forward.  So far, so good it seems!  Ikea Hackers featured my floating credenza with DIY plywood top (before we added the shiny new grommets):

Speaking of the credenza, Apartment Therapy just gave it a little love tpo, in a round up of eight Ikea credenza-fauxdenza hacks.  I'm thinking about hacking some Ikea to build a long desk for two with storage in the office but I wonder if that's not a smidge too much Ikea...?

One last bit of news before I sign off to put the finishing touch on my latest DIY project: I'm thinking of having an Instagram sale this week - probably Thursday evening - to celebrate the Etsy shop re-opening (I hope to have it official open by next week).  Mom and I finally unpacked everything and we have SO many goodies that I've forgotten about - so many great gift ideas and fun things for holiday entertaining.  I'll share more details here and on Instagram soon.  In the meantime, tell me what you'd like to see in the sale: Pyrex?  Bakelite?  Dansk Enamel?  Mid-Century Pottery?  Iittala?  Lots of variety or a carefully curated selection hinged on a theme or colour?  I think I might limit it to 10-20 items and then do follow-up sales in the weeks to come if all goes well, with more concrete themes so you can decide whether to take a peek or pass.  I hate sitting through twenty listings of things I don't give a hoot about, waiting for the one thing I want to buy!  In the future, I might do just a Pyrex sale, maybe a vintage bar ware sale, one with textiles and linens...

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