Dealing with Negative Blog Comments

January 15, 2015

Dealing with Negative Blog Comments

I'm very fortunate to consistently find myself on the receiving end of flattering press. Frankly it's really nice to hear someone say "nice work," about a room makeover or DIY project, instead of "you suck, your house sucks, your dog probably sucks too". Plus, these features and shout outs have helped my little blog grow, opened doors for me (including two new projects I can't wait to spill the beans about) and even, at times, motivated me to keep sharing when I've fallen into a blogging slump. On the flip side, as the blog grows I find myself on the receiving end of more negative comments too. Good Housekeeping and Country Living recently picked up the story of my budget-friendly kitchen makeover and featured it online. Boy, oh boy, was there ever an uproar in the comments, from folks who preferred the before - they wanted the cathedral upper cabinets, the honey oak, the green laminate counters and tile - everything, as-is, don't touch a thing! I horrified them by jettisoning it all.

In the past, I have tried to be diplomatic when I talk about what the kitchen looked like before, in case someone reading has a similar kitchen which they love. It brings me no joy to make someone feel bad about their home. But I'm going to be brutally honest for a moment. To me the kitchen screamed 1990s and the upper cabinets were painfully awkward - not the cornucopia of storage some people think they were. I also dislike cathedral doors with a fiery passion, and the wonky different sizes made them worse. I knew there would be people who would hate the turquoise reveal (too much turquoise! open shelving! you're hoarding the world's Pyrex and driving prices up - the last one is an actual angry comment from an Apartment Therapy reader), but I was unprepared for folks passionately loving the before. I'm never hurt or deterred by negative comments because I'm totally smitten with my house, but for a second I felt really...different. Was I the only person who saw the before as a dark, awkward, tired space? After I shared the makeover, I was certain some folks would have other suggestions, because this makeover could have taken many different directions: black lowers and white uppers, soft mint lowers with more open shelving to the right of the window, new cupboard doors and Martha Stewart greige...but none have materialized (other than the suggestion to add more orange). Other than that, I've mostly witnessed a polarized group of votes: yay! (which, happily, there's many more votes for) or total nay, "bring back the oak!," which really surprised me. I thought for sure there would be other suggestions for a less nutty colour, so it was really eye-opening to realize so many people prefer the wood un-painted, as-is. Very interesting indeed. As interesting as I have found the feedback, it would have been swell if some people had been a little less mean-spirited about voicing their oak preference!

A story that recently ran online in Elle Decor and then House Beautiful listed my kitchen as one of 10 brilliant decorating ideas from bloggers. Better still, I was lumped in with Design Love Fest, Decor8, Vintage Revivals, Little Green Notebook, and The Hunted Interior, among others. That's a pretty important "yay" in my books and it put a smile on face (it was a welcome reprieve from negative comments), so I wanted to share my happy news with you. (A huge thanks to Shavonda for drawing my attention to the article!) And a huge thanks to you for always leaving such kind, thoughtful, and constructive comments. I read each and every one and even when you've made suggestions or disliked something, you've always been so deeply courteous and have clearly remembered that there's a person click-clacking away behind here - something I think too many people forget. So thanks. You're all really awesome and I'm happy you stop by! You motivate and inspire me more than anything.

I Need Your Help!

I got an email in December letting me know that one of my DIY projects had been chosen for Bob Vila's (yup, that Bob Vila), Thumbs Up Competition. Each month there's a different theme and January's is plywood. I didn't apply for or enter this competition - someone over there found our DIY plywood magazines files and decided to pit them against a desk (!), a marquee, and a book shelf. The odds are stacked against me.

Now, Hubby and I have done some pretty cool things with plywood. We made this easy peasy LED sign:

We topped our Ikea floating credenza hack with a beautiful piece of plywood:

We even built our pantry from plywood!

But it's our smallest plywood project - the plywood magazine files - going up against the big dogs.

Would you vote for me so I don't end up being picked last for dodgeball? You don't need to sign up or register or do anything but click "VOTE" - over my picture, of course! You can vote every day, just FYI, and voting lasts all January. There's a handy button in my sidebar that will take you to it:

Thanks so much!! To be honest, these kinds of competition aren't really a lot of fun for me, but I just couldn't say no to Bob Vila. Help me not be last :)

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...

Canadian Blogger Home Tour

I'd been thinking about doing a "where are we now?" post, but we bought, took possession of, started working on, and finally moved into the lakehouse over a seven month period. It's a very confusing timeline that makes choosing a time to share a whole home update a little tricky. Do I share at the six-month mark? The one-year mark? Of which date? I spent some time waffling over this.

When I was asked to participate in the Canadian Home Blogger Tour happening this week, coordinated by Shannon (of AKA Design) and Christina (from The DIY Mommy), I figured that the right time was now! It's been almost a year since we officially took ownership of the lakehouse and about seven months since we moved in, so today I'm sharing a tour, along with a progress report and our upcoming plans for each space. For my regular readers, I have some photos you haven't seen yet: some living room changes and our aqua front door...

New and old friends alike, welcome to the lakehouse!

My Handy Hubby and I bought this place on impulse last year, totally upending our plans to spend another year in Ottawa, in our sweet little townhouse. We had been planning to purchase a house on Lake Superior (my favorite lake in the world), but wanted to wait until I had defended my PhD dissertation and we had time to prepare the townhouse for sale. We envisioned a leisurely timeline and everything going our way...haha! When we found the lakehouse, we just loved everything about it: its location on a sheltered bay of Lake Superior (excellent for swimming and canoeing), it's modest size and price tag, it's open concept floor plan, and it's cute little guesthouse! We decided to go for it and although buying it was stressful (matched only by the disappointing sale of our former abode), we've never regretted the decision. How could we, when this is our backyard?

Moving here meant downsizing - who downsizes from a townhouse?? - but we've enjoyed simplifying our lives a little. I tell people we're doing retirement first, while we're young. I've kept tabs on other lakefront properties for sale and realized that had we waited until the "time was right," we wouldn't have found a home we like as much as this one. Actually, we might not have found a home at all because prices have skyrocketed! As much as we love our little slice of Lake Superior, there are a lot of things we'd like to do to make this home ours.

Exterior To-Do:

Stain the deck - I prepped the deck just this week and am waiting for a sunny stretch!
Build a new deck step
Paint the exterior to unify the stone, wood, and vinyl siding - we actually have a garage full of paint but I'm worried I won't get to it thanks to this miserable, cold summer...
Paint the guesthouse exterior and stain its deck too
Paint the detached garage exterior (I'm only just realizing how much painting I have to do)
Some gardening (?)...I don't know how to garden
Rebuild our deteriorating dock
Put up a fence around the whole yard for Szuka (it's only an acre, hardly any work at all...)
Build an electronic gate (and make it pretty)
Install motion lights
Build racks for firewood storage
Stencil a geometric design on the concrete pad in the car port

This is our front door and impossibly small entryway. I brightened it up by painting the walls, trim, ceiling, and interior doors white. We switched out the row of boob lights for inexpensive Ikea fixtures and replaced the worn-out brass hardware with mid-century inspired brushed silver levers. A DIY abstract triptych, a thrift store painting (in a new frame), and my framed Hungarian embroidery add some colour and interest, without overwhelming the dark and narrow space. I am still loving (and using) the solid wood stool we added. It's so sturdy and the perfect place to set down my purse or plonk down and tie my shoes.

This will be a surprise for my regular readers: after getting everyone to weigh in on door options (paint the existing door for the win!), I (not-so) secretly painted the front door aqua. Unfortunately, I hit a bump in the road and, yadda yadda yadda, ended up ordering this incredible exterior door. Once the new door is painted aqua and installed, I'll loop you in on the whole story - and show you the new door, of course.

I turned the pantry beside the door into shoe-storage and still find my system to be absolutely perfect for me. Taking the time to paint all of the closets a fun colour was such a fun choice because I love the little hidden hits of colour.

Hallway/Entry To-Do:

New front door!
New storm door too
New flooring (slate would be awesome)
Add a shelf or hooks for more function
A non-beige doorbell cover would be awesome
We're upgrading our heating system so a sleek new thermostat is in the cards for us

To the right of the hall is our hard-working laundry room, slated for a full renovation - eventually. For now, floor to ceiling curtains on a track hide the old, ugly washer and dryer. An Eames Hang-It-All offers form and function. Even just white paint, a new light (and cleaning up!) made the space seem brighter.

Laundry Room To-Do:

New flooring
Tiled walls?
New washer, dryer & laundry tub
DIY cabinet for electrical panel and floor-to-ceiling food pantry

Beyond the laundry room is the guest powder room, to be renovated alongside the laundry room. For now I updated it ever so slightly by painting the walls, trim, cabinetry, tile - even the light fixture and hardware. Truthfully, I'm not totally happy with this space so I might try something fun in here...

Powder Room To-Do:

Curtains! (Guests will appreciate them)
A huge built-in storage cabinet above the toilet
New flooring, vanity, tile, toilet, sink, mirror, light...

Across from the laundry room is the kitchen, which just received a budget-friendly overhaul with DIY solid maple counters, cottage-inspired paneling, a DIY pantry and open shelving. The remaining cabinetry was painted a cheery aqua and we also replaced the sink and faucet. We're saving for a major renovation, but this update has given us the chance to fully enjoy the kitchen while we save. I want some time to figure out how we use the space - what we love, what we'd like to change - and I'd rather do that in style. See this post for all of the information on the kitchen makeover, with links to all of projects and sources.

Kitchen To-Do:

Full reno: flooring, cabinets, counters, tile backsplash, more lighting (eventually)
Find a piece of art for beside the window (right now)
Find more turquoise Pyrex, obviously

One of the things we love the most about the lakehouse is the open concept kitchen, dining and living spaces. We updated the dining room with a dramatic light fixture. It was a splurge but so perfect for our tall ceilings and the open space - the scale is perfect. I think it looks like an art installation when it's not turned on, and for some reason that really tickles me. We balanced the budget by choosing affordable Ikea lights for every other room and then hacking Ikea cabinets for a floating credenza. A grey-stained plywood waterfall top hides the Ikea-ness and the seams.

Dining Room To-Do:

New dining room table? I have some DIY ideas...
Definitely new dining room chairs - or these one recovered in something more colourful and mod
Finish the credenza by adding furniture grommets to the holes we cut for lamp cords

Beyond the dining room is the living room, easily modernized by painting the faux brick fireplace a charcoal grey and the walls and trim white. The furniture from our last place made itself at home with new Marimekko pillows, a chair rescued from the trash and upholstered in teal velvet, and Lotte lamps stolen from my Mom. Readers will notice I swapped out the black chair for the minty chair from the bedroom, plus I stole the second Lotte lamp from my Mom - along with a pair of round teak tables to replace my one boomerang-shaped one.

I have a beautiful, mid-century sectional waiting in the wings, so this layout is temporary-ish, but I still find myself routinely adding layers to it. That's how I work: I keep massaging a space until it feels perfect. Also, thievery ranks high on the list for ways to describe my "signature style".

Living Room To-Do:

Renovate the fireplace and face it with slate, add bookshelves and mount the TV there
New flooring
Mid-century sectional recovered
Build and upholster a new ottoman
Replace table lamps with a chic floor lamp?
Build a mini ottoman for teal velvet chair (it's so low!!)

I'm currently working on the bedroom. One of the first projects was the closet: the busted closet doors and fittings were removed. Then the hardwood flooring was repaired, the closet was painted bright orange (Hubby's choice), and a new closet fitting was installed.

After addressing the closet issues (and painting everything white), we moved in our treasured DIY hardboard and nightstands, plus the 1960s posters I bought during my four-month research stay in Hungary. The posters used to hang in our townhouse kitchen, but I like them even more in the bedroom. DIY back tab curtains are a recent addition (see the tutorial here).

Bedroom To-Do:

New coat of paint for the metal headboard and tables
Tweak the bed linens/throw pillows (I have a neat DIY idea I can't wait to try)
Two new dressers!
More art
Closet doors (can't wait!)
Build some cute storage boxes for our very open nightstands

Beside the master bedroom is our main bathroom, which I gave the same facelift as the powder room before we even moved in: I refinished the oak cabinet grey and even painted the dated tile. Somehow I like this room more than the powder room, though. I think it's the big black and white painting I made - it draws the eye! We're totally gutting the space next spring and I've already begun planning the renovation - in my mind, it already looks stunning. We had originally planned to renovate this summer but life got in the way, so I'm really happy I took a weekend to update the look. I'd be pretty crabby every morning if I was still staring at that honey oak with those dusty rose walls.

Bathroom To-Do:

New white everything (tub, toilet, sinks) - good-bye beige!
Floating (DIY?) vanity with two sinks instead of one, and a pair of round mirrors
Ditch the shower portal for a turquoise tiled tub surround
New tiled floor
Towel warmer (I really, really want one)
Curtains

Next on the tour: the office, which definitely needs some attention. It's such a disaster right now, I couldn't even bring myself to take a photo. So far, in addition to painting walls, ceiling, and trim, we've turned a closet into a nook and completed an updated Expedit hack. I'll tidy it up soon, snap some photos and share my plans - plus an office DIY project I'm working on right now.

Office To-Do:

Two new office chairs - we're currently shopping, but also considering using these vintage Eames beauties I found
Build a desk for two that hides everything computer related
Curtains - something minty green or pink, maybe?
More storage - maybe window-flanking shelves?
DIY magazine files that custom-fit an Ikea Expedit

This almost concludes the tour, but there are a couple of bonus spaces. We have a weird (sad) little storage room I plan on turning into the most fabulous crafting/painting studio ever. You can't tell, but it faces the lake and has an excellent view, plus it has a convenient sink.

Craft Studio To-Do:

New flooring or maybe paint the flooring?
Paint the walls, trim, ceiling, and doors
Add shelves
Hang some art
Window treatments
Track down some vintage cabinets for storage (old medical cabinets would be awesome)
Set up my easel and start painting again!

The last space: our former guesthouse - now the headquarters for my Etsy shop (re-opening September). This space had a sauna but we converted the sauna to storage. The main room (and three piece bath) will see a makeover in the winter once we're up & running (my biggest priority is unpacking and listing everything - I've been sharing some of my vintage inventory on Instagram). I originally couldn't decide on a look, but I think I've decided that this would be a fun space to try something that is a bit of departure from my style. I'm going to go for a very muted, Scandinavian feel: lots of black and white, some natural wood, and a few pastels. It will make a lot more sense when the exterior is painted black and the deck is stained grey.

Etsy Shop To-Do:

Paint the exterior and stain the deck
Paint the laminate flooring matte black
Paint the ceiling a chalky white
Leave the wood walls for a Scandi vibe
Paint the interior and exterior doors (maybe a pale pink or mint?)
Add some touches of gold
Add some chic storage - maybe floating shelves?
Build a funky, super easy, DIY desk (I have drawn up plans!)
Paint the curtain rods matte black
Sew some great curtains (not that the towels aren't an awesome idea)
Get unpacked and set up shop again!!

The scary (but fun) thing is that my bulleted lists are only the tip of the iceberg. There is so much potential in this house and because we plan to be here for the long-haul, I've got time to see these ideas happen. So far we've done some quick and dirty projects to make the house more "us" while we plot our next moves. I wish we could do major renovations now, but it's just not in the budget for us. We're tackling this house in phases, investing in things we know we won't change, and spending a little money on hiding/painting/updating things we hope to change. The temporary fixes are worth it, because they make us happy in our home as we inch our way toward transforming this house into the lakeside retreat of our dreams.

Take a peek at my Lakehouse Tour page if you're interested in more photos (there are more photos there) - and here are the links to my DIY Projects Page and Townhouse Tour.

Don't forget to take a look at the other Canadian Blogger's Home Tours happening this week. Here is the full list - it's such a fun way to find some great (Canadian!) design inspiration:

Monday, August 18th

AKA Design

The DIY Mommy

Northern Style Exposure

Echos of Laughter

Tuesday, August 19th

Wednesday, August 20th

First Time Fancy