Sunday Seven with Shades of Blue Interiors

Do you ever meet someone who’s talented and funny and humble and gorgeous? Not often, right? Well… this morning, I’m introducing you to the poster-child for the talented/funny/humble/gorgeous club…. My friend Rachel Perrera from Shades of Blue Interiors. You name it, this woman can do it. If you see something crazy awesome in her home, chances are pretty good, she built it herself. But, Charlotte… it’s an amazing couch… no chance she had anything to do with that! Um… yeah. She did. She painted it. Those end tables, though… Restoration Hardware, right? Nope. Built ‘em. Whether teaching us how to create her gorgeous furniture finishes on YouTube or giving us impeccable DIYs, this woman is legit. SO excited that I got to hug her a few weeks ago at the Haven Conference and delighted to share her with you today!

Sunday Seven with Shades of Blue Interiors

Question 1: Why did you start blogging?

I started blogging to document my furniture makeovers that I was selling. I didn’t want to just take random before and afters, and really spent quite a bit of time and effort to stage them. Staging pretty vignettes for pieces of furniture had a domino effect on my home… I started trying to “stage” or style other areas in my home using thrift store finds or crafts I made. I remember my first Vintage Market Days I participated in, I was the very first booth people saw at the entrance… A freelance magazine writer approached me and asked me if my home matched the style of my booth because she was looking to find homes to photograph and feature. At the time I was renting and my home was far from the style I gravitated towards, so I was honest and said not really since we were renting and hoping to buy a house soon. She gave me her card and asked to keep in touch when I started fixing up our first home. That really got me feeling that I wanted my home to be a reflection of my style… That if a client walked into my home, they would feel my creations were authentic to who I was and the space I lived in. Fast forward a year or more and that eventually turned into doing a lot more DIY, interior design, home decor and crafts.

Question 2: What has been your proudest moment as a blogger?

My bathroom being featured in an upcoming Domino book (release date this fall). It will be my first published feature.

Question 3: What is the hardest thing about blogging?

Finding time to work on projects and balancing family life, especially when I’m in an uninspired slump– so basically the first 4-5 months of this year. It was brutal.

Question 4: What is one thing you wish you’d known early on with your blog?

To add a variety of projects and DIYs and not just furniture makeovers, and promote like crazy. Once I started diversifying my content and making pinnacle images and sharing/resharing things my blog took off. I’m still not a big deal blogger but I’ve seen huge growth (for me) in the past 2 years.

Question 5: What’s one fun fact about you?

I was born and raised in a town of 30k people surrounded by the ocean and ice fields with no roads out but it’s the 2nd largest city (by area) in the United States (Juneau, Alaska).

Question 6: What’s your favorite post (and why)?

Well it’s a close race between my master bathroom and the pallet wall in my living room, and since I already mentioned my master bathroom I’ll say my pallet wall. It was a project I had envisioned since we moved into our house almost 2 years prior and was worried it wouldn’t turn out as cool as I had hoped. But it ended up being even better and was the jumping point for converting our bookcases into built-ins, building a bench, and really making the room feel “complete” which was a new feeling for me. No more checklists for that room!

Question 7: What are your blog goals for the future?

I would love to have my home photographed someday for a magazine– it might end up being years down the road, but I’m fine to be patient. I would love to build my design consultation side, which encourages clients to become active participants in creating room(s) they love and represent their personal style. I have bigger dreams too but I don’t talk about those out loud- haha!

Did I mention that Rachel BUILDS her own furniture?! Yeah… some of the amazing pieces you see above… this lovely lady made with her own too Alaska-born hands. Follow her on Instagram (her feed is GORGEOUS), Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter!

Thanks so much for dropping in to meet my friend Rachel and to join me for another fun Sunday Seven. See the past bloggers in the series here!