In the Bloglight at Hometalk

I am so honored to be 'In the Bloglight' over at Hometalk this week! 

If you aren’t familiar with Hometalk~head on over- you will love it there!

 It is an awesome place where you can share and connect 

with other bloggers, homeowners, pros and in general house and home enthusiasts

Hometalk sent over a few questions for me to answer about 

French Country Cottage and the girl behind the blog~ so here’s a little bit about Moi.

I am married and a mom of 3 ~ 2 boys and a girl

A 20 year old, 17 year old and 14 year old

(yes, I am feeling old as I type that!)
I met my husband just after graduating high school and our family lives in
a vintage cottage that we have been fixing up bit by bit in a rural area of California.

Q: How did you first get into blogging?

I first started blogging about 2 and a half years ago when I was sort of in between places.

  My children were getting older & they were in school and I wasn't needed as much and at the same time I was caring for my grandmother who had dementia. 

Those two shifts kind of put me in a bit of an emotional place where I was looking
 for something to really delve into that was quiet and pretty. 

Something that was a creative outlet for me where I could decorate, inspire and be inspired.  

My sister and I were talking about blogging one day and as we talked... it clicked. 

It was a place where I could write, share the renovations of our house, fuel my passion for design and where someone might actually notice and appreciate that chair that had moved in the room.  ;) 

It was also a place where I could connect with others who have similar interests- 
which can be harder to do when you live in the country.  It seemed like a perfect fit. 

Q: How did you decide on the name of your blog?

Actually, I had the name French Country Cottage written down for several years already. 

It was something I always thought of to describe my style and my favorite decorating and design styles.

I hadn't thought about it for a name for a blog- I actually didn't even read blogs before I started mine.

But when I did start blogging- French Country Cottage was the name for sure.

dining room

Q: Is blogging something you do on the side, or is it a full time job for you? 

What did/do you do for a living?

Blogging for me started out as a hobby- just sharing the renovations of our home, flea finds, etc. 
That somehow led to my first job in social media, which led to another and so on.
So after a couple of years it is now more of a job than just a hobby
and I absolutely love working as a blogger.
 I have been fortunate to be able to be at home with my kids since my first son was born.
Since I got married and started my family pretty young,  I didn't have a career to go back into as the kids got older which left me kind of wondering what I would be when they (and I) grew up :)
Becoming a blogger has been an incredible blessing and outlet for me.

Aside from designing for my blog and being fortunate to be working with some incredible companies,
 I am also starting to freelance with magazines as a stylist,  doing design consults
and working on a couple of side projects that I will share more about soon. 

Q: What do your friends and family think about your blog?

Most of my friends and family don’t read my blog actually.
 My sister Taylor- who is the one who convinced me to start my blog-
  read (and commented on) every post in the beginning and she was my
 one and only follower for awhile. She truly is an awesome sister and one of my biggest supporters.
(I keep trying to get her to start a blog about college life or daily advice... I'm working on it!)

But some of my family have never read even one of my posts or navigated over to my blog
 and then a couple others stay connected a bit more on FB rather than my blog-
so they do know what I am up to.
 Just the other day at Thanksgiving one of my brothers asked me what exactly a blog is
and what I do on mine.
:) 

Bedroom at Christmas

Q: How has blogging changed you?

In so many ways, really. It has given me a place to share- to create- to find my voice a bit with my style. It has helped feed a part of me that kind of got lost in the day to day household stuff and that was struggling with the changes that were going on. Blogging has also helped me to push myself a bit more to get out there and grow  and it has given me an awesome way to do something I love
and make a living doing it. 

Q: Do you keep a strict posting schedule?

Not really- I am more of a fly by the seat of my pants kind of girl ;)

  I generally post 4-5 times a week- but it's sometimes less sometimes more- it just depends.
I tend to go with the thought of quality over quantity so I am not really one to post something
 just to post something. 

Kitchen 

Q: What are your favorite kinds of posts to read/write?

Room makeovers and renovations.
But you can’t makeover a room every day so smaller projects and lifestyle inspirations are favorites too. I am constantly re-styling my home and I love creating a new look for a room, 
 setting a romantic table or playing with flea market finds.

Guest Cottage Kitchen

Q: Do you have any advice for bloggers who are just starting out?

Like Nike says- Just do it. Write that first post and hit publish.
Then write the next one and do it again.  Go out and mingle
(at blog parties, visting other blogs, etc) and really get yourself out there.

You never know who you might connect with or what opportunities might come
 your way. When I started blogging, I would have never imagined the incredible opportunities and dreams that have come true for me that began with simply hitting publish on that first post.

Thanks so much for the interview Hometalk!