Blogger or Wordpress?

Hey, Bloggers! I’d love to get your opinion on a hot button topic we’ve been discussing, here in the Grey household…

Migrating from Blogger to Wordpress.

This is something I’ve been contemplating for the last 6 months. And every time I get up the courage and say “alright, let’s do this thing!” I find myself going into total panic mode and nearly start hyperventilating. I’ve heard everything from bloggers losing old blog posts and comments disappearing, to links not working and traffic loss. The thought of possibly losing my loyal followers scares the bejeebers out of me. The good does outweigh the bad, however, as I’ve heard nothing but glowing reviews about Wordpress from a blogging standpoint, particularly increased SEO, once all the kinks are worked out.


Why fix it if it’s not broken?

When I started blogging, way back in 2006, Blogger was really the only platform I knew of at the time. It was user friendly enough, and I quickly jumped on board. But it hasn’t always been rainbows and flying unicorns. In fact, I’ve had a rocky relationship with Blogger since day one. For example, commenting on my blog is a pain in the rear for many of my readers. You wouldn’t believe how many emails I get from folks that have to email me their comments because they can’t navigate the comment link in my posts…

Fortunately, going forward into Wordpress, the design is promising to be the least of my worries. 

I have an amazing web designer, Cathy, who has been with me since way back when I used to sell on eBay under the username “shabby*girl”. Anyone remember me from way back then? Holla!

Cathy used to design my eBay templates, then she designed my website, followed by my blog. She and I have a terrific history together. I am grateful to learn she can install my current design onto my new blogging platform with Wordpress, and hopefully make the change as seamless as possible for everyone. 



This is where YOU come in!

Throughout my research, I found some people say the switch was easy-peasy, and they did it all themselves with little knowledge, and for others the experience was one huge nightmare.  

I would like to know… 

Did you abandon your Blogger blog altogether after switching over to Wordpress? Were you able transfer all your old posts, photos, links and comments? Would you do it differently if you were to do it all over again? Are there any resourceful articles I should read, like Migrating for Dummies 101.

If you migrated from Blogger to Wordpress, and lived to tell about it, please share your experience with us in the comments section. Thank you in advance!

 
 

Till next time, click and keep up with us on our favorite sites….

 

PS – The winner of the Brick House Fabrics Giveaway is Kelly from The Essence of Home. Congratulations Kelly! Please contact us so we can get your info.

February’s Cottage of the Month

Happy February 1st! You know what that means…time for a new Cottage of the Month!

I’ve had a hard time holding this one under my hat for quite some time now. This gal’s home decor and photography simply blow me away every time…

Tracey from French Larkspur!

Here’s just a teaser from this month's feature with Tracey, but I encourage you to visit the Cottage of the Month to see the rest of her feature in its entirety.

I simply adore her daughter’s room and all the tiny little details…

As we bid adieu to January, I want to thank Becky from Buckets of Burlap once again for letting us feature her home for January’s Cottage of the Month…

Becky is a joy to work with, and I adore her blog…

Just a little more teaser from January's feature…

To see January’s Cottage of the Month in its entirety, you can find it here, along with the rest of my archives!

Till next time, click and keep up with us on our favorite sites…

 

Brick House Fabrics Giveaway

I’m pleased to introduce you to one of our newest sponsors, Brick House Fabrics, an online fabrics store based in mid-coast Maine. They live and work in an old 1840's brick house, hence the name!

(image to the left: The Brick House in Winter)

 

Brick House Fabrics fabrics are first quality, new on the bolt, from the manufacturer. They also go on buying trips several times a year where they pick up some unique out-of-print fabrics as well as vintage fabrics.

 

They carry Braemore Fabric, Covington Fabric, Duralee Fabric, P.Kaufmann Fabric, Ralph Lauren Fabric, Robert Allen Fabric, and others. And look for Kravet Fabrics, Laura Ashley Fabrics, Greeff Fabrics, Schumacher Fabrics and others.

Brick House Fabrics specialty is novelty home decorating fabrics. They are constantly expanding their lines, and adding new items. They also have an interest in lace curtain fabric yardage, both full width and cafe lace, and hope to import more of that directly from the mills.

They also do special order fabrics for people. If there is a fabric you need or want, they will try to accommodate your need!


Ready for the best part?

The kind folks at Brick House Fabrics are generously giving away 3 yards of fabric to one of my lucky readers! One name will be randomly drawn to have their choice of one the following fabrics:

Choice #1: Toile Country French Fabric

A country fabric with the look of French toile. The scenes all seem to have boys in them! A father is getting water at a well, while a little boy peers down it; a woman carries a pot on her head while a boy drives a sheep; an older boy and child are with a donkey, another boy pulls the rope of a swing for a lady, etc. There are also dogs, chickens, the usual languid lady, fishing scene, etc.

This toile is done in black, taupey grey, and grey on a soft buff beige background. The effect from a distance is of black and charcoal on light tan.

This is 56 1/2" wide. The boy pulling the rope for the swing is about 5 1/2" ( 13.97 cm. ), from the top of the hat to the pointed toe. This is a mutli-purpose home decorating fabric that is perfect for cushions, curtains, totes, etc.

 

Choice #2: Pink Toile Fabric

This toile fabric has scenes all with women. They are seen with children, in a boat fishing, washing clothes, going to work with rakes, feeding chickens, leading a donkey, talking to a man, etc. There are other scenes as well: children playing, leading goats, etc. The scale is quite small.

This is pink on cream. It has a delicate, pretty look.

This fabric is 58" wide. The woman with the hat, with the child and the donkey is about 2 1/2" (6.35 cm ) tall; the woman carrying the laundry on her head is about 3" ( 7.62 cm. ) tall. This is a multi-purpose home decorating fabric. It is perfect for curtains, cushions, totes, etc.

 

Choice #3: Georgian Horse toile fabric

Hold onto your saddles, my equine loving friends!

Overlapping rectangles hold small country scenes: there are saddled and unsaddled horses; in one a man is helping a woman, in habit, to mount. And in another one a woman is riding side-saddle. In some of these scenes there are large country houses; in some, small towns, with what looks like a horse show or sale going on. In between are small vignettes of countryside.

The background is a sponged beige, tan, and camel. The effect is of aged papers, with black for the toile.

This fabric is 57 1/2" wide. The horse with the woman riding is 5" ( 12.70 cm. ) nose to tail. This is a multi-purpose home decorating fabric that is perfect for curtains, cushions, napkins, totes, etc.

To enter your name in the giveaway, please do each of the following…

1. Leave a comment here on this post

2. Let us know which fabric you prefer (Toile Country, Pink Toile or Georgian Horse)

3. Extra credit question: If you win the giveaway, what project will you most likely use this fabric for?


We’re hoping the winner will send us pictures of their finished project using their winning fabric!

This giveaway ends on Monday, February 6th.

Good luck!

Till next time, click and keep up with us on our favorite sites….

 

Grey Stables

It seems like just yesterday I decorated and redecorated our master bedroom. It’s no secret that I’m:

a) never done decorating and b) have a major crush on all things equestrian.


Ever since I met Alison from The Polohouse through her blog last year, I’ve decided I just can’t get enough of that classic equine look. I mean look at her fabulous tack room. I love her Ralph Lauren-esque style…

 

Speaking of awesome bloggers, I recently worked on a project with my friend Jill from The Virginia House…




Jill makes amazing hand painted signs on Etsy. But I should mention she only puts out a very limited number of her paintings, as she is a dedicated full-time mommy : ) 


I just about fell out of my chair when I saw this sign she made for her bathroom….

 


I’ve got the decorating bug once again, and I’ve decided to give our master bedroom yet another makeover – equestrian style! Very recently, I commissioned Jill to make a personalized sign specially for our bedroom, and boy did she deliver! These shots were taken by Jill before she shipped it out to us to make sure everything was satisfactory. (Insert huge LIKE button here)

Incase you didn't know, our last name is Grey. And yes, I do get asked if I’m Jennifer Grey, the actress, and no, I’m definitely not her! We chose the year 1954 because it holds sentimental value to Adam’s grandfather…

Jill kindly attached two D-rings to the back of the sign, which I haven’t hung up in our bedroom yet. I decided I first needed some frame hanging wire, to hang between the two rings…

 

In my search, I found a great website called Poster Frame Depot that carries frame hanging wire and many other framing supplies and accessories. I know I’ll be calling upon them for future projects for sure.


Now I just need to find the time to hang my new Grey Stables sign up in our bedroom!


Stay tuned for more updates on our master bedroom remodel project!

 

Till next time, click and keep up with us on our favorite sites… 

 

Small Space Organizing

You may remember the hair-raising before images from when we first bought this house, and you may recall seeing this jolly green nightmare among the bunch.

This is how the guest bedroom looked the first day we moved in. And that’s the bedroom closet to the very far left…

Here’s a closer, and rather frightening look at the inside of this super tiny closet, and how it looked before it got my DIY mitts on it…

Living in a quaint 1200 square foot home can present its challenges, particularly when you work from home. When we moved into this house 3 1/2 years ago, we were downsizing from a much larger home we had been renting for several years. We ended up selling most everything and started over.

I think the area I’ve found most challenging in this home are our petite sized closets. Since our bedrooms are so tiny, we can only fit a small dresser, if at all, so that means keeping clothing and shoes tidy is a must. If it doesn’t fit or we don’t wear it anymore, out it goes to the goodwill or salvation army. Constant discipline and not allowing things to pile up have been particularly helpful.


My most recent challenge was to create a personalized office space to work from on a daily basis. Being that I run my entire business out of my home, I needed an efficient place to work out of that was practical, functional, well lit, and made me feel inspired on a regular basis.


So I took our little guest room closet that once looked like this…

And turned it into this…

A quaint little dream office space where I work and blog from every day!

Fresh paint, DIY board and batten wall treatment, a single curtain panel gathered to one side and held with a tension rod & old rope, a vintage office chair, stacking plastic pull-out boxes underneath the desk top (made from a sheet of painted plywood), wicker storage boxes the top shelf, a funky metal found and repurposed light up above, fresh roses from the garden, and you have a super inspiring little closet-office space!


Admit it, you sometimes wonder where people blog from, don’t you? I know I do!


It seems I’ve been bitten by the organizing bug these past few weeks. Sock drawers, mystery food items in the fridge, piles of stuff hidden under the beds, collections of old batteries and dinosaur-aged computer parts, it’s all going to the donate, give away or toss pile. Organization just feels good!


So when I heard the news award-winning journalist and lifestyle blogger Kathryn Bechen just recently published a book called “Small Space Decorating, A Room-by-Room Guide to Maximizing your Space”, I received a copy for myself and dove right in…

I’ve been a long-time fan of Kathryn’s. She understands first hand the challenges that come with small space living, and in her new book she has created easy going approach to making even the tiniest space not only work, but successfully meet all your needs with ease. Every single space in the home is covered, from foyers, closets and kids rooms, to patio’s and terraces. 


I plan to put Kathryn’s book to good use in many ways. First, I’ve already started organizing our kitchen drawers. Since we don’t really have a pantry, I’ve come up with some fun storage jar solutions I’ll be sharing in a future post.  Also, we’ve been meaning to buckle down on our chaotic, unorganized garage, and Small Space Decorating is just the kick in the pants I needed to rise to the challenge.  Lastly, I’m going to tackle our cluttered fridge. Adam and I are practicing a plant-based diet mostly comprised of veggies and fruits, and since our fridge is circa 1970’s, it’s pretty space deprived in there. It has super dark built-in produce bins that I’m terrified of using, cause let’s face it…who wants to find a three month old head of cabbage that you totally forgot about months ago. My dilemma was timely, because I was super inspired by this recent post Kathryn shared on her blog, using open plastic baskets for holding her produce, making the food more visible yet still organized. I can’t wait to go to the Container Store to make the dark bin-to-basket conversion!

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Kathryn’s book that I could especially relate: “I had the mindset that a small home meant a lack of living well. I longed for a beautiful large home and yard one day, and we were willing to work long and hard for it”.  It took a while for me to realize that bigger doesn’t necessarily equate to better. And I think living in a small, quaint home has made our lives all the better for it.


To get a copy of Kathryn’s book, simply click here.

 

 

Till next time, click and keep up with us on our favorite sites…