They say they are kind of over the mega blogging and will be dialing it back to spend more time as a family.
I have openly been a critic of theirs, but I liked this post a lot. It sounded genuine and thoughtful. If they do in fact step back some, I think it will be really good for them. I am sure they have TONS of money squirreled away. Plus, all blogs have a shelf life and I think they are smart to recognize theirs is getting stale. As long as John can medicate Sherry to keep her from moderating comments 14 hours a day, I'm happy for them.
I don't read their blog any more but I did see yesterday's post. I appreciated their post and hope that it came from a place of legit honesty. Sherry's obsessive comment moderation and attention seeking is disturbing. It makes me wonder if John is enforcing less blog time or something..
I really wish they would stop exposing their kids so much but it sounds like they actually plan to increase it.
I really wish they would stop exposing their kids so much but it sounds like they actually plan to increase it.
This.
I thought making a living off of uninspired decor and poor quality diy was annoying enough, but making money by using their children for page clicks is so much worse.
I do hope they really can dial it back, but I don't believe that Sherry can do it. She needs attention, and I doubt that she will be able to kick the comment answering habit.
I'm glad they're stepping back. I think it's good that they're recognizing now their limitations, rather than forcing themselves to keep churning out 8 posts a week or whatever, and hitting a wall at some point down the road. Good for them for being self-aware and taking a realistic look at what they can do and what they want to do.
And I hope it also improves their content. Their posts were better back when there were fewer of them; I'd rather read one good post about a real project than 5 about half-baked randomness that they did just to have something to talk about.
I was glad to read this post. I check their blog almost daily but most of the time was skimming because it wasn't good material. I also was getting super annoyed with all the home show posts. Maybe some people enjoyed it but I could have cared less. I hope now they will go back to their old ways of writing with humor and having fun DIY projects, rather than crap they come up with just to make an entry.
I also agree on the exposing the kids less. I think with IG though they are doing it a little less.
Post by emoflamingo on Apr 25, 2014 8:40:57 GMT -5
I think this is why I still (somewhat) read House*Tweaking. She definitely doesn't post as much, the posts she does post aren't really fillers (though I'm giving her a little leeway with the entry update - she posted about the door already I think) and she doesn't write long winded posts.
Post by lightbulbsun on Apr 25, 2014 8:58:29 GMT -5
Good for them. They obviously put way more work into the blog than a full-time job would be. Hopefully this means they'll be able to spend more time on good quality posts, and less time writing 1000 word posts on spray painting a ceramic animal.
I think this is why I still (somewhat) read House*Tweaking. She definitely doesn't post as much, the posts she does post aren't really fillers (though I'm giving her a little leeway with the entry update - she posted about the door already I think) and she doesn't write long winded posts.
Really? I think she writes forever and ever and ever and then snaps out of it. I've also been lurking on GOMI about her since housegeek pointed me in their direction, and they seem to be of the same opinion (that her writing is really winded). That, and they say she posts too many selfies and too many pictures of the same thing at different angles, which I completely agree with.
I think this is why I still (somewhat) read House*Tweaking. She definitely doesn't post as much, the posts she does post aren't really fillers (though I'm giving her a little leeway with the entry update - she posted about the door already I think) and she doesn't write long winded posts.
Really? I think she writes forever and ever and ever and then snaps out of it. I've also been lurking on GOMI about her since housegeek pointed me in their direction, and they seem to be of the same opinion (that her writing is really winded). That, and they say she posts too many selfies and too many pictures of the same thing at different angles, which I completely agree with.
I agree with munkii. There is something very insecure in her writing that grates on me too. I like what they did with this house, but in general I'm over it. I just don't know how much more she can do there. Plus, I really don't like her laundry area.
As far as YHL, I don't trust them. Is that horrible? I see an unmentioned motive or cause for this. The target line flopped? Sherry had a breakdown?
Really? I think she writes forever and ever and ever and then snaps out of it. I've also been lurking on GOMI about her since housegeek pointed me in their direction, and they seem to be of the same opinion (that her writing is really winded). That, and they say she posts too many selfies and too many pictures of the same thing at different angles, which I completely agree with.
I agree with munkii. There is something very insecure in her writing that grates on me too. I like what they did with this house, but in general I'm over it. I just don't know how much more she can do there. Plus, I really don't like her laundry area.
As far as YHL, I don't trust them. Is that horrible? I see an unmentioned motive or cause for this. The target line flopped? Sherry had a breakdown?
I think the reason I don't notice it is that I generally skim a LOT (like so much that I had a hard time studying in school because I tend to skim) and I am not habitual at checking. I tend to just go every other week or something. If I don't think I'll like what's in the post (I don't care about the things that make me happy or whatever it is), I just scroll past. The ones that actually have decor content (like when the bathroom tile was laid), I mostly read through.
I really wish they would stop exposing their kids so much but it sounds like they actually plan to increase it.
This.
I thought making a living off of uninspired decor and poor quality diy was annoying enough, but making money by using their children for page clicks is so much worse.
I do hope they really can dial it back, but I don't believe that Sherry can do it. She needs attention, and I doubt that she will be able to kick the comment answering habit.
NAF, but NAH (Not A Fan, but Not A Hater) really. I don't like their writing, but sometimes a few of their ideas make me go looking for their original inspiration.
IMO they are "mommy-bloggers" or life bloggers as much as they are DIY home improvers, so I think that's really normal. Plus, at least they don't overshare much, they are more just like, look how cute our kid is in a hard hat sorts and not - kid, kid, kid, kid, oh yeah I spraypainted something, kid, kid, kid. Then again I have kids and am trying to DIY improve our house at the same time, so I feel like most of life is just kid, kid, kid, oh yeah let's fix that gaping hole, kid, kid, kid.
You guys, I am kind of obsessed with their homearama house . We are loosely looking for a house in the same neighborhood I kind of want the homearama house.
Can someone slap me with a two by for or something and bring me back to reality? Houses don't actually look like that! Thank you
You guys, I am kind of obsessed with their homearama house . We are loosely looking for a house in the same neighborhood I kind of want the homearama house.
Can someone slap me with a two by for or something and bring me back to reality? Houses don't actually look like that! Thank you
Seriously? You want to pay $500k for that kitchen, including a useless butlers pantry? Snap out of it . I think I generally like the exterior bones and maybe the floor plan. I haven't looked at the FP closely.
I wish Sherry would find something else productive to do. But she can't drive, so I assume that severely limits her options - and John's options, as well.
Post by katieb4tom on Apr 25, 2014 11:17:47 GMT -5
I liked them a lot back in the day and was happy to read that they were going to go back to that format. I had stopped checking them regularly because I didn't like what they were doing and started to find them annoying. I hope they will be able to recapture what they had before.
Will the Bowers come visit the new baby and will it be posted?!?!?!
I liked House Tweaking for awhile and then got sick of the selfies and I feel like she is copying Cup of Jo a bit, especially with her Friday "made me smile" posts, which bothers me more than it should.
Yeah, I had to stop reading House Tweaking when I realized I was spending more time seeing pics of her ass and "thoughtful" poses than getting good DIY advice lol
I do think this post by YHL was instigated by John. He has got to be just exhausted. He does most of the hard DIY stuff, plus he does most of the Clara work and Sherry doesn't drive, so he has to be present for all errands. The guy is worn out!
I am going to see the show house on May 10. I am interested to see it in person instead of the blown out, angled view.
I wish Sherry would find something else productive to do. But she can't drive, so I assume that severely limits her options - and John's options, as well.
She can drive. I think she has anxiety issues and chose not to drive, but around the time they got the new suv she said that she had been driving a little.
Really? I think she writes forever and ever and ever and then snaps out of it. I've also been lurking on GOMI about her since housegeek pointed me in their direction, and they seem to be of the same opinion (that her writing is really winded). That, and they say she posts too many selfies and too many pictures of the same thing at different angles, which I completely agree with.
I agree with munkii. There is something very insecure in her writing that grates on me too. I like what they did with this house, but in general I'm over it. I just don't know how much more she can do there. Plus, I really don't like her laundry area.
As far as YHL, I don't trust them. Is that horrible? I see an unmentioned motive or cause for this. The target line flopped? Sherry had a breakdown?
I don't trust them either. They have proven themselves to be less than honest, many times over. The YHL Liberty Hardware line at Target is certainly a flop, (I know that our store has a full display, and on GOMI, others say the say their locals stores have full stock too), but they seem to believe (or want everyone else to believe) that they have great ideas that Target is interested in. It really seemed like Target gave them the 'at this time we don't have a space for this, but maybe in the future...' blow off line though. Maybe they didn't understand that they were being blown off.
I think John is the one having a crisis, and is at a breaking point. His posts about projects have been sounding resentful, and a month or so ago he wrote that post wondering about how things were going to change after the baby was born and if he could handle it. He looks tired and has aged a lot in the past few years. He does the physically demanding projects by himself, he is the chief cook and bottle washer, chauffeur, and is the one responsible for getting Clara up, fed and dressed for school. And he has been doing freelance jobs. The man is exhausted and stressed out...I am sure that he wants Sherry to put down the phone/laptop and stop with the constant comment monitoring/FB/instagram/twitter addiction..
Post by emoflamingo on Apr 25, 2014 13:12:32 GMT -5
I went to look at my Target a week or two ago - no YHL line at all. Although, I'm not 100% surprised. They took a regular store and remodeled it to cram in groceries.
I thought making a living off of uninspired decor and poor quality diy was annoying enough, but making money by using their children for page clicks is so much worse.
I do hope they really can dial it back, but I don't believe that Sherry can do it. She needs attention, and I doubt that she will be able to kick the comment answering habit.
NAF, but NAH (Not A Fan, but Not A Hater) really. I don't like their writing, but sometimes a few of their ideas make me go looking for their original inspiration.
IMO they are "mommy-bloggers" or life bloggers as much as they are DIY home improvers, so I think that's really normal. Plus, at least they don't overshare much, they are more just like, look how cute our kid is in a hard hat sorts and not - kid, kid, kid, kid, oh yeah I spraypainted something, kid, kid, kid. Then again I have kids and am trying to DIY improve our house at the same time, so I feel like most of life is just kid, kid, kid, oh yeah let's fix that gaping hole, kid, kid, kid.
This is a huge topic of conversation on GOMI, because people feel like they do overshare about their kids and their lives. People have commented that they know more about Clara than they do their friends children or even the children of family members.
When they were on their book tour, many people posted about how crazy their fans were, and how they brought presents fro Clara and talked about her while they were in line as if they knew her. The way people talk about her in comments, and all of the comments on photos of her are kind of frightening. They are far too easy to locate, and don't do anything to provide any anonymity for her. This child has had no say in what photos of her are online, and even when she protested during a video, her mother did not respect her and stop taping her. When she googles her own name one day, how is she going to feel about what she finds there? Or what her friends or future employers will find.
I'm all for them getting to a good work/life balance. I'm just not sure that decreasing post count and doing fewer house projects is going to get them there.
I don't for one second believe that they're scaling back on work - just on the blog. They've said they're still going to do design stuff (lighting line and the stuff at Target), and they have a 2nd book deal already, plus stuff like the hospital makeover and Homerama... If they did content (in their own house or blog about the side projects) and let someone else do comments, giveaways, and sponsors, I bet things would feel more manageable. Plus hiring childcare would make a big difference. Between the blog, book, design gigs, homerama, and childcare, they're working 5 or 6 full-time jobs between the 2 of them. It's no wonder they're burnt out.
I'm all for them getting to a good work/life balance. I'm just not sure that decreasing post count and doing fewer house projects is going to get them there.
I don't for one second believe that they're scaling back on work - just on the blog. They've said they're still going to do design stuff (lighting line and the stuff at Target), and they have a 2nd book deal already, plus stuff like the hospital makeover and Homerama... If they did content (in their own house or blog about the side projects) and let someone else do comments, giveaways, and sponsors, I bet things would feel more manageable. Plus hiring childcare would make a big difference. Between the blog, book, design gigs, homerama, and childcare, they're working 5 or 6 full-time jobs between the 2 of them. It's no wonder they're burnt out.
SERIOUSLY. I definitely know people who have much less popular blogs/home based online businesses who hire both assistants and child care. Including people who have trouble delegating, but learn they need to do so in order to maintain their sanity.
I don't really read their blog, but is John responsible for the child care, large projects and his own freelancing because Sherry spends 14 hours a day on the site/comments/forum/posting?! That is insane. Half the point of having a home-based business or being self-employed is that you get to delegate things that are tedious and unimportant, freeing up your own time for 1) more important business things and 2) work-life balance. Hiring someone (or several someones) would also let them grow the business and bring in even more revenue, if they know how to continue to monetize their brand.
I think they have a lot of $$ stashed away, plenty of side opportunities, and a house where I feel they were moving way too fast to milk out enough content (if it really is their forever home). All of that combined with two little kids and it was a smart move to cut back for a bit on the blog.