I started blogging back in January 2008. It seems like a lifetime ago compared to today! Needless to say blogging looked very different back then. There were only a few hundred DIY/home bloggers as compared to hundreds of thousands. Pinterest didn’t exist and most creatives blogged purely and simply for the love and passion of it all. Money was not the motivator and our payment came in the number of positive comments a post received. Since I had been sewing together cloth napkins to make pillow covers and hot-gluing curtains since my college days in the ’90’s, I was ecstatic to find other kindred spirits who embraced my thrifty DIY decorating ideals! Some of the first DIY/home bloggers I found are to this day the bloggers who inspire me the most. One of them being MyQuillyn Smith, better known as The Nester.
Myquillyn has always preached the message that “It Doesn’t Have to be Perfect to be Beautiful”. It is a message that resonated deep within my heart back in 2008 and is a message that is desperately needed today. In our Pinterest-perfect culture that has raised the bar so high that few feel worthy, we NEED to reminded that perfection isn’t relatable and kills our connections with others.
Imperfections are important in our life and our home because they put people at ease. -Myquillyn Smith
My blog’s tagline has always been “Creating beauty out of chaos one story at a time”. Like many (most?) of you, I live in a busy chaotic household with dogs, and kids, and overwhelming mess. My home is far from perfect, but I adore it. I embrace my home’s imperfections and do my best to make it what it is…our safe place, our nest, our backdrop to life.
Myquillyn’s new book The Nesting Place will give you the courage to take risks within your home and transform it into a place that’s truly your own. Her quirky down-to-earth style, her encouragement to embrace all of yourself, and her overall relatable beauty shine through in this book. I think we all need this book in our lives to remind ourselves WHY we strive to create imperfect beauty in the home! (Are you wondering why? Read the book to be reminded!) You can order it on Amazon here (affiliate link) or find it at several popular retail locations where books are sold.
I am so excited and proud of Myquillyn and am honored to host a giveaway of The Nesting Place to THREE lucky (U.S. only) winners! To enter, please follow the prompts in the rafflecopter widget below. Good luck and remember that It Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect to Be Beautiful! #idhtbptbb
inspired!
…..if anyone’s nest needs a professional’s help-it is mine…….
Would love to read this book! Not one room in my house is perfect, but I love it anyway. The happiness is in the imperfections. Thanks for hosting such a wonderful giveaway!
I have a bedroom that needs help. I would love to read this book.
Hi from Georgia!!!
I would love a copy of your book!
I often have to remind myself that it DOESN’T need to perfect to be beautiful….when it comes to my house, my body, my life. This is a great giveaway. Thanks Beth!
My home is FAR from perfect but I’m finding the joy in the journey more than the outcome. After all… it is only our temporary home and we can’t take it with us when we leave.
Oh my goodness, I would love that book! I really love the idea behind it!
Right now the top of the kitchen hood over the stove is covered in dust and probably some grease. But it’s perfect to me because right there in my grandson’s printing it says “xxxxxx was here” 🙂
I would love to warm my nest up with your beautiful book…I have enjoyed following you for about nine months and look forward to your blog…thank you
This book sounds like a great book. I often need to remind myself that we live here and it won’t be perfect and that is ok. Thanks for the chance.
I would so love to win this book!
My dog is the most perfect thing about our household. She always greets me at the door, is so happy when I make mistakes and loves house cleaning day! What a blessing.
Thanks for the giveaway! The imperfections of my home are what make it MINE!
My boyfriend and I moved in together and we’re still looking for our joint decorating style, and it’s as if we can’t decorate anything until we come up with it. I think this book would help remind us that our space will always be evolving, and perfect in its imperfections.
This book looks so interesting. We all need this reminder.
I love my little white desk (http://instagram.com/p/moDAL8wky1/#) even though I have no chair for it yet!
This book looks wonderful! I need it 🙂
My set of three pottery canisters! I bought them at a craft fair long before I got married and had kids and my kids have dropped the covers and chipped them but I refuse to give them up!
A homemade poster … a bit of smudging, but it’s beautiful!
Perfection is a pedestal I will never stand upon however my home is always open and my family and friends know they are always welcome and THAT is what living is about in my book!
Absolutely nothing in my house is perfect! Really need to win this book and understand the quest to be perfect is a mirage, an unattainable image that is portrayed by all of us, in one way or another, and represents none of us.
Cannot wait to explore this book!
Us. 🙂
My flower beds. I don’t have the time, money or energy to do them the ‘right’ way but they are still full of beauty & I love them.
My flower beds – I don’t have the time, money or energy to do them perfectly, they’re sorely neglected but full of beauty & I love them.
I’m no where near perfect but I have lots of plans to turn a junk room into a play room for my grandkids.
our small kitchen / studio / office / dinning room. it’s far from perfect or large in this case, but it’s where we gather. that’s why i love it.
Wow, this book sounds like JUST what a perfectionist like me could use!
We’re renting a home with A LOT of imperfections, many of which were tough for us to adapt to when we first moved in (walls that leak out the AC in the summer, cracks that let in critters, old electric wiring, broken tile floors, missing window cranks), but we’ve slowly but surely made our house a home. And I don’t see the imperfections as vividly anymore. I see past them to the beauty of the moments we’ve shared here and the ways we’ve thought creatively to decorate and build a life for ourselves here. And whereas a year ago, we wanted to buy a home and move out, now we’re hunkering down and enjoying this little place for all it is. Plus, we have the best view in the world being on a lake…so we really have SO much to be thankful for!
Wow, didn’t plan on writing that much; but your post brought it out in me I suppose. Thanks, Beth!
Looking forward to reading this book! Hopefully a won copy, wheee! 🙂
Love this book!
Nothing in my house is perfect, but I love everything about it! There isn’t a room we haven’t touched since buying the house 7 1/2 years ago and there are a million memories here. It’s going to break my heart when we have to move.
Nothing in our house is perfect but I love it all because we live here with 3 beautiful babies!
I don’t know of anything in my house that is perfect! We live here and enjoy our home, so it can’t really be perfect. But, my craft room is far from perfect and I love it.
id love the book
Beth – I LOVE this… it’s actually the theme of my first ever blog post on Monday!
I have always admired Nester and you as well, your honestly and always being true. I would love to get my hands on the book. When I was reading I didn’t realize it was for a giveaway and I was just about to head over to amazon and put it in the cart, keeping my fingers crossed.
Kristin
Thanks for this reminder! I want my home to be a safe place first for my family to relax in.
nothing is perfect, but i love it all. it’s comfy, cozy, lived in and US. working on decorating the master bedroom finally, so that is probably the least perfect space at the moment. 🙂
I love much of my old furniture.
Love her! Great giveaway!!
My housekeeping is imperfect…there are fur balls and dust bunnies in the corners and crumbs on the counters, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!
So good to remember all this as we set up housekeeping anew in our bayside retirement apartment! Thanx much, Beth..
I would love to read this book. Maybe it would help be stress less over the house!
I would love to win this – the title is my mantra! Thanks for the opportunity!
Love reading anything from the Nester! Would love to win this!
My house is a constant work in progress but i love it…most of the time. from the random attempts to paint the diningroom to the fun playroom.
My whole house is a mod-podge of imperfection! I love it most days!
I am imperfect too. Nice to have a book to go along.
My kitchen is pretty, but set up oddly. It’s a daily project to try to find places for odd sized things like blenders and toasters.
I love our weedy backyard. It needs some work but it’s the first time we’ve ever had a yard to enjoy : ]
My home is very lived in with personal touches throughout. I would love to learn from this book!
I really appreciate being reminded that my home does not have to be perfect to be beautiful! I always pressure myself to keep my little apartment tidy all.the.time! And it just isn’t doable… I’ve been trying really hard to remind myself that our home is meant to be LIVED IN, not on display for the odd guest who walks through its doors… Thank you for the reminder and for letting me know that I am not alone! Excited to read this book!!
We gutted our home 26 years ago. So now we really need to start redoing some of the areas. I would love to read & look through the book to help me get some new ideas 🙂
Once I hit kid number three perfection went out the door. I only wish I could have released it with my first two. And after kid number four, well, it was just about safety by that time!
Love The Nester!
My house is far from perfect. Im always trying to find something to change around.
This book sounds like something I really need to read, especially since I am a perfectionist!
I love my toddler’s artwork hung up crookedly at his height with scotch tape. He’s so proud to hang it on the wall himself! 🙂
We live in a small apartment with many imperfections (bland walls I can’t paint, awkward closets, small rooms) but I love it because it presents a challenge. I love that there are other bloggers out there who (are better at diy decorating than me) love the challenge as much as me that I can glean ideas from!
My little apartment is far from “perfect” but it has been perfect for sheltering us, keeping us cozy, and being a wonderful first home to cherish! I have learned that the most important thing is to make a home your OWN.
Looking forward to reading this book. Thanks Beth!
I love the smears on my kitchen walls because it means I have special little people running through my home. 🙂
My home is far from perfect but I love the life we live here. I love the open floor plan and the wall we painted Gypsy Teal.:)
My boyfriend’s stuff! I love him, but not his aesthetic. We compromise so we can both be happy while combining our things.
I love my boy’s rooms. They are far from perfect, and often chaotic, but I love them because my boys really use/ live in them!
I’m using my grandmothers antique dresser as my dining room sideboard… It’s covered in scratches and signs of wear, but I think of her every time I open one of it’s sticky drawers.
I love our powder room. It’s not perfect by a long shot, but it’s quaint and that’s just my style. Charm Bracelet Diva {at Home}
I just (as in last weekend) moved into my new apartment. It’s tiny, and it’s not perfect by any means. Looking at things on Pinterest has been both fun and daunting, and it’s good to be reminded that my place doesn’t have to be Pinterest-worthy to be a beautiful space that is my own!
would love to read this.
Not a single room is “finished” as far as decorating, but it’s happy and that’s just fine!
My screened porch…old carpet & holes in the screens. But there’s a swing and my kids and I love to sit out there and enjoy the breeze!
My home is far from perfect. We purchased this home after hurricane Katrina, not because we loved it but because we needed a place to live. 9 years later I am still trying to make it a home. I still have pictures to be hung, but I am making progress. I recently painted the living and dining room and kitchen. That has made a BIG difference. So we are still in the process of making it ours.
the only perfect thing in my home are the people that fill it. It is what makes a home after all.
I would love to read this book! My house is far from perfect but I’m trying to show it as much love as I can.
Nothing should ever be perfect especially your home. A home is for love and memories, not to be a museum.
I love my white slipcovered sofas even though the are frequently sporting stains from kids or pets.
Nothing in my home is perfect! This mantra of “It doesn’t have to be perfect to be beauatiful” has kept my sanity in many situations.
My family is the only perfect thing in my house!! My style is a little of this and that mixed with old and new…I’m ok with it too.