Truthful Wednesdays: Keeping Up With The Jones, A Blogger’s Office

While there are a MILLION things that I love about being a style blogger, there is one thing I have come to hate and that is the need to constantly project a lifestyle of perfection. When I first started this journey, I was obsessed with everything that all of the top blossoming blogger gals had. A killer luxury car, a stunning diamond (and I love my engagement ring), a Cannon camera with not ONE, but THREE lenses, a million pairs of designer shoes…and oh, the most perfect blogger office. For nearly a year, I really struggled with the fact that I did not have some of these more fancier things and that my lack of having them would prevent me from accomplishing my dream of being a blogger. In fact, it was this obsession with MATERIAL THINGS (as well as transistion in our personal finances) that led to a 120-day shopping fast. And yes, I lasted the entire 120 days. It was by far the most liberating experience and enabled me to reshape the focus and mission of my blog, as I began the rebranding process during Year 2.

When you begin to pursue a career as a creative, one of the first things you will realize that you “ACTUALLY” need is an office or a creative corner of some sort. Between the the outfit planning, the 24/7 packages and content mapping, it is incredibly nice to have everything semi-centralized.

When I made the decision to actually dedicate a space in my home for my blogging creative juices, I found myself dealing with those old emotions of not having the mega fancy house like Rachel Parcell (gah, I really do love her) and being able to have an office in my closet. Yes, this rockstar has an office in her closet and it is fabulous. After tirelessly comparing myself to her and others, I gave myself a little pep-talk about being REALISTIC. And realistically speaking, Jason and I lived in a spacious 2 bedroom apartment that we have managed to fill up rather quickly and there was LITERALLY only one corner in our apartment that wasn’t being occupied. So, without much to think about, I decided to make that my “blog spot.” After  I accepted my reality and gave my little cornor of the world some much needed TLC, it dramatically improved my ability and desire to blog.

Rachel’s Magical Fashion Blogger Office/Closet || Image Source: Pink Peonies

Ok, you may be thinking at this point, “Candace just get to the point.” So, I will.

1.  Having a creative spot is essential! Blogging requires every ounce of creativity in your human body and having a little “blog spot” will increase both your creativity and productivity.

2. As you begin to develop your little corner in the world, try not to be influenced by what every other famous blogger has! You are YOU with your own life and your own reality. The sooner you can accept that, this journey will be a thousand times less painful. One of my favorite quotes is by Arthur Ashe and I live by it daily: “Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can.” I encourage you to do just that.

3. Going through this process of self-acceptance will lead to some beautiful experiences! SHARE those experiences with your readers. Your followers are not only following you because they like your style, but they feel connected to you personally in some aspect. Don’t be afraid to share some of those more transparent moments with them…you never know how it will inspire them or others who later discover your style blog.

4. One of the best things about accepting your circumstances and doing what you can is the GROWTH. When you work hard with what you have, growth naturally follows suit. For me, my tiny cornor of the apartment recently transitioned into what I like to call my “BIG GIRL” office and I absolutely love it. However, I felt confident that I would have the appreciation that I do have if it wasn’t for my two years in the corner with a not so spectular view.

Then (2014 blogging spot)  

Now (2016 office spot)

As you begin this process of developing your creative office space, remember this:

“Start where you are, use what you have and do what you can.” 

P.S. There’s no doubt about it, building a creative corner is pretty expensive. Between the furniture, desk accesorries, wall accents, things end up costing a small fortunate (you’ll find some of my office favorites down below). In hope of defraying that cost for one of YOU, I’ve teamed up with an amazing group of bloggers to give YOU a chance to win $550 in PayPal Cash!

Simply enter below by completing the rafflecopter.
You’ll receive one entry per completion.This giveaway is open internationally and runs until 8/31. Winner will be announced here. Good Luck!  

a Rafflecopter giveaway