"Behind the Designer Feature"

I've just returned from a glorious weekend at High Point Market, followed by a quick trip to Chicago for the day job.   Now I'm putting the finishing touches on my latest project that will be installed this weekend.  Busy, busy!

I thought I'd pop in to share with you a recent feature on a fellow Charlotte creative's blog. 

Several weeks ago I was approached by Anne Neilson of Anne Neilson Fine Art Gallery here in Charlotte.  She's a friend and follower on social media and was interested in interviewing me on her blog.  I graciously agreed and promptly provided her with some details about my business, my background and really my life as a whole.  She and her team did a fabulous job pulling the whole post together and I'd be remiss if I didn't share it with you. 

Head over to the blog and check it out.  There are lots of fun tidbits and pretty pictures!!

CLICK HERE

CBS Charlotte Feature: Decorating on a Budget

Hi all!  It's be a minute since I posted an entry, but I'm back. I actually just returned from a whirlwind trip home and I'm looking forward to kicking off my birthday week today. Let the celebrations begin!!

Speaking of celebrating, it was pretty cool to come home to a feature article on the CBS Charlotte website's Ask a Charlotte Expert column.  About a month or so ago, I received a request for an interview where I would share my tips for decorating on a budget.  Well, that story ran yesterday.  Yay!

You can read the entire article HERE. It also ran on the WPEG Power 98 website in the Best of Charlotte section.  You won't want to miss my no fail, inexpensive ways to update your home.  Leave me a comment there and be sure to share the post on social media.

Until next time....

Extra! Extra!

In the midst of the craziness that is an interior design install, I received a tweet from a social media friend.  I recall getting the alert, but honestly was so busy I dismissed it.  When things finally settled down and I returned home, I saw where this person had tweeted, "Just read an awesome article in the Charlotte Post about Dwell by Cheryl!"  Say what?  I'm sure I don't have to tell you that I immediately went to The Charlotte Post's website to check it out.

Much to my delight, they'd written a pretty lengthy feature on yours truly.  I'd done an interivew with the paper during the week leading up to the Habitat ReStore ReNew event.  However, when it didn't run that week, I assumed it hadn't made the cut.  I was wrong.  You can read the entire article HERE.

 

Thankfully, I finally tracked down a few.  My Mom has me on a mission.

And if that weren't enough, as I was scrolling through my Instagram feed on Monday I noticed my living room in a Cutting Edge Stencils post. 

 

I then linked to their website where I found this!

 

 

Yep, that's me.  Apparently, they selected my living room to use in their cookie style comparison.  Pretty funny actually.  Apparently my style is like a Tagalong Girl Scout Cookie.  Hey, works for me.  Although I'm a total Samoas girl, I do like what they said.

"Tagalong: Does your mouth water at the thought of peanut butter sandwiched between rich chocolate coatings? Then we have you pinpointed as cozy, relaxed, and warm. When it comes to decorating, you enjoy a comfortable setting with a pretty pattern and an inviting seating arrangement. We’d say Cheryl, the interior designer from Dwell by Cheryl, nailed it with her Heritage Grill stenciled living room." - See more HERE

And just to see if I'd recieved any other mentions on the site, I threw dwell by cheryl in the search bar and found out there was indeed another post I knew nothing about. 

Wow! Yeah that's my clien'ts backsplash!  You can see the entire post HERE.
Looks like my Featured page just got a little longer and I'm loving it!  Happy Hump Day!

"Celebrating Small Victories"

In this world of blogging, you have to celebrate the small victories.  The truth is, there are a thousands of people out there on the World Wide Web (as my Mom calls it) that are talking about the exact same thing I am.  Sometimes it’s a struggle to even feel the need to keep blogging  You can easily get sucked into the dark hole of thinking, “I don’t have enough followers”, “I don’t have the right connections”, or even feeling like your content isn’t as fresh or as sexy as your fellow design bloggers. 

 

I often have to remind myself that when I started this blog, my aspiration was not to become a professional blogger (yep, they exist), but to use this as a platform to share my love for interior design and to establish brand recognition for Dwell by Cheryl Interiors.  Even still, it’s hard when you’re constantly viewing other blogs and you see their national partnerships, magazine features, book deals and media exposure.  Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely grateful for all of the blessings I've received related to this venture, but there is the tendency to compare yourself to others.  Nevertheless, I keep my eyes on MY prize, which is developing my skills as a designer and doing what I know God has gifted me to do.  That said, when you have even a small victory, it’s worth celebrating.  

 

Yesterday while visiting one of my favorite blogs to find the link for a recent post on house plants, I noticed that she had published her monthly Before and After link party.  A link party is basically an opportunity that a blogger provides for other bloggers to link their blog post/projects on a published post.  Linking up, as it's called, simply provides added exposure.  I typically participate in the Thrifty Decor Chick's Before and After link party each month.  However as I just happen to land on her page yesterday, I scrolled through only to see that I was one of her featured projects.  Now, just to give you a little perspective, Thrifty Decor Chick has over 99,000 followers through Google Friend Connect alone.  Insane!  She was blogging way before blogging was cool, and her blog is one of my favorites. She's the master of DIY.  Needless to say, when I saw that out of the 300 bloggers that linked projects last month, she chose mine as one of seven to feature, I was floored.  I may have even squealed.  You can check out the full post HERE.
 

In celebration of this feature and just as a reminder, I'm sharing some never seen before images from the project.  

 

 

 

So grateful for all of the small victories like this one, that reinforce the fact that I'm on the right track.  Have a great day!