Touring Through Blogland

Hi ya'll! Welcome to the Decorating Duchess. My name is Alyssa. Whether you are an old friend and follower or are just visiting for the first time, I'm so happy you're here.



With my boys Jackson and Gage

 I don't usually do tours so I'm new at this, but I couldn't say no when my friend Christine at Little Brags Blog invited me to join in. She is by far the most friendly blogger I have "met" and has been very encouraging to me. Her blog always makes me smile especially when she adds in that cute little bunny of hers. She has a very warm rustic style in her design which I, of course, appreciate. Be sure to stop by there too on your tour!

So let's get started. As a part of the tour I am supposed to answer a few questions. Here goes...

1. What am I working on?

More like what am I not working on. My entire house is always being tweaked and is constantly a work in progress... as well as my brother's house and my mother's house and the occasional friend's house. Right now ,though, my focus is on my bedroom and my closet. So you'll see a lot of posts coming referring to those areas of the house.

Master Bedroom in progress

Closet in progress

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I know there are a lot of decorating blogs out there but there are also just as many different design styles. My style is a mixture of rustic warm elements. I like to call it Tex-Mex. Because I live in South/Central Texas, I am influenced by all of the cultures around me from Spanish Missions to rustic ranches and everything in between. I even mix in some more modern influences from Austin and Houston.

Laundry Room Remodel

 I tend to do a lot of DIY and often it's a project that I'm just making up that I've never done before. Therefore, I am able to share the mistakes as well as the things that work. I'm assuming if you're looking at my blog to learn a DIY that you haven't done it before either. So, maybe I'll spare you some headaches that I had when doing it!


Pantry Remodel

3. Why do I write/create what I do?

As with many other things that I do, I literally woke up one morning and thought, "I'm going to start a blog today." So I "googled" blogging and just got started. Oddly enough, I had never even read a blog before that, but had an idea of what they were all about.  I used to decorate professionally and once my kids were born, I decided that I wanted to be home with the them full time. What I didn't realize is that you just can't hold back a passion to do something that you love. So, of course, I still continued to decorate for myself and close friends and family here and there. Sharing the projects that I do is really just a fun hobby for me. It allows me to unite with like minded people and helps keep me connected to the world while still being home with the kids.

4. How does your writing/creating process work?

Basically, I would be doing all of the projects that I do , with or without the blog. With it, I just need to make sure that I document everything and take pictures during my progress. (Which sometimes I forget to do because I get so wrapped up in something!) Once I complete a project, most of the work is already done in writing the blog. I know more professional bloggers take the time to "plan out" future posts but I pretty much wing it. I have found that you just can't force writing. It has to be something natural for me, something that I'm "ready" to talk about for it to work.

Gage's room

Port Aransas House (Cowabungalow)

As a part of the tour, I wanted to share three other bloggers that you may not know.

First of all, visit Kelly @ http://www.thelilypadcottage.com/. She shares great DIY's, recipes and the decorating of her charming lake house.

Secondly, Tricia @ http://littlecottageonthepond.blogspot.com/p/tour-little-cottage-on-pond.html. This is a direct link to her cottage house tour. You won't be disappointed if you love a warm neutral cottage look.

Lastly, I like to visit Becky @ http://vintage541.blogspot.com/ when I want to get my virtual flea market fix. She is in to junkin', fixing up and repurposing old treasures.

 Thank you again for visiting. If you think you might enjoy some of my future posts, you can have them sent right to your email for free and I promise that your address won't be used for anything else!  For more information on my blog, you can check out the search bar above or my tabs section at the top. Thanks!