5-Minute Fixes For Your Desperately Dodgy Décor

Well, well. It seems last week’s experiment went down rather well. Apparently I am more popular as a fake beauty blogger than a truthful bookish one.

Predictably, this went straight to my head. I immediately went out and demanded €10,000 worth of free products on the back of my overwhelming success.

I didn’t get any, although the fact that I was in a garden centre at the time might have had something to do with it. But like all the best bloggers, I remain undaunted. I merely need to focus more, expanding my new all-encompassing Swiss Army Tara Superblogger strategy to work in the areas which can serve me best.

And right now, the paintwork in my abode is looking a bit shabby, if truth be told. So with this in mind, I have turned myself into a Lifestyle blogger. This week, I’m talking home decorating. Read it, and sweep.

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You all know how much work I put into my blogging space, as you’ve seen it change over the years. When I think back to my first vlogs all those months ago, I totally cringe! The lighting is terrible, I look like I have a double chin even though I totally haven’t and never did, there are tatty posters and cards on the wall behind me, not a fresh flower in sight, and it generally looks like the badly-lit bedroom of a dorky teenager who’s about to go downstairs for totally boring food that you would rather eat than Instagram.

At first I just made little changes here, and there… until I got to do the big reveal at the end of last year of my new workspace – and the gasps of delight could be heard all around the world!

I had so much fun planning and working with the amazing interior designers from One Hundred Percent Staged Inc. (please see website for details) from the concept stage right through to final implementation… there were so many workmen in the house and parked on the street outside for that month I thought the neighbours were going to start a protest march!!

I was SO excited to take you into the space where I spend so much time writing and working on the blog that I’m lucky enough to have you all read each and every morning (I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!).

I could only hope you’d all love it as much as I did.

By the time I was ramping up the online campaign for the Big Reveal, 9 days before completion, I was so excited I broke out into a stress rash.

They say that one of the most stressful things you’ll ever do is move house – I totally get that now, even though I wasn’t technically moving and I was only redecorating half of one room.

But it was all so worth it. 300,000 people worldwide tuned in for my first collage of photos, which I revealed on every social media platform simultaneously at 11am on the last Friday in February.

I don’t mind being totally honest here and telling you how glad I was I got it so right when I saw the overwhelmingly positive response! My workspace was the #1 trending topic on Twitter for that whole week, and WTF Magazine did a 6-page spread in their semi-annual ‘New Year, New You’ edition. #DécorDynamite #CrushedIt

The experience inspired me to do lot more in home décor blogging, resulting in a whole new vlog which picked up 200,000 subscribers within the first week. The most popular posts on this vlog are without fail the close-ups of design details which also feature a pair of shoes with one on its side. More of these little tips and tricks later.

These days I’m all about rose gold – I know, controversial, right?! For so long I had silver EVERYTHING, but I guess it’s all about maturing and needing that touch of vintage.

My favourite things right now are my rose gold ceiling pendant light, rose gold bedframe and rose gold mirrored walls.

See online for this week’s stockists – I get most of my stuff on permanent loan because of tax issues, but you can trust me that it’s worth the investment in luxury when you totally have a vision.

Top 10 Things I’ve Learned From Being Featured On All The Best Interior Design Sites

1. Imperfect is beautiful – but only when done 100% right.
2. Just like fitness is better with personal trainers, pictures are better with personal framers.
3. An interior designer is worth their own weight in rose gold.
4. Nothing shows the haters your success like a pristine white couch.
5. Children don’t go with the top seasonal trends – especially if there’s a lot of white involved. I don’t have kids yet, but when I do, they’ll have their own rooms they can trash however they like. The rest of the rooms will be mine!
6. Get real about your bed. It’s not styled correctly unless you’ve piled up so many pillows that it looks like it takes forever to get into it.
7. ALWAYS hire a professional stage manager when you’re posting reveals of your new look. The proper angle of the overturned shoe on the floor, or that artfully arranged pen and paper left carelessly on the desk, is vital to the success of your design scheme.
8. Nothing looks more authentic for your big reveal than hand-distressed chalk-painted furniture with a brand-new vintage vase of fake wildflowers. Add some homemade bread and cheese from your local deli, and you’re bang on trend.
9. Yes you too can do a killer redesign, even if you don’t get as much free stuff as I do! Partner up with local homeware stores and offer them a brand bonanza. They’ll be queueing up to deliver designer furniture and ornaments to your door.
10. If you don’t have the time or money to do your own photo shoot in your own home, borrow someone else’s. Why waste good décor on someone who doesn’t have the online following to do it justice?

And that’s all, folks! Next week, I’ll be discussing Five-Minute Fixes For Your Desperately Dodgy Décor, where I’ll be giving #HotTips on repurposing old wedding dresses for on-trend sofas; this season’s on-fire kitchen trend (clue: it’s back to basics with the living room fireplace!); and the top 27 reasons for not suspending luxury brand ski equipment over your bed.