At the risk of sounding totally cheesy, we were a little overdue for one of these. Nearly nine months overdue. It’s Q + A day!
Sometimes, it’s easy to get caught up in the lists and stuff and tutorials and all of the things in the every day. But today, we just wanted to connect with you in this little post. We’ll both be nearby, answering comments and questions in the section below… so ask away! Because our favorite part about all of this? Is connecting with you.
Maybe we can answer a question for you about one of our spaces. Or you’re wondering where to find something. Or what exactly it is that we do… or how on earth you say Jamin’s name? From blogging to parenting to where-on-earth-we-found-that-fill-in-the-blank, we’ll be answering any questions you may have and we look forward to it!
The possibilities are endless, y’all.
Ask away! We’d love to hear!
April says
I know you said you are planning to move to Nashville once your house sells and I know you mentioned Jamin is in ministry. Is the plan for him to do ministry in Nashville? Will you continue to blog once you move? What part of Nashville would you most like to live in? I live 2 hours outside of Nashville (western middle TN).
ashley @ the handmade home says
Hey April!
Thanks so much for dropping by today! Jamin resigned from his job 9 months ago, and he now works full time on the site {sometimes in posts, but more side by side and behind the scenes with all the work no one else sees} with me. We decided it was time to make the leap, and have never looked back. ;} We shared about it here – https://www.thehandmadehome.net/2014/06/push/ We have no plans to go back into a paid form of ministry, and love what we do now. We wish to grow our brand and our business, and most certainly will continue to write here, as well. Nashville is the perfect place for what we envision, and we have family there. My parents are also relocating with us, as they decided it was time to make a change as well. ;}
We’re currently looking at something in the Williamson county area, and while we are still dreaming of our little red barn, we’re thinking in terms of a bit of a fixer upper, in the meantime. ;} Since we’ll be closer, we hope to meet you one day!
Anna says
I don’t have any questions, but just wanted to thank you for all that you do. I’ve learned so much on your site and you are just so relatable and genuine. Thank you!
ashley @ the handmade home says
Thank you so much, Anna! Too sweet!
Leslie says
I recently found pictures of the planter boxes you did outside of your house. Your post said you realized in hindsight that they were a mistake. Could you tell me why you felt that way? I really loved them and want my husband to make them, but not if there was some sort of problem with them. Also, what were they made out of? Cedar?
ashley @ the handmade home says
Hey Leslie! Yes, we decided to move them because in retrospect, they were too close to our house. ;} Here’s the how to here and a recent addition here I hope that helps! ;} We have just loved them! They are made out of cedar. ;}
Kathleen says
Hi there! I don’t have a question either, just wanted to tell you how much I love your blog and look forward to reading your posts. You really have inspired us to make some changes in our home to make it more “ours” and make it work better for us. Thanks in part to your posts on the subject, we took the plunge last week and painted our formerly wood kitchen cabinets white! (Chantilly Lace, by the way) đ We were nervous about the change but we have always dreamed of a white kitchen so we decided to go for it and we LOVE it! So thanks for the encouragement! đ Best of luck with your move!
ashley @ the handmade home says
Awesome Kathleen! SO happy for you guys! I love it!!! It’s always worth the change! SO excited for you! ;} Thank you for your kind words.
bruni says
Hi Ashley,
I’d love to know where you purchased 2 decor items in your home. The first is the beautiful eggs/nest artwork and the second is a glass bust I believe I caught sight of in one of your posts, but, can’t seem to find in any of your pics under “our spaces”. I love both pieces and although not sure I can afford the artwork, a girl can always dream.
Thanks for sharing all you do. Love your style!!
ashley @ the handmade home says
Hey Bruni! Thanks so much for stopping by! The eggs panting was done by me, and we were offering stretched canvas reproductions on our site, as well as prints, but it didn’t really work out. We are currently investigating a way to bring them back to readers in the future again. The glass bust is actually from La-Z-Boy, {the design dash event we participated in} but I am not sure they carry it anymore and I do not know the name of the actual designer – you can see it in our bedroom here https://www.thehandmadehome.net/2014/09/bedroom-reveal/ thanks so much! ;}
bruni says
OMG, even more impressive…you’re the artist??!! If you start selling the artwork again, please let me know. Thanks for the information.
Melissa Kaiserman says
Hi, Ashley & Jamin! I was wondering whether you have plans to go mobile-friendly. I know you have a ton on your plates right now, but I love your site and you’ve worked so hard on your branding that it would be so sad to see your Google ranking affected. And it would also be great to be able to browse on mobile without the sliding and zooming that are required to be able to read the fonts and navigate different areas of your site. đ
jamin says
Hey Melissa,
Great question. If you’ve been reading on a mobile browser the last six months you have probably noticed our site being mobile one day and not the next. We’ve been testing out some different platforms looking for the right ad partners and style for what we wanted. So we do have plans on going fully mobile, but are ironing out all the details still. We are close to finding the right partner, fingers crossed. Thanks for reading and the great question!
Melissa Kaiserman says
Awesome! I almost always read on my laptop and have only had a smart phone for the past two months (late adopter!), so I’ve actually never experienced it in the intermittent mobile responsive states. I don’t envy you having to make those changes & decisions and am glad to hear you’ve made headway!
KatieP says
Do you sleep?
But seriously…It seems like you guys are constantly creating and managing your household and business. How to you balance it all?
ashley @ the handmade home says
Hey Katie!
Every time someone asks this, I think I probably give a different answer, because I don’t know ;} Someone enlightened me a few years ago when she said there’s no such thing as balance. At least in the ideal of confusing balance with perfection… because we are far from it! We’re just getting it done, most days. I try to block off sections of time when I can write, and we block of sections of time where we can meet about stuff, and we both handle things around the house so that’s a HUGE help because now Jamin is full time over here. And we both do school… otherwise we just couldn’t have done it with three littles this year, full time. But we do what we do when we can, and we also really make ourselves take time off and time to breathe, too. Because it’s easy to blur the lines with working too much when you love it so, and you’re doing it from home ;} That may not really help. But I went to bed at nine last night because I absolutely must have my sleep, and when I don’t get enough, everyone knows!
Candice says
We are Thiiiiis close to building a table for our deck from an old door. Bought the door today! Question- didn’t you have some bright blue metal chairs from World Market (with the slightly rounded backs) at your table? I can’t find them now on your site. Are they comfortable without cushions and did you find that they sit at the right height for the table?? Just want to be sure before I splurge for 6 of them. (Crushing on the yellow ones!) Thank you so much!
ashley @ the handmade home says
Hey Candice! Yes! We say go for it! We had some heavier ones around the table, but they rusted out. We love these instead! I shared them here if you’d like another glimpse! ;} We use pillows for the backs just because. But they’re fine without. It just depends on what you prefer!
Esther says
So, how do you say Jamin’s name? I have a son named Jamin (he’s 42) and we got his name from the Bible (Neh 8:7). Our pastor pronounced it with a long A so that is how we say it.
ashley @ the handmade home says
Yes! His was found by his Mom in a Bible verse – not sure which one. ;} But Long A! {Jay-men} Jamins are very far and few in between! Love it.
Beth M. says
I’m so excited to hear what y’all will be doing in Nashville, and even more excited that you’re looking in Williamson County! We live in the Grassland area, and you can’t beat the schools and community. I love driving by cows and horses every day! So, no questions here, just excitement for you!
ashley @ the handmade home says
Thanks so much, Beth! So sweet. We will have to check it out! ;}
Brooke says
I’m still so tickled I’ve found your site and that you are always so willing to share info and help the rest of us make our homes special. THANK YOU!! <3 I was wondering where you got your rusty metal M on your back patio area? It's super awesome and our last name starts with M too! đ xoxo Brooke
ashley @ the handmade home says
Hey Brooke! It is actually from the big Nashville Flea Market – at the fairgrounds they have once a month there. Apparently the dude is still there because the letters have still been popping up from various people we know. I hope that helps! Maybe not if you don’t live near there đ