Hey guys! I thought it would be fun to do a run down of some of my frequently asked (or maybe just frequently wondered about) questions about me, my house, and my page!

1. Who are you anyway? ; )

My name is Erin. I’m married to my high school sweetheart, Dusty, (for almost 18 years!) and have 3 kids, ages 13, 10, and 6! I live in a suburb north of Dallas, Texas.

I am not a native Texan! I was born in Washington state and grew up in Arizona. I’ve also lived in Virginia and California before moving here to Texas.

I was an elementary school teacher for several years before going to graduate school to become an audiologist. Though after 2 years of work in my audiology program, I decided to forgo finishing my graduate degree and instead became a full time stay at home mom.

2. How/why did you start your Instagram page?

After living in Texas for a year and renting a house, we decided to build a new house for our family. Two months before we were suppose to close on our home, circumstances surrounding the neighborhood we were building in forced us to pull out of our contract on the house. Right after that, we began building our second house in another neighborhood (yes, we are crazy!). We lived in that house for only a year before we decided we needed to again find a different neighborhood and also have more room for our family….so we started brand new home build #3 in a matter of 3 years!

Because I became so involved in the building process of those three homes…almost obsessing over every single design detail, I felt like I became somewhat of a self-taught expert on home design. Near the end of our 3rd house build, I decided to start sharing the building process with other home design and decor lovers like myself on Instagram. I saw it as a hobby, a way to connect with other people with shared interests and I loved the community that I found on IG.

Shortly after we finally moved into our home and we furnished it, my Instagram page started gaining traction as I posted nearly every day. I become very involved in decor groups on IG, commenting on other people’s pages, participating in group sharing/giveaways etc. Larger decor pages took notice of my page and shared my pictures which further helped to boost my page. And after about 9 months of consistent posting and working at it daily, I had a pretty active following!

It took another 6-9 months after that before I started working with companies that would gift me products in exchange for promoting them on my page. And then about 12 months after starting my page, I realized that my little Instagram page had become an actual business! I’ve now been doing this for over 3 years. We have had a lot of ups and downs in that time, with my husband’s job loss and various other hardships, but I’m so blessed that I am able to now completely support my family with this little page I started.

 

Ok now that you have my life story, here are some frequently asked questions about my home!

What is your paint color throughout your house?

Sherwin Williams Repose Gray at 50% strength. Other paint colors can be found here.

What are your wood floors?

My floors are engineered hardwood from Kentwood floors. The color is called Oak Iron Springs. We love our floors and define would get them again!

Where is your round dining table from? Why don’t you link the exact one?

I get this question sooooo much! I wish I could provide the exact link to it, but unfortunately it’s no longer available! I’m actually thinking about selling this table so I can get one that won’t cause people to be so frustrated when I can’t provide a source! 😉 I do provide some very similar tables that are the same style and size (60″). If I were to replace the one I have, I think I’d get this one…. {round dining table}

How do you clean your My Texas House by Orian ivory rugs?!

This is probably the most common question I get these days! These are the steps I take to keep our rugs and my house in general clean: 1) We do no shoes (but not strict about this). 2) I try to vacuum daily. 3) I spot clean immediately when there’s a stain using Folex cleaner 4) For a very soiled rug, I take it outside and hose it down.

 

Daily Cleaning Routine?

After the kids go to school, I try to straighten up the family room and kitchen…put all the pillows back on the sofa, clean up papers, toys, and riff raff, wipe down countertops, and put dishes in the dish washer. Run the vacuum around quickly and double check that the bathrooms aren’t trashed. Most days I don’t make my kids beds unless we have guests coming over (the kids are responsible for keeping their rooms clean and making their beds). I admittedly do not even make my own bed every day since I often sit on my bed to work on my lap top each day! But generally, following this daily routine keeps my house in pretty clean condition most of the time…it helps that my kids are a little older!

Why don’t you show the lighting in your bedroom?

It’s not that I hide it, but we have about 12-13 foot ceiling in there and you can really even see it hanging down. Also, it is a fan, so it’s not something that would add to the beauty of the picture. I wanted a chandelier in here, but my husband wanted a ceiling fan for circulation. Now, I actually love having the fan and unless I could find a really good floor fan, I won’t be changing it out for a chandelier.

Are you flowers real or fake in your pics?

It depends! Sometimes they are real like when I get a delivery from Petal Driven! But most of the time my flowers are faux! Listed below are some of my favorite faux flowers!

What are your kitchen counter tops?

They are quartzite and the color is Superwhite. They are a natural stone and do etch when you leave acid liquid on them, but we haven’t had too many issues with that! I wouldn’t recommend them for families with small kids or if you are generally just prone to lots of food and drink spills on your counter tops!

What kind of camera do you use and how do you edit your photos?

My page started out as a solely IG/social media type page so I’ve almost always just used my phone camera to take pics. Admittedly, my Nikon camera probably takes better pics, but for the ease of storing, editing, and posting my photos, I’ve found that my iPhone works the best! I don’t think anyone can really tell that I take my pics only on my phone!

Editing… I almost exclusively use the app called Snapseed to edit my pics. It takes some practice to use the app and figure out which functions work best for the photo style you’re going for. I like my pics all light and bright! I always increase brightness and decrease saturation on my pics (which helps reduce the “yellowness” of the pic). I sometimes use Lightroom to edit and have purchased a few preset packs….but I always end up coming back to Snapseed and individually edit each and every picture without any preset.

Ok….now to the other stuff….like beauty and makeup routines!

This was by far my most asked question the other day: How do you whiten your teeth?

I have pretty naturally white teeth, but I do use Crest White Strips to whiten them about once a month for several days.

How do you curl your hair?

I did some stories a few weeks ago on this! If you search my IG story highlights you’ll find it!

Tell us about your makeup! And can you do a tutorial?

I need to do a tutorial…I intend to do one and now that my makeup drawer isn’t a hot mess that will be easier! In the meantime, see below for all of the makeup products I use on a daily basis.

What products do you use for your skin care?

I use several different brands including Colleen Rothschild, TULA, and L’Occitane. See below for product links.

Do you have eye lash extensions?

No! I tried them years ago and thought I looked cartoonish with them on! 😉 I now just use Lash Boost by Rodan & Fields to help grow my lashes. And I use false eyelashes if I want a little more dramatic look!

Do you work out?

Sadly, no! I wish I did. I go through spurts of working out at a gym, but nothing consistent.

Do you diet? What do you eat on a daily basis?

Because I don’t work out, I do try to eat as well as I can. Most days I try to eat a low carb, high protein diet. I eat a lot of lean meats (mostly chicken, but also fish) and survive on lots and lots of salads. I like to eat protein bars for extra energy and try to eat healthy snacks like nuts, yogurt, and fruit.

If I splurge, which I definitely do!… my favorite guilty pleasure is either turkey sandwiches with the best bread (yes, Sandwiches are my favorite food…like Joey from Friends! ) or donuts! I also am a candy-lover so I have to stay away from it as much as I can!

Where is your favorite store to buy decor and furniture?

My favorite online store is Wayfair. I also love Pottery Barn and of course, Target!

Ok, I think I’ll stop there! If you have any additional questions feel free to comment below and I’ll try my best to answer! Thanks for stopping by!

Please click here for my privacy policy and disclosures.