17 “Changes” on The DIY Playbook in 2017


Can you tell by now that we love a good list?! Truth be told, we’re pretty much addicted to lists and literally can’t function without one reminding us of what needs to get done. (Pretty sad, we know!) There’s just something about checking off each item on the our to-do lists that gives us instant gratification and just enough motivation to keep on working!travel-carmel-bridget-casey-rookies-fashion-dress

So it’s probably no surprise that when we sit down for our quarterly meetings, we make lists of goals, changes, and everything that we need to do in order to accomplish these lofty tasks. At our recent Q4 meeting, we chatted about how the year went and what we wanted to stick to, change, or improve for 2017. We also went through your feedback from this post and REALLY focused on how we could make the DIY Playbook more enjoyable for you, our amazing reader.

Toย organize ALL of these thoughts we did what we do best… made aย list, of course. Here areย 17 things we want to focus on in 2017. (Warning: fill up your coffee because this may take a while!)

  1. The DIY Playbook Style Series: We’ve gotten a lot of great feedback on The DIY Playbook Style Series and had a lot of fun growing this little part of the blog last year! We plan on using Wednesdays here on the blog to continue to focus on these fashion-related posts. And speaking of which, if there’s any specific fashion-related post you’d love us to tackle, don’t hesitate to let us know!haven-conference-bridget-casey-diy-playbook-rookies-atlanta
  2. Casey vs. Bridget’s Style & Size: For the most part our style is similar (probably because we shop at the same stores) but our body types and sizes are very different. We actually do have some of the same items in our closets (what can we say, we are best friends after all) but the majority of our clothes are different becauseย of our unique body types. Finding outfits, styles, and brands that fit your personal body type is a “challenge” for almost all women and we want to use our platform this year to be real about this topic.ย blog diy playbook business card
  3. The First FULL Year of a FULLย blog schedule: Fashion related posts on Wednesday and DIY/home related posts Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday will definitely make for a full and exciting year! We’ve always posted M, T, Th & Fri with Wednesdays sprinkled in. But now that we’re committed to the DIY Playbook Style Series, we will be providing content M-F consistently for the first year in Playbook history!!
  4. Keep Our Professional and Personal Branding Consistent: We’ve come a long way over the last 4 years figuring out our style and our “brand” personally and professionally… although we still have some work to do! It sounds funny to say it like that, but honestly we work hard to stick to our personal and professional brands so that our entire style is consistent. We’re excited to chat more about this in 2017, but we also want to live it by sticking to our brand on the blog, on our social media, in our closets, etc.ย cell-phone-mobile-site
  5. Improve Website: This goal pretty much makes it to our New Year’s list annually. We want to continue to work hard to make sure the blog is running as efficiently and quickly as possible — both on the desktop and laptop. We also want to make sure the content, photography, graphics and overall site look great too. In order to do that, we hope to update our home tours and some of the static pages to make the Playbook experience the best it can be.

    ย  ย [Side Note: We did hear that a few of you guys aren’t thrilled that our posts are now truncated on Feedly, and as blog readers ourselves…we feel ya! However, our pictures never looked great over there, with the order screwing up or the picture’s aspect ratio getting all crazy. We put A LOT of time and effort into our photos and want you to get the best experience when reading posts. So we decided to make the move to truncated posts on Feedly. We’re sad that you’re sad, but had to make the best decision for the blog long-term.]

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  6. More Reader Interaction: One of our favorite parts of this blog is hearing from you, seeing your spaces, getting your advice, and doing everything we can to stay connected. We try really hard to never leave a comment unanswered on both the blog and on our social media channels. If someone is going to take time out of their day to connect with us, the LEAST we can do is be accessible and answer them. We want to continue to do that while offering even more opportunities to connect with readers. Local meet-ups? More #diyplaybookSOS advice? Another makeover for a lucky reader?!Chicago_Odyssey_Travel_ drink_cheers_champagne
  7. Continue Happy Hour Posts: You guys have let us know that you really like the new format of our monthly recaps (aka Happy Hour posts) and we’re so glad because we love casually checking-in! We hope to continue to use these posts to share random info about what we are loving on the internet, and what’s happening in our personal lives.ย lowes-makeover-bedroom-reveal-pillows-bed
  8. Expand Rookie Mistake Series: We’ve gotten many emails on how thankful readers are about the rookie mistake series, so we definitely plan to add to this series. Are there any design dilemmas that you guys would love to see us tackle?haven-conference-purse-cell-sunglasses-laptop
  9. Collaborate More: Collaborating with other bloggers is always a blast so we definitely want to do more of this in 2017. As blog readers ourselves, we love when our favorite bloggers collaborate because we are exposed to other creatives and styles that we wouldn’t typically find without their help.hunter-boots-christmas-gifts
  10. More Giveaways: We always love to provide an opportunity for our readers to try out products that we love, however it’s a fine line because we don’t want to ever feel too “sponsory” around here.birthday_bridget_balloons_3_Happy
  11. Use our Platform to Promote GOOD: I tell my students all the time how important it is for them to use their power for good in this world…encouraging them to be kind, respectful, and use their influence to peer pressure others to make GOOD choices. As I tell my students that, I’ve come to realize that’s exactly what we want to do here on the blog too. Our lives aren’t perfect but what’s the good of focusing on the imperfect parts? We want to use this blog to promote positivity and the importance of making the most of the blessings we do have. We want to cheer for others as they chase their dreams, encourage others to create a home that they love, encourage others to be proud of their bodies/style, and help others OWN their HAPPY. If we can help just a few people feel grateful for their own gifts and use those gifts to make the world a better place, then all the hard work behind this little ol’ blog is WELL, well worth it.
  12. Provide Insight into our Lives: We get questionsย quite a bit about the blog, more specifically how we run the blog while having full-time jobs. Hopefully with a little more insight into our daily lives, you will get to know our routine and how we make it work. We love when bloggers step away from their everyday content to have #REALTALK moments and 2017 seems like the perfect time for some of those chats.ย 2016_instagram_favorites-005
  13. Be Consistent on Social Media: We loveย using Instagram and post just about everyday and we also share our posts on Facebook each day. But beyond that, we aren’t always consistent on Pinterest or using Facebook the best that we could. This year we want to give these three channels more effort by sharing our personal style on ALL of them. <— Do you follow us on all three?! We’d love to have you!bridget-casey-laughing-bedroom-computer
  14. Present Publicly: Ahhh… this makes us a bit nervous, even just typing it on the list.ย We’ve been invited to present at a large home show in February (more details on that soon) and hesitated about accepting it because it’s a large crowd (like 200+ people!) However, we decided that stepping outside of our comfort zone every now & then is a good thing so we accepted, and there’s no backing out now!cabo-mexico-beach-ocean
  15. Don’t get Burnt Out: We know 2017 will be busy with full-time jobs & a 5-day blog schedule, so we want to make sure we take steps to avoid blogger burn-out. Last week’s vacation has us feeling rested and rejuvenated to jump into work head first, but we want to make sure we continue to take necessary steps to stay healthy, happy, and relatively stress-free. Any tips for our fellow busy readers tuning in?2016-DIY-Playbook-Christmas-Card-Casey-Bridget-gifts
  16. Stay in our Own Lane: We know a lot of very talented people doing really amazing things both in the DIY world and beyond. We are always excited to cheer them on and watch them blossom, but we never want to get trapped comparing our path to theirs. The best advice we ever got in the blogging world was from our friend Courtney when she told us how important it is to “stay in our own lane”.ย Emoji Halloween Costume Bridget & Casey
  17. Have Fun!: We started this blog 4 years ago because we enjoyed blogging and DIY projects! At that time weren’t making a penny (literally) but we didn’t care because we loved what we did so much. A lot has changed since then, but our passion and love for what we do has NOT. This year we want to do everything we can to make sure 2017 is lots and lots and lots of FUN.

If you’re still reading, holy smokes you deserve an award… and maybe a nap! We’re so lucky to have you tuning in and really hope to make 2017 the best year on the DIY Playbook yet! We’re ready for the projects, the challenges, the new experiences, the intimidating opportunities, and everything else this year has in store. Cheers to a happy, healthy & productive New Year… let’s do this.

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The Year of Casey

Hey there!

Iโ€™m Casey Finn, the voice behind The DIY Playbook. I’m a Chicago gal teaching you how to design, DIY, and maintain your home…by yourself! Learn more about me right here.