Joanna Gaines

I will say I love HGTV and Joanna Gaines, her style, family and show, Fixer Upper. I am in tune with her style and attitude, so I picked up her magazine a couple of times and now am beginning to wonder if she has become this generation’s Martha Stewart. She works hard has 4 adorable kids, a beautiful home, silly but talented, hardworking husband and pulls it all off without a hitch. Just because a style is simple doesn’t make it easy. She has a lot of help, there is always someone around to watch the kids when they have to work with clients. Waco, Texas has apparently much lower house prices and construction costs than the northeast or west coast so what they can do with their money does not compare to other parts of the country. Antiques and flea markets are a great tool for her but she has a warehouse to store stuff that she might be able to use in the future and people who can work those finds over if need be to make them viable for a project.

I am always a little leery of people who make things look easy. As I have said I like her designs and have seen her furniture lines in store and am impressed with it, but I worry for those just starting out that take it all at face value as we used to with Martha Stewart, and felt like we failed when we tried to duplicate things and couldn’t or it ended up costing way more than it was worth. Magnolia Journal is a lovely publication, filled with great articles and brings you a view of a lovely, natural family centered life filled with good food, friends and wide open spaces. She certainly has a design asthetic that is resonating with a lot of people and seems very down to earth.

I remember when Martha Stewart became really popular, we were all trying to pull off what she showed us was totally doable and worth it. The problem was that very few of these projects were cheap, easy, or worth it. People would set out to try to make something look like she had and most were disappointed. The price was never mentioned or the sheer time it took. We came to the conclusion that we were not Martha, but that was okay because we could buy her products and that was just as good! She was and is a marketing genius, even her jail time did not totally tarnish her. Joanna Gaines is a wonderful marketing mind also. I don’t put her in the category as Martha because I really believe that she has got a better handle on people and her fans in general. Even her magazine is a little more down to earth than most but I think it is still encouraging young men and women to try to duplicate all that she does with her businesses, life and family. Remember her staff, nanny/babysitters, husband etc. She would not be able to pull of all that she does without them and to be honest she never says she does.

I will continue to follow her, get inspiration maybe buy a product or two, but with age comes a little bit of wisdom. I try to realize my limitations as far as money, talent and time,  I was a young mother during the Martha Stewart years and I have no intention of starting down that road again. So I will say living everyday with inspiration is wonderful just remember from where it came.