Chaletmomma

Today’s interview is a dear friend - Hilary Prall. I’d been hinting for a while to Hilary that I wanted to include her here and today’s the day!

Hilary Welcome to the Chalet my dear! Hi Meryl Thanks I’m really happy to be here.

Awesome - So tell the readers about yourself. I’m Hilary Prall, I’m 45 and I live in Ankeny, Iowa with my husband Jason and our dog Cooper and cats Sheldon and Howard.

I’ve always been interested in decorating. When I was growing up I loved changing my room around from an early age. I would move my furniture and decorations often. Pretty sure I ruined the carpet in my bedroom from dragging the heavy furniture around. When I would stay the night with friends, I always wanted to organize and decorate their rooms too. Our house was always well decorated. My mom made-do with what we could find at garage sales, family pieces she’d inherited, and a few new things—we had a lot of art from Home Interiors.

Hilary you’re a gifted thrifted. When did thrifting start for you? In high school, we would go to the thrift store to find clothes and accessories for funny dress up days for homecoming. Once I got married, I started going more regularly (there was a great Goodwill by our house) because I wanted to decorate but didn’t feel like I should be spending a lot of money.

I got really into thrifting around the same time that Instagram was really taking off. That was the time that you followed just a few people and we all had similar interests. It seemed like everyone was posting their recent thrifting hauls and it made us all want to buy more and more stuff…to show off. I do love vintage, so shopping at “regular stores” doesn’t make a lot of sense for me on most things. Especially since the stores are getting so silly expensive. I tend to love estate sales most of all. I enjoy getting a peek into someone’s life…romanticizing their story. We also frequented garage sales years ago but that was way before the internet, and you could still find really good deals. Now, everyone thinks their things are precious and it’s harder and harder to find a gem for a decent price.

**Hilary and Jason’s basement filled with thrifted Flags, Paint by Numbers, Metal Globes and so much more!**

Any antidotes from childhood you’d like to share? Not decorating related, but I have always been an entrepreneur. I can remember making and selling friendship bracelets at recess for a long time in elementary school. I’ve always had friends, but always stood outside of the crowd too. I liked having a way to bring people to me in a creative way. It didn’t make me sad to make a little money too.

Tell us where and what you studied in college and what was your former 9-5 gig? I received my undergraduate degree in Public Relations from Drake University. I really wasn’t ready to be in college or to know what I wanted to do in adulthood, but that was just the track I was on. I ended up going full time with the grocery store chain that I’d worked at in high school and stayed there until I left in 2016 to pursue the decorating business I’d started. I’m definitely a comfort driven person, so working the same job for so long was easy for me to do…even though I wasn’t truly happy. I was able to start the decorating business purely through social media, which is still amazing to me. I decided a couple of years ago that I couldn’t do that and content creation very well at the same time, so I closed the decorating side of things. I could always go back to it (I still have people reach out), but it didn’t really light a fire in me, so I don’t think I ever will.

Hilary I really appreciate how many areas you speak to on Instagram - tips about DIY, Home Décor, Fashion, Plants, Thrifting and your Health journey. I love to share the things I’m enjoying in the moment, so all of those fall into that category. One of the reasons I think I haven’t been able to grow a huge social media account is lack of consistency, but I don’t really care. Anytime I try to narrow my path, I get very unsettled. This way, I can be as authentic to myself as possible.

**Hilary’s amazing Vintage Santa Mug Collection**

How did your Website/Blog start – what was the light-bulb moment you said – yeah I’m doing this. I had my first blog hosted on Blogger in like 2010. They were all the rage, I like to write, and I thought it would be a good outlet for me. I didn’t know anything about blogs or how to create one, but I got obsessed with figuring out all the different add-ons: stickers, music, buttons… Then, when I started my decorating business, I knew I needed one for that. I again built my own through Squarespace and eventually hired a virtual assistant to help me with the things I couldn’t figure out. I just recently went all in on having a true web designer build a beautiful and professional site for me. I’m so pleased with it and can’t wait to see where it goes.

What led you to design your Photo Editing Preset? Again…I see what other people are doing and want to do it for myself. Presets were very popular a few years ago and I knew I could recreate the settings I was using to edit my photos and make that available for purchase. I’m always trying to find different sources of income, but want to make sure they’re actually helpful for people.

How long you’ve been in your home and what is your favorite space? We moved into this house in 2018. I had major surgery scheduled for two weeks after we moved in, so I knew I needed to get a few things done ASAP. I hired painters, had curtains hung, and then started game planning for after I recovered. We lived in our first house for almost 16 years and when we moved out, I remember being so disappointed in the projects we hadn’t done. So many easy things that could have been changed out…to enjoy the space more. I really do love our current home…except our master bathroom. It’s the one room that I’ve done a makeover to a few times, but it just still falls flat. I don’t know that we’ll put any big money into it, but I have some goals for it. The space I love the most is probably outside. I love working in the yard and it’s so exciting to see my vision come to life. This is the first time we’ve had a really usable and enjoyable outdoor sitting area…let alone multiple options for one. We’ve done mostly cosmetic things to the interior of the house: paint, wallpaper, a few floating shelves. Outdoors, though, we’ve had the house painted, a new roof and gutters installed, and a major landscaping project completed last year.

Talk about your design philosophy. I can definitely get pulled into what’s trending. Not necessarily because I love it, but because I’ve been chasing the elusive social media follow for so long. I have finally learned, though, that no amount of attention on social media can make you happy…least of all in your own home. I’ve always loved vintage, but what I’m drawn to has changed. Part of that is just the design and layout out of this house compared to our old one. Our first house was an updated version of a 4-square layout. There were built-ins, the rooms were smaller, and it was just older. I had more of colorful mid-century pieces. They didn’t feel right in this house, although, I still have some of my Pyrex. I’ve leaned into more of an eclectic look in this house, gold accents, more original art, lots of layers and textures. I don’t have a specific style…other than more is more.

I love your weekly IG Live: Coffee Talk with Brooke + Hilary Brooke and I have been doing this live for over three years, I think! We didn’t start out with the intention of doing it for so long, but people really seem to enjoy listening to us talk…even though we never have a plan for what we’ll discuss. It really is just like listening to a couple friends chat. People crave connection.

You offer an Instagram subscription. What things do you offer through your subscription? I jumped on the subscription program right away, but know myself enough that I struggle with keeping up with consistent sharing. For over a year, I shared the food I was eating on my health journey. I started dreading doing that, though, so I’m shifting toward giving my subscribers a sneak peek of my thrift finds. Not sure if I will stick with subscriptions or just let them go by the wayside. A lot of people don’t believe in paying for content…so that’s a hard opinion to change.

How has Social Media specifically Instagram impacted your brand? I have a love/hate relationship with Instagram…as I think everyone does. It has opened so many doors both financially and socially for me, though, so for now…I stay. I do want to turn my focus more to my website and evergreen content (blog posts, ebooks, courses, etc…even Pinterest posts to a certain degree. Things that live on beyond the short social media time span) …with Instagram being more of a platform to build community. Hoping I can stick with that and make it happen.

What’s on Your To Do List for the rest of 2024? Life has been crazy the last several years with some health issues and losing my mom in 2022. I’ve been working on her estate for two years and we’re mostly done with that now. I’m trying to refocus on my business and create a daily schedule for myself. That’s proving harder than I want it to be.

**Hilary not only shares thrifting pieces she incorporates into her wardrobe but, also awesome Walmart Deals**

I think it’s so neat you’re on local Television Hilary I mean come on! Yes, I do Hello Iowa once or twice a month. It’s a fun opportunity to connect with a different audience and helps encourage me to get a blog post done for each visit. Check out my appearances: Hello Iowa

Follow Hilary on Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, Like To Know It, Pinterest, Youtube, her Website and Sign up for E-Mails.

Hilary thank you thank you for taking the time to sit down and chat with me I really appreciate it my dear!

Til next time friends I’ll see you over on the Gram!

Images: Hilary Prall

Amie Buice

Hi Friends this month my featured interview is the ridiculously talented Amie Buice; an Artist, Interior Designer and Art Teacher on top of being a momma to two sweet boys.

Amie thank you for carving out the time to pop by the Chalet with your very busy schedule - can you introduce yourself to the readers. Hi Meryl, thank you for having me! My name is Amie Buice and I am 37. I have two boys, Trask who is 8 and Oliver who is 6. We have a golden retriever named Posy and a muted calico named Clover.

I grew up in a family of creatives. My great uncles were architects, many of my relatives were artists, and my parents have a great eye for all things design. Designing and decorating my childhood home is a passion of my mom Maria and she has a greater talent for and knowledge of design than anyone I know. My dad Bill also has incredible vision for architecture and landscape design. I was fortunate enough to grow up watching them build a beautiful home together, which is where I learned to love interior design. It is also where I first experienced the way your home’s style is a form of creative expression.

One summer when I was in high school my brother and sister were both at camp. During this time, while I was home without siblings (love you Will and Rainey haha), my Mom and I took on the project of redecorating my bedroom. It was the first time that I had a real say in the way that my room was decorated, and my Mom went all in with bringing my vision to life. We painted the walls a deep purple, the ceiling a dark blue with gold stars. The carpet was a gold shag (which I still stand by!), the light fixture was a star medallion and the bedding was black with beautifully embroidered flowers. It was a dream! We spend the week painting and decorating, listening to the Train album on repeat. I can’t listen to “Drops of Jupiter” without thinking of my Mom. It is one of my favorite memories, and my first hands on experience with Interior Design.

You studied art and interior design in college and recently you entered the world of teaching as an Art Teacher - can you share this evolution. I started out at the University of South Carolina (go, Gamecocks!) and graduated from the Art Institute in Charleston. Entering college, it was my plan to become an Interior Designer. I started out with a major in Studio Art and minor in business. Along the way I realized that I really needed an Interior Design degree, something that was still relatively new, so I transferred and graduated with a BA in Interior Design.

I worked in Interior Design for years under some incredible people and gained so much knowledge and experience.

In 2015, when I was pregnant with my first son, I decided to start my own business so that I could be home with my family as much as possible. I was able to make my own schedule and become more busy as my boys became more busy. Overall, I’ve practiced Interior Design for 13 years.

Over the years my business transformed from solely Interior Design, to also incorporating making and selling art, and eventually to painting decorative wall motifs in my client’s homes.

The evolution of painted wall motifs came from a project that I did in my own home. I had a vision of filling my boys bathroom with bug art (they are ALL boy), then decided just to paint the bugs on the walls. I was inspired by a friend of mine who had been painting walls (shoutout to Marian Pouch, a very talented Columbia, SC artist!), so I just went for it. I posted my progress on social media and immediately had friends and clients asking me to do something similar for them.

Boys Bath with Painted Bugs

Over the course of a year the painted wall motifs became a larger part of my business than the Interior Design. The motifs that I painted on client’s walls were inspired by textile designs, prints that I love, colors in the clients homes and working through a client’s vision. I have so much fun working through an idea with a client, and testing options until we bring what they have in mind to life.

PAINTED MOTIF OPTIONS

After 13 years of practicing Interior Design, last year I was ready for a change. For the first time my boys were both in school every day and I felt a shift in what was bringing me fulfillment. I really missed working with other people, and if I was going to change careers, I wanted it to be something that was practical for a life with my boys, where I could work and still enjoy them as much as possible. Teaching Art was something that I knew I could be happy doing for the rest of my career, so I started on an alternate certification route for Art Education. Last year was my first teaching Art at an elementary school and I have truly loved it. Next year I will be teaching Art at the school that my boys attend, which will be a dream come true. But, I still take on design clients especially ones who want hand-painted walls!

**Amie’s Students were studying Matisse and inspired her to paint this piece**

Amie can you tell us about your design philosophy – your brand is about decorative arts and personalized details for your clients. My design philosophy is that anything goes! I am a no-fuss type of person and that translates into my design style.

I think that a person’s home should be reflective of who they are, functional for the way they live and comfortable to them. Nothing should be too pretty or perfect, old things should be mixed with new things, hand-me downs are fantastic, thrift stores are like a treasure box and children’s artwork should be hung… if not on a wall then at least on the refrigerator! I also think that every room needs something that is “off” and unexpected.

Color Testing

Final Design

Will you share what your favorite space is in your home and why. My favorite space in my house is my kitchen. There is good natural light, the cabinets are blue and the floor is painted. There are old chairs around my grandmother’s table and a fabulous vintage rug that my Mom gave me years ago. There are plates on the wall, dog bowls and messy baskets with pencils, markers and paper for my kids. The refrigerator is covered in pictures and art. I love to cook so 5:00 pm in the kitchen with a glass of wine and music playing is my favorite place to be.

How has Social Media and especially Instagram impacted your brand? Social Media has played a huge role in my business. For Interior Design, many of my clients came from word of mouth but for art and wall motifs, almost all of them came from connections that I made on Instagram. I have a love/hate relationship with social media, as many of us do. But, I do love the friends that I’ve made through social media and the inspiration that fills my feed daily.

ARTWORK BY AMIE

**A creation Amie framed to KEEP AND ENJOY**

Do you have any plans for the rest of 2024. Oh gosh I’m not much of a long term to-do list maker! But to carry on this year I’d like to enjoy the summer with my boys and begin my next year teaching art with lots of inspiration and excitement. I’ll always find time to squeeze in some painting, too!

Amie thank you again for squeezing me in with your busy delightful life. I am so inspired by the art and life you’ve created where you live your passion.

I encourage you to follow Amie on Instagram and go check out her Website.

Til next time I’ll see you over on the Gram!