Real Women of Pinterest Unite!

An Interview with NTB founder and lead writer, MEP.

Are you seriously going to talk about Pinterest in another post? Didn't you just write about your Pinterest obsession?
Yes and yes.

Okay then, who are the Real Women of Pinterest?
Friends and fellow bloggers who have been inspired by Pinterest and who want to share their creations.

The phrase "Real Women" conjures images of Bravo's Real Housewives? Should we expect excessive consumption of white wine, cat fights, backstabbing, and botox?
More like glue guns, fabric, and paint. Pinterest is inspiring, but sometimes when you look at the beautiful rooms and homes and creations on there, you can feel a bit inadequate. I'd love to show real people motivated to make their lives more beautiful in big and small ways. My bloggy friends and I are going to share our own Pinterest-inspired creations on Wednesdays.

Oh, so you have loads of bloggy friends?
Well, not loads, but it's quality not quantity that matters.

How many participants are you expecting?
One for sure. It could be as many as three if only I had remembered to send an email telling people about it.

But anyone is welcome?
Yes, bloggers can link up their Pinterest posts here on Wednesdays. Non-bloggers are free to send a digital pic and brief description to mep AT nottobrag DOT net. I'll find a way to share their Pinteresting.

I'm getting bored. Anything else to show me?
How about my Pinterest-inspired Coat and Corkboard Center?

I have a feeling you just made that name up right now, but go ahead and show us.

"Coat and Corkboard Center"

In this photo, you can see the laundry room and the door leading to the garage. I'm thrilled to have a laundry room that is not a basement dungeon type like we had before. However, the kids would come in from the van, walk a few steps through the laundry room, and start shedding. They removed coats, shoes, and backpacks and strewed them about. Note the past tense.
Now they hang their coats and backpacks carefully on their hooks and line up their shoes just-so beneath. Sure, they don't do these things 100% of the time, but when I step over a coat, I can now say, "Bub, hang your coat up." And there's an actual spot that he can reach where the coat goes.
There's a bulletin board too. The long-term plan is to have the kids' school, sports, and activity schedules on the boards. Party invitations, permission slips, reminders, etc. We're not in the schedule-heavy years yet so we are playing the boards by ear for now.
This picture is included solely so you can admire Sweet P's adorable rain boots. It does remind me though that I saw a pin on Pinterest where someone had what looked like a cookie sheet filled with stylish rocks that was used as a sort of mat/draining board for wet boots.
This picture is tacked on at the end because I felt that something was missing when I took the others and realized it was Little Bit's cute backpack.

Where did you find the materials and labor for this Pinterest project, MEP?
I purchased the three-hook boards at Home Depot. The corkboards I already had because I have long been obsessed with incorporating, for better or worse, bulletin boards into my home decor. My hubby was not super enthusiastic about this project (though I don't think he minds the result) but my father-in-law was kind enough to hang the hooks and boards for me. I am very thankful.

Are you completely happy with the final Coat and Corkboard Center, MEP?
So glad you asked. I am not happy with my current wall color (though, to be fair, it is not as olive-icky as it looks in the photos), but we are having some painting done in a couple of weeks. I'll choose different fabric for the boards after I choose new paint. The black and white fabric was already on the boards from a previous decor moment. Any recommendations for non-boring neutral wall colors? Or, are neutrals necessarily boring? Same fabric for each board or mix it up?

Hire a decorator.
Do you know any decorators who work for free or for Activia yogurts? We are all stocked up on those right now.

How can bloggers link up?
See below. Just cut and paste the url for your Pinterest post. Feel free to link to multiple posts if you wish.