Episode Transcript
Speaker 1 00:00:08 Hey guys, welcome to the mom voice. This is Lauren and Sarah with episode 42. And this season finale, it is the season finale and Lauren, I don't know about you, but I kind of feel the need to put on some pink lipstick right now because we have some very classy ladies in our room with us. Welcome to our lovely, classy clutter girls that are here today. Our special guests. Hello? Say, hi ladies. We're so excited that you guys have us today. We are so happy. We have Savannah and Mallory. And after the rundown, I'll tell you all about them. Yes. So for this episode, we're going to kick it off, like always with burning question, we do it with all of our guests really quick kit to get to know you, but you know, hot seat for a second. Yeah. We need the flames. Like Ellen, we don't have flames.
Speaker 2 00:00:56 And then we are going to be talking the bulk of the episode about, um, sticking with it. Like they have been at what they do for over 10 years now. Right. Ladies, 10 years. Yeah. So I thought they would be the perfect guest to talk about sticking with something and persevering when it gets tough. And then also about, um, just making a house, a home and like why that's important to them. And I mean, investing in you're investing in your home. Exactly. And then we may wrap up with our hits and misses to be determined. Yes. We're going to see that. I mean, we could chat all day with these girls.
Speaker 1 00:01:34 Yeah, yeah. Could absolutely.
Speaker 2 00:01:37 Okay. So these gals, like she said, they have been bloggers for 10 years and they have recently released classy clutter decorating Academy, which we'll touch on a little later. Incredible. Yeah. It really is such a great feature. And then they are mom to nine kids. Mallory has five boys. Oh my gosh. They're adorable. And Savannah has for you guys, they've been featured in better homes. Good housekeeping, HGTV. And on stands now secrets of getting organized, all magazines. So, and wait a minute. I have to pipe in. You were the photo in target on a bedding line.
Speaker 3 00:02:15 Yeah. You guys have that. Yes. Tell us so crazy. My little boy's room. We designed like a star Wars room for his room that we had in our last house. And then target reached out to us and they had a new star Wars line coming out in bedding. And so they asked to use his room as the main image of all of that collection. That was so crazy. It's like we walked into target and it was like, his room was on there. And it said designed by classy clutter, like in target across, we thought it was just going to be at like bedding blanket or something. And it ended up being like a full collection. So that was really exciting. And star Wars and star Wars.
Speaker 2 00:02:51 That one up, that one was so one of my favorites. Yeah. It's so cute. So cute. I love it. So, yeah. And you guys, um, they are, they even have their own line home line called posse clutter shop. It's a home collection and they have just awesome furniture and textiles and new stuff coming out this next year. So we are just so happy to have you guys so glad you here. We're going to get into burning questions. We're asking you a few fun questions to get to know you a little better, but before we do that, I just want to take a moment and invite everybody to make sure you are following and subscribing for any updates to the podcast. And if you don't mind, take a moment and leave us a reading and a re rating and review wherever you listen. It really is the only way we're able to get found by new listeners. And I promise it's all we'll ever ask care on the bottom. I know. So press pause for just a second, jump over and subscribe and leave us a rating and come right back for the interview. All right. All right, ladies, we, this goes right off of our conversation. We were just having off, off, um, the mix who was your first favorite celebrity crush?
Speaker 3 00:03:58 Oh my God. The first thing that comes to your head. Yep. Quick kit, John Travolta in Greece. I love Greece so much. And I was always like a goody goody girl. Like I didn't, I feel like I always did the proper thing. And so when she like comes out in the black leather pants, I was like, Oh yeah, I could be her <inaudible> Olympia, but what's your Sandy Sandy. And that leather Sandy, my mom always was like, Oh, she went mad naughty for him. You should stay good. And I was like, yeah, but it's Sandy, Sandy. I see dirty dancing, Patrick squeezy, like life back, you guys. I know those are my Mallory. So the first one that came to my mind is I loved Macaulay Culkin when I was like little home alone status. But I think it's because I've watched it like 50 times even this month on Disney. Exactly. But if I'm being honest, like I have always been obsessed with Matthew McConaughey. Like I'm obsessed with him. Like my husband tries to like, um, mimic his voice and he can not, but I love that. No matter what he didn't say stud there, you guys seriously such a stud. I loved all of that's things you learn. Um, okay. So what is
Speaker 2 00:05:17 A ridiculous thing? You're afraid of
Speaker 3 00:05:21 Radio silence. We all know something. It could be anything,
Speaker 2 00:05:25 Something, they be just silly. What is something you're scared of?
Speaker 3 00:05:29 No, that's ridiculous. But I literally like the thought of snakes. Like I can't even talk about it. That's why I was like, but then you said ridiculous. And I feel like that's a good one. Well, one time there was a snake in our pool and my husband pulled it out of the pool. And of course I put it on Instagram and everyone's like, those can't hurt you. Those are harmless. And they're good. They're good snakes. That's why everyone kept saying they're good snakes. And I'm like, there's no such thing. There just cannot be true. Right? No, no good snake. I agree. I don't know if I have anything that really socks your lists. Oh, I hate socks. I hate being claustrophobic in any way, shape or form. And my babies used to wear like the onesies outfits and I used to cut off the feet off of the Wednesdays because I'm like for sure, claustrophobic. I think that that's a good one now. I didn't even know like claustrophobic makes me super cautious and socks make I just, yeah, that's a weird one. You see all the, my children like babies and it's like, they have no socks, but literally I get busted because of it. Oh my gosh. I love that. I love that so much. I love that. I knew yours. Just like,
Speaker 2 00:06:44 Okay, well I loved that. We'll get to know you as if we don't know you well enough. I know from Instagram and whatnot, but, um, really we wanted to talk a little bit, like I said today about like sticking with something when it's kind of hard. And this has been on my mind a lot lately. Um, mainly because I feel like we've talked about it on past episodes. Our life is just getting more and more hectic and crazy as the days go on. As our kids get older, like more responsibilities church, volunteering at the schools, like all of it. And I feel like as a mom, my first instinct is to start cutting the things that I do. Like my passion projects or my things that I do on the side. And so I guess it's, as I have you guys sitting here in front of me, I would love to have a conversation about how you have stuck with it over the years, because you really are one of the OGs, like really, Oh gee, you really <inaudible> for sure.
Speaker 2 00:07:42 Yeah. For like 10, almost 10 years. And I mean, do you feel like you've ever hit those points where life has just been like so bonkers and or is it worth it? Like I have to pay to take something off the plate. I don't know, like think of a time over the past 10 years, like maybe in the beginning, right? Where or Mallory you moved at one point when I moved across the country at one point to be honest. Um, the first thing that comes to my mind is that I have felt that having my best friend as my accountability partner, I can't, if I quit on this, I quit on her and I refuse to do that. So when things have gotten hard, but also, um, throughout my life, I have struggled with anxiety in my projects, get me through anxiety. So it is kind of like a mental health, a balance for me that when, when I'm struggling, I crave like a pink project. For some reason it's always painting. I like the brush in my hand makes me feel better for some reason. And it just gives me some direction and some focus. And I think it's because paint is, it makes such a dramatic change in any space. And so in my home, if I feel like I'm able to like improve something, it gives me a self of like self worth a little bit,
Speaker 3 00:08:56 That kind of that sense. And so I think that that has actually helped me to have this. Um, and it isn't something I've ever considered taking off my plate. When, if it's crossed my mind, I'm just like, like can't, I would never do that to Savannah. And so I think an accountability partner is a big, big thing. Cause we've been through a lot, like I've moved a million times, one time across the country for four years, right at the beginning. And I think, um, you know, who, we never knew that it would last this long when we started, it was very, uh, you know, it was, it was just for fun. It was just a project to do together. When I think that that's, what's so interesting is that when we did start this, we started it before Pinterest was around. We started before Instagram was around.
Speaker 3 00:09:37 Facebook was only used to keep in touch with friends. Like if you dare posted anything about your house on Facebook, it was like blacklisted, you know what I'm saying? Like I'm saying. Um, and so we started this way back when, and it was like, it's interesting. Cause we would get together with our group of friends, which we've had the same group of friends, basically our whole marriage of like our whole time that we've been married to our spouses. Um, we've been super fortunate with an amazing group of friends. And so we started it and it's like, we always found ourselves like we were having babies and we found, I found myself kind of losing a little bit of sense of like what I, what was making me happy. I feel like I was drowning in the bottles. I had two, my first two were 15 months apart or 14 months apart when they were, they were bored.
Speaker 3 00:10:19 And I just remember feeling so trapped. And for me kind of like what Mel was saying, like when it came to, we first started out painting furniture for us, it was an adventure of going to thrift to find a really cool piece. It was like an exciting thrill. And then we just were like, well, it's always better to work on a project together instead of separate. And so that's kind of how we started way back when we didn't have any idea of what that would look like. And really we just like to be able to help people be creative with very little budget. And I think that that's kind of how we first started. And I think that me mal just ended up being at the end of the day, we were the ones that kind of outlasted the rest, everyone else was going home.
Speaker 3 00:10:57 And we were like still doing projects. It was kind of like a really great creative outlet that I didn't feel like I was getting lost as like an individual, um, when I was having these small babies. And do you feel like your husbands were both like, yeah, I like at all times or at all, and maybe you don't want to, I would say no, definitely say no. I think that for at first we were like, Oh, well we could make money eventually, but we didn't make a single dollar for almost four years. Our fourth year we made, we got a check in the mail for I think $300. And we thought like losing our minds, we thought we won the lottery, got someone, asked us to do like a sidebar ad. And it was like, they wanted to, they were gonna pay us $25 for three months of a sidebar ad.
Speaker 3 00:11:42 And I remember calling now and just that on my website on the website, which is classic letter.net, but we had this ad and it was like paying us $25 and we were like, we did like, we made it. Yeah. And so I think that we've been super fortunate that we've been able to stick with it and what it always came back to is that it wasn't necessarily about the dollar for us. We just really enjoyed it. And it just brought us true happiness and true joy too. And it was separate than the rest and we were able to do things together. So when you talk about hard times, like I think when now left, I kind of felt like I was missing my partner in crime. It's not fun to go shopping on your own for a thrifted piece. It's not as fun to do a project on your own versus with somebody.
Speaker 3 00:12:25 So I kind of like lost a little bit of sense of that. And I think that a lot of it though has been like communication with me and mouth. There was definitely a time when we, I was, we were going through some family stuff with my husband's family and stuff like that. And it was just a really, really rough time and mal wasn't here and she, and like, it was just a really rough time and it was, I was doing my best. I could just to wake up every single day and keep going. And so there was a time where I was just like, man, like I can't do this anymore. And she definitely stepped up and she kept us going during that hard time. But it was almost like letting her know, like just having an open communication of like, I can't do this every single day.
Speaker 3 00:13:06 Like I can do this once a week, but not every single day. And for me, um, since I had moved across the country, it gave me a sense of like I still belong somewhere. And so I was talking to her almost every day. And even at that time where she didn't need a break from it, I felt like, um, we were making a little bit of money at the time. And so I felt like I was able to kind of serve her in that way. Like, I'm going to keep this going and when you're ready, we're here. Um, but I was able to kind of keep that moving for her. And, um, and it gave me something to do. Honestly, my husband was in dental school and it was long and really, really hard. And I worked some odd jobs to try and make money, um, during that time and had to kind of support us through school.
Speaker 3 00:13:50 And we lived in a teensy tiny house. Um, and you beautified, thank you. It was so, so tiny. And there was ended up being six of us living there. And thankfully, um, the landlord was allowed me to do these project on her home, which turned out to be good for them because I was able to kind of fix it up. It was starting to get run down. And then when we moved in, we were able to do these projects and then she would take a few bucks off of our rent. So I felt like I was, uh, making money that way, so saving money. But, um, yeah, it was, I think that, um, being away almost strengthened it. And then when we, I did, when I was able to see her, we met up in another state to go to a blogging conference or something.
Speaker 3 00:14:31 It was just like, I felt like I was like back the gangs back together. It was like a breath of fresh air when we got back together again. And it never, and I also felt like because of the blog, I was able to stay so close to Mallory because we were talking every single day. And it's like, even though I couldn't do the projects day to day and stuff like that, like we still talk every single day. And I think that we still, and I still had a lot to do with the blog at the time we were posting five times a week in the, on the blog and it was just a lot. And so I was just kind of like, I can't really contribute these two or three times a week. We're going to have to scale back. I'm going to have to scale back to like once a week on the blog.
Speaker 3 00:15:07 So it wasn't like I completely removed myself during that time. But at the same time, like we just had these really high expectations for ourselves and it was just communicating. Like I can't meet those right now. And it was only a short amount of time. It was like what, like six months or something. And it was really short. And the thing is the nice thing is that, um, when you, when you have this can apply to like any friendship, like you need to know when to say when and when to ask for help. And your friends are always going to, if you communicate it, if you don't communicate it, then they can't help you. But I think that the takeaway from that is that when you need a minute or you need help, you need to be able to ask your friend and say, Hey, I need help with this. Or I'm struggling with this. Can you help me make up the difference in more often than not? I mean, a good friend is going to do that. They're going to make it up for you.
Speaker 2 00:16:00 Absolutely. And what I'm hearing from you as you're talking, is that be it whatever. So if a listener is, I mean, you know, they're working on doing something, maybe it's not a blog specifically, but they have some dream or goal or something in mind they're working towards, it sounds like the magic came with like who you surrounded yourself with. Like you two supported each other, your partnership. Yeah. And like, this is kind of what I wanted to talk about next, but it's perfect segue right here. I was reading at one point that we are the sum of the five people we spend the most time with. And I feel like if I stop and think about that for a minute, it is like so true. And it's probably true for you too. Like you both see things kind of similarly you value friendship, the same amount, all of that. And it's like helped fill in those gaps, which is incredible.
Speaker 3 00:16:56 For sure. I think it's one of those things too, that it's like, we committed to each other too in a way, like kind of like a marriage in one way or another where it's just like, we're also not going anywhere. So if we have some issues, like let's witch, it luckily like we've, I would, I can't even really think of a time that we've ever really had like an argument of any kind. Um, it's like, we just, it's like a normal thing. Like I love her for the good, the bad and the ugly. And she does the same with me. And I feel like that's a very safe place to be, but it's also tricky. Cause I think one of the hardest things that people will, a lot of times people will ask us like, Oh, well I wish I had a friend like that.
Speaker 3 00:17:33 It's like, well, you have to be that friend to like, you have to show up for the people just as much, which is kind of like what you were saying with the five people you surround yourself by. It's like, if you don't like who you're spending your days with, you're probably going to start picking up some of those characteristics yourself. And if, if there is a toxic relationship as an adult, it's time to look around and say, Hey, is this, am I, this? Am I going down a path that I want to be going down? And is there a relationship that maybe seems like it's not working in it? And also self-reflect like, is there something I can do in this relationship to make it better? Because maybe it's not them. And it's easy to maybe, you know, that, that, uh, you're not blending well for whatever reason. Cause usually if it's your friend, your there's not, you know, something about them that you don't like, it's just a matter of like maybe you're hitting a wall somewhere and it's good to look at yourself too and say, maybe I'm being impatient with that topic or whatever it is.
Speaker 2 00:18:30 Well, and just following that, I mean, we have like, yay this much social time in our lives right now between all the kids and all the tasks and the jobs that we are taking on. It's like such minimal social time. So it is such like a very interesting time in our lives where we're women, we value those friendships that we need those friendships. So let's be real. Like we have to have that kind of, that part of our lives, but it is really important who you spend your time with because you just don't have a lot of it. Like you really, and you want to invest in the friendships that are really going to mean something and that are going to return and they're going to be there for you when, when you need it. So, and you guys have done that beautifully well. And I think like you just said, I think a lot of people, they ask us the same thing.
Speaker 2 00:19:12 Like how do you, in lack of better terms, how do you make friends? Like, I have found myself where, you know, I had friends in high school, college, and then I got married and I have kids and I've kind of drifted apart or I haven't kept in touch with people. Like I thought I would. And I always tell people like, you just have to put yourself out there. You just have to like invite people to the park, invite people to Chick-fil-A like, just start putting yourself out there. And like you said, show up, like expect you
Speaker 3 00:19:43 Also thinking, I hope someone invites me somewhere. I think that that's always kind of like this mentality of like, Oh, well they didn't invite me. It's like, well, did you plan a party? Like you can plan a party just as well. And it's like, that's kind of what ended up happening with me. And now it's like, Hey, let's, I've been thinking about painting this piece of furniture. Could I have done it by myself? Absolutely. But the reality of it is it's like, Hey, do we want to paint this? After kids go to bed? Like, we also started this when our kids were very, very young. And I think that so many people see it and they're like, well, I can't have that because I had young kids and it's like, yeah, but if you make it a priority, it's, you can, you can build these long lasting friendships.
Speaker 3 00:20:21 And it's really tricky and it's scary and it's a vulnerable space to be in, but it's like, we always have, like, we have a group of friends that Lauren is also part of that group of friends where we have eight couples where we all show up for each other when things get hard. And, but we also can't show up for each other if we don't know that you're going through something. And so I think it's one of those things kind of like Mel was saying, like, you kind of have to communicate when you're having a hard time and you can't just sit thinking. I wish no one's helping me. And it's like, well, are you asking for help? Or are you communicating that you're having a hard time because more than likely you'll have someone that will show up for you. And a lot of times, like you said, a lot of our listeners, they are like, you know, drowning in the diapers still.
Speaker 3 00:21:02 And it is such a lonely stage of life. It is. I mean, and if you don't have that network kind of, like we were saying, you just have to try and it's like, you are going out of your comfort zone, but put yourselves out there so that you can gain that support. Because as women, as sisterhood, like, we all need that. And I think realizing like the person receiving that text is going to be so happy. It's going to feel just as happy. Yeah. In the return. It's like a kind of a service to them to hang out. It makes you feel really good when somebody reaches out to you, even when they're asking for help, because that shows that they trust you and that you're the person that they thought might actually do it. Like that says a lot about you. If somebody asks you for your help.
Speaker 3 00:21:42 Yeah. So like when you move, when we do think about investing in time relationships, all of it. And like we talked about it, you just have a billion, different things on your plate. How do you guys do at all? I mean, how do you fit it all in the relationship with your daughter now is like a full time job. I mean, I know, and it has been for a long time, but you guys are full time job with Klossy clutter with overtime, just getting pretty much our husbands overtime, as they wish they were on their second job. They wished that they were on payroll, but not in the budget current honestly. Um, people do ask us a lot how we do it all, because I think that social media can give you this false sense of someone have quote, having it all together. And, um, people have said that to us and we look at each other and laugh cause I'm like, do you know, I have like 17 loads of laundry and my kids are wearing dirty jeans to school again, because they're not clean.
Speaker 3 00:22:38 I've done it, you guys. Um, but honestly it's priority it's priorities. Like that's really what it has come down to two for us at the end of the day. That's the only way. And there are things that we've elected to take off our plates. Like we do have help cleaning once in a while we have cleaners come because my time isn't best spent doing that. And that's something that in our family's budget that we can put in and it frees up some of my time. Oh yeah. And we're not in, I haven't always been able to do that, but I would rather have a cleaner than have cable because that's, what's important to me. And that might not always be the case. And that might not ring true for you. But for me in this phase of life, there are conveniences that, you know, we've done that, um, maybe seem a little silly to people, but it's like, we've, you know, I cut the landscapers to be for the cleaner like that.
Speaker 3 00:23:33 So what we've got to do because my job takes so much time out of my home. So when I'm home, I don't want to be cleaning bathrooms. I want to be available for my kids. So I think it's prioritizing all of the I and famous for writing it all down. I'm a list person. And I write down what my responsibilities are and I kind of segment them into categories of my life. I have my, uh, motherhood, even my marriage, uh, spiritually and, um, my home as well and my business. And I would kind of write down under each of these pillars, what are my responsibilities? And I take off, I try and look for things I can take off or things that I feel like are missing. Cause a lot of the times when I do write them down, I'm like, Oh, I really, I didn't write this down.
Speaker 3 00:24:13 And that's probably something I should be doing. Um, so one thing I'm recently realizing I need more one on one time with my kids and that wasn't on my list. And so I'm like, okay, where can I take something off to be able to put that on? And I think it's a matter of prioritizing your tasks in life and your relationships in your life and making the ones that, you know, make an asterisk by the ones that are more important. I love that visual. And you can also see which ones like taking like the longest list, taking so much of your time so that you can really kind of like, okay, wait, we need to balance this out. I need more at home time or I need more of this. So that's really a good idea. I also think that too, like I think that people could, we have help like running all of our carpools and stuff like that.
Speaker 3 00:24:53 Absolutely. But the reality of, of classy clutter of what we've kind of established. And there's also like there's times that we have worked crazy crazy hours or we work after the kids go to bed and it's communicating that to our spouses and communicating that to our kids. Like our kids know that at the end of the day, like we're done working at three o'clock like we are there for them. And we kind of have made that a priority last year, though. It was different. Last year we had on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we had to, we worked till five. And so we had someone come into our houses that would also switch out the laundry. We had a babysitter that would come in, that was in high school still she's a little bit older and it was great because I was able to give her a list of like, can you just switch the laundry out while you're there for the two hours after the kids are home for school.
Speaker 3 00:25:38 And that was last year. And this year we're able to do like there's a season for all things. And this year, our priority was being done by the time that our kids walked in the door from school. And also like communicating that with our husbands, like unfortunately, like I will never sacrifice my weekend with my husband Friday and Saturday is for my husband for us to either do family activities or for us to go on a date. And my kids know it. My husband knows it. And that's the time that we invest into our relationship are those weekends during the week I'm running 72 carpools, I'm working a full time job. And like, that's what it comes. That's what my schedule is. I just think that knowing the schedule and communicating your schedule with whether it's your business partner, your friend, your husband, those kids, people like my kids know that these are the certain days that we work and that's, and just them knowing that it doesn't make him feel like I'm absent or they don't know what's.
Speaker 3 00:26:31 And I think that that's where it comes down to like with children, like giving them a sense of safety and comfort. They know that I work, but they also know that there are times to work in play. But I think that if they came home from school and I wasn't home from school one day, they would be like, wait, where'd they go? Like, they would be confused, but that they know that I'm working that day. They're like, Oh, she's just at work and she'll be home soon. Yeah. That's exactly what I was going to say is I think any relationship it's just communicating those expectations and then making sure that you're doing what you had said you were going to do when there's other people.
Speaker 2 00:27:03 Exactly. And on that note, I love that you're acknowledging you don't do it all. You take help. And sometimes you have that help if it's the cleaning or the sitters or whatever, and having realistic expectations, even to a listener, that's trying to start something or is in the thick of it, having those expectations to know, like we're not, you know, perfect super women. Like we need to be able to do, what's going to work for your family and your business and make it successful. And if that's bringing in extra hands or help, like I think that's, you know, a good truth to know.
Speaker 3 00:27:36 Well, that's why it's like, even on Tuesdays and Thursdays, like me and Mel have, we have classic leader project days, which is like hashtag class of CC project days. And for us, it's like, we know that we're doing a project that week and our, and our followers can also count on that. And then they also know that the YouTube video is going to come out with it. Like, it's just a matter of like us being on the same page with all involved just makes everything run smoother. And one, one of my goals for the new year is, um, I I've kind of adopted this. Uh, we probably heard like people choose like a word for the year and this year, my word was brave. Cause I was going through some really hard things last year. And I felt like I was not brave. Um, but moving forward, um, the year I chose for, or the word I chose for 2020, um, was discipline and it sounds kind of like a negative word, but for me, I break all the promises I make to myself.
Speaker 3 00:28:26 I've realized, I realized that I constantly say like, I'm going to make sure I do yoga twice a week. And then if anything interferes, that's knocked down, it gets cut. And I, and I need it. I really need it. And so I need to be disciplined if I say I'm going to do something, even to myself, I needed to be disciplined and say, I'm doing that. And if someone, something gets in the way, sorry, I have like a prayer commitment. And even if that commitment is to me, it's something that I'm really learning. Um, because I'm a yes person in general. And sometimes I just, I'm trying to balance the yeses and the nos to be able to, um, kind of provide that self care for myself because if I'm overwhelmed, my kids are around my husband's overwhelmed. Like my energy kind of sets the tone in our home. And if I'm unable to keep that energy at a positive place, then I see that ripple effect in my family. And I'm just not willing to do that anymore. And it took a lot of time to recognize that and to humble myself and say, this is my fault. You know, I need to be the one to be disciplined in these aspects. And it's in several areas of my life. I realized like I need to be disciplined when I make a decision. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:29:34 Amen. I love that. That rings true so bad right now in my life too, that like, there's so many, like I want to implement and things and follow through. And even just like the yoga, like for me again, I'm a broken record, my diet, my diet, my diet, but like, it really comes down to the discipline and, and I can, you know, everyone, I rolled with that, but for me to feel good, like that is such a crucial part. Totally. And so it's like, I, and I keep saying January, January a lot is going to change, but I like love that. That is like such a good, fresh, and I love that you picked discipline. Cause I think that rings true to so much in my life. Well, but I think you are spot on when you say mom sets the tone. Like if mama ain't happy, nobody's happy.
Speaker 2 00:30:16 Right. But it is so true on so many levels. And that's what stop started. My whole thought process on this whole thing is that I feel like I have so many things I want to do, but I'm constantly fulfilling everybody else. Like my children, my husband, my job, my friends, all of it. I mean that, I feel like all of my passions and hobbies are slowly getting light. Cut. I can't tell you your knees. I can't tell you the last time I went to the gym or not that I like going to the gym, but that was for you, right? I mean, we've had a lot of episodes recently about self care and it's just like an and, and the guilt. And, and when it does come down on mom that we are the first to be cut off the list. What you said, Mallory is kind of what we talked about last week, about how you do have to like look at yourself before any change when you do find your home or your life or whatever, becoming that chaotic state, like it starts with you. But really that's
Speaker 3 00:31:15 Why we started classic Claire to begin with though. Like we did it as, as a healthy outlet to, to be separate from our kids to be separate from our spouses and for us, that's the reason why we start. And so it's like when we joked about that, our husbands weren't super supportive at the beginning. The second that we explained to them, like this brings us happiness. And I promise it's going to be overall experience for our entire family. It's going to bring like joy to all of us and the energy of all of this. Like that's what kept us going is that we knew, like we really do love what we do. Like we're so fortunate to love our job. They really quickly realized that our belief in that our home kind of sets the stage to build the character in our kids and in, in each other.
Speaker 3 00:31:59 Um, we, we do this because we want our homes to be a refuge from the world because we can all agree that the world is crazy. And raising kids at this time is really, really difficult. And that's why building a home where it feels comfortable and it feels inspiring and it feels safe for kids is so important to us. Um, and we, we, we did this for that reason in quickly, our husbands realized that our ho the attitude and the energy of our homes was changing, because we didn't know we were that passionate about this. Um, at first it was just something fun and it was creative and that was fun in fun is great. But, um, the only time that they weren't supportive, I will have to go back cause I, they have been nothing, but a hundred percent supportive of us is when we would get so stressed about, Oh my God, when we get so stressed about deadlines and it was like, someone was paying us $20.
Speaker 3 00:32:52 They're like, why are we doing this? Like when we would put so much stress on ourselves, that's the only time that they weren't supportive of us, the same conversations with our husband, even then, they're like, you do this to yourself. That's exactly what they say. So they like always loved that. Me and Mel were doing projects together and that we were making things in our home. Beautiful, but making your home beautiful can cost money sometimes. And we would be so much stressed and we would put it on them to like, I need your help doing this, this and this moving furniture, moving furniture. They also like, it's no one likes moving furniture. And so it's like at first they were like, is this worth it? And we've had lots of conversations. Is this worth it? They have always been all in. Like, even when we want to paint a wall pink, they've always been all in doing what I'm saying.
Speaker 3 00:33:35 So it's like, we've had, we've been super fortunate and grateful that our husbands have been really supportive of us in this business. And it paid off in the long run. I think that they realized, but it was only the times that we, our energy changed from it being just fun and a creative outlet to stress and overwhelm and stuff like that, where they're just fixing it. They want to fix it, fix it. So cancel it. Cancel, cancel. But going back really quickly to what you said, Mallory, I feel like when they started to see the effects of the change in your home, don't you feel like it was because you were happy. Absolutely. You're creating and you're, you're finding your happiness. And that's our, that's our message. Like at the end of the day, we're doing this to convey and empower that message to other people, because there is just, you cannot, um, it's very difficult to explain the feeling of being home, loving your home and wanting to spend time with they're there with the people that you love, because I'm in Savannah.
Speaker 3 00:34:33 And I have had this discussion recently, we kind of come from different backgrounds. Like I had a really hard time growing up. Like we had somewhat of a dysfunctional family. Um, as I got older in junior high in high school. And, um, I craved that comfort at home and it wasn't always there. If I'm being honest, it was really hard. We went through some really hard family stuff. Um, in Savannah had a different experience. I mean, her home, her mother is like perfection. I mean, if anyone knows her mom or she literally is just the most Christ like beautiful, wonderful person, she's got a gorgeous home. She cooks amazing food. She makes every anyone in front of her. She makes them feel like she's the most important thing. And Savannah grew up believing that's what her mission was. And that's what she has done in her own home.
Speaker 3 00:35:18 Her mom taught her that. And so we kind of come from these both ends of the spectrum to where, you know, what, we had different experiences and we hope to inspire like degree, create that Mallory like craved it. And I just want it to <inaudible> create it. I want it to be the place where everyone wanted to gather. I wanted friends to be able to, if they're having a hard day, like for them to be able to have somewhere I'm saying, not necessarily leave their abandoned their family, but sometimes as a teenager, you kind of just need an escape too. And so it's one of those things that my goal and my whole entire life currently is I want a place where the kids want to be. I don't want my kids to be at other people's houses, which is kind of crazy. But at the same time, like I love that my kids don't necessarily want to be away from our home. They want to be at our house. And it's like, that's the reason why I invest in, in our backyard. That's the reason why I invested in having these things for our kids, so that they have a warm place to fall and a place to be safe. And for them to feel like they can let loose and they can be exactly who they are.
Speaker 2 00:36:21 I love that you guys have done such a good job at making such like a beautiful home and like a safe place to be. I mean, I, I just have loved all your projects and different work. And I think that was just that so rings true. You you're, I know you grew up in the fun house.
Speaker 3 00:36:37 I did. I did husband even went to the fun house before Mallory, even before Mallory even knew West. Like she was like, I've been at your house like several times. Like that's where, but my mom also made that happen. She did like, was it convenient for her? Absolutely not. And it was like, it was a ton, like looking back on it, it was probably a ton of work for her, but every single Friday night, she opened her door to all, she opened her door to all, after the football games, we would go to her house and she would have food. And so, and it gave people a place to go and a safe place to go. And somewhere where they would see her, was she exhausted? Absolutely. Was, was she spending probably a ton of her money in doing French toast for the whole entire like <inaudible> absolutely. But for her, everyone, any few meet, if you meet anyone from my childhood, like everyone will say, I remember going to your house.
Speaker 2 00:37:35 I love that. Because even right now, when they're just a little and all the kids are coming through and emptying your, my pantry, I'm looking for,
Speaker 3 00:37:43 That's a good problem. I know it's a good couples. I have to like, appreciate it. It's like a mind shift for it. But even like a few times with our group of friends and stuff like that will, it'll be the end of a date night. And it's like, well, where do we go? We end up, we end up at my parents' house still to this day. It's like going, cause it's like, there's no kids there. It just feels like we're always welcome. And I want to recreate it. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:38:07 I love that. You said, I mean, I think it's all of our goals as moms just to recreate that home, that Haven, that safe place that our kids do want to be. And if it's, you know, and I love that you guys emphasize on a budget because everyone is at a different phase of life and a different, of course, different budget to deal with. And really you can make your home a home and a happy place to be no matter what, what you're working with, what you're dealing with. And that's what I was going to say. It doesn't have to be blown out with maybe interior design is not your thing. Like maybe you it's a feeling more so than even just what you're making. Like, it all goes back to like the happiness you have as mom, like finding something you can be fulfilled by and then loving your home. And
Speaker 3 00:38:50 Yeah, I think inherently women are creators. Like that's what we're we're creators. And I think that we crave that even when we don't realize it, when you find that creative outlet, maybe it's art, maybe it's exercise, maybe it's, you know, design thinking could be, it could be anything. When you feel like you have your hand in creating something, there is something incredibly empowering about that. So I would encourage, like, if you don't feel like you have something to try different things, this was not the first thing we tried. We, we had, like, we made baby products at one point we were blinging out binkies, like done. Lots of things, done. A lot of things, lots of jewelry. We may have hit fans. We, um, we did everything and somehow we were making all sorts of random, so many bows and no girls, we have like a separate Etsy shop. Like it's just like interesting how it all evolves, but it, but how we got to where we're at today is by trying
Speaker 2 00:39:47 Yes. And S and you were, you stayed consistent and you kept pushing. No, and I, I love that too. Um, I just read that the other day too, about that we are like creators and it's recreating life and we're creating families. We're creating our home and also to exactly create our passions and to like, stay true to that because we will in the end payback to keeping us happier and whole well, and I think back to the early years, like when I first had Kate, I had quit my job. I can remember feeling like I just wasn't contributing. Like I needed a way to like, contribute to my home and our little family there. You know what I mean? And like, I, I love that you've been able to take like your passions and contribute in that way again and again and more so than ever the most important place at home.
Speaker 2 00:40:35 So it's wonderful. Well, we have just adored having you guys here. I mean, yeah, you guys are really so inspiring and I know you have such a big following and your YouTube and your website, and you guys deserve every bit of your success. You have really worked. So I want you guys to give us a taste for anybody listening, who does not follow you currently, we'll be following you hope, but give us a taste of like your top three tips on something that they will find on your touched on maybe organizing for the new year. I mean, something like, yeah. That they can go to your website and learn and take away. Because what I love about you guys, I have to say this really quick. It's not like super unattainable things. Everything you're doing is kind of on a budget. Like you don't have to be a pro or anything like that. Like give them a taste.
Speaker 3 00:41:22 We actually had a comment yesterday where, um, someone said, you guys are just talented. It's DIY is really hard. And I, and I kind of chatted with her a little bit and I said, you know, it, wasn't always easy and it's still not easy. We just love the result. And we have learned by doing project after project had lots of trial and error and emphasis on the error we just learned. And we didn't know how to even paint furniture when we decided we were going to paint furniture. So I would say like, really explore what doesn't ha don't be looking for something you're good at looking at something you enjoy learning. That's the difference. So true. Teach yourself. Cause like we have taught, we've been self-taught for the most part of like project after project. And I also think that start small. I think on our website, we have probably, well, first of all, we have hundreds of tutorials, but I think one of the easiest, quick things that I feel like people try to recreate when they follow us is accent walls that are really quick and like an hour project, less than $10.
Speaker 3 00:42:26 I think that we have lots of those honor because they totally transform a whole entire space. I think paint has always been like a huge benefit for us because you can change it. Like even this room that we're in right now, it's like, this has a totally different field because it has dark moody walls compared to the rest of your home where it's light and bright. Like it can change a whole entire thing. So start small. And we have so many different tutorials of, from anywhere from how to do baseboards, to how to paint, do a whole innovation without deliberate wall. So I think the accent walls are huge for us. And I think that they make such a big impact. So if you're wanting to find something that you can do, that's really quick, that's an hour long. That's the reason why we kind of started these classic classical or project days is because most of this stuff is done in a day and super attainable and super attainable.
Speaker 3 00:43:17 And we don't, of course people can have a beautiful home. If they have a million dollars to throw at a house that's never been our, um, we've never had that necessarily. We've just even from rentals all the way to our forever homes, like we've done it all. And I think that just because you're renting in a home doesn't mean that you don't have to create that safe feeling and that energy. And I think that even when we've done, like we did the YouTubers, Brooklyn and Bailey's apartment in dorms and in there at college. And it was like every single thing, like nothing could be nailed, but we were able to still create nothing could be painted, but we totally transformed it. So you kind of have to get a little bit creative, but there's lots of things that you can do. And no matter what phase of life you're in, whether you have $10 or you have $50,000, like there's something for everyone on our website. And I think that that's what rings true for us. And don't be afraid to try and just keep trying and you can repaint and paint is the easiest thing to redo and you can do a whole accent wall in an hour with $10. Oh my gosh. If you mess up, it's just paint and you just need to redo it again. I know. Tell us really quick about your Academy to just kind of what is available and offered with that. So classic
Speaker 3 00:44:32 Clutter decorating Academy is a insure is a program that we've developed to help you from start to finish decorate or, and a little bit of design and decorating a room from start to finish. So we start with the walls and the floors, and we build a layer upon layer until you have a fully completed space and make, and it helps you to make your home look magazine worthy on any budget. We started this program though, because we were getting question after questions and hundreds of DMS of like, how do I do this? And how do I accomplish this? Because you can look at all these tutorials and be like, Oh, that sounds really cool. Maybe I could do that, but where do you actually start? And I think a lot of people have a hard time figuring out their style and finding a color palette.
Speaker 3 00:45:11 And that's what our cat wa our Academy basically does. It's starting to find your style, then color palette, then finding an accent piece, whether that be a wall or a piece of furniture. And it just kind of works from start to finish. And I think that we've had great success in like the people in there. We have a community, we have a Facebook group that once you're part of it, you're in it. And it's a lifetime membership. And the people in there like help each other. Sometimes you just need a sounding board. Sometimes you need to know like, does this look good? Here is the scale off? Do I need something bigger? Do I need something different? Or doesn't this look amazing? Like, I need validation of like, this looks right. And so that's what the Facebook group is. And we have an amazing community of lots of people that can validate, and also reassure you that you're doing good, which is sometimes as women. That's what you need. You need the validation of like, I'm doing it good. And to bring it full circle, it really does help. Um, kind of curate those friendships with people that have, like-minded like a lot of them are moms that are trying to improve their homes. And I think my interests, I think you're a lot of your readers are, or listeners are as well.
Speaker 2 00:46:13 Yeah, absolutely. Well, we have just loved having you guys in the room with us. We hope you'll come back. Oh yeah. Anytime you can bring some more home goodies insight. Do we want to do hit and miss really quick, really quick. And you guys are welcome to pipe in on any of our, of our, so every episode we wrap up with a hit and miss of the week, Lauren, what was your hit? My hit was, I know this is so general, but I kind of had my, like to do for Christmas, like, okay, we gotta do gingerbread. So got to go look at lights. And I've actually been able to knock one off every night, this week. So I actually built his because he was like a mild week. And I'm like, okay, every night we're going to bring in Decorah. We got a real tree up on Monday night.
Speaker 2 00:46:57 We did gingerbread houses. Tuesday night, we went and drove around the neighborhood and looked just the things that were in my brain. And I'm like, I always feel like December flies by so fast and we don't get to half of them. So I was feeling good about that. Oh my gosh. So fast. Well, my hit was that for the first time legit and yours, I was ready this morning before any of my kids woke up. I was too only because Sarah really motivated me to be ready and on time. And let me just say this out there to podcast land, it is life changing. Okay. People, if you, your mornings to be more peaceful and like less crazy, get ready before the kids eat the miracle morning. It's all about that. And it's awesome. Oh my gosh. <inaudible>
Speaker 2 00:47:40 Oh my gosh. I'm not even kidding. There were like little birdies chirping in my house today because I was just like, wow. Okay. And mine, this was, I already started on the Instagram this week and I'll just follow up, but we just had a little bit of a dog fail with the poop. Um, so good. You guys really good, but it was just this one moment. Any like chase me my room. And I have like a walk in bathroom and I saw him by the mirror. It was like so much. And I was like, you guys, you guys, he was like, squatting. I picked him up. I'm like, take him, take him. And I'm like half dressed in my bed and no one was taking him and something dropped and I
Speaker 1 00:48:17 Passed them off. I stepped back and I stepped right on it. No. And I wanted to kill someone and I was like, you guys, and it just ruined my morning. Thank you. And so I was like, get out and I was able to, it was, it was little, it wasn't too bad. It was mostly my foot. I was just like, so that was for sure. My MIS by far the worst potty moment, he's actually, I will say doing really well, very like maybe two to three accidents in the house, max period, and nothing on the carpet thing that happens. So we're really getting there. Thank goodness. Oh my gosh. Well, mine is like ridiculous, but my mess is that I don't think I've like shaved my legs in over a week, which is what a week.
Speaker 1 00:49:03 It's winter time. I am not shaving my legs for the entire month out of control of the meetings. I grow out their beards. It's like, I'm not shaving my legs for the entire yes, no. I was going to say it's pretty good. Like, I feel like when I'm going onto like that 10 day Mark, and I'm just like, okay, now it's time to spiky more. Terry Terry, I've got to really get in there. Give up, he was washing my hair. I'm like, Oh, we're out a week. I better, I guess I got to do that. My sister-in-law shaved daily. Well, why power to her? That's a priority to her. That's awesome. <inaudible>
Speaker 1 00:49:42 no, we're going to wrap this whole season. You guys, I know it's been so long to season one. Oh my gosh. On Christmas break after this. So you will hear us again in 2020. That's not just go relisten to your face. We'll just push some old favorites along the way or Mondays you might've missed for the next two weeks. Right. But what, because we're going to be gone for a couple of weeks. Make sure you have subscribed. I can't reemphasize this enough. Make sure you have subscribed to our podcast and make sure you both follow classy, clutter. Your handle is at classy clutter. Yep. Very easy and classy, clutter.net in classical or.net. And then you can find us on YouTube and all the classic cluttered websites to find all the things. That's our 2020 goal. We're going to be on YouTube. And you know, we've been talking about it. We were going to get there. It's definitely, it's a different audience and it's a different angle of all things, but it's so fun. We need to grow. Totally. All right guys. Well happy 29th. I know. And all the things Merry Christmas and enjoy the holidays. We will talk to you soon. Thanks.
