Mommies Behind the Blog: Laura of Avery Street Designs

I'm so excited to welcome Laura from Avery Street Design. You may already know her through her popular Instagram hashtag #foundforaged and/or her beautiful blog. She is one lady of many talents and some of her work has been featured in Poppytalk, Apartment Therapy, and Domaine, to name a few. She really is an inspiration as she manages her business, family life, and raising three young kids. I know you'll just love her.Name, occupation, what country, how many kids?Laura Irion, full-time mom, blogger & part-time interior stylist. USA, 3 kids (boy-girl-boy, 8, 6 & 2, and growing up so fast!)Your goals for 2015?My main goal is to do well in homeschooling. This is my last semester teaching my daughter for Kindergarten before she heads off to school next year. After that I’d like to take on a few more interior styling clients, and grow the blog a little bit. I also hope to do a better job at managing my time and prioritizing, by making and following a schedule every day.Do you have a word that would describe what you have planned for 2015?Quality. I don’t usually make hard and fast plans at the beginning of the new year, but I know I want to do a better job at the things I’m already doing- give more quality time and attention to my family, my friends and the important things outside of blogging & career like rest and exercise.How does a typical day look for you?7-7:30 Wake up, pack lunches, get my husband and 3rd grade son off to school8-9 Breakfast, coffee, make to-do list and schedule for the day, start laundry9-10:30 Morning school10:30-11:30 Workout, Shower, Morning lists11:30-12 Lunch12-1 Cleaning & laundry1-2:30 Afternoon school2:30-3:30 Pick up oldest from school3:30-4:30 Blog/ computer work (kids play)4:30-5:30 Pick up house, cook dinner (kids do chore cards/ play)5:30-6 Dinner6-8 Errands, blog or styling work (kids get time with dad, electronics time & do homework)8-9 Put kids down9-11 Blog / styling work or watch TV with Ryan, then head to bed11-12 Instagram on my phone when I should be sleeping :)*Everything on this schedule should have an asterisk saying “as toddler allows.” My littlest guy does some school with us, like crafts, coloring and busy boxes. He plays great on his own and with his siblings, and even still naps sometimes. But as anyone with a two-year-old in the house knows, your “schedule” can be destroyed at any moment. Much like all that organizing you just did in your playroom. I do my best to check off my to-do list in a day but sometimes he just needs me to play Hungry Hungry Hippos or snuggle him on the couch. And that’s always more important.How do you find the time to blog and work with small kids?Until very recently, my work schedule was an exercise in what NOT to do. When I started blogging last year in January, my time to write posts became at night after everyone else was asleep. I would start writing after tucking everyone in, including my husband, and stay up until 3 or 4 am at least once a week. It was so unfair to my body and it wrecked me the next day. I also had to take time during the days to work on the blog, because I need natural light for photographing projects and styled shots. I was giving it way more hours than I had ever expected, and neglecting more important things. For now I’ve drastically reduced my posting schedule until I can figure out how to have a better balance. And who knows, maybe posting once a week will be my new normal. It feels pretty good so far. Even so, as you can see from the schedule above, I spend at least three hours a day on blog & work related tasks, which just shocks me! Your favorite thing to do when you have time alone?Curling up with a heavy throw blanket, coffee and Darling magazine would be perfect.Three things you can't live without?My bible, my iPhone, and Burt's Bees lip balm.Mommy uniform?I’ve always been a jeans-and-t-shirts kind of girl. Right now I am living in my first-ever pair of Madewell jeans, and layering long sleeve t’s under cropped sweatshirts with a scarf and boots.Favorite go-to store for kids toys/clothes?I make a bi-annual pilgrimage to H&M and stock up for all the kids.What's the biggest challenge with blogging full-time, being a stylist and being a mommy? Have you hired help?The biggest challenge is time to get it all done. There isn’t enough! I haven’t hired any help, but my husband has borne a lion’s share of the burden. He has taken over all the grocery shopping, does dishes, and takes bedtime duty alone a couple nights a week so I can work. He will watch the kids for a few hours on weekends so I can style and do photoshoots or have meetings. He also took 5 days off work this month to stay home with the kids so I could attend the Altitude Summit blogging conference in Utah and take on a speaking engagement in California. I am so very grateful for his constant support and encouragement.Tell me about your Instagram hashtag you started #foundforaged?It’s like my baby! I have had the most fun on Instagram participating in hashtag challenges, and have met such great people through them. I host it with Kyla of House of Hipsters and Grace of The Big Reveal Blog, blog friends who I love to collaborate with. We just thought it would be fun. The name and concept were born in a brainstorming session the three of us had. We all love design and approach it differently. Kyla is the most amazing shopper. She has resources for vintage and unique finds that blow my mind. Grace is a master at shopping her house and making what she has on hand new and fresh again. I am constantly foraging in the yard and the garden for sticks and rocks and flowers to bring inside. We each have this unique style but we kind of realized it all falls under that umbrella of “Found & Foraged”; It’s about curating a home over time, making it personal, and appreciating the beauty that’s already around you. Anyone is welcome to join in on Instagram- just tag your pictures with the #foundforaged hashtag and the three of us regram our favorites on Saturdays. I’ve been SO inspired by the images that people have tagged so far, and I hope it continues to grow.Where do you and your kids go to for fun?It’s hard to coax me out of the house in the winter! We do a lot of snuggling by the fireplace these days. When the weather’s warmer we’ll start going to museums again. I do go to a weekly playdate with a couple girlfriends I couldn’t live without. It’s total chaos with our 7 kids (all 6 & under) running around, but we love it. It’s such a gift to have good friends to do life with.What words do you live by?“The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” 1 Timothy 1:5To see more of Laura, make sure you follow her blog, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.Photography by Ellen Swalley of Red Sweater Photography