Start Your New Year Off With Inspiration
Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and that your year is off to a great start. Today I want to help you start off your New Year right by sharing some accounts and businesses from inspirational women that I follow and love. They bring humor and information to my life, and they each contribute something different. I wanted to share them with you so that you can have some inspiration and humor in your upcoming new year. I always love to discover new accounts and thought you would enjoy hearing about some of mine. If you have a favorite inspirational account that you follow, please share it with us in the comments!
This article and the video below are taken from the Stunning Style Weekly Style Snack! Join us Wednesdays at 1pm ET on the Stunning Style Facebook page or the FREE Capsule Wardrobes for Classic Style Facebook Group.
Kylie M. Interiors
The first inspirational woman I want to share is Kylie M. Interiors, and I think she is fantastic. She is basically a color genius. She was born with that magical eye that can see color at a depth that most of us can’t see. You can train your eye to better see color, and it’s something I’ve been working on for years. Kylie was born with this natural gift and she has continued to hone it. I did a paint consultation with her about my office and she told me that the real problem is that my grey sofa actually has a touch of green to it. Everything else in my office is blue or has blue undertones. It took a while of staring deep into my sofa’s eyes, but I can see the green now. I never would have picked up on that.
She is a true educator, which makes her a woman after my own heart. I learned more about paint and color from her free website materials than all of my other internet rabbit-holing combined. This is my third home and I have been agonizing over paint colors since the very first one. It is one of the worst things to have to pick out paint colors. When I came across her blog last year it was a revelation. There was so much usable and understandable knowledge, and if her free content is that good I wanted to know what else she offered. That’s when I found out she does paint consultations. All you do is send her pictures, give her the details of what you’re looking for, and then she’ll give you three paint swatches to choose from. She does it all for you!
She recently launched her Colorful Language courses and I’m planning to take those this year to learn more about color in general. It’s a topic I really love and it’s relevant to what I do for a living. I’m really looking forward to seeing what Kylie can teach me about that. I love that her blog is a ‘learn to decorate’ blog not a ‘look what Kylie can do’ blog. It’s fun to see what other people can do with their projects, but she’s there to share how you can do it too and that’s another thing I love about her. She is genuine, and has a fun spunky personality and she does things her own way. I love everything about her, and you should check out her website and give her a follow on Instagram. She has a bunch of freebies you can download as well.
Here are a few of my favorite blogs from her website:
Katherine Williams from Kwshops
I’ve been following Katherine for years, she is a model and fashion expert and she focuses mainly on luxury bags. I love her budget-conscious, realistic approach to saving up for the items you want, not falling for trends, and getting what you truly love and can afford! She is very open about budgets and talks about luxury in a very smart way. Luxury items are not investments, you buy them because you love them and get joy from them. I love her intelligent approach and that it’s not all about the current ‘it’ bag. Check out her Instagram @ms.kwshops, and her YouTube channel is one of my favorites!
If you’re looking at pre-loved luxury items and want to be sure you’re getting an authentic item, Katherine has worked in authentication for nearly a decade. She DEFINITELY knows her stuff. She will authenticate an item for $15, which is a STEAL! She also encourages buying pre-loved, which I’m a huge fan of. I’ve been interested in her services for myself, so I asked her for the details.
“I do it through detailed photos submitted online. You can just email me at [email protected]. I charge $15 and can look at items before you purchase- or after the fact. (Although beforehand is much better).”
I started following her because of her luxury content, but I became an even more loyal fan when she was brave and authentic about how she has been the target of racism in small and big ways. Her willingness to be so vulnerable in order to educate others was so brave, and honestly, eye-opening. I’ve shared that particular video with so many people. Everyone should watch it. She stood up for what is right, and I admire her so much and will be a lifetime follower of her for that.
Here are some of my favorite videos from her YouTube Channel:
Lindsey Gurk
The next inspirational woman I want to share with you is an account I follow on Instagram. She makes me laugh so hard, and her name is Lindsey Gurk. She is a young mother, and with my youngest being 8, I am out of the little ones stage and I’m honestly really sad about it. I loved the baby and toddler stage, but since my kids are all close in age they enter and leave the stages together more quickly than I would have liked. Lindsey creates these reels about the crazy things her kids do and they are hysterical. You have got to follow her. When she doesn’t pop up in my feed, I go searching for her when I need a laugh because her videos get me every time. I hope she gives you a laugh too, whether you have kids or not, because she’s just so creative and clever.
Here are some of my favorite videos from her Instagram:
House of Valentina
If you love home decor as much as I do, you will adore House of Valentina. Valentina and her husband Jack are realtors in Atlanta, and they stage homes and do home decor. They started their YouTube Channel to share some great advice, but they’re also hilarious – especially when they’re together. They’ve been married for maybe 20 years, they’ve lived abroad and even lived in Scandinavia. When they talk about that style of home decor, they aren’t just searching Pinterest. They lived there. So, I watch it for the advice, but I also love how much they clearly love each other. They have such a great chemistry, and Valentina has a great laugh.
If you’re not following House of Valentina and you’re interested in home decor, you have got to check them out. They have an Instagram as well, but I love the YouTube channel and that’s where you’re going to get most of the tips. They’re a perfect combination of being funny and informative, and I just love it.
Here are some of my favorite videos from their YouTube:
Laura LeBoutillier from Garden Answer
The last one I want to share with you is Garden Answer. If you don’t know this about me, my favorite hobby is gardening. Digging, planting, mulching, designing, and sitting in my gardens rank right up at the top of my list of favorite things to do. Add visiting other gardens, talking about gardens, dreaming up new gardens, and watching YouTube videos about gardening.
I can’t believe it took me this long to discover this channel, but it’s my new gardening crack. I have binge watched more videos than I can count, watching some of them MULTIPLE TIMES, and shared it with many of my garden-loving friends. Now they are hooked!
We bought our dream house last fall, but it didn’t come with a dream yard. The landscaping had been neglected during the year and a half renovation, and all that was left was a combination of what whatever hadn’t died and whatever had spread invasively (I’m looking at you, monkey grass!).
I’ve been dying to get out there and plant! But with a cross-country move, getting 6 kids settled, finding furniture and running a business, it had to wait. I’ve been working away at it slowly. For Mother’s Day, my family helped me plant the courtyard beds, and now I’m working on 3 beds in the front yard.
As I’ve been planning and researching ideas, the Garden Answer YouTube channel is exactly what I was looking for! She is my gardening Magic 8 ball! “Laura, what should I do with the horseshoe-shaped island bed at the front?” I give my phone a little shake, and she has the answer!
“Laura, I need a low-growing evergreen shrub I can use to create a hedge that tolerates both full sun and full shade.” I searched Garden Answer shade, and in the very first video, there was my answer!
Here are some of my favorite videos from their YouTube:
- It started with this video: 15 Perennials Every Garden Should Have!
- Then I watched this one: Full July Garden Tour!
- Here’s another great one on cottage gardens: Tips for Planting a Cottage Garden!
So, those are some of my favorite women-owned channels and accounts. They bring different things to my life, and I have been following them all for quite some time. I just really enjoy their content and I hope they bring something new to yours as well. If you do stop by and start following these inspirational women, tell them Stunning Style says hello!
2 thoughts on “5 Inspirational Women To Follow In 2022”
I second the recommendation for Kylie M Interiors. I learned so much from her content. I painted my kitchen cabinets and walls last year and honestly she saved me from making some big mistakes. I am happy with the outcome.
Thanks for the recommendations! I love learning about decorating, although my decorating style is much more Cheerful and Colorful 1940s/1950s than Glam. (A coworker and friend recently came to my house for the first time and said “It’s so cute! That does not surprise me.” Yet I needed April to tell me I’m a Cute Classic. LOL) We’ve decided that the interior paint needs a refresh, probably next winter, and this is very timely because I’ve been dreading color selection.