Joyful Derivatives – Rachel Joy
Topics: DIY / Home Design / Entertaining
Meet the latest addition to Ma’s List – Joyful Derivatives!
I’m excited to share this website with you. Frankly, it’s the first site for these topics that made the cut. That’s because a website on Home Design can be a lot of things that just aren’t helpful. It can be way too expensive, whereas we’re looking for affordable. It can be too complicated, instead of practical. Like it’s focusing on interior decorators or contractors. Or it can be too much of a lifestyle blog… which is fine, just not our mission.
But Joyful Derivatives is everything we’re looking for: affordable, practical, emphasis on teaching rather than merely showcasing.
Rachel and her husband learned in the trenches what they teach, by working to improve the first home they bought. Their background is experience, not a degree or a career in the field.
Her website covers 3 main categories: DIY (Do It Yourself), Home Design, and Entertaining. The website menu shows these categories, so it’s super easy to navigate. Now even though I don’t consider myself a big DIYer, and I just dabble in home design stuff to amuse myself, I really enjoy reading what she shares on these topics and I get some fun ideas. And her posts on the topic of entertaining are great. You have to check them out. At first some of the titles may strike you as common sense. Like 5 Simple Steps To A Beautifully Set Table. But I feel like you’ll get something new or just practical from each one.
She has a very cheerful, positive writing tone. I think just reading her blog will encourage and inspire you. Even if you aren’t planning a big or small (or any!) house remodel. Rachel makes everything sound fun and do-able… and she gives you the steps to actually do what she’s done. She helps us realize we don’t always have to call in experts and hand over boatloads of money. But she definitely preaches doing your research and planning. Extremely wise advice.
One Thing Ma Loves: I love her website, not just because it’s straightforward, but it’s also not “sell-y”. There are a few ads, but they’re not in your face (on the laptop anyway). But what I really mean by not sell-y is that she doesn’t spend a lot of website space trying to sell her services to you. The only thing she really advertises are her free resources – beat that. I had to hunt just to find out that she does offer paid services!
I hope you’ll check out her site!
