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EP 71: Trusting Your Design Instincts and Creating a Home That Is Uniquely You with Tasha Agruso

Aug 19, 2019

EP 71: Trusting Your Design Instincts and Creating a Home That Is Uniquely You with Tasha Agruso

In today’s episode, we are talking to my friend Tasha Agruso, the hilarious, brilliant, and very talented founder of Kaleidoscope Living and the creator of the Designer in a Binder. This is Tasha’s second time as a guest on the Do It Scared® podcast.

You might remember her from when she was here before in episode 14. In that episode, Tasha shared her incredibly inspirational story of walking away from a highly lucrative career as a medical-malpractice attorney to follow her passion as an interior designer and start her own online business.

If you haven’t yet listened to that episode, I highly recommend it. It is still one of our most popular episodes ever. But today, we are going to be diving in a little deeper into Tasha’s philosophy on decorating, and also talking about why daring to create a home space that you love can actually be an act of courage.

Highlights

[03:18] – The previous episode with Tasha was one of our most popular episodes.
[04:17] – Tasha is an entrepreneur. Originally, she was a medical malpractice defense attorney. She was always super creative and loved making her home environment exactly what she wanted.
[05:04] – In 2013, she launched a blog to document her home renovations. Tasha then enrolled in Elite Blog Academy and her blog ended up turning into a full time career.
[05:27] – It’s her mission to inspire other people to create homes that they love through her blog Kaleidoscope Living. Tasha feels that’s one of the most important things you can do for yourself.
[06:10] – We went deep at our last mastermind and Tasha opened up about why decorating is so important for her.
[07:16] – She realized her childhood was full of dramatic ups and downs. It was very chaotic. She soothed herself by making her room exactly how she wanted it. She could rely on it to be her happy place. Having this space let her set the tone for her days.
[09:09] – This is what Tasha wants to help people do. You can’t separate yourself from your house. The feelings of negativity will follow you throughout your day.
[10:02] – People underestimate how powerful your home is and how it sets the tone for the rest of your life.
[11:01] – Environmental psychologists study the environment in which people live. If you hate your house, it’s a real problem.
[12:14] – Designer in a Binder empowers people to create a space that they love.
[13:05] – Someone (on Instagram) who purchased Designer in a Binder said it enabled her to get rid of the resentment that she had for a house she purchased and was stuck with and to just embrace it for the house that it is.
[14:13] – Another person felt paralyzed to decorate. Now she feels that she has moved into her house.
[17:27] – Start with a laundry room or a bathroom or something small.
[19:41] – Build up your fear immunity for decorating or your fear archetype.
[20:39] – Feeling good about a small space will build your confidence.
[21:02] – Find the one thing that you cannot live without. This is your jumping off place where your color pallet comes from
[23:03] – A rug is a perfect thing to decorate around.
[23:59] – Go with your true heart’s desire and go with your jumping off point. If you like it then get it.
[26:53] – Neutrals can be beautiful if you layer texture. Don’t over analyze your taste.
[27:39] – If you’ve pinned a lot of things that look similar, that’s probably what you like, so you should go with it.
[29:02] – If you’re afraid of color, find a fabric you like and all the colors in the fabric will go together.
[30:45] – Most fabric stores will either do custom window treatments or at least tell you where to get them done. Etsy also has a lot of great choices.
[31:36] – Mixing patterns can look really professionally done. The patterns need to be in a similar color palette and different sizes.
[35:36] – Rule followers like having a path to follow. Find a mentor to lead you down the path you want to go.
[37:09] – Don’t pass up opportunities because you haven’t done the prep work.
[39:05] – Tasha has a new podcast called Colorful Conversations. Living your best life starts with your home. They talk about practical tips from finding contractors to being motivated to work on the house.
[46:54] – Ruth forced Tasha to think about where she wanted her business to go. Her rebrand was necessary. A kaleidoscope can make mundane objects beautiful by changing perspective.
[49:38] – Tasha has had to get comfortable with it’s good enough.
[50:21] – She is working on a physical version of Designer in a Binder.
[53:02] – Tasha would tell her 18 year old self that all of the best things in her life emerged from the things that were the scariest to do.