Get the Look

5 questions with julia marcum

We loved working with Julia Marcum of Chris Loves Julia on our “Interior” filter +pack, and catching up with her recently was an absolute joy! Here’s an excerpt from our Q&A:

Share a little about your life and what a typical day looks like for you.

We’re busy! Chris and I spend every day working to make our house more beautiful, while producing engaging content to take our audience along for the ride. We work with sponsorship partners and contractors and our team — and some days, we’re rolling up our sleeves for an inspiring DIY. It’s a good day if it ends hanging out around the fire pit with our girls or piling onto the couch as a family.

What’s one piece of advice you have for making home a safe, creative space?

Go with your gut. If you have an idea for your house that you can’t stop thinking about — do it. Maybe you just love it, or you might just need to get it out of your system. In our first house, I painted our living room purple! Me! Purple! I painted Greta’s room lime green. I painted our living room blue! I left no color un-turned, and I tried it all. Now I’m much more reserved in my palette, but I never wonder. If the color itch strikes again, I’m not afraid to go for it. It’s just paint. Tastes change – thank goodness!

I get a lot of messages telling me I’ve changed over the years, and I take every one as a compliment. We’re supposed to change. We’re supposed to improve. We’re supposed to evolve. So it’s really natural to grow out of that wall color or candle color or textile or your decor in general. Making sure those pieces go to a home that will love it will make everyone a lot happier than disliking that patterned chair every time you see it.

What’s one life lesson you’ve learned from your career?

Don’t wait. Don’t wait until you have the house of your dreams of the budget of your dreams to start improving where you live. It’s so easy to say “We’re moving in a year, I’m not doing anything.” But a year is a LONG time to not love where you live. Invest in things you can take with you (like art for the walls, furnishings!) and start now! Creativity is a muscle. The more involved you are in improving your home, the more comfortable and confident you will be in doing so. When I was in a graphic design class in art school, I had to make 50 logos a day. At first it was so hard. But when I got in the groove, I found I could even go beyond 50! If you’re wanting to be creative in your DIY endeavors in your home, start and don’t stop – the ideas will start flowing.

Share one tip for styling a vignette to photograph at home.

Shop your house and remix your favorite pieces, so that home is always a place to show off your personality and style. When you focus on whole rooms and huge projects, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and discouraged. Take back the control! Spend 15 minutes in one corner. Make it reflect YOU. It’s good for the soul.

If you were limited to just one filter, which would you pick and why?

I love “Powder Room” because it’s so subtle, and I layer on “Guest” afterward, and it adds JUST the right about of warmth. Layering filters is my new favorite filter!

After
Before

Thank you so much for reading, and thanks a million to Julia for taking the time to chat with us! If you’re interested in learning more about layering filters like she mentioned, you can find a tutorial on that here.

And don’t forget, you can find Julia’s filter +pack, Interior, in the app! xo.

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