Today we’d like to introduce you to Erin Devine.
Hi Erin, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m a Registered Nurse turned home improvement blogger! I started professionally blogging in 2018. I had a free Blogspot account back when blogs were first popular in 2007, but I never took it seriously. All of that changed in 2015 when I bought my first home. I was using DIY and Home Improvement blogs for step-by-step instructions and design inspiration, incorporating bits and pieces of ideas from all over the web into my projects. I would pick up extra shifts at the hospital to fund my projects. Three years later, I started blogging for real. Top Shelf DIY initially launched as a collaborative endeavor with my sister while she was on maternity leave, but it became clear in the early stages that this was going to be my baby.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Blogging is a slow burn! It takes months and months for people to find you and for search engines like Google to index your content. It wasn’t until 2020 that I had enough page views (25,000 page views a month) to qualify for display advertising. That’s two years of churning out content before I earned a dime from my blog. Lucky for me, Covid forced a lot of people to stay indoors and get creative around the house. Another downside is that when you’re a creative extrovert like me, blogging can feel like a lonely slog. For this reason, I now work full-time as a healthcare recruiter and my blog is a part-time endeavor.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
TopShelfDIY.com is best known for “lifting your home and your glass.” The site features cocktail recipes as well as home improvement projects.
Interestingly enough, I stopped drinking alcohol in June of 2022. Now that the focus has shifted entirely to DIY projects, I’ve been working behind the scenes on a new course geared toward crown molding — Crown Molding Magic. The course is geared toward beginning woodworkers who would like to learn how to install crown molding for the first time. Because crown molding has to be cut and installed at a particular angle (also known as the spring angle), it is more complicated than other trim. While crown is often a source of frustration during renovations, over the years I’ve learned how to streamline the process and get around all of the math involved. My goal in creating this course is to save others time and frustration by sharing this knowledge in a visual way.
I like to think of myself as the Queen of Crown Molding, but I’m happy to find others who love it just as much!
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Anything worth having in life takes time. Whether it’s personal relationships, health, or career, you need to water your goals daily rather than expecting a tree to take root overnight.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://topshelfdiy.com
- Instagram: @topshelfdiy
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/topshelfdiy
- Youtube: @TopShelfDIY
Image Credits
Erin Devine, Top Shelf DIY
