Today we’d like to introduce you to Hannah Kirkman.
Hi Hannah, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Oh goodness, where to start?! Let’s take it back to 2014. My husband, Kyle, and I got married at the beginning of the year, and shortly after we got pregnant with our first son. The plan from the beginning was always for me to be a stay-at-home momma. It is the hardest, yet most rewarding ‘job’ I have ever had and I am so thankful I have the opportunity to stay home and raise our babies. Shortly after our first son was born in 2015, I found myself wanting a hobby—something for me and something apart from my title as ‘mommy’. I began to create and design things for our home. I made cheap Christmas decorations, painted anything I could get my hands on, and my husband and I did a major update on our builder-grade kitchen. Since then, we have moved twice and have done DIY projects every step of the way. That hobby I started 7 years ago has now turned into my passion and designing, creating, and building has become a part of who I am. One of my favorite parts of this journey is being able to share my knowledge with others on social media through my Instagram, Hannah Kirkman Home. My desire is that my account can be a place where people can find inspiration, encouragement, and real-life tutorials. I can hardly believe that over 50,000 people love what this stay-at-home, DIYing momma has to offer.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Oh my goodness, it has definitely not been a smooth and easy road! We had 4 boys in 6 years so you can imagine how chaotic our house can be. I think there are two aspects to this question: 1) What are some struggles you have had physically doing projects? And 2) What are some struggles you have had growing your social media following?
In regards to doing projects, the biggest struggle is doing projects with kiddos home 24/7. Have you heard the saying “Cleaning with kids in the house is like brushing your teeth while eating Oreos?” It can often feel like that during projects. Sometimes wet paint gets smudged or a hammer gets taken to brand new crown moulding that’s waiting to be installed. Ha! Sometimes I can get frustrated, but ultimately, I have to remind myself that I am a momma first and a creator second. I now try to do projects while the kiddos are at Mother’s Day Out or after they go down for bed. This also helps me set much-needed boundaries to not work on projects for extended amounts of time.
The second part is the social media aspect. Whew, who knew there was so much to learn about growing your following?! I have been sharing on Instagram since 2017 when we moved into a 1940’s fixer-upper. We completely renovated that home and I loved sharing the process along the way. We tiled, installed cabinets, demoed walls, laid new flooring, retrofit insulation into the walls—the whole nine yards. My desire was to grow my account and I did, but it was at a slow snail’s pace. Throughout the years I have taken a couple of social media breaks to give myself space and room to breathe. It can be very discouraging to put in a lot of work and get very little return. I absolutely love all forms of social media and the ability we all have to share, connect, and inspire one another through these platforms. But on the other hand, I think if we could be honest with ourselves, we could admit that it also has the ability to bring forth feelings of negative self-worth.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a self-taught DIYer with a passion for home design. Thank you, YouTube, Pinterest, my husband, and lots of practice! My focus is on smaller-scale projects that are attainable for the average person. I spend a lot of time creating accent walls, installing trim work, painting, and building small furniture pieces. Now don’t get me wrong, I also love a good whole room makeover. In 2021 I completed a major laundry room update in our new home. My husband taught me how to build the first cabinet and that gave me the confidence to start doing solo builds. I built 3 cabinets for our laundry room including doors, tiled a backsplash, and installed a floating shelf. It was by far the hardest and most frustrating project I have ever done, but it was so rewarding once it was completed! I believe I have a unique position in the DIY and home design community due to my relatability. My desire is not to accomplish extravagant remodels, but to encourage and inspire people to create homes they love with a little bit of time and money.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I believe that while there may be things that have happened in my journey that would be considered lucky, I also believe that many things happened because they were meant to be.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.hannahkirkmanhome.com
- Instagram: @hannahkirkmanhome
