Routines & Rhythms Saving my Life This Summer: Anna Liesemeyer of In Honor of Design

Edition 3/4: How a Design Blogger balances motherhood + work in the Summertime

(flowers in the background were from a garden rose explosion at the dallas arboretum)

Hi, friends! Does the name ‘In Honor of Design’ mean anything to you? I’m shrieking. We have Anna with us today and I’m so, so grateful. I truly think Anna was one of the first person I ever followed on Instagram and one of the first blogs I read consistently. She and her husband Gabe just have such infectious personalities and the way they navigate working and showing up online while also being incredibly present and mindful parents to their 7 (!!) children never ceases to amaze me. The blog posts Anna shares in her answers to the questions below are truly some of the greatest gems on the internet, ESPECIALLY the ultimate movie list to watch with kids. I jotted so many down and can’t wait to whip them out for our summer weekends! Take it away, friend!

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1. Can you introduce yourself for anyone unfamiliar with you? Your elevator pitch, if you will. Yes! My name is Anna Liesemeyer, and my husband Gabe and I renovate and design functional and family friendly spaces and document the process through our site In Honor of Design. We have lived in several types of places from a one bedroom apartment, rental homes, a 90s builder grade, and now our next adventure: an 1860s beauty back in the small Ohio town my mom grew up in. We have 7 children from 14 years down to 1 year. And they have taught me so much about the gift of time. I have a heart for sharing both beauty and truth with all of the humorous in between. We share a good deal of the behind the scenes on instagram @inhonorofdesign.

2. Where do you actually do the bulk of your work and what are the benefits and challenges of that? We work from home, and some days I am praising the high heavens (ahem winter mornings), and other days I question “how does anyone do this??” We have a sitter that comes a few mornings a week for our toddlers so we can block schedule work hours. If they know I am there it definitely can be a challenge because they want to see and touch base with mom often. I am okay with that though because my whole goal of being self-employed was to be with my kids more. Gabe and I tag team with the kids the rest of the time! We have 5 in school and when they get home it’s definitely all hands on deck from homework till bedtime. As I’m sure most parents can relate—I would call it the second marathon of the day!

3. What does childcare look like for you in the summer? We are in between moves right now so it will be an interesting summer! We most likely will have to do the bare minimum with work hours until school is back in session! Usually however, we would have a sitter (who was my college aged sister last year!) come a few days per week to bring kids to the pool or park from about 9 to 1. It was really helpful to keep things going for our business and home projects, but also felt like we had some flexibility to make the most of the summer time with the kids.

I think it is important to point out that I never feel like everything is perfectly balanced. If I get a lot done for IHOD, the house is a mess and dinner needs to be made in 10 minutes. If I unplug from work for a few days to really plug into my kids and catch up around the house, I most likely chose to turn down work opportunities. I have to constantly stay in tune with what is best for our family and give what I can with what I have. Schedules and systems help, but perfect balance is not worth the chase!

4. Now that we’ve got a good idea of what it is your days are made up of, I’d love it if you would share a rough routine. I know that few days are the same, especially in summertime, so you can choose any weekday and give a rough schedule of what it looks like from start to finish.