I don't know about you, but this week I just need to see and hear some good news. So I decided to air one of my favorite Instagram accounts I like to visit for a pick me up, Racheal Jackson's banyanbridges.

I don’t know about you, but this week I just need to see and hear some good news. So I decided to air the interview I did with one of my favorite Instagram accounts, Racheal Jackson’s banyanbridges. Racheal’s style is bold and colorful, and I discovered her account after it was recommended to me by Ariel at PMQfortwo several years ago. Two things keep me going back to Racheal’s account: she is fearless with her approach to DIY and murals design,  and secondly, she is always her authentic self. So I wasn’t surprised that when we did this interview it felt pretty easy to talk to her.

Racheal’s mom was a self-taught general contractor, and her dad a self-taught everything else. She has been playing in construction homes for as long as she can remember. Racheal doesn’t recall her parents actually having her use any tools or work on any projects with them, but the proximity to the projects made her more comfortable with the process. As an adult she had access to their tools  and watched a lot of YouTube tutorials.

A few years ago her parents bought a 1950’s farmhouse. It needed A LOT of work. And they were kind of “over” doing projects themselves. So they worked out a deal, Racheal would renovate it, and afterward her parents would rent the house out to her family. So, with a 9-week-old baby (#3!) strapped to her back, she renovated the crap out of this place. And SHE LOVED it.

Before she moved into the house, she spent a lot of time on Instagram and in homes of friends and noticed that all their put together spaces had one thing in common: they were neutral. So, she painted all the walls grey and installed all white tile. White cabinets, white trim “Mature”.

After living in “maturity” for a year she came to the conclusion that she is not a neutral person. So Racheal began the journey of painting all the walls, introducing color, stripes, funk; She made her home a reflection of her family—colorful, slightly bizarre and awesome.