Decorating blog goes ‘viral’

When Casey O’Halloran and Bridget O’Connor started a blog about decorating on a budget, they thought, at the very worst, they’d at least get a few readers.

“We had no clue what to expect,” said O’Connor, a teacher who lives in Countryside. “[We] thought at least our moms would read.”

It turns out a lot of moms and others found their way to the blog, which is about to hit 1 million page views. The DIY Playbook has become a part-time job for the two women in their mid-20s, who post daily photos and short stories about do-it-yourself decorating projects they think of and tackle together, usually on weekends.

From furniture to crafts to organizing to weddings to holiday decorations – such as a wreath made of red- and green-painted wine corks – the blog features dozens of projects. Other examples include a chalkboard globe, stenciled bookcase, mason jar organizer, vintage bar cart and decorating with a pew.

People went nuts for the Mason jars, which O’Halloran and O’Connor screwed into wood and hung above a sink as a bathroom organizer.

“They went viral,” said O’Halloran, a producer for WGN-TV. “We’re still getting comments and emails from people. They’re all over Pinterest, all over websites … [People] want to know the exact size of the drill bit we used.”

As the blog started getting noticed more and more, O’Halloran and O’Connor – best friends since high school – received offers from companies who wanted to partner with them. Their sponsors include HomeGoods, which operates stores like TJ Maxx and Marshalls, PODS portable moving containers and moving company HireAHelper, whose website features one of their “do-it-yourself Thursday” posts every week.

“We never really thought we could make money running a blog,” O’Halloran said. “We weren’t thinking page views. We weren’t thinking dollar signs.”

Now that the blog has taken off, the women – self-described Type A personalities who schedule posts months in advance – are thinking bigger. They’re putting money away to eventually hire a developer to make over their website.

But the site will still focus on creative decorating on a budget. That was what O’Halloran and O’Connor bonded over during college, when they had to find cheap ways to spice up their dorm rooms.

“You don’t have to break the bank to decorate your house and a creative space to be proud of,” O’Connor said. “We’re really big on decorating our homes with any kind of decor that’s meaningful.”

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On the web

Check out Bridget O'Connor and Casey O'Halloran's decorating ideas at www.thediyplaybook.com.

They can also be found on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest with the handle diyplaybook.