From Pinterest to styling the Hilton
A Kiwi interior stylist who pinned and blogged her way to creating her own brand has been commissioned to design three rooms for the Hilton hotel group.
Michelle Halford started her blog, The Design Chaser, five years ago as a hobby and never thought it would bring her the opportunities it did.
Halford has been flown around the world to style several shoots by international brands. Next week she’ll be jet-setting off to Spain for a blogger tour.
After leaving her job in publishing to start a family in 2012, Halford took to Pinterest and started a blog both as a hobby and an inspiration board for the home she was building at the time.
It was through curating her inspiration boards on social media that exposed Halford to international style aesthetics.
But Halford said she didn’t get noticed until she joined Instagram and started collaborating with brands. ‘‘It was really important to stick to my own style and not deviate from that. If you are, authentic brands will want to work with you and followers on social media will also see it.’’
She has a following of more than 330,000 across Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.
Halford’s latest project with Hilton involved designing three rooms, one for each of its hotels in Auckland, Taupo and Queenstown. The hotel rooms have been created to mimic the French luxury and invite-only Hotel du Marc.
Halford said her success was the result of many long days of doing finances, promoting her blog, liaising with brands and churning out fresh content.
But she said being her own boss and working from home was a double-edged sword.
‘‘It can be too much work for one person. I have suffered burnout a couple of times and that’s a common thing with bloggers.’’
She plans to build a team in the near future as she continues to grow her brand internationally.