LOVER BRAND

their offers

IN THE WILD

Here's a snapshot of their entire offer suite.

I love Chris + Julia's love story, which is what they call their business - you can't really get more Lover brand than that. They're married bloggers (circa 2009) turned - over the course of MANY years, trials, and tribulations - home renovation influencers.

Today they have their own home decor lines (rugs, pillows, cabinet doors, flooring), and they do collaborations with other brands, but for years they made 100% of their income with affiliate offers + through paid brand partnerships. They would renovate another part of their own home, share links to all the materials, furniture, and decor they used, and BOOM their kindreds (what I prefer to call dream clients) would scoop them up. Proof that affiliate offers is a totally viable business for companies of ONE (or a few) like us.

They're really the poster children for growing organically over time and letting their brand and business evolve as they figure things out + found their way. You don't see a lot of bloggers from the late 2000's still crushing it today, so take lots of notes. Chris + Julia are #brandingGOALS!

their BRAND PURPOSE

IN THE WILD

Why they do what they do (beyond the money).

A Lover brand is always going to be driven by beauty + love and that's at the core of everything they do. They see their home like it's a vessel for their family's love + connection and that's all they want for their kindreds - to love where they live.

We started this blog in 2009, the year after we got married. But it wasn’t always a business! Like most bloggers back then, we were all about showing off our home projects and cute pictures of our kids. Our budget for home improvements was $20/month, and we were DIYing our hearts out (with borrowed tools).

In 2015, we took Instagram by the horns and started photographing our home and our projects with a real camera. We started talking to our audience every day. We got really consistent with our content, and we took big, go-with-your-gut risks.

OUR STORY

A year later, Chris quit his day job, and we were pinching ourselves: We get to work on our house as a job. And we get to work right alongside each other.

Looking back, I probably should have known that the girl who would beg the local bakery to let her design their store window (and get paid in cookies) would find a way to make a living out of making spaces beautiful — a truly sweet life.

Love Where You Live

In an industry that often feels designed to make you discontent, we want this to be the place you come for inspiration, ideas, and encouragement to make the space you’re already in feel like home.

their BRAND POSITIONING

IN THE WILD

What makes them so different from everyone else.

What makes them a Lover brand isn't their loving marriage - a married couple could have any shade of personality. What makes Chris Loves Julia a Lover brand is the lens they see the world through.

They don't fix up homes, they don't flip homes, they don't specialize in interior design, and they aren't decorating experts. They teach people how to love where they live + make it beautiful along the way. The pain points THEIR kindreds are experiencing are far deeper than upholstery + paint choices.

Understanding matters of the heart (in the context of your home) is what's informed everything about their messaging + positioning - without it, they'd still be sharing how-to's of their home projects and cute pics of their kids... wondering why they're still making the same lousy money.

In the end, this blog is a love story.

In 2009, Chris came home from work to my announcement: “I started a blog, and I called it ‘Chris Loves Julia.’ Is that okay?” He said, “Yeah! It’s true.” The name stuck, and the blog evolved into a love of home, a love of uncovering potential, a love of each other, and a love of family.

We believe in loving the home you’re in and making it beautiful along the way.

Don’t wait. We’re all about embracing our home at every stage — from fixing it up to adding finishing touches. We take pictures and celebrate progress all along the way. And even though we love a good before-and-after, you’ll see a lot more of the in-between.

We’re a couple of progress-embracing home renovators, bloggers, brand ambassadors, and educators. We love: modern cottage design, s’mores around the fire pit, and our three cute kids (but not in that order).

We're not a before-and-after blog.

We're an in-progress blog.

We're a troubleshooting blog.

We're a figure-it-out-and-try-again blog.

We make mistakes. We change our timelines. We get sidetracked by new inspiration. We embrace project creep. We scratch our heads and ask, “What’s not working here?” We’re a mood-boarding blog. A changed-my-mind-again blog. A what’s-my-budget blog. We do teamwork. And DIY. And knowing when to hire help. We don’t wait. We embrace what we love about where we live now and try to help our home realize its potential while we realize ours.

Right now, we’re probably spooning PB2 over our Nice Cream and gushing with gratitude that we get to inspire so many to love where they live. We’re also staying busy collaborating with our dream brands and mentoring passionate, enthusiastic content creators on their path to goal-conquering, money-making, and unprecedented success.

their BRAND PERSONALITY

IN THE WILD

Who they are when they're being themselves.

I love that they call their newsletter, Love Letters! Genius.

True to a Lover brand every point they make + post they share is dripping with so much passion for the project at hand. The way Julia talks about the things they're working on - it's almost like she's talking about a new crush! It's adorable and really captures the heartfelt, enchanting nature of a Lover's personality.

Notice how they use both "I" and "we" in their copy- this really humanizes their brand because, in what world would a couple not have their own voices? Just because you're a business tag team (married or not) doesn't mean you can only be a "we". I love the way they each let their individuality shine through in the content they write.

Can We Send You Our Love Letter? Each week, we round up exclusive content, inspiration, shopping, recipes, how-to’s, and a behind-the-scenes look into home design, DIY, and family — and lovingly send it to your inbox.

Make yourself right at home!

I’ve recently discovered how to create my home color palette using Canva, and it is so fun & simple. If you haven’t created your first home color palette, here are some easy steps🙌🏻🖤

Faye’s room is thhiiiisssss close to being done and I’m having so much fun in the final styling stages! This fringe stool just belonged in here, right?! 😍 Prints for the frames arrive tomorrow and I think I tracked down a different green lamp for her dresser 🙃. It’s no color left behind in this room! Can’t wait to show you the whole thing!!!

For over 14 years, Chris and I have been using our homes as renovation playgrounds, and I’ve experimented with every color of the rainbow. There have been ups and downs, but through it all, I’ve learned a thing or two about incorporating color into my home more fearlessly. Today is day one of Color School, our free mini-series of lessons designed to help you embrace more color into your home

If you’re weary of introducing more color into your home or aren’t even sure WHERE to start looking for inspiration…start here. Any one of these will have you melting and swooning over every color in the crayon box in no time 🙌🏻

The sweet sounds of summer right in our backyard 🖤

Shh… I’ve been quietly curating little “moments” in our home. This brass match striker is, admittedly, luxurious, as is this architecturally striking lamp. I love sprinkling in these eye-catching accents around the house: They’re little gasps when you walk into a room.

The process of renovating Faye’s room is now! she’s nine and pretty interested in design, so she’s done some of the decision-making. We’re both so happy with her wallpaper choice🥰 It’s soft, sophisticated, and stunning. Stay tuned for trim and furniture updates!

their brand passion

IN THE WILD

TONS of the branded eye candy they've dropped on their website + across their socials.

It's typical for design-based, especially home design-based, brands to have a very minimal + neutral brand identity (rarely will they have any graphic accessories, only a color or two in their palette, etc.), so they can make the inspo, ideas, and products that they share eye-candy... and that's exactly what Chris + Julia have done.

They have a logo, one gray color in their palette, and one simple serif font they use - the branding is mostly THEM, and they do it flawlessly with their (real) camera. 😆

What makes their content look + feel like a Lover brand is again... THEM. The love they have for each other and their home... that's what seals the deal. You can keep it simple and never sacrifice personality.

The other thing they do on their socials that I wanted to highlight - which ties in with their affiliate-heavy business model - is create these gift guides that feature specific holidays, colors, rooms, you name it (I dropped a few examples below). They're really cool inspo, and super shareable (I bet they provide a really good income stream too). Buuuuut, they would be so much more instantly recognizable if they used a branded image template, so they have continuity across all of them.

WANT MORE lover branding inspiration?

😍

VISIT Chris Love Julia'S 

WEBSITE + INSTAGRAM

HOW YOU CAN USE Chris + julia AS INSPIRATION

IN YOUR BRANDING (EVEN IF YOU'RE NOT A lover BRAND)

✅ Instead of pretending to be a "we" when it's really a "me, myself, and I" sitch (or pretending to be an "I" when there's really a "we" behind the scenes), just be honest about the size of your business. People LOVE hiring companies of ONE (especially as so many big brands and agencies make themselves less accessible + more AI-run). Don't discount the selling power behind your company's size - whether that's 1, 2, 3, or 4. Live your "I" (or "we") unapologetically because there's no shame in a solo (or small) game.

✅ Turn your email list into a stand-alone (free) offer, complete with a snazzy name, a compelling promise, and a genuinely kickass welcome email sequence that makes people want what you're offering before they even know what you're offering, because they resonate with you THAT much. It's called a newsletter, and it's a totally viable 'freebie.' Email is not dead, it's still very much alive. In fact, it's arguably more alive than ever. Social platforms are fickle and indiscriminately fucking difficult. Don't wait to be burned before you put the time into branding your email list. Think: Lover Letters (it's such a brilliant name for Chris + Julia's newsletter!)

AND HEY, IF YOU ARE A lover BRAND

Brandish That Shit Loudly + Proudly

Your kindreds love learning from YOU because your pleasure-seeking ways are so contagious + inspiring that it helps them feel safe enough to tap into their inner desires and fearless enough to pursue what sets their souls on fire.

Don't rob them of that realness, because THAT'S what makes YOU so delightfully different, ridiculously relevant, and unbelievably validating to YOUR people!