When Arin Solange Jura posted her first article—a laundry room reveal—to her new blog in 2016, she simply wanted to share her passion for DIY décor and “find connection in those lonely trenches of early motherhood,” she says. Now, five years later, running that blog as well as an Instagram account of 51,300 followers has blossomed into a full-time job.
The blog, “Arin Solange at Home,” features DIY tutorials, decorating advice, parenting tips, home tours, and gift guides. In 2020, she and her husband, Sam Jura, purchased a historic home in Kirkwood that called for a complete renovation. It was a large undertaking, but it’s also provided a slew of new opportunities and projects that have helped grow Jura’s brand.
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“My job has been projects and DIYs, so we really wanted a house where we could do that non-stop,” says the mother of four. So far, they’ve redesigned their 8-year-old son’s room, installed built-in cabinets, revamped the front porch, built a coffee table, in addition to a number of other smaller projects.
“I’ve had visions for every space in this house. Now it’s finding time to do them,” she says. With four kids under age 8, that time is often after bedtime or on the weekends.
Jura’s niche is mid-level DIYs, which she masterminds and her husband helps execute. “My followers expect a trip to The Home Depot in my projects, not just Hobby Lobby,” she says. And while her aesthetic is known for its clean lines and neutral colors, it also features a lot of pink, which she tries to work into every room.
Jura’s projects fill a need for her family, such as the wall-mounted easel she created from an IKEA curtain rod and a roll of paper. Although it was a simple job, it’s one of her most popular posts, landing her mentions in national publications like Better Homes & Gardens.
“It cracks me up because it was just an IKEA curtain rod, but it solved a need for us and it solved a need for so many other moms, which makes me very proud,” she says.
Although Jura strives to make her projects “Pinterest perfect,” and Pinterest certainly does drive a lot of traffic to her blog, she avoids using it, preferring to delegate posting, researching, and curating duties to the site to an assistant. “It’s really, really easy to accidentally copy people,” she says. “You may not even realize it.” Instead of finding inspiration on Pinterest, for Jura the ideas tend to strike in the middle of the night or while doing everyday activities, like shopping at the dollar store, where she was recently inspired to build stools out of foam wreath forms and wood rounds.
“I always stress that we’re not professionals. We’re just normal people that have learned to DIY,” she says. “If we can do this, you can do this.”
Jura, a native of Nebraska, caught the DIY bug early. “I have recollections of being in elementary school and turning paper towel rolls and random craft supplies into table centerpieces for my mom,” she says. Now that she has her own family, more complicated DIY projects allow her to design and decorate the home she wants while staying within her budget. “I love décor and almost always have a vision for a space, but I definitely don’t always have a budget for it without a good DIY.”
Next on Jura’s list of DIY projects is a kid-size barn for the backyard. But for this busy mom and blogger, finding the time to commit to the project has been a challenge. Her advice for going at it alone? Give yourself time and space to fail. “I do DIYs at least once a month that fail,” says Jura. “My daughter’s dresser took three tries before my vision came to life. The PVC pipe powder room was also born after a first try didn’t work.”
Most important is to not let anyone talk you out of your vision. “My best projects have all been ideas that everyone thought I was completely nuts to try,” she says.
