privacy policy & disclosures

My website address is: https://designsbydiy.com and diykickstarter.com

Designs by DIY, LLC and DIYKickStarter Course is created, written, and operated solely by Heather Contreras who is not an expert. She is a Design + DIY-loving blogger who share’s DIY projects and experiences on this blog and throughout other social media platforms, offers and courses (along with various other life-related experiences). The various home improvement & decorating methods, advice, courses and project tutorials provided by and on Designs by DIY are not error-proof, they’re merely what happened to work for Heather’s home & experiences at the time of that project. Extra precautions and additional research are always advised, and Designs by DIY cannot be held responsible for your personal safety or the outcome of your DIY home improvement undertakings.

Liability & Safety Disclaimer

When working with power tools, engaging in DIY projects, or undertaking home improvement tasks, it's crucial to acknowledge the inherent risks involved. Safety must always take precedence above all else. It's imperative to conduct thorough research and exercise personal responsibility for your actions, your safety, and the well-being of your home.

Always adhere to the manufacturer's instructions for all tools and equipment, and ensure compliance with local building codes, homeowner's association regulations, OSHA standards, and any relevant guidelines. It's recommended to take extra precautions and conduct additional research to mitigate risks.

While Designs by DIY, LLC strives to provide accurate and up-to-date information, we cannot be held liable for any injuries or claims sustained during any course instructions, Video Instructions or DIY endeavors or for any discrepancies in project outcomes despite following our tutorials. Personal safety remains your responsibility, and we encourage you to exercise caution and diligence in all your home improvement endeavors.

Designs by DIY, LLC (and it’s writers) cannot be held responsible for your personal safety or the outcome of your home improvement undertakings. We do our best to keep information up-to-date and correct, but if you’re injured attempting something you’ve seen on Designs by DIY, LLC, or YouTube or in a course or class, or if a project doesn’t yield the results that you expected after following my tutorials, Designs by DIY, LLC is in no way liable.

Sponsorship Disclaimer

Some posts on this site may eventually be sponsored but will clearly be labeled at the beginning of each post and talked about from my honest experience and opinion. I do not accept free products from any company, brand, retailer, manufacturer, or maker in exchange for a good review.

Advertising & FTC Affiliate Disclosure

Designs by DIY is a for-profit blog. This is part of a business through sharing personal experience with diy and design. It contains paid banner ads that are generated and managed by a third-party network.

This blog earns money from participating in affiliate programs, like Amazon Associates and LTK. So, I may receive a very small commission when you purchase a product from a link, at no additional cost to you. Many of the links on this website (and email newsletter and social channels) may earn affiliate commissions. When you see product links on this blog, please assume they are affiliate links. I attempt to include a line noting that in every email or blog post that includes them.

The aforementioned banner ads and affiliate links pay the hosting fees that keep this site up and running, so thanks for your support!

Designs by DIY, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and earns a commission from qualifying purchases from links. The associates program is an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com


At DesignsbyDIY.com, Designs By DIY, LLC also known as “DBD” or “I” or “my” throughout this policy document, believes that understanding the rules shouldn't require a law degree. That's why we've made DBD website guidelines crystal clear – so that everyone who visits my site can enjoy my services and products without worrying about confusing legal statements, facts and outlines. I reserve the right to update these rules, but rest assured that I’ll make sure any changes are communicated clearly. Just remember to follow the rules and enjoy your experience!

1.0 Website Services

I agree to provide you with DIY information, tutorials, home ideas, home décor, home improvement, diy business tips and advice, content creator experiences etc. through DesignsbyDIY.com. These will be formally called “services” moving forward in this policy. You are free to stop by and enjoy these “services” whenever you’d like. In exchange for providing this service, I require you to follow these rules:

  1. You must be at least 13 years old to use the Site, or if you are a resident of the EU, you must be at least 16 years old. Don’t lie about your age. If you are under 18, you agree that a parent or legal guardian agrees to these rules on your behalf. 
  2. Do not comment or post content that promotes crime or anything that would break Texas and US law.
  3. Do not use the website to do anything illegal or break the rules in my terms. 
  4. Do not change anything about my website or applications, upload any type of virus or malware, or do anything that might interfere with the way the blog or how my services work.
  5. Do not tell or encourage anyone to break these rules either.
  6. Do not do anything that might affect how other individuals use and enjoy my blog.
  7. Do not post or comment anything violent, or anything that promotes violence or violent groups, or that might make other people feel scared or threa tened.
  8. Do not post or share content that contains sexual violence, nu dity or commercial se xual services. 
  9. Do not post content related to certain regulated goods or illegal, like selling or trading non-medical drugs or medical drugs.
  10. Do not bully, post anything negative or post anything private about other people or yourself.
  11. Do not post stuff that doesn’t belong to you or infringes upon someone else’s intellectual property or rights.

2.0 Your Rights 

2.1 You have the right to feel safe using this blog and website.

2.2 You have the right to your own privacy on this blog and website. Please refer to my Privacy Policy for more details. 

2.3 Designs by DIY, LLC owns all communications displayed on the website, servers, comments, emails or other media as allowed by United States law, and I will not give credit or pay royalties for unsolicited user-generated content such as blog comments or emails. For more information on when and how I store and use your communications or any data provided by you in those communications, please refer to my Privacy Policy.

I reserve the right to republish or distribute anything you upload to my site as reasonable during my business. You agree not to submit any content that could be illegal or serve an unlawful purpose, including, but not limited to, content that is potentially libelous or maliciously false, obscene, abusive, negligent, or otherwise harmful or inappropriate.

3.0 My Rights

3.1 I am not responsible for the following:

  1. The data cost on your mobile device for using blog, website or its services. 
  2. Links to other companies or websites, even when the link shows up the website.
  3. Any content that is stolen or copied from the blog or website by someone else.

3.2 I can end the website and its services at any time or stop you from using it at any time for any reason without letting you know beforehand. I can also delete content you have uploaded for any reason, whether you think it violated my rules or not. I do not have to pay you if I deleted content that was making you money. 

4.0 Intellectual Property Rights All images, text, designs, graphics, trademarks, and service marks are owned by and property of Designs by DIY, LLC, or the properly attributed party. It is a violation of federal law to use any of my intellectual property in whole or in part, and modification of any materials contained on this Site is illegal and may be fully prosecuted permissible, including asking for financial penalties (damages) and/or an injunction forcing you to stop using my intellectual property immediately. Do not try to use my stuff, remove it, change it, or claim to be us without my express written permission. 

  • 4.1 If you are a brand or company, using any of my photos or other content (my videos, copy, logo, etc.) on any of your items/channels/etc (your website, mailers, sale listings, social media accounts, product packaging, etc) is strictly prohibited without express written permission. Failure to do so constitutes a copyright violation.
  • 2 Designs by DIY is a blog that offers inspiration and resources for fellow bloggers. While you are welcome to use their images, please make sure to give clear credit and include a link back to the site. However, using their photos in bulk is not permitted without express permission. Additionally, copying any of the text from the site, even if it is credited, is strictly against the rules. Instead, feel free to paraphrase or link to the original content. Above all, remember to respect the hard work and property of Designs by DIY. Let DBD ignite your creativity and help you reach new heights as a DIY content creator.

5.0 This Agreement 

5.1 If you use other third-party services on the Site, including payment services, you will need to follow those rules or terms. If any of those rule’s conflict with these rules, those rules will win. 

5.2 If a court finds any of this Agreement unenforceable, the other rules will still be valid. 

5.3 Any changes to these rules must be made in writing. If I fail to enforce any of these rules for any reason, I still have the right to enforce them in the future, and my behavior will not be a waiver of my overall rights in this Agreement. 

5.4 I reserve all the rights I did not expressly grant or tell you about in this Agreement. 

5.5 No one else besides you and us (no third parties) have rights under this agreement. 

5.6 You cannot give these rights or obligations to someone else without my consent. I can give my rights and obligations to someone else, however, like if I change ownership by selling part or all my business, or if I need to for legal reasons. 

6.0. Advertising, Affiliates and Testimonials

This site uses advertising and affiliate links for certain products and/or services. I disclaim all liability because of your purchase through one of these links. I will use reasonable efforts to note when and where I have placed ads or affiliate links in addition to this disclaimer located in these Terms & Conditions. You accept express liability for all consequences or benefits of clicking the affiliate links contained on this website or related communications. Any testimonials reflect the accurate experience of the person quoted, however, your results with any product or service may vary. 

7.0  Limits on Liability

7.1 Site operates as is, and I can’t guarantee it will be safe and secure or will work perfectly all the time. Sometimes mistakes happen, even when I try to find reliable vendors to help us operate the Site and its services. To the extent permitted by law, I also disclaim all warranties, whether express or implied, including the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement. I do not control or direct what people and others do or say, and I are not responsible for their actions or conduct (whether online or offline) or any content they share (including offensive, inappropriate, obscene, unlawful, and other objectionable content). I also aren’t responsible for services and features offered by other people or companies, even if you access them through my Service. You should read and agree to their rules and terms. 

7.2 Issues might arise with my service. Accordingly, my liability shall be limited to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law. I am not responsible for lost profits, data, or any kind of damage connected to you using this Site. The total limit on my liability to you under these Terms is the greater of $50 or the amount you have paid us in the past twelve months. 

7.3 You agree to defend (at my request), indemnify, and hold us harmless from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses, including, without limitation, reasonable attorney’s fees, and costs, arising out of or connected with these Terms or your use of the Service. You will cooperate as required by us in the defense of any claim. I reserve the right to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you, and you may not settle any claim without my prior written consent. 

7.4 Nothing on the site, or offered through its services or products, is intended to diagnose, or treat any physical or mental illness. No information on the site is intended to be legal, medical, expert-level, or financial advice and is for educational purposes only, unless clearly marked otherwise. 

8.0 How I Will Handle Disputes

8.1 If you have any problems that you will reach out to us if you are having issues with my service. But if you have a legal problem with my Site, you agree to use binding arbitration under the AAA, which means you will not go to court by yourself or with others or be part of a class-action lawsuit or arbitration. I and you waive a trial by jury. The following claims don’t have to be arbitrated and may be brought to court: small claims, intellectual property disputes (like copyrights and trademarks), or efforts to interfere with the services or engage with the service in unauthorized ways. A court can also decide issues about the scope and enforceability of these arbitration provisions.

8.2 For any claim that is not arbitrated or resolved in small claims court, you agree that it will be resolved exclusively in the U.S. District Court for the District of Texas or a state court located in Texas. You also agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of either of these courts for the purpose of litigating any such claim.

8.3 The laws of the State of Texas, to the extent not preempted by or inconsistent with federal law, will govern these Terms and any claim, without regard to conflict of law provisions.

For questions about this policy, you can email us at designsbydiy @gmail .com 

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Copyright Disclaimer

Any photos not credited to an outside source have been taken by Designs by DIY and are rights protected. All photos that aren’t taken by Designs by DIY are credited and linked to their outside sources and are believed to be in the public domain and readily available on the Internet (published according to the U.S. Copyright Fair Use Act, title 17, U.S. Code). Designs by DIY reserves the right to remove, replace, or move any images or content without prior announcement. Some photos used in my website were taken by a professional photographer here in Austin, TX

Medical Advice Disclaimer 

For general informational purposes only. Not intended to diagnose or treat any condition, illness or disease. Content from this website or connected social media channels is not intended to be used for medical diagnosis or treatment. As health and nutrition research continuously evolves, I do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of any information presented on this website. Please consult with a doctor or physician before starting any new fitness/beauty/skin/health/diet regime. 

Professional Advice Disclaimer

For general informational purposes only. Nothing on this site is intended to be business, financial, legal, expert-level, or medical. Please consult with a licensed professional in their field of expertise where you live.

Testimonial Disclaimer

Any testimonials or reviews shared by others on this blog or social media channels are single-handed examples (as well as my own testimonials about various home improvement and DIY methods, products I bought and used, etc). Because of the variables associated with defining success, and because those variables are so personalized, it is impossible to accurately state what an someone else may or may not achieve. Success is determined on an individual basis and is dependent on a variety of factors including willingness to take action and implement those ideas based on what is taught. Other factors include prevailing market conditions, target market selection, and the amount of hard work and effort someone expends.

Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.

An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

Media

If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.

Cookies

If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.

If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.

When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.

If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.

Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Who we share your data with

If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email.

How long we retain your data

If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

What rights you have over your data

If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

Where your data is sent

Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.