MY STORY WITH DECORATE

Oh my, this blog post on Decorate is loooong over due. I got this book when it first came out … I want to say early this April… and I can’t believe I waited this long to share this with you. (Though I do remember posting a photo here on my FB saying how happy I was to receive this in the mail!)

Since then, I probably went through this book like ten times. And to be honest, I am still in love with it. Similar to other books, I began by putting post-its on the images I like…well, it turned out that I ‘post-it’ almost every other page! Really, the book is that good!

This book contains 1000 professional design ideas – a lot to go through, i know. Thankfully, all the contents and images are laid out very well and organized. It is divided into four sections with insights on (1) working with space, (2) setting your style, (3) designing room by room, and (4) creating finishing details.

There are also helpful case studies throughout the book and inspiring advice from top designers like Jonathan Adler, Kelly Wearstler and Amy Butler. I mean, what can beat that?  It might seem like I’m showing you the whole book here, but trust me, there are a lot more alluring images in this book than you can imagine!

Now if you don’t mind, I want to take you on a little detour and tell you a bit about ‘how I started blogging’ – I promise, my story will take you back to Decorate. Plus, I encountered this question a lot, so why not share?

I only started blogging the beginning of this year – out of the necessity to have a creative outlet as a stay-at-home mom, and to build something I can call my own. Prior to that I did not read any blogs at all (ok, maybe one and she was a friend.) So yes, you can say I was pretty clueless with the whole blogging scene AND this social media thing. Excuse me, how do I use Twitter?

About a month into my blogging, I was really lucky to have stumbled upon Leslie Shewring’s blog “A Creative Mint.” There I happened to catch her announcement about a blogging e-course she would be teaching with Holly Becker from “Decor8“ (Btw, the course is called “Blogging Your Way.” )

Anyway, I honestly didn’t know how popular Holly or Leslie was in the blogosphere. I just knew they both had pretty blogs, beautiful styles, tasteful eyes, and that I wanted to learn more about blogging from like-minded people. So I signed up for the e-course…little did I know I was learning from some of the most successful ladies in the design blog industry!

During this e-course, I learned a great deal about blogging. From tips on photography, to photo-editing, to styling, to running a blog and b-etiquettes, to even hearing personal anecdotes/advice from both Holly and Leslie, I mean, how could I have asked for more?! Taking this course was not only inspiring, but it really started me off on the right foot with my blog!

The other amazing part was that I also got to meet some wonderful new friends, both from abroad and in the states. And along with their support, I have been blogging happily ever since.

So what does my story has do with me owning Holly’s book or taking her course for that matter?

Well, today, I am actually going to meet her in person!! Yes, today!!!!! Can you tell I’m excited?!!! Holly is hosting a book-signing at Anthropologie in San Francisco, and Leslie will also be there to join her.  

They made such an impact on me from the start of my blogging journey and have became such great role models that it all feels very surreal I will actually get to meet them in real life. Knowing especially that Holly was teaching from Germany and Leslie from Los Angeles, I didn’t think this day would come.

I know I’m one of the lucky ones from the BYW course who actually get to meet their teachers. So, I promise I will take lots of pictures and follow-up with a blog post on the event. I can’t wait to attend Holly’s “Mood Board How-To” presentation tonight, as well to come back home with a signed copy of my Decorate!

On another note, I highly recommend this book as a birthday gift, a hostess gift, or even a X’mas gift for that special someone who you know loves a good interior design book (wow, are we thinking holiday already?!)

(all images via shop sweet things with jeanne)