Lunch with Holly Becker of Decor8

In late August, I was invited to attend a book signing at Anthropologie in Boston featuring Holly Becker of the well-known design blog Decor8, where for the past 5+ years she has featured “fresh finds for hip spaces.”

Holly, along with lifestyle writer Joanna Copestick, has taken the design philosophy of her highly followed blog and has turned it into a really fabulous book filled with “1,000 professional design ideas for every room in your home.”

photo Debi Treloar; designer Sania Pell
Decorate is available at local Anthropologie
stores or through Amazon.com.

Peppered throughout with inspiring quotes from talented designers, and image-rich with a wide range of decorative styles, Holly has created an extensive guide that encourages readers to uncover their own personal design aesthetic while providing tips and techniques to decorate with confidence.

Meeting Holly in person was such a treat! Even with her cross-continental fame (she lived in the Boston area for 20 years but now lives in Germany with her husband) she is very approachable and truly values connecting with others. There were lots of people in line who had taken her e-course on how to establish a meaningful and creative blog (Blogging Your Way) and many others who have followed her creative journey throughout the years. She was warm and gracious to all, even after signing books for over 2 hours!




Before sitting down to sign books, Holly shared decorating tips with a group of attendees who had signed up for her mood board presentation. I wasn’t able to make it to this part of the event, but a lot of other bloggers in attendance wrote about it (see list below).




After finishing up at Anthropologie, about 20 of us headed to the Back Bay Social Club which was just a short walk down Boylston Street. We filled two long tables and Holly encouraged each of us to stand up and introduce ourselves to the group and share a little bit about why we blog and what else we do to fulfill our artistic impulses. The room was filled with a creative buzz and there was lots to talk about!

While I did not get a chance to speak with everyone personally, I was really impressed with the accomplishments and goals of these women who had gathered to meet Holly. I was happy to spend some time getting to know Rochelle Greayer, a landscape designer turned editor, who is on the verge of launching Leaf Magazine. Just like when I started New England Finery Magazine, she was full of contagious enthusiasm! Being a gardener myself, I am looking forward to reading their first issue (due out in October) which I am sure will be beautiful and informative.

Photo credit: Amisha Thakkar-Kashyap

I sat next to a handful of Boston bloggers who I have met at other design events (at the Boston Design Center and again in NYC on the set of the Nate Berkus show). I was also introduced to other area bloggers that I have been following online. Here I am chatting about blog writing and life in general with Laura of Journey Chic. Laura’s blog focuses on sharing easy and affordable design style tips. During lunch she told me she used to be roommates with Boston blogger Erin Gates of Elements of Style.


Here are some more photos from our end of the table:

Artist Sarah Ahearn with lifestyle blogger/writer Katy Elliott.
Photo credit: Amisha Thakkar-Kashyap

This was my first time meeting the two Kates who blog:
DomestiKated Life and Katy Elliott

It’s always fun spending time with Boston bloggers!

Julieann (CreateGirl)

Stephanie (Sabbe Interior Design)
Lindsay (EverythingLEB)
Katie (Domestikated)

Thank you, Julieann, for getting us all together. It is always a pleasure to connect with and support other creatives!

Photo credit: Monica Lee

Check out the blog posts below. Most of them share their personal thoughts on gathering to meet Holly Becker, along with providing insights on what it is like to travel a creative path. The first two posts are from Holly : ) Enjoy!


Decor8

HausMaus

CreateGirl

Sabbe Interior Design

Everything LEB

DomestiKated Life

Katy Elliott

Monica Lee Studios

WellerWishes

Studio G

Sarah Ahearn Bellemare

Journey Chic

Gorgeous and Fun Things

Pretty Neat Design

Lolalina

The Desha Show

The Patterned Peacock

Graceful Whimsy

Ellen Crimi-Trent

D.S. Brennan Photography

This month @NewEnglandHome

aaa
New England Home, Jan./Feb. 2011

Cover photo by Laura Moss

The January/February issue of New England Home magazine just hit the newsstands and guess who’s in it? Actually, a lot of local talent is featured throughout, but I felt especially honored to be included in a shout-out to the Danvers Historical Society summer design show (see pages 122 and 124).

From New England Home, Jan./Feb. 2011

There are a lot of local design event photos in this current issue, making it easy to put a name with a face in the Boston design community. Also in the magazine, this month’s feature articles include some really neat spaces that are a twist on the traditional. In fact, New England Home seems to be on the verge of redefining itself, and is apparently catching on to the value of today’s social media driven design scene.





I was happy to discover this week that they just launched a daily design blog that will feature behind-the-scenes glimpses of magazine features, editor design pics, designer interviews, previews of upcoming events, and much more. Today, editor Stacy Kunstel wrote a post referencing the dramatic cover photo of this month’s magazine and the current trend of designing with black (check it out by clicking here.)

I am particularly interested in tuning in for the “guest blogger series” which will begin next Tuesday. Linda Merrill of The Skirted Roundtable and Surroundings will share this series for the month with Leslie Fine of Leslie Fine Interiors. More bloggers will follow. Sounds like something I would be interested in ...

I am slowly transforming my new office into a
grown-up space. This Pottery Barn bookrack used to
hold the kids picture books and now it holds mine.

To view the digital version of New England Home online, visit their website. This month’s issue is not up yet, so you will have to get a copy the traditional way or wait until the end of the month to view it in it’s entirety. I have one print copy of my own, but I just might have to run out and pick up a couple more copies to have on hand as keepsakes : )
1

Blog writing and a tribute

Photos borrowed from Holding Court by Marija Stephens

Yesterday I learned of the tragic death of a woman I have only known by her first name, Marija, the posts that she has written, and the comments that she has left behind. I remember once receiving a comment that she left on a post that I also commented on (it was on a blog we both followed: absolutely beautiful things). I was happy just to see her name in my inbox even though the comment was not actually addressed to me. We always seemed to be following the same path ... I would see the icon from her blog, Holding Court, pop up everywhere I went. Her comments were always worth reading and she had a charming and effortless way about her. Her blog was full of well written observations on both style and life. Marija’s death has deeply touched many people who have only met her virtually, along with leaving a hole in the hearts of those who truly knew and loved her.

Reading over the many chapters in the chronicles of Marija’s blog have left me welled up with tears and especially reflective ... why do we put ourselves out there to write our personal stories on a blog?

For me, it is a creative outlet, a way to connect with other people who share the same interests, and a valuable resource to my growing design business. The many opportunities to create new friendships through blog writing has been an unexpected bonus.

Here are just some of the reasons
why Marija began her blog ...

“I’m Marija. This is my blog.”


In Marija’s memory, I promise to try to let more of my virtual/blog friends know that their words have made an impression on me. It is these connections with others (even if they only start out as a quick text left at the end of a post) that keep me inspired.

Who are you following?

I am looking for some new online inspiration ... if you have a favorite go-to-each-day blog, please leave the URL in my comment section. It does not have to be about decorating and design (although those are my favorites!) as long as it provides inspiring content, pretty pictures, and/or a much needed laugh! Besides favoring design blogs written by fellow New Englanders, I also like to find bloggers out there who have a life I can relate to or learn from. One of my current favorites is Mrs. Blandings by Patricia Shackelford. I wish she lived closer because I would love to sit down and have a chat with her! She always shares humorous insights on her attempts-to-find-pretty while surrounded by three darling boys, a husband and a dog (see cute illustration above by PVE design) She writes like a story teller, and her stories are always interesting. Plus she provides links to many resources and events of interest. I especially liked this last post on the most significant design moments of the last 20 years as determined by her readers.

Inspired by Mrs. Blandings ...
this rough sketch shows what my
blog banner should look like.


So who out there inspires you lately?
And if you write a blog, please leave your
URL so that I can stop by and say hello!

Through the looking glass ...

A sweet vignette by Duralee as seen
at the Boston Design Center

Ever long for an insider’s view on the world of design blogging? Yesterday I had the opportunity to see the person whose voice I have been listening to faithfully on The Skirted Roundtable, an interior design related blog that interviews some of the top names in the design industry. Being able to sit in on a conversation with one of the three moderators of this podcast-format blog was a special treat.


Linda Merrill of Decorative Surroundings with yours truly

South Shore based designer Linda Merrill, whose main design blog (she has a few!) is titled Surroundings, led the group in a very informative and often humorous discussion on the benefits of using social media to promote your business while connecting to the world of design. Besides taking home some great tips on how to add more bells and whistles to the pages of my blog, I really enjoyed listening to Linda share her insight on the best ways to blog with style and grace. She also presented a very honest view on the social aspects of putting yourself out there online. I found myself laughing out loud at some of the funny stories that she referred to that were related to specific blog posts/podcasts that I have followed online.

Inside the Kravet Showroom at the BDC

One topic that was of particular interest to many of the audience members was the issue of naming your blog. How does one go about choosing a name? I have posted about how I chose Design Vignettes. Recently, I noticed there is another person out there blogging as “Vignette Design.” I forgot to ask Linda if I should be concerned by this!

If you are blogging out there, how did you choose your name? Do you ever wish you had chosen a different name for your blog? Or if you are enjoying the blogs of others, what are some of your favorite blog names that you have come across? Please leave some comments (we bloggers love to know that someone is out there listening!)

A pretty combination from Kravet:

pink, gray, cream and white

Another topic that raised many questions was how do you keep all online identities (twitter, facebook, blog and website) related, yet specific to their particular function and audience? With her extensive background in social media and communications, Linda was able to speak from experience on these very current issues in the ever-changing virtual landscape. What successes – or bumps in the road – have you encountered while navigating social networking?

These spring-colored carpets behind the

glass window of the Stark showroom
got a second look as I left the BDC.

Linda Merrill will be offering more great lectures on social networking this month. I highly recommend signing up for one if you are in the Boston area!

April 14th at Residential Design
and Construction 2010 at the
Seaport World Trade Center, Boston

And April 29th sponsored by
the IFDA held at the
Boston Design Center

Happy birthday to my baby

When our first born turned one, I spent the night before his big day painting this mural above his nursery window. My husband and I had created this room especially for our expected newborn ... raising the roof on our little Cape, adding newly plastered walls, new doors, a huge walk-in closet (can you say “hoping for a girl?”) choosing everything in it without the help of the internet (can you imagine?)

I remember being about seven months pregnant, browsing the aisles of Fabric Town, looking for something not-too-babyish to cover the nursery windows. I saw this playfully captivating, yet sophisticated in a painterly way, jester fabric. With its blue, red and yellow colorway it was fairly gender neutral ... just what I was looking for as we didn’t know if we were having a boy or a girl. When I was told that the fabric was no longer in stock, I went on a pregnancy-induced-frenzy looking for it.
It was for my baby! I had to have it!

I ended up tracking down a local Carole Fabrics distributor and managed to snag the last nine yards (an ironic amount at my stage of pregnancy!) by saying I was an interior decorator and it was for a “client” since he could only sell “to the trade.” Well this kind man (I forget his name, it seems like a lifetime ago!) took one look at my bigger-than-a-cute-baby-bump belly and said, “Why don’t I just place the order for you?” And he did, and that was the official start of my career as an “interior decorator!”



I thought this would be a fitting story to tell on this *One-Year Anniversary* of my blog (how it has grown!) Just like the entry to parenthood, becoming the caretaker of a blog has been a bigger job than I expected, at the same time providing many moments of joy, along with some sleepless nights (I love to write during those rare quiet moments.) And as it is with parenthood, I have been exposed to a whole new community of people that I have discovered are on a similar journey. We have connected through posts – mine and theirs – just like young moms making friends on the playground ... “Your blog is so cute!”
“So is yours!” “Where did you find that ...?”


I have also discovered that there are a lot of people out there looking for inspiration over a daily cup of coffee. Not unlike our weekly baby-and-me playgroups where girlfriends and I would gather to discuss strategies to navigating this new-mom-world that we found ourselves in, all the while diapering, burping and bouncing our little ones as we bravely attempted to finish a sentence while in a state of severe sleep deprivation. I certainly admire those of you out there who are doing a great job blogging while taking care of real live babies of your own. How fortunate you are to have this connection to the outside world (that doesn’t interfere with nap schedules) along with a forum to share your thoughts ... whether on family life, great design or a passing fancy. I didn’t even realize this world existed until my youngest was well beyond the age of being invited to join playgroups!

That first fabric is now a much loved quilt.

As I mark this special day (this time with favorite snapshots instead of hand-painted murals) I have many hopes for what my blog will be when it grows up. But like a good mother, I anticipate that it will have a life of it’s own. All I know is that I am enjoying its company, and I hope you find it to be amusing as well!

Modern vignettes

Modern sitting room by designvignettes
on Polyvore.com

Comfy new year by designvignettes
featuring American Eagle Outfitters

My four boys have been keeping themselves pretty busy since the 25th, playing with their new holiday toys/electronic gadgets. Today I figured that I deserved a little down time of my own to have fun online with one of my favorite design tools polyvore.com. And since yesterday’s post focused on recreating a look based on historical colors and formally styled treatments, I felt compelled to design the opposite – a modern yet comfortable “room to outfit” look (a concept taken from the late Domino magazine). Now all I need is a good book to get me through school vacation week while I curl up in my comfy chair dressed in my cozy clothes ... any suggestions? In the meantime, I will get to work on writing my new year’s resolutions.

Resolution #1: Schedule time for blog writing,
but *REALLY* try not to exceed set time limit
by bouncing around on the internet all day!

The gift of relaxation ...

A calm and collected Buddha sits peacefully
at the front of the Yoga East studio.
Raise your hand (and take a series of deep, cleansing breaths) if you are in need of a little de-stressing at this point in the holiday craziness. With Christmas just one week away (and I should know since my youngest has been asking me “How many days ’till Christmas?” since about December 1st!) I am starting to feel a little twinge of “I should be closer to being done with my holiday *...* ”

(Insert one of the following: shopping, baking, decorating, organizing of the house in order to find room for new toys, ... )
Inspiring artwork adorns the walls of the Yoga East
studio like this twist portrait by Mary Taggart

Fortunately, I have a close friend, Mary Taggart, who is a yoga instuctor at Yoga East in Reading, MA (and also an art instructor at her own studio in Wakefield.) I visited her in the yoga studio yesterday morning and enjoyed an hour of restorative yoga to stretch the tension out of my body and get my mind back “in the moment.” Although I have to admit, it was a challenge for me to stay focused when the whole time I was doing vinyasas I was thinking about how great the interior of the yoga studio would be as a design post! Starting with the ceiling ...

While on the floor in bridge pose, I noticed how attractive a painted drop ceiling can be. Why keep it white? This one is a warm taupe with a mind-focusing medallion in the center. The black track lighting looked like designer trim from my vantage point.

I thought this statue was particularly beautiful
dressed in the reds and greens of the season.

Thought provoking art and sculpture was everywhere...
a great starting point for the journey into meditation.

A collection of paper cranes hang
from a piece of wood suspended
from the ceiling. I love how
the bright colors contrast with
the earthy brown of the walls.

This delicate mobile looks like a gentle reminder
to stop and take a moment to get centered.

For those of you who are local, the Yoga East store has a lot of great statues, books, cards, yoga props, beautiful gems, inspired pendants, and so much more. Class gift certificates are also available ... just in time for those New Year’s resolutions!

A piece (or two or three) of yoga inspired jewelry would also make a great gift ... even as a reminder to yourself to “keep calm and carry on.” If you aren’t close enough to make the journey to Reading, there is a lot of great yoga-inspired jewelry to be found on the web. Let me know if you have any favorite links of your own. I am in awe of this piece. Om-MG!

It was difficult for me to walk away without purchasing a tasselled set of meditation beads (I am trying to behave and only buy for others). However, I will most likely pick one out after my next class (a good reason to get back to the studio!) Although I could have used one yesterday when I came home from my travels and discovered my internet was down!

Repeat after me ...
Everything is as it should be.

I must confess, I did not react well to being disconnected, as my co-dependency on the computer has become somewhat of an issue around here. Besides using the computer for actual graphic and interior design projects, I truly look forward to sitting down to write/blog about the stories behind good design, and to check out posts by people who have similar interests. It has become my own form of meditative relaxation, emptying my mind of all the visual references that I accumulate in the course of a day (and maybe a little bit of an escape, too ; )

As a wise teacher of mine used to always say,
“Don’t curse the darkness, light a candle.”

After having a virtual tantrum, I locked myself in the laundry room (for a self-imposed time out of sorts) and organized shelf after shelf of the boys jeans/sweatpants/t-shirts, etc. This morning I felt so much better ... my internet was restored, and it was relatively easy for the entire family to find clean clothes (including socks that matched) as we all prepared to start a new day. And I vowed that I would try not to have any meltdowns today (just to be sure, I poured myself a cup of tea instead of having that 3rd cup of makes-me-jittery-coffee).

Another great gift idea: Have a photo of yourself in a favorite yoga pose turned into a fine art portrait. E-mail Mary at mctpaint@yahoo.com for more information.

I guess that’s why I appreciate the philosophy behind yoga. It’s all about accepting yourself and your body in the given moment. Not looking at the past or worrying about the future. Not to mention, a downward-facing dog can do wonders to relieve the stress of a bad day!

An inspiration board at TaggArt Studio in Wakefield

For another great way to unwind, visit Mary online at TaggArtStudio.com for a schedule of her upcoming adult art classes for 2010 (children, too). I am helping her out with the design of her new website, and expect to have it updated soon. For information on attending her yoga classes, visit the Yoga East website.





And for a little self-guided meditation, take home this Buddha-in-a-Box by Marianne Snow. It will be available (along with other inspired art and collage pieces) this Friday through Sunday at the final pre-holiday weekend at the Beth Hylan Design Studio.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to those who have made it to Reading to visit my corner in the design studio (and to those who have been there in spirit). It has been a creative journey of my own, helping Beth out with her new venture.


Namaste,
Yvonne


Public Service Announcement

To order holiday greeting cards, In Honor Of cards, and
In Memory Of cards, visit www.gatheringchangeinc.org