Happy Birthday To The Decor Girl Blog

Wow, hard to believe it three years ago, June 3, 2010, I wrote my first blog post.   In a few days I’ll be at 700 posts.  Wowee!  Man, does time fly.

 I’ve always liked to write and love to pass on knowledge, so I decided to write an interior design blog, besides I only can have so many interior design clients.

Sharing information is my idea of a good time,   Though I don’t hide behind a computer. (I do get out of my pajamas for client meetings and other daily activities.)  Given the opportunity I’ll shout it out loud.  Yes, I am also one of those extremely rare individuals who think of public speaking as a day at the spa – invigorating and fun.  Passing on useful knowledge is fun.

Blogging is my forum… until someone wants to give me a TV show.  (I’ve written a couple of design books but here is where my shyness comes out.  I’m too much of a chicken-shit to risk the rejection of sending them to someone to actually get published.) I started my blog without a clue.  After scouring the internet and reading different blogs, I got an idea of what I liked and what I felt was missing.  I’m happy to say some of these early blog heroes are now pals.  I’ve learned and experienced the “pay it forward” phenomenon.  Bloggers are a cool group.

I didn’t, and still don’t, want to be one of those blogs (though they are popular) who just regurgitates magazine photos… “oh isn’t this pretty.”  Gag me.  Now that we have Pinterest, what would be the point?  I know, they are still there.  We still have beauty pageants, and I can’t understand why.

One of my flaws or part of my charm depending on how you look at it, is that gnawing ache in my gut to be real.  To be authentic.  My very first email address was be.real.

What you see is what you get.  (Did you know this is what WYSIWYG means?)  I say what I think.  Putting my foot in my mouth happens too,  but if I’m wrong I’ll say so.  Fluff is just not my thing.  I don’t do cookie-cutter.  Hell, I’ve been known to actually make my own cookie cutters, but this is another story.   The whole premise of this blog is to present interior design as real not some crusty unobtainable or scary idea for those people, to offer real design solutions and showcase some super duper products which are not the same old thing.

Did it work?  Only the reader can decide.Being real is also presenting me as me, hence the car section.  It is a big part of me.  If I had kids, they’d be in here somehow.  But cars are as much a part of my existence as design.  Anything else you wanna know, just ask.

What I have gotten from blogging is so much more than what can be measured by stats, comments or page views.  My blog posts have gotten better, my photos better and my content is better, though I still can have momentary fits of blindness when it comes to proofreading.  Sorry.  It looks right when I click on post…  let’s call it writer goggles.   Honestly, I never cocktail while writing, though it could seem like it from time to time. The opportunities have been tremendous.  One of the first was being asked to be a contributor to the Building Moxie Blog.  Next came being selected as one of the Brizo Blogger 19.  OMG to be able to go to Fashion Week and meet Jason Wu!  I’ll confess, there was no better reason in the world to need my first Chanel suit.  Whaaat?  One does need to look appropriate but not pandering.  Hey, don’t judge.  Recently I earned best and most appropriately dressed blogger from Veronika at Modenus.

We live in a visual world.

This winter I was, let me pick your lottery numbers lucky, by being chosen to go to the IMM Cologne Show in Germany and visit Amsterdam with Modenus as part of BlogTour Cologne 2013.  Pinch me!

What I have learned on the geeky/technical side of computers, is beyond what I was ever interested in.  A computer is somewhere between befuddling, an alien and possessed.   We won’t even get into the whole photography thing.  I used to get pissed because my hubby only took pictures of cars when we went somewhere, now he is forever telling me to “come on” as I take one more photo for an upcoming blog post. 🙂

On the design side, can I just say blogging is more valuable than any CEU (continuing education unit) you can pay for in terms of increasing one’s design knowledge.  When I write about something, I have to learn about it.  Oooops, the veil has lifted, I don’t know everything.  Seriously, I hope you didn’t think I’m the great and powerful design-OZ.  Well, I could be…

A blog post might entail a smidgen of the actual information I swallow.  Fortunately or unfortunately for you dear reader, I try to cram as much in as I can.

Learning to be a good editor is a process… still learning.  I have broadened my horizons as I hope to have done with yours. Then there are the people.  I have met so many amazing individuals and formed true friendships with people I would have never met if it were not for blogging and social media.   You know how you have real in-the-flesh friends you can complete each other’s sentences for?  This happens with Twitter too, with people you have never physically spoken one word with.  You finally meet and it is like you have been life long chums.

In closing let me say thank you for being you.  I do appreciate my readers and subscribers and know you are busy.  Taking time out of your day to read Decor Girl is a gift.  As we go forward, I’m not going to even try to imagine where blogging may lead.  I hope you stay tuned and enjoy our exploration of interior design (and/or cars) as well as other juicy tidbits you might use to make your life or interior more fabulous.   XOXO – Lisa

P.S.  Feedback is a gift.  (I learned that from my corporate leadership training days.) Feel free to comment, to let me know what topics or products you are interested in.  Share what works or doesn’t work for you on the design side of life.  I’m happy to listen, even if you don’t like my favorite color, blue. 😉