live
May 4, 2024

Holly Becker: "My attention radar is always open"

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: Your blog decor8blog.com is visited daily by 48,000 people, and is one of the most popular design blogs in the world. How did you start blogging?

Holly Becker: I founded decor8 in May 2005, but did not start writing until January of the following year. Back then, blogs were not nearly as common as they are today, and I thought it was a fun experiment. I also wanted to use the blog to promote my own small business, which I had as a home improvement consultant. At that time, I had no idea that one day writing about interior design would be my real job.

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: When did you realize that you can live from blogging?

Holly Becker: In 2008, after a good two years, I've earned more in total from the blog's advertising revenue, small styling jobs, and magazine writing jobs than I did in my previous job in the HR department of a large company. I finally knew that I had done everything right.

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: When it comes to blogging in the media, decor8 is always called. How long did it take you and your blog to be noticed by magazines and newspapers?

Holly Becker: In America, the furnishing and women's magazines became aware of me and the blog after about half a year. But that was also because I myself regularly knocked with topic suggestions there. So I became a columnist and stylist for various magazines. My blog was always automatically mentioned in magazines. German magazines came to me for the first time in 2008, which was certainly because I am married to a German and write on my second blog (//www.hollymaus.blogspot.com) about my life in Germany.

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: Speaking of Germany: Are there topics to which German readers react in a particularly positive way?

Holly Becker: In general, all the posts that I use to show creative DIY ideas, map mood boards and write about topics that concern me in a very personal way are especially popular. The German readers also love it when I blog about things I've discovered here in Germany. These can be German designers or typical German furnishing objects. The readers in this country seem to be interested in how I, as an American, perceive their culture.

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: The fact that new residential blogs appear on the net every week does not seem to make you nervous? on the contrary: You offer so-called e-courses for the young bloggers. How did you come up with this great idea?

Holly Becker: I do not see other bloggers as competitors, but consider us all as part of a community. Very early on decor8 a blog of the week? chosen and presented. Blogging Your Way Online (www.decor8eclasses.com) has been around since 2009. I've always received a lot of mailing inquiries about blogging. The individual answer has cost me a lot of time and energy? At some point it was natural to combine my knowledge and offer courses. There are currently two online courses every year, each lasting four to six weeks. Both are always booked up quickly? 700 students sit in a virtual classroom ...

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: And what's on the syllabus?

Holly Becker: It's all about basic questions: How do bloggers find their niche? How is the process of brainstorming going? Which methods of research are there? How do you get regular readers? But also legal questions and instructions for optical implementation are important topics. More of the lesson plan can be seen here: //decor8blog.com/byw/course-outline

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: Sounds like a lot of work ... not just for the students? but also for you!

Holly Becker: First of all, I'm not alone in the Web classroom: Leslie Shewring (www.acreativemint.typepad.com) is my partner. She is a photographer and stylist and gives tips about photos and image aesthetics. As a technical expert my husband Thorsten is there. He prepares the webcasts that are part of the course and reveals tricks for solving technical problems. Of course the students have to be diligent: there are weekly homework. I am strict!

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: Your own blog posts are often very personal, as if you are writing to a friend. Do you sometimes have a certain real person in mind while blogging?

Holly Becker: Sometimes I actually imagine that I'm talking to a friend, but since I like to write, the thoughts often come out of me by themselves ...

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: Is not it stressful to think up new topics every day? Where do your many ideas come from?

Holly Becker: My attention radar is almost always open, and I'm a rather abstract thinker. If I see a branch in the forest, it can inspire me to a decoration idea, which I immediately implement at home with scraps and a can of paint. The logo on a food pack can also be an inspiration to me. In my mind are always small stories unfolded, I was like that as a child. In the meantime, I have understood this ability as a gift that I have received. And I want to encourage other people to consider their own creativity as a positive force.

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: Your love for interior design and beautiful decorations is of course the foundation of your success as you blog about things that inspire you. Where does this passion come from?

Holly Becker: My mother was a florist and landscape gardener. The handling of decorative things was very important to her. Our home was always beautiful: Great wallpaper, pretty colors, always tidy and fragrant. My mother taught me a lot and encouraged my creativity. Even as a child, I liked to move furniture and surprised my mother with new ideas. We also like to stroll together through furniture stores and flea markets. I knew very early that a beautiful home can make you happy.

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: On your second blog //www.hollymaus.blogspot.com you can see pictures of your current home again and again. How would you describe your style of living?

Holly Becker: My style is eclectic, feminine, handmade and personal. Actually, my flat is like my blog. I love to mix old things with new things. And humor is important? You should never be too serious when decorating. It's about joy, not perfection!

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: As a consistent reader of international magazines and blogs, you know, of course, how the looks of individual countries differ. Are there certain interior styles that have influenced you?

Holly Becker: In my mix of styles are influences from Dutch magazines, from Danish design and also from England and America.

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: How big is the lure, every third part that you imagine online ordering for yourself? How often does the parcel carrier ring?

Holly Becker: He rings several times a day, but then usually brings packages for my husband. I buy online books and movies and handmade by small designers. But most of all I like to shop in my area, in Hannover and Hamburg there are great shops! It is also nice if you buy on trips and return with an item that has its own story. That's how I feel about flea market bargains ...

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: Everybody has made certain mistakes, not only in fashion, but also in setting up. When you look back at the rooms and apartments of your past, what were your deco sins?

Holly Becker: At age 16, I insisted on getting black lacquered furniture with gold trim for my bedroom. We were living in Boston then and I had designed my own room: The black furniture had bed linen and wallpaper in black, gray and pink, with soft green accents in between. It did not look as bad as it sounds, but actually quite wonderful. Nevertheless, I am today at the thought of the black furniture quite bad ...

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: And now please complete the following statements: A deco trend that is getting stronger, means ...

Holly Becker: Personalization.

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: A look that really does not work anymore ...

Holly Becker: Rauhfasertapete!

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: A style you'll never like:

Holly Becker: When a room looks like a catalog page.

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: That will never go out of style:

Holly Becker: Mixing Styles and Epochs.

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: No matter what is fashionable, you will always love it:

Holly Becker: The fabrics of Liberty London.

Video: Holly Becker says "Hello"!

This weekend (Saturday, 12.11.) Holly Becker meets - in line with the publication of her book in Germany - in Berlin with many creative bloggers for a blogger event. She is looking forward to it - she tells the camera, you and you.

Holly Becker is a freelance journalist and interior designer. Long before the boom of American design blogs, she launched the blog decor8blog.com, which is one of the most successful design blogs daily with 48,000 visitors. Her second book "Lust auf Wohnen" was published in August 2011 in Germany. Becker lives with her husband in Hannover.