ShareA few weeks ago, we announced that Heather Armstrong would be joining the HGTV family. Since then, we’ve gotten lots of feedback asking what she’ll be doing around here. While we still have a lot of tricks up our sleeves, starting this week, Heather will post every week on Design Happens. (Yay!)
If you could have her post on any design-related topic, what would it be? What do you want to see HGTV and Heather tackle together?
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Nominee 1: Funky beach cottage in Venice, California.
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Nominee 6: Private island paradise in Bokeelia, Florida.
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I would love to hear how designs and two small children can be mutually viable? We're just now getting out of the stage where nothing can be on a coffee table or side table! I love Heather's tweets and look forward to this blog!
My first suggestion would be to make a video that will play worldwide. Several of us here in CANADA would like to see it without the limit of feed specific content.
I'd love to see Heather tackle kid clutter, mail clutter and cord and cable management. Also, keeping up with dog fur~!
I just moved into a new place a couple of months ago and it has a bonus room (about 12×14) that I'll be using… some day. Right now it's where all the boxes, still packed as well as unpacked/flattened are living, along with a large wall unit, the cat tree, and a microwave cart I'll probably get rid of, but I do have visions of it serving as a den and also want to put a recumbent bike in there. I also have a bedroom (about 10×10) that's a guest room on one wall (fold-out sofa) and an office on the opposite wall (modular black office furniture that wraps around a corner. In light of all that, I'd be interested in seeing Heather's ideas on how to handle rooms that do double duty.
Every time I try to watch a Dooce-related video on this site, the long buffering time makes me give up. Is this a problem with traffic or is it that I live in Canada so your site is not available to us here?
That happens to me too! I'm also in Canada, so maybe it IS that…
I would love to see her do a room makeover show where she brings in design elements and highlights products from small, obscure internet vendors (like Etsy artists). Of course I'd like her to start with making over rooms for each of her website fans (stating with me, naturally). But the really cool thing would be to have her help launch other internet entreprenuers/artists int he process. Give them exposure.
Kind of a cross between the Sundance channel's "Man Shops Globe" (only it would be "Dooce Shops the Internet") , Design on a Dime/While You Were Out and this show I love on our local PBS called "Oregon Art Beat".
I would like to know how to keep my 4 year old's toys in one place without going to IKEA to buy those storage systems. I don't want my house looking like an IKEA showroom. I want to use what I have and make the toys fit into my relaxed home without taking it over.
I like the idea of shared home office suggestions too!
Functional style when living with dogs. With pet hair and the occasional chewing episode, it would be great to see her ideas that don't incorporate stuff the dog will ruin or get into.
Agreed with Deanna and Canadian Fan – we can't see the video here in Canada! It would be nice – we are your neighbors y'all!
How does she keep that house of hers soooo clean with two kids, two dogs, and a husband? Her floors are always immaculate. Is it photo shop? Is it a maid? Is it a type A personality? I'm fascinated.
From Twitter "My reaction now when someone drops anything is, "Don't worry, Coco will clean that up." How do people without dogs keep their floors clean?" — so nevermind. I need a Coco.
I saw some other people request this, but yes, how does she keep the house so clean and streamlined with two kids and two dogs? I have a son, a dog and a cat and I have to sweep the kitchen floor every day! I also love her special finds and her own personal style. How do you create that fine line between minimalism and cold? Can't wait to hear more!
Ditto on the home office, but I really want to see some advice on decluttering. I'm not on the level of Hoarders, per se, and Dooce does have a very different aesthetic than me, but I REALLY want to know how she contains the clutter with 2 kids, dogs, etc. I can't seem to get a handle on it!
Sadness
I couldn't view the first video welcoming Heather and now this one won't load either. I'm on a Mac and I've tried viewing the videos in Safari, Firefox, and Chrome. What's up with that?? It just keeps buffering…
Storing baby/childrens toys in areas of the house other than the kids room.
I think Heather should focus on design as a function of her work and life as a wife and mother and blogger. Any great design is the "form follows function" rule…so how does she do it?
Also, design is ever changing and our personal styles are ever changing…however, sometimes change can be expensive and the pocketbook is not accomodating. What design elements have various functions, roles, and can be changed easily and without a large wallop to the pocketbook?
Minimalistic design can be challenging. What are the key things to focus upon when doing this?
By the way, Candice rocks…her designs begin like all great designers, and then she takes it to the next level. Designs like hers are found in the designers DNA…they are present at birth!
Heather…you'll do a great job whichever way you go. Keep it fresh…keep it simple…keep it affordable and achievable for your viewers!
I need help with very basic design issues that I feel are fundamental, and therefore a starting point. I don't know how I should arrange my furniture. I think, for instance, my living room is arranged rather badly–but I don't know how to fix it. Also–how do you keep all the snow and salt out of the house?
Where does your clutter go Heather? What is your process for sorting and filing mail-etc…
I would love to see Heather and HGTV tackle my RV! I have definitely made some design improvements, but she could take it to a WHOLE NOTHER LEVEL.
http://familysizedfun.blogspot.com/2009/10/puttin…
and we store it in the LA Area, so…THINK ABOUT IT!
How she organizes her husband's tech gear! My boyfriend is a videographer and there are cables, cameras, headphones, cables, microphones, hard drives, cables, various video accessories, various permutations of camera bags, and more cables EVERYWHERE. Please Heather!
I'd love to see heather and candace olson do internet fan-based specials together. say we would send in photos of our homes, and they would pow wow together to come up with design options to change the look of a room — oof, that would be awesome.
Heather works from home on top of two kids, two dogs and a techie husband, who also works from home. How does she stay organized? And could she come help me organize and styalize my office (at work or home)? It'd have to be on the cheap (like free-cycle and repurpose) budget.
Lots of sources! Where to find things! Links!!!!!
Heather doesn't "link" or give credit to a company or source unless she's getting paid or getting something free.
Heather. I love you, but PLEASE get a body mic. It would improve the quality of your videos. Your voice will sound as lovely as I'm sure it does in person rather than what it does in the midst of echoing bathroom walls. Can't wait to see all your designing genius.
Indestructible design. You've got two kids and two dogs. Surely you must look at things not in terms of style but in terms of lifespan in your house. As in: That lamp is nice, but it would only last about 12 minutes before being destroyed. What have you done with all the running, jumping, throwing, chewing, and drooling that goes on in your house to put together a pleasant but durable home?
FIX THE TILE IN HER BATHROOM! It is a design disaster of which Candice Olsen would not approve!
HOME OFFICE! Especially sharing a work space and organization, storage etc. And what DOES she do with all of Jon's cables?? Congrats to HGTV – you are so lucky to have Heather! Go Dooce!
how to hide cables, cords, and techno junk and make it look clean, when you are either a tech nerd or married to one
I'd love to hear more from Heather about how she decided on Marlo's nursey design. I love th simple and artsy style she chose and I'm interested to hear what shes got to say about where she finds such great art pieces. Can't wait!
Child/school artwork please. It's very difficult to throw away. You can't display all of it. I ended up taking digital pictures of the earlier work.
Any topic as long as we get lots of "Mario" and Leta!
Heather!
I would love a this is what I've got, this is what i want. A viewer would submit two pictures of a living space (a current photo and a photo of a style/what they would like to mimic in their space). Then you would provide your take on how to influence this style and a little funk into the submitted personal living space. This would be done featuring great internet finds from the affordable side of the spectrum. I'm so overwhelmed about all the design options out there. I'm also a grad student who wants a hip pad with out having to commit much time/research. I already do enough of that nonsense.
oh how i love when jon weighs in — please include lots of this dynamic in whatever you do here.
in fact, i'd love to hear about how to blend different styles in the same home.
say, for example, one of you likes sleek, modern, minimal blacks and stainless, while the other of you appreciates this aesthetic but tends toward natural, organic, (approaching but not quite) rustic … with bursts of modern, solid, bright colors.
is there any hope for us?
I would love to agree and say that YET ANOTHER DESIGN show/blog/whatever would be beneficial. But can we PLEASE move on to something more PERSONAL? I don't really care what color my ceramic sugar holding bowls are…I care about living life! Granted, making a video of Heather sitting on the computer all day isn't my idea of "entertainment" – owning a business, design, IT, raising kids, managing time, etc….etc… all good topics.
Or maybe we can just have her cook something. Those are always popular shows.
I would love some ideas on replacing old, outdated ceiling light fixtures. Something easy that doesn't require hiring an electrician, that I could do myself, would be nice. Love Heather's blog and am so looking forward to seeing her on HGTV!
No bathroom redesigns, puh-lease. Or better yet, how to fix the hideous tile job in their bathroom.
I'd love to see what she'd do with small spaces… Like, if she could go back and redecorate her first apartment, what would she do differently?
Heh- I think we had the same hair back in the day! Love it. I echo the dogs/kids balance. I say 'no toys in the living room' because I want to have one clutter-free room, but am still stepping on legos and GI Joe guys. Any advice on making space nice AND kid-friendly? Can't wait to see more!
I love Dooce’s writing as much as the next person, but her place is definitely NOT in the design world.
Technology integration is a must. I'm so tired of designers on all these shows insisting that TVs should be hidden in cabinets, and desks should have form and no function. Affordable is imperative. When the mortgage payment is a struggle, window treatments are not a necessity. Finally, Heather! Honey! Let's try and make these videos as magnificent as your still photography. You're not in the still photography-text world any more. You've moved into the scary world of moving pictures and audio. We expect beautiful things from you and these videos are poorly lit and sound like s$%t! Email me! I'll help!
Love Heather's writing, but have no clue what qualifies her to be doing design for HGTV. Her house is as generic Ikea/Pottery Barn as it gets. What gives?
So happy that Heather is delving into the design arena!
I've always received loads of compliments on my home but I never feel like I'm "done". I guess that's part of the fun of being a home owner. I know what I like but I think that just means I decorate my home, not design it.
One question I have, is how to design a room piece-meal since I never have funds to design a room & execute that design in one fell swoop. I use what I have & then build on it when I have money. I especially love a great piece of furniture to refinish & give new life.
My second question/problem is, how to incorporate design styles when one has many design styles. I love antiques, I love vintage, I love shabby-chic, I love organic, french-inspired designs, but I'm also drawn to graphic (and often whimsical) prints & modern, clean lines. Totally schizophrenic. I don't know if my tastes are changing per se, or just evolving?
Anyway, thrilled to see what Heather has in store!
Personally, I'd be curious to see what Heather could do to help me – using stuff I already own… (I'm into budget – and since I feel like I already have a lot of cool stuff, and a sense of style… I feel like I really want MY style – but need help putting it together.)
For example, my husband and I are musicians. We have a middle room that consists of a lot of instruments – normally strewn around the house in various degrees of disarray. I also have a basement full of old windows, doors, etc… And I'm wondering how to create some kind of seating area with storage underneath – or cabinetry using the scraps and ephemera that are already in the house (it's over 100 years old – so I've got some cool stuff sitting around)
So that's what I want from Heather – I admire that she can take stuff and put it together. That's what I'm missing.
How about navigating Etsy to find the cool stuff? You feature a lot of nice things from there on your site, but whenever I go to look I seem to get bogged down in the cheesy crafts.
this video takes forever to load?!
I would love some easy and truly affordable ideas for those of us who have no style and little money.
Ha…..a blogger who makes tons of money from writing from her home about inane topics does not a designer make. I am not interested in what her suggestions are and am surprised HGTV has jumped on the Dooce wagon.
I'd like to see her design a baby's nursery room. The one she did for Marlo was completely adorable.
Heather seems to frequently highlight nick-nacks that she loves (hippos!) and displays throughout her home. How does she balance displaying themwithout making it feel cluttered?
Hi Heather! Best of luck to you with your new gig! You're an empire!
I am a really, really bad dresser. And I need some real help, not the whacked out or totally unattainable looks that the magazines suggest. I want to be indie rock but grown-up, too, I'm 33. And a working professional, which means I go to an office and pretend to be smart and stuff. Maybe you could do a segment on helping gals like me out!?