Design Happens

I like pretty things.

I like them even better when they surround me in my home, not just my computer screen. But alas, a decorating editor’s budget is woefully cheaper than the things she spends her days writing about. Sound familiar? Most of us have tastes bigger than our budget — it’s just one of those understood facts of life, right up there with the brown-plus-black fashion faux pas.

But when I walk into my home, I don’t want it to feel like a shrine awaiting the day I can afford a Mies van der Rohe Barcelona chair. I’m a big believer in indulging in your home, beginning the day you move in (of course, try telling this to your parents who still have white walls and boxes in their home 12 years later.) At HGTV.com, we spend a lot of time talking about how investing money in your home will get you big financial returns — but what really interests me is the returns I get in my mood.

Enter: Design Happens. This blog is a license to obsess with me over pretty design for the home that inspires and makes you feel good. You don’t have to rely solely upon the style greats to create a comfortable living space. I’ll be scouting new, old and tried-and-true design inspiration and goodies for your home, with a healthy dose of affordable thrown in. Here’s hoping your white walls will soon be goners!

Before we kick off the decorating spree, you wouldn’t believe how hard it was to come up with a blog title for this concept. Here are some of my favorites that, thankfully, never made it off the cutting room floor:

Design: It’s What’s for Dinner!

*Designoids — curiously strong style

Design Forecast – strong possibility of damask showers at 9 p.m. tonight!

Design Pill — take three and call me in the morning

*My friend Chelsey, HGTV assistant editor, came up with this gem. She also came up with the final name of the blog, to which I say, “thank you” for avoiding a lawsuit with Altoids.