Start At the Beginning

Hi Everybody! Welcome to my blog. I have been thinking about what to write for my first real post. I had many ideas but couldn't decide until now. What better way to start, than at the beginning.

I recently discovered the world of blogging. I am so excited to find so many fabulous blogs on my favorite things: Interior Design, Art and Fashion! I am new here and still learning how it all works.

So far, I know how to look at other people's blogs. The first blog I ever saw was Claudia's at "The Paris Apartment." Heyyyy Claudia! Have you seen her absolutely stunningly beautiful blog? It is soooo fabulous and she is the nicest person you'll ever meet! She writes the most amazing posts that are full of eye candy you've never seen before! She is the author of a great little book called "The Paris Apartment, Romantic Decor on a Fleamarket Budget" which of course, I have. She is an Interior Designer and has a line of furniture and accessories in her online boutique that you can access from her page. Definitely check out her blog and boutique! Claudia created the spectacular showcase room in this picture:


The Paris Apartment

I used to find Claudia's blog via her website. I would then look at a few other blogs that I liked by clicking on the links that were on her ever increasing list on the side. Eventually I realized I could add my favorite blogs to a list if I just made a blog page for myself. Cool! I love organizing things too! So that's how my blog got started. Right now it is one BIG fat long list of my favorite blogs and it's still growing.

The next thing I learned was how to add a picture icon for my page. That way I would be more than a blank square if I made a comment on someone's blog. It seems as soon as I thought of doing this, a cute giraffe appeared at my (computer) window. So that's how he became my icon pic and blog mascot. The picture is from "The Giraffe Manor" in Africa. Just imagine if that was your place and all those giraffes were in your back yard!


The Giraffe Manor

My giraffe has been so perfectly described as a "Looky-Loo" giraffe by Lisa at "The Lisa Porter Collection." Lisa has helped me learn some technical things about blogging and has encouraged me to post more too. She is a watercolor artist and has a very inspiring blog about family, home, fashion, and all things that make life beautiful. The wonderful picture below is from her blog. Don't you just want to walk up that path and check out her page too! Thank you Lisa! So now I have a pet giraffe named Looky-Loo!


The Lisa Porter Collection

So far, I have subscribed to over 150 different blogs! I usually check them out in my blog Reader. I'm pretty sure this makes me a Looky-Loo too! It is inspiring to see what other people have done with their home and how they have designed other places too. I also love a good treasure hunt whether for antiques or the latest designs out there, which got me thinking about all the pictures I have collected of the places and things I like too. Maybe others would like to see what I discover? Maybe I could create a place they would love too?

So I started thinking about a name for my blog. Perhaps my name or initials? Humm... no. I really wanted something more descriptive pertaining to Interior Design. And as if on cue, the first name I thought of was "Love Your Place." I'm always leaving that comment on other peoples blog! I just love seeing how they've designed their places, the architecture and landscaping, their creative ideas and art. It also has a second meaning in that I hope they love their place too. I was very surprised when the name was available. So now I have a blog called Love Your Place!

I am learning how to create some nice posts for my blog too. I'm on a MAC computer, which I love but I have learned that there are some difficult issues between MACs and google blogger. Please bear with me as I try to learn as fast as I can. I am so grateful to everyone who has helped me lately and really appreciate it very much! The encouragement and inspiration is motivating me to carry on down this path.

Then before I could even think of my next question, the answers appeared in an article on a Maria's fabulous blog "Color Me Happy." (Actually I found it via a link I saw on Brooke's blog, Velvet & Linen). The post is called "10 Things I Have Learned About Blogging in 4 Months." It's blogging 101 for Interior Designers and those that love it, and it is a MUST read especially for beginners like me. Wow, this is so helpful! Thank you Maria! By writing my post, I also learned how to move pictures around and add links. (But, why can't I see the links in the draft preview?) I still need to learn how to reference pics in the proper fashion and so much more. I've added a link to this article because it's so good. I will need to refer back to it for a looooong time. I'd say about as long as my Looky-Loo Giraffe's neck!

Colour Me Happy

Thank you everybody for all your help! Stay tuned for some posts with more pics soon!

Bonnie and Looky-Loo too :)