Design Mom in 2014 – The Future Looks Bright!

ball of light

Image and text by Gabrielle.

Hello, Friends! Do you have a minute? I’d love to talk 2014 with you. As I mentioned last week, there are some changes afoot here at Design Mom.

The first is a biggie. In 2012, I started working with a regular team of contributors. It was an experiment, with the original goal being to double the content on Design Mom to an average of 6 posts a day, and to eventually create a place where I could even step away for a few days, or even weeks, as an author — to create a place that was more about the team than me as an individual. And goodness, I LOVE working with these ladies. They bring so much talent and enthusiasm to the table and I know how much they treasure this community.

But friends, the experiment didn’t work! Turns out readers didn’t want 6 posts a day. It was too much content. And turns out, I don’t want to step away from Design Mom. I love this job. I love interacting with readers. I love reading and responding to comments. I love your emails, ideas and suggestions. And I love writing blog posts.

You may have noticed that contributors had less of a presence on the blog through December. And that’s going to continue. Over the next week, we’ll finish the transition, and for the remainder of the year there will no longer be contributor posts. 

To be clear, I’ll still be working with lots of talented folks (and lots of the same talented folks we’ve all come to love), but they won’t have regular columns. Instead, all articles will be authored by me, and I’ll bring on help per article, as needed.

So if there won’t be regular contributors on Design Mom in 2014, what can you expect instead?

What you will see in 2014 on Design Mom:

– The Living With Kids home tours will continue every Tuesday. Yay!

– We’ll be doing exciting work on The Treehouse this year (some on The Cottage as well). So expect house-centric posts like this one about the floors.

– There will still be travel adventures this year, but instead of Norway and Venice and Amsterdam, we’ll concentrate on getting to know our new home and every cool place within driving distance — like Yosemite and Big Sur.

– You can expect even more essay-type posts on things like food, health, education, beauty, and parenting. Watch for more articles about schools in Oakland, our food habits from France, my oil-pulling attempt — I’ve even got a post about lice I’m working on. Hah! (I confess, I’m particularly looking forward to writing more of these types of posts, because I always love the discussions and comments they spur.)

– Because of the resounding “yes, please” response to the birth stories, I’ll be relaunching that column as well.

– I continue to be a big fan of fun DIY projects, so expect those to continue — clever ideas for the holidays, for gifts, for parties. That sort of thing.

– Video. Yes, we’ll continue sharing the Olive Us videos we’ve already shot, and yes, we want to create more as well!

– As some of you know, I’m one of the founders and owners of Alt Summit, which takes up a good portion of my time. So you’ll see updates and reports about our conferences and events from time to time.

There are also two big projects that I’ll be giving attention to in 2014:

– I’ve just hatched an idea for a series that I want to launch in the middle of the year about mothers and beauty and style and identity. I’m fairly obsessed with it at the moment. I hope that if I start now, I’ll be ready to share it in a few months.

– And I know I almost never mention it, but I am in the middle of writing a book! To catch you up: in January of 2012 Artisan books offered me a book deal and I announced it here. The reason I don’t write about it much, is it’s a total shame trigger for me — two years later and I’m not done yet! I am not good at writing books. It is so hard.

The story goes like this. To my great embarrassment, I sat on that book deal for over a year and never signed the contract. I had a really hard time wrapping my head around the “why” of writing a book. For those of you who are born writers, you may be shaking your head at me, but honestly, it was never a goal of mine to write a book. And obviously, it’s a major undertaking, so I didn’t want to approach it lightly.

After a year of looking at, then filing the contract, then looking at, then filing the contract, I finally found myself at a place where I really, really wanted a hard-copy, hold-in-your-hand representation of the work I do. I’m sure that sounds dumb to some people, but there it is. Every once in awhile I get the sensation of how ephemeral the digital world can be — even with backups of backups, it feels like something could shift, and suddenly, all the work I’ve done over the last 7 years could just disappear 

So after a year+ of hard thinking, I found that I really, really wanted to write a book. And a good one! Not a repeat of the blog, but something wholly original. Something that I would be truly proud of. Artisan sent a fresh, updated contract, and I signed it last spring! Which means, though I haven’t mentioned it, I’ve been working hard on the book for the last 9 months. It’s slow going. The first outline I sent in — based loosely on the Living With Kids home tours — was nixed. Alas! So I regrouped. And the week before Thanksgiving, I sent in a rough manuscript of about 50% of the book. Progress! Once the manuscript is done, I’ll be focusing on images and photoshoots.

I mention this here, because I intend to write more updates about the book until it’s complete — getting your feedback and sharing highlights. Part of me wishes I was cool enough to pull a Beyoncé and boom! announce my finished book, ready to order. Hah! But really, I know I’ll want your input as I progress.

One last change:

Since 2006, I’ve averaged 3 posts a day on Design Mom. That’s over 5500 published posts so far! As you know, I’m always experimenting with this site, and this year, I’m toying with the idea of less posts per day, but beefing up my social media channels instead. So there might be one post on a given day — say, an essay about screen time + kids. Then, instead of additional posts, I’ll spend time on Instagram, or engage in an hour’s worth of Twitter conversation, or seeking out incredible pins.

This will require major habit changes on my end (I rarely have my cell-phone in hand, which means I’m not on social media channels as much as you might guess), so in the end, it may not happen. But in any case, I’d like to give it a try!

And that’s about wraps it up. I’d love to hear what you think. Do you have opinions on no more contributors? Did I mention anything that you are particularly looking forward to? Or did I miss something that you hope I’ll add? Thoughts on my book? Any interest interacting on social media? Chime in! I hope you know how much I value your feedback and the active role you play in this community.

P.S. — I’ve never created a survey about Design Mom for my readers, but I was thinking of doing one this week. I want to have a solid sense of what you as readers like best about this site, and what you can do with less of. Watch for it.

265 thoughts on “Design Mom in 2014 – The Future Looks Bright!”

  1. Yours is one of three blogs that I have read faithfully for years, and the other two are pretty dissimilar from your own. Something in your voice just resonates in a lovely, peaceful way for me. I enjoyed your contributors very much but was always pleased to see the blog’s doyenne speak up. I look forward to each of your topics for varying reasons, some nearer to my heart than others but all taken in. I will probably age myself by saying this, but as soon as you mentioned all the other social media platforms you’ll be on, your voice turned into that of the teacher on ‘Peanut’s, in my mind. :) I just don’t do any of those. I read. But you keep on keeping on and I look forward to it all.

  2. Gabrielle, I’m a big fan of seeing what’s working and what isn’t and then re-grouping. (I feel like I’m constantly re-grouping with my family!) I really did enjoy your contributors, but you have a very special voice and it’s definitely the heart of Design Mom.

    I’m glad to hear you’ll still be doing DIYs and Weekend Links and the Living With Kids series. Even though I have no aspirations to be featured, I like how the series inspires me to see my home through the Living With Kids filter.

    Most of all, I’m excited to hear about your book!

  3. 2014 is looking bright indeed! It is always interesting to have the other contributors, but the brutal honesty is, my draw to design mom was always the posts written by YOU! I am thrilled at the chance to have you be the sole author of the blog once more. Hooray for great changes in the new year.

  4. As much as I have truly enjoyed what your contributors have written I am thrilled with your news about posts written only by you because I’ve realized that is what brings me here the most–you! Your life, perspective and family are so interesting and your passions are ones that I share as well. My 6-year old and I love watching Olive Us episodes together and your kids and family are such positive role models for her (and me!). You have enriched my life and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I share the depression/anxiety challenges and appreciate your being candid about your own. I just marvel that you continue to be so productive and creative while battling such an often debilitating condition! Your posts have helped me more than you could know–through some of the greater hardships of my life and I can’t thank you more. You are an inspiration!

  5. I have to admit, I thought 6 posts a day was too much, and although the contributors were great, I felt like they made the blog feel more like a business and less personal. I missed seeing your responses to ccomments.

  6. So glad to hear this! I’ve found myself checking the byline before I read your posts… I enjoy the contributors, but don’t have time to read so many posts so I’ve generally filtered by primarily reading yours. Good luck with everything!

  7. Love your blog, but I’m not going to miss the posts from the contributors. They always seemed too perfect and not like real life. So excited that the “life with kids” is staying, and I would love to see more homes that are a bit messy and not so perfect. Please keep up the good work, and I’m grateful for your honest insight into life.

  8. I’m really pleased with your plans for 2014. Mostly due to the fact that you’ve clearly thought about what YOU enjoy about your website. And that is why I love your blog – you are not sharing things because you think people will be impressed, you share things that inspire you.
    As for the book, I’m pleased with that as well! Do you read the online Rookie magazine edited by Tavi Gevinson? She has put together two Rookie Yearbooks, and they are so well done.
    Within a world of fleeting images and ideas, it’s nice to have something to hold in your hands…
    L

  9. I think you are going in the right direction with your blog. I have gotten away from reading blogs because of Pinterest but plan to get back, I like the interaction. Congrats on the book, that is an amazing endeavor and one that I am sure you will be successful. I like when you do the blog posts, I enjoy reading others but your writing is my favorite.

  10. Hi Gabrielle! So happy to hear about your plans for the new year. I have been a reader for a long time and always appreciated your honesty and candor about simple everyday stuff balanced with the high caliber and beauty around design. …it really is a perfect balance for me as a mother, artist, and teacher. I have used your site to inspire many lessons! I am also really intrigued by your mother/beauty/identity issue that seems to transform women so. After my first (tough!) year, something just clicked and I became myself in a better way. I felt more beautiful and more comfortable in my own skin and much more confident in my own style
    and it was my childre
    n that I owe that to.
    Being confident with them made me feel confident in me. It is a personal journey though and I don’t think that there is a perfect answer for any one. I am sure it will spur a great discussion! I wish you all the best in 2014! You deserve it!

  11. Hi Gabrielle! So happy to hear about your plans for the new year. I have been a reader for a long time and always appreciated your honesty and candor about simple everyday stuff balanced with the high caliber and beauty around design. …it really is a perfect balance for me as a mother, artist, and teacher. I have used your site to inspire many lessons! I am also really intrigued by your mother/beauty/identity issue that seems to transform women so. After my first (tough!) year, something just clicked and I became myself in a better way. I felt more beautiful and more comfortable in my own skin and much more confident in my own style
    and it was my childre
    n that I owe that to.
    The journey is a personal one though so I’m sure that it will inspire a great discussion! All the best to you and your family in 2014!

  12. Great news. I started following along with you and your family’s adventures right before you left for France. Echoing most sentiments, it’s your voice that kept me coming back for more.
    As a mom of four, I greatly regret hours poured into social media the past couple years of my life. So when you wrote about increasing your time on social media and picking up your phone, when you normally don’t… well honestly, my heart sank a little bit.
    I believe my phone/constant presence on social media distracted me away from what was important and that was the consistent, personal connection with my children.
    I rarely post and I rarely give unsolicited advice, but leave your phone at home. As a reader, I will still be there. And I think the 100+ above will be as well.
    And we already miss you on Fridays, too.

  13. I agree it was too many blog posts! I couldn’t keep up so I often avoided your site cuz I felt overwhelmed. I LOVE the mom style idea!

  14. I’ve been overwhelmed by the number of daily posts so I’m glad to hear you’ll scale it back. My favorite blogs are the one that have a strong individual voice so I’m glad to hear you’ll be sticking around and I love the new features you’re proposing!

  15. Yay!!! More quality Gabby time! I think this all sounds wonderful. If you were to survey me, I’d definitely rather have one or two posts written by you everyday than more posts that aren’t written by you. I enjoyed some of the other content, but there’s no substitute for the real thing ;-)
    And when the book is ready, I’m sure it’ll be worth the wait.
    Happy New Year to you and your crew!!!

  16. What nice changes! I have loved since the moment I came across your blog your kind, genuine, honest writing. I always come away from your posts feeling like you must be the loveliest of people.

    I agree that the contributors were excellent! But I think it’s true that the more personal a blog is, the more I tend to engage with it.

    Congratulations on the book! Yay! Can’t wait to hear more, you’ll do something amazing!

    And, finally, my sister just used a service called “The Lice Fairies: Lice without Shame” that still has me laughing. :)

  17. I’m such a fan. I love everything on design mom, so I’m sure I’ll love what’s coming as much as I’ve loved it it in the past. I think the living with kids series is my favorite, I’m so glad it’s staying! I’m sad to see Amy Hackworth go, her posts always got me t thinking and even changed how I live for the better. Looking forward to 2014! And huge congrats on the book!

  18. I’ve read your blog for several years and am excited about the direction you are going. The vast majority of the blogs I read are because I enjoy the author’s ‘voice’ so I almost always skip posts written by contributors. Like others have mentioned, I prefer blog posts to social media. I prefer to keep instagram and facebook to my immediate friends, otherwise it becomes too much to keep up with in my limited free time (I don’t do twitter).

  19. Yes, yes, yes! All sounds great! Glad to hear more & more in depth from you – so interesting! I think you’ve hit the nail on the head, if I were to guess it – people come here to hear your voice. That’s what we connect with. Thanks for sharing :)

  20. I definitely like the change ideas. Sometimes, as a reader, I can become so overwhelmed by more more more in posting.

    Personally? For social media? It is a no for me. So many people are on Facebook, etc., so much and they really just end up filling my thread with what ends up feeling like spam.

    Also…I like that you don’t have the cell phone in hand. Keep it that way– love on your family (which you seem good at doing). Twitter can wait.

    PS, congrats on the book. I bet it will be beautiful.

  21. Honestly I have to say when I look at your blog I skip over the contributors!….not to say that their posts are not wonderful and I am sure very talented people but when I started reading this blog it was about you and your family and whatever you were posting and that seems to be what I am mainly interested in……I especially look forward to the home renovation posts, both the tree house and the cottage in France!……

  22. Love your blog! But I have to say I read only your posts and always skipped the contributor posts. I was worried you were stepping away. So happy you’re not! I would miss the France vs. us comparisons, essay topics and home and cottage updates! Love those!

  23. as soon as i saw the word “changes” i thought: i bet it’s the contributors! i’ve seen it happen with other bloggers: they bring on a bunch contributors because they feel like they need to do more for the readers than they have the time to, and there are all these people with amazing ideas willing to contribute and they get filled with enthusiasm for the whole concept. but after a while they realize they miss their blog and get back to being the sole author.

    it was fun while it lasted (i loved the secrets to… series), but my favourite posts are always the ones you write because you feel like talking about something, posts that are not related to any series or sponsor.

    now excuse me i need to read the rest of the post!

  24. Yay! More design mom! My wish post has always been a basic tutorial on how to put together a seasonal wardrobe. How many of each item, what needs to match, fabrics that last, accessories to embrace, shoes to avoid, etc. You must be an expert in doing this by now, given all of your children’s lovely outfits. I’m almost 30 and always seem to end up with too many black skirts I’ll never wear or something like that. I grew up in t-shirts, hand-me-downs, and thrift store deals. I still feel pretty incompotent in dressing for anything that isn’t a costume party. It sounds like your new venture might address this. Fingers crossed! Thanks for all that you do!

  25. Thank you Gabrielle, you are such an inspiration!
    I have been toying with the idea of starting my own blog for over a year, maybe two. So many questions I had, so many doubts… But I finally took the plunge last week and my head is buzzing, I am so happy I finally did it.
    Reading your blog has shown me that it’s OK to give it a go, to try things and above all to be ourselves.
    Thank you for being yourself. I am really looking forward to the new format, it sounds great!
    Roll on 2014!!

  26. Wow, I love all the changes! I must admit, six posts a day was too much for me, and I found myself stepping back from the blog a bit because I couldn’t process it all so I love that change. I started to write the things I was happy you were keeping, and I realized it was everything! Everything you’re keeping is everything I love, so I’m happy! I love what you’re adding too. It’s so exciting to hear about your book! Congratulations! I can’t wait to hear more about it! Looking forward to 2014 with Design Mom!

  27. Hi Gabby
    here’s one of your fans from Germany. I also mostly read your blog because of your voice – I’ve only got two kids boy 17 and girl 12 – but coinciding somewhat in age with two of your kids and also love travelling, books and design so that always pulls me back. Like several others in the comments above I don’t use other social media much except blogging so your posts are very important!

  28. I think you are making exactly the right moves, Gabrielle! The contributor posts always felt a little like ‘optional extras’ to me. Strapped for time, I would scan through my Bloglovin’ feed for the ones subtitled “written by Gabrielle”!
    Congratulations on the book project! It’s going to be a great year!

  29. Gabrielle, une autre francaise ici (basee a Londres depuis 20 ans!) – am a long time reader and absolutely love reading your blog everyday. Some of the ideas of your posts have percolated into my life over the years – like being more intentional about organise movie nights or time as a family, or my daughter sporting the navy military Z jacket your daughter wore in France, or trying adopting simple birthday traditions (in our case, we decorate the birthday girl or boy’s chair before they come down for breakfast). As many others I don’t really do social media because I love the ‘long form’ writing, so will keep checking your blog. Meilleurs voeux pour 2014!

  30. If I could only read one blog each day (scary thought!) it would be yours, so the promise of a return to more of the kind of posts I love to read (family, balancing the various aspects of kids, work and sch0ol, home renovation, France/Oakland, mental health etc) written by you makes me very happy. Wishing you and yours a very happy, healthy, adventurous 2014.

  31. I’m looking forward to your upcoming travel posts based in and around the “home” being I also live here and have three kids that I love to go on adventures with!
    But really, I just look forward to another year of reading Design Mom, weather it’s filled with 6 posts of one! :)

  32. Gabby, I’m on board with whatever you do! You’ve been a regular source of inspiration for so many years, it’s great to see you continue to evolve your digital presence and also own up to the experiments that didn’t succeed. Really smart approach. Can’t wait to see what 2014 brings — especially your Treehouse posts, it’s great to enjoy a house re-do without having to live through the pain of it yourself ;)

  33. Yours is the only blog that I read every day, and I’m looking forward to the changes! Not because I didn’t like the contributor articles (I did!), but because I’m excited to see how things will change. I think it’s really brave to experiment– especially since your blog is so popular, it might be easier to just stick with what you know works–and I’m happy to go along for the ride.

    That said, I will miss the thoughtful posts of your contributors, especially Amy’s handling of personal and sometimes delicate subjects. Although sometimes it became hard to read “heavy” stuff every week. I also liked Raleigh-Elizabeth’s posts about food. Thanks opening your blog to the contributors, I learned a lot from them this past year!

    I would also like to echo another commenter’s post– I love reading the blog comments and I read them all too. Even when there are 200+ of them :)

  34. I agree with many of the other posters. While the contributors were talented, I come to your blog to read what YOU have to say. So I’m happy that you are not going to be using them anymore.

    As for social media, I only check Instagram so I’d much rather have a blog post by you than try and find you on different social media platforms.

    Can’t wait to see what you will be including in the book!

  35. Hi Gabrielle–I’m one of your loyal blog readers but I’m pretty sure I fit way outside the demographic you’re aiming for, so I wanted to tell you why I read. I’m 60 years old, my children have long since grown up, and my (so far) only grandchild lives across the ocean. For me, I read your blog to stay in touch with what younger women are thinking about and care about. It’s kind of a cultural newspaper, in which the news I’m finding often seems more relevant than the news in the NYTimes. Some of it I simply don’t get–for example, I really don’t get the idea behind OliveUs, and I confess I usually don’t watch those. But I do find I love what you have to say, and what you choose to share. Six posts a day? Way too many, even for someone like me who has the time to maybe read all six. Way too much pressure for you, though.

    A BIG thank you to you for sharing your family life and your internal musings!

    1. Oh–I forgot to say I really don’t love social media–they seem like some kind of race to the pithy and superficial, with entirely different rules of engagement than a blog.

  36. Koseli Cummings

    Gabby, I have been honored to contribute on your blog for the last year. I’ve been a long-time reader, too, and I have to agree with the others—I’m really looking forward to fewer posts written exclusively by you. That’s what I love most about Design Mom and I can’t wait for the topics you cover in 2014. Much love! And love to the other contributors, who are super talented and created amazing content.

  37. Love your blog, love how you listen to your readers. And I really like how you reflect on how to make it better. As a success, it would be easy for you to sit back and become more hands off, but I appreciate that you want to keep doing what you’re doing! As others have said, I really came here from the beginning for your unique perspective that I grew to love. Your contributors, as nice as they were, didn’t have the same voice. So I am also quite happy for that change. And I look forward to your other endeavors this year! Love hearing about your family, peeking into different homes with children, hearing stories about your new home and how to make it work for you- just all of it!

  38. This is a great post! I am excited about you coming back to write all posts. As much as I love your contributors, I have been missing your “one voice”.
    As for the series on moms and style… count me in! I’d love to take part in some ways.

  39. It’s always fun to hear what you are up, Gabrielle. You are a dynamic woman! I like the fact that you have something to say, a point of view. That’s what makes you interesting and hooray for being interesting! Ha! I like that you blog about ideas not just “things.” That’s why mothers and non mothers or a mother of teens can relate, we all have ideas!
    PS My advice about social media is test out a channel or two and see how it feels and fits in with who you are. I think we need to give ourselves permission to experiment a bit and toss out what doesn’t work. Attending ALT made me an instagram addict-who knew?! :)

  40. Your blog is on my daily check-in and I am always inspired and entertained. It took me a while to get used to the contributors, and I didn’t read some of them, but I didn’t mind them being there. I could see use and benefit in them for others.

    Now, hearing they won’t be there any more I find a small sense of disappointment, but trust your vision for your blog’s future. I am nervous about your shift to social media, as I don’t use it as much as other people. I never have understood the draw of Twitter, but c’est la vie. Like my Mom says, if we all liked the same thing, wouldn’t life be boring!

    I truly appreciate what you do here. A lot of blogs are run purely for the financial benefit, but there is a soul to your blog that eminates because of your obvious passion for what you do. I look forward to what 2014 brings on Design Mom and am curious about what your book will show us.

    P.S. I am curious what happened to Kirtsy. It quietly stopped updating not too long after it relaunched. I enjoyed it while it lasted!

    Bring on 2014. Bonne Chance!

  41. Gabby, I love you so much. Love how you continue to experiment and evaluate. It’s funny…I’ve had many moments of “should I post more?” over the years (back at the beginning I used to post 3-5 times per day all on my own! gack!) and have worked very diligently to stay focused on what feels joyful and manageable.

    So excited for your 2014! xoxox

  42. Oh lovely – I was going to tell you that my favorite posts were the ones by you and the site didn’t need any other contributors. I’m going to love the changes and I hope that you do too. Happy 2014!

  43. Gabrielle, I enjoy reading your posts so much. Even in short posts, your authentic voice comes through. The goal of so many blogs seems to be to impress readers with the “fabulosity” of the author’s life…While you are definitely fab, you always come across as someone who is sincere and generous. This brings me back to your blog every time, and I am happy that there will be more of your exclusive voice, even with fewer posts, in 2014.

    That being said, I do have a request. I do like the Living with Kids home tours, but perhaps in the future some more modest homes can be featured? While I do love to dream, I am a struggling single mom. I love beautiful things and great design, but cannot afford these luxuries. I would love to see some homes featured from similarly situated folks. Apartment ideas would be welcome, too, especially showing creative uses of smaller spaces (and how that works with kids).

  44. Fantastic! I will echo the sentiments of many readers in that although I did occasionally read the contributor columns it wasn’t often. I started reading your blog when my family decided to move to France and I gained so much great insight into french culture. We are still here so I do miss those “french” posts but I still enjoy every post that you put up. Congrats on your book deal and I look forward to what you bring to 2014! I am also not on twitter or Facebook much so this is where I will be finding you. Happy New Year to the Blairs!!!

  45. I look forward to the changes! I have loved your blog for several years and will continue to do so. And I can’t wait to have your book in my hands, too!

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