10 years ago today, I was working on the ground floor of my boss’ home office in Brooklyn about to hit “publish” on a blog that I had no idea anyone else would ever read. I picked a name, wrote about some of my favorite things (an Eames chair and vase by the Bouroullec brothers) and took my first, and only, selfie to set up my user account on Blogspot. People always say that if they knew what something would turn into before they started it, they would have done things differently. But I can honestly say that after a decade of running Design*Sponge, I wouldn’t change a thing. Every mistake I’ve made has led to a valuable lesson and every success has been a team effort that I’ve been honored to share with an incredible group of co-workers and friends. This site has given me some of the happiest and most challenging moments of my life. It’s introduced me to my best friends, endless inspiring collaborators and even led to me meeting my wife. This blog has allowed me to repair and nurture a sense of self-confidence and has taught me to discover my own voice and find ways to use it to empower the people around me in the community I love. I quite simply wouldn’t be who I am without this site and it is a complete and total joy to be able to celebrate it’s 10th birthday.
If Design*Sponge was a real baby (and not just the metaphorical baby I pour my heart and hard work into), she would be entering 5th grade and just starting to figure out who she is. And in some ways, I feel like this year we’re doing the same thing. As the landscape of the online community changes more and more quickly, we’re learning to ride each wave and find more momentum and motivation to use these changes to make us better and more efficient communicators. Whether we’re sharing photos on Instagram, writing personal essays on the blog or shooting videos to share with people halfway across the world, every single piece of content we put into the world is done with the same amount of enthusiasm, curiosity and passion that we’ve had since day one. It’s not always easy to keep up the same pace, but I truly believe the people I work with here at D*S are the best in the business. And I think our readers and this creative community at-large represent some of the kindest and most incredible people in the world. It’s your voices, your input and your friendship that’s kept us going over the years and we want you to know just how much it means to all of us. Your emails, comments and even your hugs at events are the energy we use to keep pushing harder to find more (and better) ways to share ideas that we hope will help and inspire all of us to create homes – and lives – that represent who we are.
This week our team is getting a well-deserved break from the internet so rather than go on too long, I want to just take a moment to thank everyone who has read, supported or talked with us here at Design*Sponge. You’ve made this the best job anyone could ever have. To be able to talk about the things we love on a daily basis is truly a privilege and each and every one of us look forward to the next 10 years of celebrating the incredible talent and inspiration the creative community has to offer. Thank you for continuing to talk, share and work with us all. xo, Grace and the entire team at D*S.
*To celebrate our 10th Anniversary, photographer Julie Lee has created two beautiful images inspired by our D*S color palette of pink and grey (that’s one above!). Using all natural materials, she created these gorgeous collages that you can download here to use as desktop or phone wallpaper. Thanks so much, Julie!
via Design*Sponge http://ift.tt/1u5Ickn From Grace Bonney
