What Does it All Mean?

Molly Sims' Gorgeous SoHo apartment as featured in InStyle Home in October 2007

As you probably know, I just launched Decorum Design Forum a week ago. It is the first forum or message board intended to facilitate interaction between members of the blogging and interior design community. As of today, we have 232 members and the forum continues to grow steadily.

Molly's Kitchen

As someone who has seen and experienced the benefits of being engrossed in the blog world as well as on a forum, it has finally dawned on me that not everyone has had this experience. Granted, I would venture to say that 99.9% of the members on Decorum are familiar with blogs, as it has been the main vehicle for promoting the forum. However, not everyone is familiar with message boards or forums. From a technical stand point it is all fairly simple. Once you poke around and figure out where everything is, you should get the hang of it fairly quickly (if you have any technical questions, don't hesitate to e-mail or private message me). Having said that, you may be wondering what to do as a member of Decorum. The purpose of the forum is to facilitate interaction between design aficionados, bloggers and blog readers alike.

Diane Bergeron's Incredible Inspiration Board as seen on Bandelle

Here are some examples of things you might post about on Decorum:

1. You scored an awesome buffet at a flea market over the weekend, but need help figuring out what color to paint it and which hardware to choose. Or perhaps you are about to renovate your kitchen and need some advice.
2. You want to know of some good places for antiques and interiors in your city.
3. You inherited some fabulous Hollywood Regency chairs from your grandmother, but are unsure of which fabric to have them reupholstered in.
4. You came across a great Do-it-Yourself project that you would like to share with others. Pay it forward, remember!
5. You would like to discuss the set design on your favorite movie or TV show.
6. You are passionate about lighting and are curious to see which design element others deem to be the most important.
7. You are wondering whether sea grass flooring is the right choice for your home and are looking for a good source to purchase it from.
8. You would like some tips on achieving “the look for less” or you have some great ideas to share in regards to accomplishing this.
9. You are wondering whether “going green” is worth the added cost.
10. You just love the new line by a certain designer or store and want to discuss it with others.

A Creative Use of Vintage Artwork as seen in Domino

These are just a few examples of the types of topics that you can currently find on Decorum. We also talk about food, celebrities, and the arts. If you are the type of person who feels confident in your design abilities and usually don’t have many design-related questions…we need you too! It is always helpful to have people who can be deemed authorities in regards to certain topics on the boards. You are the type of people that others turn to for answers.

A Living Room Filled with Fabulous Books, Gorgeous Textiles, and some Great Accessories as seen on The Lil Bee

I know that Decorum has so much to offer everyone! If you’ve already joined, a big thanks to you. If you haven’t, come on over, we’d love to have you! Remember, you are eligible for our first giveaway if you join by February 28th. Either way, don’t be shy about posting, whether it’s starting a new post or commenting on someone else’s. There is no such thing as a stupid question and it is wonderful to have different points of view coming together in one place. All in all, it is a great way for bloggers to achieve more exposure, to share ideas and inspiration with one another, and to establish a deeper sense of camaraderie between all of the design lovers in cyber space.