decor8

03/04/2026

I am truly grateful for those who are sharing my rug collection with and now my gratitude goes out to Irene Hoofs, Editor‑in‑Chief at KOEL Magazine for the incredibly generous 20+ page feature. Your support, insight, and belief in my work mean more than words can express. Thank you for shining a beautiful light on what I love to create. ✨🤍

Visit koel‑magazine.com to see the full feature or visit them on Instagram here:

Photos:

29/03/2026

Hello from the other side! I celebrated my birthday last Saturday and spent another day recovering from it (lol) because I got home at 5:30am - I honestly had such a great time, I laughed and danced and we ended up experiencing a few different DJs in one night, one was Afrobeat House (I love Afrobeat for years now) and then we enjoyed the fabulous who is such a next level professional, Hannover is honestly so lucky to have a local gem like him playing regularly here. He mixes stuff that you’d never imagine would work together and it just does - his ear for music is impressive. Anyway, I have such deep appreciation for musicians and artists and I was happy I got to dance and enjoy myself being surrounded by all this positivity. A big thank you to Esra for giving me such a surprise birthday celebration - I’ll never forget all that you did for me - a birthday I nearly didn’t celebrate so thank you for “making” me - and it turned out to be one of best birthdays I’ve had in years.

Love,
Holly

24/03/2026

I caught myself reaching for my phone… again… without even thinking. I do this often. It’s beginning to bother me A LOT. I don’t pick it up because I need it. Just habit - blindly. Which makes me think… 💭 How often are we using screens on autopilot instead of by choice?

I’ve been exploring what balance really looks like (without guilt, rules, or extremes) through my research 🧐 and I shared my thoughts in a new post on Substack.

And don’t worry, 😉 I’m not going full analog - It’s not about quitting screens… it’s about using them in a way that actually feels good and supports our well-being.

If you’ve been feeling the same, you might enjoy this one 🤍

🔗

How, together, blogs, Substack, newsletters, and analog content should become the new norm

19/03/2026

I’ve been making mood boards my whole life, you too? Long before I studied design, used them with clients, or even understood their professional value, I was already creating them - on my bedroom walls, in notebooks, in school lockers, and later in my office and studio spaces.

What I know now is this: mood boards are so much more than collections of images. At their best, they create clarity. They communicate a point of view, help us refine ideas, build cohesion, and move from inspiration into something more tangible and intentional. They can be used across interiors, branding, fashion, marketing, and beyond - not just to gather ideas, but to shape direction and express the feeling of a project before it fully comes to life.

I also believe mood boards reconnect us to something many of us did naturally as children: collecting, arranging, imagining, and dreaming visually.

That instinct matters. It says something about how we see the world, how we process ideas, and how we create meaning. Maybe even more than that... reminds us that boredom, stillness, and quiet observation can be valuable parts of the creative process. When there is less distraction, there's more room for imagination.

I wrote more about this on my Substack yesterday - about mood boards, creative practice, and why this way of working still matters so deeply to me.

You can read it here: https://decor8.substack.com/p/ive-been-making-mood-boards-my-whole

Do you use mood boards in your work, and how much value to they bring to you and your clients?

How a lifelong habit of collecting images, textures, and ideas became one of my most valuable creative practices

16/03/2026

I can’t believe I just celebrated a year since getting my German driver’s license 🪪 and next, I’m working on my German citizenship! I have my permanent residency but I want the same legal status that Aidan has as a dual citizen so this is my next milestone.

Step by step, everything is in steps…

I finally finished my book proposal today and will send it over to an editor I have decided to connect with first thing tomorrow. With some luck, 🍀 book 5 will be underway by summer and in book stores in 2027. I can’t believe it.

Getting this proposal finished has taken me a very long time and it was revised about 10 times. I could never get it out of me.

What did I want to talk about?
What could I share?
What do people need from me?

And then all of the garbage thoughts like does anyone care? Is there already too much out there? Am I so great?

Then I thought yeah it’s saturated and no, I’m not special but my goodness who is?

We all still have a RIGHT to share something we’ve spent years working on and researching. Something that could help others. So step by step. I feel like I’m making progress on LIFE goals again and it feels right.

What are your current life goals?

Love,
Holly

12/03/2026

I’m tired of feeling like I’m up against the polished, performative, robotic voice that’s taken over so much of the internet. I know you know the voice.

Over-edited, bulleted to death, em dashed galore "—", stuffed with emojis and hashtags, packed with “insight" and leadership speak.

YAWN. Dude, that's so completely forgettable and soulless. Or as my 12-year-old son would say, CRINGE.

We started writing like AI instead of like people and it’s killing real connection. If all of us sound polished, optimized, and professionally profound, nobody stands out, feels real or is memorable.

We’re all different in exactly the same way.

So I wrote about that last night on my Substack... about voice, performance pressure, and the relief that comes when you stop writing to impress and start writing from your core.

I put the link in the first comment.
Read it and tell me what you think.

03/03/2026

Sometimes I can’t believe it’s been twenty years since I started decor8. I was just a woman who carved out a nook in her bedroom, sharing little corners of my life and the things that inspired me. There was no Instagram, no “content creator/influencer” title, no plan. I was simply following a feeling.

Since then, this work has turned into books, classes, collaborations, and a community of 185,000 of you here on Facebook - which blows my mind and also makes me very grateful. Thank you for being here and staying along for the ride.
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Right now, I’m in one of those quieter “reset” seasons where you step back and ask: What am I actually building next? And I know many of you are in that place too - with your blogs, your small businesses, your creative projects.
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That’s why I created Creative Reset Studio – a six-week online class to help you gently but clearly redefine what you want to build online and how it fits your life today. It’s not a hustle bootcamp, it’s more like a structured, supportive studio space for your ideas.
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We start March 16 and I would love to welcome some of you from this community into the group. 💛
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All the details are here:
https://www.decor8blog.com/creative-reset

12/02/2026

February always makes me reflective. It’s my son’s birthday month. It’s gray here in northern Germany. It’s Valentine’s Day. It’s soup, sourdough, and existential thoughts all mixed together. Last month I gave a keynote at an interior finishings fair about something I care deeply about: the psychology of design. Not focused this time on trends. No styling tricks. But the emotional side of interiors and why a room can look beautiful and still feel wrong. So I wrote about it and I shared 10 things everyone should think about if they want a home that feels as good as it looks - for instance lighting, function, texture, flow, safety, personalization… the things that change how you experience your space every day.

I’d love for you to read it over on Substack. And if it resonates, tell me. 💛 ----->https://decor8.substack.com/p/a-home-that-feels-as-good-as-it-looks

30/01/2026

Have you seen my new rug collection? https://www.decor8blog.com/rugs

22/01/2026

Shop my collection now or stock it in your shop by connecting with TISCA Teppiche

22/01/2026

Here‘s a video clip from my opening keynote this past Monday at where I developed the topic around Function and Emotion in design and explored how we need both to make a space work. I discuss everything from sensory perception to neurodiversity, well-being and health benefits of thoughtful diesign, and how there is no such thing as a neutral space - a space is felt by everyone. This was my first time delivering this keynote - it took me about a month to finish it but 20 years as a designer to develop it, so it felt wonderful to finally deliver a topic so close to my heart. Thank you, Domotex.