LAist Interview: Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge

How has your style changed over the the last few years?

I'd like to think it's matured a bit, but obviously that's pretty relative. When I started the blog a few years ago I was pretty into super "cute" things- and I like to think that if people walked into my home they'd see a much more sophisticated color palette and pattern collection than they would have expected. I've pretty much cut Ikea furniture out of the house entirely and am focusing on saving up for larger vintage pieces rather than buying lots of small things based on trends. My love of pattern will always remain though- I can't resist a great pattern, whether it's on bedding, textiles or in wallpaper. It's like the philosophy of "What Not to Wear", but for the home.

What was your room like as a child? Were you always redecorating it?

Short answer? Yes. My mom has always pretty much been an interior designer, whether she's licensed or not. So I pretty much loved anything she did for me until I got old enough to know otherwise. I had some unfortunate phases with white wicker (I have NO idea what that was about) but as I grew up and bought my first Metropolis magazine I started getting into modern furniture and trying to have my room be the only "contemporary" one in our home. But we're pretty much an antiques family so that was always tough.

When I got to college I was like a kid in a candy store- I would decorate our dorm rooms each season in a completely different style (usually inspired by some project Genevieve Gorder made on Trading Spaces). When I got into my last years in school I started making over other people's rooms and building my own furniture.

What originally inspired you to start Design*Sponge?

I don't think it was one thing so much as a general dislike of my (then) current day-job and the desire to talk about design with anyone else who cared. My poor boyfriend had to listen to me go on and on about chairs and restaurant interiors 24/7 so he suggested I start a blog as a way to vent some of that energy and possibly create an online portfolio of my voice and "eye" for a lack of a better word- in hopes that one day I might end up working for a home or design magazine. But then the site took off and I decided to stick with the blog as my main job.

Your website has more than 30,000 hits everyday. How much do you cater the content to suggestions from your readers?

To be honest, not much. And that's not because I don't love my readers, but because I care about them too much to ignore my own interests and provide content that obviously is lacking passion or soul. I think what draws people to the site (other than pretty pictures) is the fact that the site changes and moves as I do- I used to focus almost exclusively on furniture and now the site has changed to cover DIY projects, home interiors, furniture makeovers and city/product guides. Not because readers demanded them, but because I was getting bored with the old "magalog" format and decided to branch out into topics that interested me. If i'm not loving what I write about, it shows- so I try to keep the site as current of a representation of my personal interests as possible.

Recently you announced the 2008 Design*Sponge Scholarship. The program awards cash prizes to the winning undergraduate designers. Why did your start the scholarship?

I started the Scholarship because I felt like I wasn't doing enough to give back to the community in a real way. So many sites with large platforms don't often take a step back to nurture and support the community that they cover. And for me, I felt like the next generation of designers are the ones that basically keep me working and give me something to write about, so why not invest in them and help them finance new projects, new media, etc? So I donated my own money, along with donations with the (now closed) D*S shop and advertisers to three finalists that we still follow to this day.

This year we tripled the prize and are giving away $11,000 thanks to Domino Magazine, 2Modern and Paper Studio. I'm so psyched to have the chance to give back in a bigger way to the up-and-coming designers I'll be covering in the years to come.

For me, the nice thing about the scholarship is that it's a no-strings-attached deal. A lot of times scholarship money is earmarked for college housing or tuition but realistically kids have other needs for financial awards. Unpaid internships are a great opportunity (and a big reality) for design students so I thought it would be great to help kids pay for housing and food or anything else they need to take advantage of situations like that that don't cover room and board.

Your Biz Ladies meetings bring together women who want to start their own company or who want to make their hobby into a business. Can you tell us about some of the people you and have met at the other meetings and what is happening with their businesses?

The meet-ups have been such an incredible experience for me personally. I'll never forget the first meet-up in Brooklyn a few years ago. I walked upstairs to the top floor of DWR in Brooklyn Heights and was met by a sea of women staring at me. To go from working alone behind a computer to speaking in front of a large group of people was a pretty big wake up call. But as I've traveled this year (we met in Chicago, Philly, San Francisco, Portland Oregon and Seattle this year) I've gotten to meet so many incredible people who are starting their own companies on their own.

The people who attend range from people who run hobby-type businesses on the side for fun to people who've quit their jobs to follow their passion and are sort of in a "now what" position. So in each city we provide them with free advice and tip sheets covering basics like marketing/PR, wholesale/retail, business/legal issues and the real life practice of running your own business full time. It's inspired people to start their own small local groups after we leave and I've spoken with dozens of women who've met people and started collaborations from the meeting. It's incredible- next year I hope to travel to more cities and add in workshop sessions to teach product photography skills and business planning.

The LA meeting will feature Billie and Tootie of ReForm School, designer Tanya Aguiñiga, and business and legal advice from Lindsay Horstman of Smith Barney. Will there be any surprise guests?

There may be some well-known attendees, but right now that is our fantastic lineup. LA is such a wealth of talent I'm sure we'll have some big names among the audience.

Soon you will be in LA for the first time. What are you looking forward to doing while you are here?

Oh man, first of all I'm looking to get out of cold, grey Brooklyn and get into the sun. But mostly I'm just looking to soak up a new city, new culture and take in as much as possible. I tend to eat my way through new cities so I'm psyched to try new restaurants and bakeries.

What stores are you planning to visit?

Anything I can fit in really- I want to hit up all the great design stores in Silverlake and one of my favorite vintage shops- Orange.

What other projects are you working on now?

Eeesh- I fear I'm always in over my head. Right now I'm working on a book project, a video series for the site, a possible television project, a local home makeover project with an in-need Brooklyn family and adding two new writers to the site. And of course, it's almost design season in NY so I'm gearing up for ICFF, the Stationery Show, Surtex and Brooklyn Designs. And of course, planning my wedding in Savannah- which is the best project of all.

To rsvp to attend the LA biz ladies meeting. Click here.

Check out Grace's under $100 decorating essentials for Domino.

photo by Aaron Coles