Hello from Joslyn

I'm so excited to have Joslyn Taylor as a Guest Mom this week. You may remember Joslyn from the delightful photos of her mid-century modern home that I featured a couple months back. I don't know Joslyn personally at all, but having seen her home, I'm quite sure we'd be bffs if we ever got to hang out. In fact, now that I've seen this way cute photo of her with her two little ones, I think I've officially got a crush on Joslyn.

I should also tell you, I've had a preview of what she'll be posting this week and you are going to love every single thing she writes. Every single thing. But you might already know that if you read her excellent blog: Simple Lovely.

Here's what Joslyn has to say by way of introduction:

First of all, I’m really honored and excited to be posting on Design Mom this week. I love Gabrielle’s site, and her concept of focusing on the intersection between design and motherhood really resonates with me, as I’ve long believed that having kids doesn’t doom one to a world filled with clunky, primary-colored plastic toys and mom jeans. I’m thrilled to have found a place where there are so many like-minded mamas!

I was a bit intimidated though when she asked me to write up a little bio. I don’t have a design background, so I was worried about exposing my lack of “cred”. But I am obsessed with creating a home for my family that combines my love of great design with equal doses of comfort and whimsy, a place where my daughters can draw inspiration to form their own aesthetic sensibility as they go forth into the world.

Here are a few tidbits that have most influenced my philosophy about design and motherhood:
• My father has been a professional musician since he was 13 years old. And while this technically isn’t about me, his focus on creativity, music, art, taking the road-less-traveled and appreciating and embracing things outside of the norm (and his encouragement of my sisters and me to do the same) has been the most influential aspect of how I attempt to raise my own girls.

• My family moved 17 times when I was growing up. I attended four elementary schools, two junior high schools and two high schools (another side-effect of my father’s nomadic career). Most of those moves were back and forth between California, Texas and Louisiana. As a result, I’ve formed a blended sensibility of laid back, hippie west coast and southern tradition, which often makes for some interesting results.

• I have two sisters and two daughters, so I tend to naturally skew a little “girly” in the things I post on my own blog, but I’ll pull from the resource pool of my eight nephews and a gaggle of neighborhood boys to ensure I remain gender-neutral this week!

Hooray for Joslyn! Thank you for being here. We can't wait to read what you have to share.