Welcome to my blog, The Design Novice! Today is my very first post and I am really excited to share with all of you my love of design and home decor. I have always enjoyed flipping through pages of design magazines and I am an avid HGTV watcher. But , these habits unfortunately don't qualify me as an interior designer! (Just a slave driver to my husband who has graciously been willing to tackle all of my projects!)

After years of being a stay at home mom, I realized it was time to start making some money again so I thought long and hard about how I could still have time for my children (my top priority) yet also try to incorpoate something into a job that I was passionate about. Well, a friend invited me to a Southern Living at Home party and well...home decor, entertaining, and parties...this seemed right up my alley!

Begining in January of 2010, I became a consultant for Southern Living at Home which became Willow House in August. I now sell beautiful design and entertaining products and I have a great time doing it. (Check out my website http://tracyhoerdemann.willowhouse.com .) Now, I don't want you to think this blog is all about Willow House and me trying to just sell products. Sure, there will be lots of pictures of Willow House products and ideas of ways that I have decorated using these products, but there will also be posts about my experiences in all other areas of design, espcially how to transform spaces without breaking the bank. (We recently did some upgrades on our kitchen without spending very much money at all!)

I think that your home should absolutely reflect your personality. Don't try to be someone you are not or let someone convince you to decorate in a style you don't feel comfortable living in. It's taken me a very long time to figure this out and I still am working on it -thus the title of this blog...The Design NOVICE. But, I am really becoming serious about this little passion of mine and if I do have readers out there, maybe you can help me on my journey of one day becoming a design EXPERT!