Designer Admirer - Lynn Morgan Design

Thank you all for your spirited and unanimous support and affirmation of this blog's name, Georgica Pond. So, despite my husband's persistent protests, it lives to see another day. I appreciate all your feedback and compliments and I'm glad you all see the appeal of the name as much as I did when I chose it.

Now, if you had an unlimited budget and you could pick any designer to design your home, who would you choose? As you can expect, I go through fads and when I discover a new designer I think "Oooh, now she/he's my new go-to designer, that's who I'd have and who would solve all my decorating problems", but whenever I think about creating a lovely, enduring, liveable, classic, casual, welcoming, comfortable, elegant home, I usually go back to my old favourites such as Phoebe Howard, Lee Ann Thornton, Mabley Handler and the like.

But now I have another favourite to add to my list in case my husband ever says, "Let's just get the bloody house finished once and for all - here's a cheque to spend on hiring your dream designer and whatever items you need to get this project done!". Not bloody likely!

Lynn Morgan, is a designer from Connecticut whose work you would be familiar with from magazine pages, blogs and websites worldwide. She has long been on my favourite designer list, but I recently revisited her portfolio and feel in love with her work all over again.

Lynn's work manages to encompass the spectrum from boldest black and white, and monochromatic schemes to the softest of pastels, the brightest of blues and the most colourful mix of solids, mixing traditional with contemporary with particular flair.

Here's some of my favourites from her portfolio here. There's something for everyone.

Blue/White/Green

Black/White/Monochrome

Pastels

Bright and Bold

 

Neutrals

Exteriors

All images from Lynn Morgan Design.

I love her classic, traditional style that seamlessly blends contemporary elements with a touch of whimsy and always looks inviting, comfortable and effortlessly stylish.

Which designer would you have to design your home if money were no object?

Stop calling me Georgica!

When I was planning my blog early last year I had a number of names I was thinking of using. One of them was Georgica Pond, which is a name I have loved since visiting there some years ago on my first trip to the Hamptons.

Here's the post I did last year explaining where the name came from with some pretty photos from my visit there.

Anyway, I thought it would make a wonderful name for a homewares business, retail shop, decorating service or something like that. So when it came time to name my blog and I knew that it was going to focus on classic American style/design/decorating, considering that aesthetic was the inspiration for our house renovation, it seemed a natural choice.

I love the name because:

• it's pretty, feminine and unique with a lyrical sound to it
• it eludes to the Hamptons without being obvious and it's a beautiful part of the world with the most spectacular houses - it's my inspiration for this blog 
• it's not my name, so should it ever became a business I wanted to sell it wasn't tied to me
• anybody who was a true East Coast devotee would know what it meant!
• my sister said she'd use it if I didn't
• I just like it!

My husband on the other hand thought it was awful. He thought I should have a name that included the word "Hamptons" but I said I didn't want to be restricted to the Hamptons as a style or look, particularly as it's such a fad at the moment, it's a term I hate because it's so loosely and inappropriately used here, and it is only one of many classic American decorating styles I like. 

He said that nobody would be able to pronounce it, or know it referenced the east coast because nobody had ever heard of the place, unless you lived there. 

He thought the name should make it clear what the blog was about. Finally he said it sounded like a person's name so that people would think it was my name and call me Georgica.

I scoffed at that suggestion and all his comments and went ahead anyway, just because I liked it.

Well, if I had a dollar for the number of times people have called me Georgica! Not just Georgica but Georgeeca, Georgia and Georgina. It drives me completely nuts. And this happens even when I sign my name Melinda at the bottom of the email or text or comment, and repeatedly point out that it's not my name. I've even been called Georgica by people who I have corresponded with for months as Melinda, but for some reason there is some major confusion that happens between me, my blog, my FB page and so on. 

I have been operating a small business GEORGICA POND INTERIORS, for the past year supplying fabric and furnishings to a small group of family, friends, friends of friends and referrals. I haven't advertised this fact because I haven't been in a position to expand it beyond what I could manage. But this is something I now want to expand and offer online to my blog readership. And for the past year, many people I deal with ie wholesalers, fabric suppliers etc, call me Georgica too. It's got to the point I am having an identity crisis and I'm sick of correcting them.

But I have an online store in the development stages, and some day maybe a bricks and mortar one. I am looking at including advertising and sponsorships on my blog, and have had a lot of interest from companies and PRs. I also want to redesign my blog and convert to Wordpress and a dot com, but before I can do all that I figure I need to decide once and for all about the name.

The images I have included in this post are some of my favourites from my PINTEREST boards and I hope epitomise the style and look of my blog and thus the name.

So please help me. Do you like the name GEORGICA POND? Do you hate it? Is it too random? Is it confusing? Should I change it?  Or is it too late? What should I change it to?