I am wobbly kneed yet deliriously delighted to show you a sneak peek of a very special project that I began working on earlier this year that JUST arrived in my mailbox... but first, this is what my workroom looked like for 6 months of my life...

After months of planning, traveling, writing, editing... Copies of my upcoming decorating book, Decorate Workshop, which will be available in the UK, North America and Australia/New Zealand in October/November of this year and then in late winter, in German! Woweeeee! I nearly fainted as I opened my mailbox today because it's such a big task to do a book, you wrap up totally exhausted from it, and then you are waiting for what feels like an eternity to see it in print. Cracking it open for the first time was a real high... Would you like to see it? Here is the American version from Chronicle Books on my bookshelf...

We just finished Decorate Workshop in July so I've not had tooooo long of a time to wait yet it felt like forever because the anticipation that an author and team feel to see their "child" delivered is undeniably off the charts - I've been happy, crabby, emotional, just a whole load of hormones as I waited by my mailbox for this book to arrive. It's like a newborn child, getting the keys to a new apartment, buying a home, bringing in that newly upholstered sofa, landing on the soil of your dream destination, seeing your blind date after weeks of wondering whether he'll be cute (and he shows up looking delish, oh my!)... The waiting period that went into realizing the dream is a rainbow of delicious, stressful, raw, draining, magical, crazy and hope-filled emotions. You're pretty much a crazy person from the time you start writing until the day your book releases. (Here is a shot below of Decorate and Decorate Workshop. I love how Chronicle Books designed the spines to coordinate nicely when displayed together on a shelf. They are so committed to detail.)

My hope with this second book, which I've decided to write in the voice of my blog decor8 and to author solo, is that you will read every single page, scribble in the margins, highlight stuff with your neon yellow marker and write in the spaces that I've designated throughout the book for you to jot down notes, ideas, dreams... This book is all about tapping in to your personal style and turning your ideas and inspiration into something real in just 8 steps. (Below is a shot of the UK version of the book. The US version is softcover with a different jacket but that is the only difference. The UK version is hardbound. I'm so happy that Jacqui Small put my blog address on the cover, I think that's pretty amazing!)

Here are some spreads for you to peek at that follow. Decorate Workshop is filled with pretty photos that were shot by mostly Debi Treloar, the magical photographer and now a good friend who lives in London. Debi has shot around a million of the best looking books in the world so to work with her is always an absolute "pinch me is this really happening" moment. She is brilliant in every single way.

In Decorate Workshop, I had the pleasure of selecting the homes and styling the rooms. We shot locations in the US and in Europe. I also pulled together lots of mood boards and more creative, inspirational vignettes that my husband photographed for the book - around 30 photographs are his. As the project wrapped up, we realized we needed more images but couldn't book Debi as she had started a new project and so my husband jumped in and took the final shots that we needed to wrap up. It feels good that he had a part in this book, it's nice to get the family involved in a project so close to your heart but furthermore, and the really cool part is, that the cover of the book was shot by him and the image on the back of the US version is also his photo - it's our home and I'm so proud to say that 4 rooms are in the book from our house along with a breakdown of how I planned several of them from A-Z. I thought that with my 2nd book you may like to see my home but also to learn more about how I think when I'm planning my own space so you'll get that in Decorate Workshop.

The book design was done by the talented and patient Sarah Rock and is super colorful and pretty to flip through, there are lots to look at and to inspire. I'm really proud of my team and of this book and hope that you'll pre-order it as it's now being sold at a very special rate and will be shipped to all who pre-order it first before you start seeing it in stores.

It even comes with a very special gift - a French Fold book jacket that you can unfold, iron out and use as a poster - you can hang it on the wall to display. It's an inspirational collage and is so very pretty with words, illustrated floor plans by my dear friend and rock star illustrator Samantha Hahn who did the beautiful floor plans in the book for us, and washi tape accents and pretty photos shot for this book. I just photographed it below after sticking it to the door of my cabinet so you can get a sense of scale, but it's quite pretty and I've never seen this in a decorating book before so I'm hoping to start a trend because I think a book with a gift like this is very special and is what makes printed things so much nicer and more warm and fuzzy than only digital things.

This is very exciting for me to share this news and to show off a wee bit too as I'm not really trying to show off but talking about an accomplishment can certainly come across as such... But I've had a tough few months since I finished this book as most of you know so it feels good to be back in a good place again now that I see the book and feel like it's a really, really good and big accomplishment. I simply wanted to share a happy moment in my life with you today so thank you so much for your love and support and for listening and looking. :)

By the way, I dedicated this book to all of you as you'll see in the beginning near the table of contents because it's so true - without loyal friends and fans where would an author be? Your support for Decorate, my first book that became an international bestseller and is now available in 12 languages, gave me the opportunity to write a second one so thank you for that because I truly love doing what I was meant to do for a living. It feels great to no longer be stuck in a cubicle at a corporate job as I once was before I made the leap, took a chance, started this blog and today, doing what I've been wanting to do since I was little. Thank you for giving me this, you guys!!!!!! And thank you to the homeowners and some of my blogger friends who are in this book too - so proud!

Pre-order

• Decorate Workshop - US - $15.98
• Decorate Workshop - UK - £12.50
• Decorate Workshop - Canada - CDN$20.13

Tell me, which one of the two covers do you like the most? I'm really curious!

(images: holly becker)