05 November 2009

A visit from the Moggit Girls



Some time last winter I followed a series of links back to a site called Moggit. Moggit is the home of the Mogg Blog, a design site with something extra. That extra is common sense and and unwillingness to parrot back the gushing and glad handing that all too often passes for a design press. And yee-haw! I knew I was home as soon as I landed on that site, let me tell you. I love 'em, they can be catty without being cruel and that's a fine line to walk. I know that first hand, I trip over it all the time.

The Mogg Blog is written by Joy and Janet and I'm not the only one who chanced upon them last winter. Theirs has been a meteoric rise to fame and I hope, fortune. These two are poised to take over the world. As proof, their latest coup has been landing a gig on HGTV.com, an outfit that needs these women even more than the blogosphere does. Three cheers for good-natured smart-alec-ry! You can see their Decorating Dos and Don'ts videos here and their Home Improvement videos here. If you're a Twitterer and really, who isn't? Follow them @moggitgirls.

I subscribe to their feed of course and engage in some witty repartee with them on Twitter. Last weekend I asked them if they'd answer a couple of questions for me. They agreed loudly and returned their responses within hours of my sending them off. Without further ado, I bring you Joy and Janet, the Moggit Girls. Oh! Pay close attention to their answer to question number five. Thanks girls!

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1. How did you arrive at the name the Mogg Blog?

Well, our original idea was to have an online magazine but we soon realized that was way too much work-- so we went to the blog format. We wanted a short kinda catchy name that nobody else had, but we couldn't think of one so we decided to make up a new word instead. We took the 'm' from magazine and the ‘og’ from blog and combined them. And voila-- the 'Mogg Blog' or 'moggit' (because we also wanted it to be a verb and it was our word and we could do what we wanted with it) was born...  

2. How long has the Mogg Blog been in existence and what prompted you to start it?

The blog has been around since oh, late last year... but we spent a few months planning before we actually launched. We started it because we were spending way too much time on the phone with each other anyway, and we thought we might as well put said time to good use.

3. What were each of you doing prior to achieving fame and fortune as the Moggit Girls?

Joy was a Rocket Scientist and Janet was a Quantum Physicist. And oh yeah, also housewives...

4. How did you end up getting involved with HGTV?

It was a very focused campaign that involved alot of whining and begging. (Just kidding!) What really happened was that HGTV found us and contacted us through twitter. Yup-- Twitter. Have we mentioned we love Twitter?

5. Who are your bloggery idols and role models?

Paul Anater.

6. What are a few of your favorite things?

Anything covered in chocolate. Great earrings. Great shoes. Great handbags. And also money. Lots and lots of money. Oh, you probably meant that in a designer-y way. Sorry...

7. If Jonathan Adler, Kelly Wearstler and Philippe Starck collaborated on a room design, what do you think it would look like?

A HOT MESS!

8. What, if anything will you not say?

As unbelievable as it may seem, there is actually alot that we will not say-- except, of course, to each other. We even have a few rules of conduct that have evolved since the inception of the blog that we adhere to quite religiously.

1. We don't call out designers (oh, except for every once in a rare-ish while those very filthy rich ones whose careers we couldn't ever possibly hurt.)
2. We only 'mogg' things that have been put out there for public consumption on a site, blog or magazine.
3. We try to ensure that our commentary is more tongue-in-cheek than outright nasty.

Basically, our aim is to poke fun at the pretentiousness that can often seem to dominate the design world. We just want to remind people that decorating their homes should be fun. We think your home should be a personal reflection of you, and that your decor should not be about keeping up with all the 'haute couture of design' that gets published in magazines every month. Really, all we're doing is posting our opinions-- and by so doing hopefully reminding people to not blindly follow the latest fad or trend just because everyone else is. If the latest thing suits you--great. We say go for it. If not, we say don't worry! Stay true to your personal style. (Except for taxidermy. If your personal style is taxidermy you should not stay true to that. 'Cuz taxidermy is gross.)

If you look at our posts, we'll actually only very rarely come out and say we think something is ugly. What most people don't realize is that we'll often 'mogg' things we actually like, but that still strike us as odd or have an aspect about them that we think is funny. We think people can (and should!) love things that are silly or flawed and totally covet them. We do. So we're just really writing about that.          

9. What message does the Mogg Blog bring to the world?

Hey, design world-- don't take yourself too seriously. And hey, Mr. or Ms. Average Person Out There-- don't sweat your decor too much. If you haven't got eels in your coffee table, or a house full of stuffed dead animals you're probably doing just fine...

10. What's next for the Moggit Girls?

Ah, a couple loads of laundry, world domination and some school lunches... in that order.

5 comments:

  1. Yea! Congrats to the Moggit Girls, my daily dose of tongue in cheek humor I absolutely must read to keep my sanity form those who take design way too seriously.
    I now have a reason to watch HGTV.
    And #5, Paul needs a show of his own too! He is way too entertaining not to be syndicated around the globe.

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  2. Rachele and Laurie: Thanks as always. Oh and Laurie, the syndication I'm angling for is a revival of the once popular and sorely missed variety show. I can see it now, a cross between Design Star, Donny and Marie and The Mike Douglas Show.

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  3. i lurve janet and joy- they poke fun, but in a 'laughing with us, not at us' way. thanks for the interview with them!

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  4. Thanks Christian, I love them too. Their sense of humor is a real day brightener sometimes.

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