Kim and Jo have never met

Jo is Australian and Kim is Canadian. Together they desire to inspire the world.  One room at a time.

As a die hard DTI fan, I am super excited to interview Kim and Jo, the dynamic duo behind the design and decoration blog Desire to Inspire (DTI). They are two of the most genuine and helpful individuals that I have come across.

Kim and Jo, along with DTI, inspire countless readers around the world. Lets get to know them better.

Mochatini to Kim and Jo: Lets start with Desire to Inspire.  What “inspired” you to start DTI?
Jo: DTI started after Kim and I met on Flickr sharing pictures of rooms we loved. We started talking and decided to start a blog to share all the wonderful images we had in our inspiration files.
It helped immensely that Kim is a web programmer. She really wanted DTI to showcase her computer skills as she had little say at the work in her day job. I on the other hand know nothing about computers but that has changed over the past couple of years thanks to Kim. We write all our posts in HTML which is why DTI can get the look it has. For example, the side by side pictures, tables of pictures, etc.
We never took ourselves seriously in the beginning and I guess we still don’t. We do it to share images and sources with each other and our friends. Over two years these friends have turned into thousands of readers. We still can’t believe how big it has grown.

Mochatini to Jo: That is a really nice sketch of you and Kim. I know you are a very private person and I appreciate you doing this. Tell us 5 things about you that we don’t already know.
Jo: – “Hi my name is Jo and I am a thrift shop addict.” I am seriously addicted to second hand shops, flea markets, thrift shops and auctions. Embarrassingly so.
– I have never met Kim and never spoken to her. I have however heard her voice on a video on the blog.
– I trained as an interior designer but now work in a homeless health outreach team.
– I live with my blind husband and his too cute but slightly overweight guide dog Mickey. My husband loves going to  gallery openings with me and buying art.
– I have never bothered to go for my driver’s license. These days I prefer to think of it as a green decision not laziness 🙂

Mochatini to Jo: Tell us 5 things that make you happy
Jo: – friends
– sharing food
– cappuccino or a good glass of wine
– fresh flowers
– Nina Simone on full blast

Mochatini to Kim: Love your new kitchen and we know that you like pizza. We also really loved your home on AT. Tell us 5 things about you that we don’t already know.
Kim: I absolutely adore animals (this may explain my 6+1 cats) – but will probably never become a vegetarian. (Oh – my house is unfortunately right around the corner from the Humane Society).
– I have a Psychology degree and a diploma in Computer Science
– Food I hate – mushrooms (it’s fungus for crissakes), and picking meat off bones. I never order ribs for that reason.
– I absolutely hate winter, more than anything else in the world. Which means living in Ottawa SUCKS.
– I am really starting to love photography, and hope to take many photos this summer with my new Nikon D80

Mochatini to Kim: Tell us 5 things that make you happy
Kim: – my 6+1 cats
– my niece and nephew
– SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!
– The idea that one day I’ll get to visit Jo in Australia
– Owning a home all on my own, right in the heart of the city, that I can renovate/decorate ANY WAY I WANT.

Kims kitchen renovation from start to finish can be found here. And her house tour on AT here.

Mochatini to Kim and Jo: Desire to Inspire is one of the most successful design blogs today, could you share some tips with new and upcoming bloggers?
Jo: Blog often and blog well. We do two to 3 posts a day. We also post on weekends and most public holidays. I guess we both went into blog withdrawal when our favourite blogs had a day off so we decided to do it everyday. It helps that there are two of us because we cover many time zones and can keep up the pace because we share the load.

Name your sources. We “borrow” images all over the web but we always link to the designer, photographer, stylist etc. We are not only sharing pretty pictures but acknowledging the wonderful work of the creative people behind the rooms.
Have fun. It’s only a blog. It doesn’t have to be big or flashy. Just a reflection of who you are and what you love. Don’t let it interfere with your real life. Walk away from the computer if it is taking over your life. I blog first thing in the morning. Kim late at night. But we don’t blog all the time (although sometimes with all the research it feels like it).

Thank you so much Kim and Jo for sharing and letting us DTI fans get to know you better.