Holly Becker is a writer and interior design consultant who presides over one of the web's top design blogs, decor8.

Her love for design began early: When Becker was a child growing up in coastal South Carolina, her mother -- herself a talented decorator, landscape designer, seamstress, and painter -- never knew where her young daughter would move the sofa next. She often accompanied her mother to garden shops and flea markets and loved assisting her in decorating the family home which was constantly being tweaked for as long as Becker can remember. Her family instilled in her a love for creating things by hand, an entrepreneurial spirit, a reverence for nature, and a passion for renovating and decorating.

During a decade-long stint in the corporate world, where she worked in communications and facilities management, Becker oversaw office space redesigns, handled employee relocations, and helped plan large building projects. She also led volunteer efforts for various nonprofit organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity and Project Bread, heading up home-renovation teams, organizing park clean-ups, and pounding nails at home-construction sites.

Through this work and from the encouragement of her peers and family, Becker realized her twin passions: Interior design and design writing, and decided to branch out on her own to pursue them. Her independent design firm was launched in May 2005 and her design blog, decor8, followed in January 2006, growing from a few dozen readers in the early days to a daily worldwide audience that currently numbers more than 17,000.

In addition to her blog, design practice, and work with Real Simple, Becker has contributed to Domino magazine, The Boston Globe, HGTV.com, HGTV Ideas magazine, Boston magazine, Adorn, ApartmentTherapy.com, Filly.ca, as well as writing for companies in both the U.S. and Europe.

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