Guest Blog Interview: John Newlin of Livingly Media (& Lonny Magazine)

Back in December I had the luck to snag Michelle Adams (founder and editor-in-chief) of Lonny Magazine for a little guest interview. Well consider today part 2 because I’m so very honored to sit down with John Newlin who oversees the Lonny team and much more as Livingly Media’s editor-in-chief (Livingly is the online publisher and larger media house behind names such as Lonny, StyleBistro.com and Zimbio.com). That is a lot of fashion, beauty, celebrity, home, lifestyle, and entertainment to manage!

Today’s focus is more overtly directed towards John’s passion for design and beautifully sensible functionality. He’s chosen a few key images (like this one, below) that highlight his personal taste and has taken a stab at answering PDB’s four usual Friday Guest Blog Interview questions.

John lives in Northern California and is daddy to two. He began his career in print and digital media with the launch of a pop culture music and fashion print monthly at the early age of 22 and has penned articles for publications such as Stuff, Men’s Journal and Details. You might recognize him as a regular from ABC’s Good Morning America and Evening Magazine on CBS. (My favorite is that, for the purposes of a magazine article, he successfully infiltrated and appeared on Showtime as a “UFO expert”). You know he would make the best dinner party guest with all of those stories!

Check out the March 2013 edition of Lonny:

Now John oversees all things editorial for Livingly’s online properties and just for today, he’s sharing a look at his insight on the progression of home design and how the shift to blogging, online publications and the Internet at large has changed our perspective on how we design our homes. 

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{PDB Interview with John Newlin of Lonny}

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What inspires your design style?

A genuine sense of accessibility. I’m as guilty as the next person of devouring beautifully artistic design photography, but I’m inspired and drawn to creatively designed spaces that reflect aspects of the inhabitants’ unique personality while at the same time are utterly livable, functional, sensible. (See example above.)

What do you love most about what you do?

Not to sound all old and preachy, but we no longer conform to the design of our homes and let it define who we are. In fact, I think it’s just the opposite now; we’ve never been more free and had more tools and more sources of inspiration at our disposal to create rooms that define us and work for us. You can’t deny the Internet’s role in this. Bloggers turned this trend into a movement and I love that I get to play a little part in that.

What are your favorite design trends?

I’ll just rattle some specific ones off that I’m in to right now: I love faux animal heads, unexpected uses of animal print, a beautifully incorporated vintage piece, and the flea market finds like a stoic-looking bust, or a vintage portrait that has probably hung on a dozen or more walls over the past 50 years. Also: Abnormal Anonymous is doing some fun things with wallpaper. Lots of sea creatures, safari animals, insects… So I guess you could say I’m into the animal thing right now. Ha!

What are three design suggestions that you would like to offer our readers?

{1.} Show no fear. Don’t be afraid to try something completely different. Just because it’s not in the rule book doesn’t mean it’s against the rules. You’ll know pretty fast if your experiment works. Interior designer Nick Olsen has a pretty cool thing going.

{2.} Evolve. While you may just be that one person who created the perfect room, I think the rest of us should be making adjustments to our spaces as frequently as our lives’ dictate. It seems natural that our dwellings grow with our character.

{3.} Don’t limit yourself to one particular style. Develop your own aesthetic and buy pieces that speak to you, whether they’re modern, vintage or not fashionable at the moment.

Thank you, John!

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If you loved this interview, check out more great spotlights {and tips & tricks!} from fantastic bloggers, designers and authors.