Grow Your Blog Party 2014

Before we move onto today's post, make sure you make yourself a cuppa and get comfortable .........Today, I'm joining the "Grow Your Blog Party " hosted by Vicki of 2 Bags Full. It's an opportunity to meet hundreds of bloggers from across the globe. So as I introduce my blog and myself, this is your chance to get to know us better.

Take a seat and get to know us - my blog and me 

But before I go on to tell you'll what drove me to start my blog, I'd like to explain how I zeroed in on the name - "The East Coast Desi"(TECD). Since I live in Virginia (USA), the East Coast  part of it is quite self explanatory. As for "Desi" it's a term used to describe a person of Indian descent who lives abroad. But more than that I've used the word to describe my love for all things Indian.

While growing up, my home back in India was infused with traditional ethnic Indian charm. This aspect has had a strong influence on my design style. With my move to the US, I longed to create a balanced decor style that would reflect my Indian roots and the global influences we had come to absorb through our experiences from living abroad.Trying to recreate that for ourselves (that's my husband, 6 year old son and me) was not an easy task. But the end result has been exactly what we wanted.

We started off with the bare bones of a house and I believe that with good design we've been able to breathe life into it. And adding the soul, is my family along with those few personal statement pieces. And by key personal statement pieces I mean : heirloom pieces, decor that talks about stories of where we're from and where we've been, all while screaming our personal style.

Every friend, family or acquaintance that has come through the doors of the TECD casa, has wanted to patiently absorb all the stories that the home has ever wanted to share ..........and as they wanted to know more about where I sourced my pieces from and requested that I help them design their spaces too, I realized people were looking for inspiration to decorate their space in a globally chic style and I could share what I knew.

Then one summer morning, a little vignette I created by gathering a few sprays of wild Chicory flowers, made me attain decorating Nirvana (if you may term it that way). There was something about the image that I had captured on my camera that wanted me to share it.....and so TECD was born. I was able to recognize that blogging was a great way to combine the two things I love doing : decorating + photography. 

This was the image that made me take that big leap into the blogging world.

And now there is no looking back.........I enjoy the sense of control that my blog gives me. I'm the stylist, photographer, writer, editor.....you name it. It propels me to live my creative best. It has been a link in connecting me with so many wonderful and talented people, be it the artists I feature or my blogger buddies. Not to mention the heart-beat of my blog - my READERS . This seems to be the platform to share common interests primarily relating to global decor. Its a place to inspire and be inspired........I've enjoyed the journey so far and if I'm able to motivate even a handful of people or virtually assist them in creating a place called home.......then all the sleepless hours spent in writing the posts or days when I skip my lunch to shoot pictures (cause the lighting was just right), is well worth the effort...................

Hope to see you'll around as I whip up more posts in the days to come and share the plethora of inspiration around us that is waiting to be explored.

                                                                                                     ~ Sruthi   
Images:Clicked by me. Please do not use without prior written permission.

Images are the property of Sruthi Singh and subject to copyright.