Meet the Moggit Girls
Tell us a little bit about the Moggit Girls.
For more than fifteen years, design and decor experts Joy and Janet have been designing and decorating the homes of the design-challenged. With their training in design, witty personalities, and keen eye for style, this pair brings a burst of fun to the decorating world!
In early 2009, what began as a hobby was quickly transformed into a new adventure with the launch of the duo’s instant-hit design blog, moggit.com. Billed as ‘the guilty pleasure of the design world’, the blog’s refreshingly edgy take on decor and design immediately struck a nerve, allowing Joy & Janet to quickly carve a unique and entertaining niche within the vast design-blog community.
Just a few months after Moggit‘s launch, Joy & Janet’s sassy, irreverent style captured the attention of the folks at HGTV.com, resulting in the production of their first series of “Decorating Do’s & Don’t's” webisodes, produced by Toronto-based production company RTR Media.
Joy & Janet have been featured in several media outlets, including HGTV.com, where they have most recently been tapped to be Guest Judges via HGTV’s new cross-promotional ‘Twitter Party’ platform, along with Heather Armstrong of Dooce, for Season 5 of HGTV’s hit show Design Star. They have also been featured on Canadian shelter magazine ‘Style At Home‘ website, on Canadian television’s ‘A’ Morning, as well as on several other high-profile design blogs, and in newspapers including The Toronto Star.
Tell us about your business.
Well, we’ve been friends since kindergarten, and had always really wanted to do something together. Our kids were all finally in school full-time, and since we’d both always loved design, we got the idea that we’d start an online ‘magazine-slash-blog’ (which we so imaginatively named ‘mogg’ but ended up having to add ‘it’ at the end ‘cuz ‘Mog.com’ was already taken and that’s a long story you didn’t really need to know, but whatever.) So we launched our new, lovely baby in December of ’08 and published pages upon pages of design stuff. We showcased & talked design about we loved, we put up gorgeous photos, and even had interviews with other great women-in-design bloggers.
And guess what happened?
The only page that was really getting any decent amount of attention at all– and we mean at all– was this one little page one where we made fun of stuff– the, as we called it, ‘mogging page’. It was basically the only one besides the home page with any hits on it. So we thought ‘Why are we knocking ourselves out with all this other stuff?’ and decided to ‘streamline’ (and by that we mean we just totally gutted) the site. We re-launched a little while later in a blog format with only one main focus– poking fun at design. Nobody else was doing it, and from the immediate and copious amount of positive feedback we got, we realized we’d found ourselves a nice little online niche…
What inspired you to pursue this business?
Well, if we’re being honest… (our favorite Simon Cowell quote) it’s truly our love for design that caused us to get really involved in this business! We’d originally included that one ‘mogging page’ in our original site concept because we kind of thought the design world was beginning to take itself a bit too seriously… or if they weren’t, they certainly weren’t giving the impression that design is, can and should be fun! Everywhere we looked– magazines, television and even online, the way people were talking about and presenting design and decor ideas struck us as getting a bit, well, dull. Not that there wasn’t great design out there– because of course there was (and is!)– but it was just all so… serious (are we overusing that word?) We guess we just wanted to lighten things up a bit.
Could you share with us the worst/ugliest/most hideous designs you ladies have shined the Moggit light on?
“Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures”
“We Think it’s Safe to Surmise…”
“Listen…”
Have the Moggit Girls received reaction from the artist/designers of décor or furniture that has been featured on Moggit Girls? If so, what’s the general reaction? Are they good sports or tantrum throwing divas?
No, truthfully we haven’t. We’ve actually gotten very few ‘haters’ commenting on anything we’ve posted. But really, when we think about it, we feel it’s due in large part to how savvy our audience is– they realize that we’re really not out to be mean or nasty or hurtful. We’re always very tongue-in-cheek about what we post; and in every interview, when this sort of question comes up, we always make sure to say that we actually like some of the things we’ve posted about. (And no– we won’t tell you which ones they are!) What happens is that we just find a design piece or a photo that just has that ‘thing’– that thing that strikes us as funny in some way, or that has some element of the ridiculous about it, and we post about it. It’s really pretty simple and is always just meant to be a bit of fun. We’ve read a few blogs out there that can really go for the ‘design-jugular’, but we never want to be considered one of those.
Tell us about a favorite home decorating or remodeling project.
Joy: My favorite has got to be the large armoire we had custom made for our front entryway. One side functions as a closet and the other side is a wall unit.
Janet: One of my favorites is our kitchen. We were putting a two-storey addition on our house at the time, adding a new master bedroom and ensuite bath upstairs and new living/family area downstairs. We originally had no plans to do the kitchen at the time, but thought ‘While we’re at it, we might as well…’ and ended up gutting it completely and starting from scratch. It was done on a very stretched budget and doesn’t necessarily have all the bells and whistles, but it’s functional, and six years later, I still love it.
What’s your favorite color?
The one we keep coming back to over and over is our perennial fave: Cloud White from Benjamin Moore (
). That said, we do love a couple of new paint lines that have just been launched. One is from Canadian shelter magazine ‘Style At Home’ for Beauti-Tone. It’s got some really lovely, fresh colors. The other new line that has caught our eye is for Para Paints, and it’s by HGTV designer Sarah Richardson… there are 75 hues to choose from, and they’re all gorgeous!
What are your five favorite pieces of home décor from your home or elsewhere?
Janet: I’m a huge fan of antiques and really unique pieces, so one of my favorite things in my home is my dining room set– it’s over 100 years old, the pedestal table is 60″ round, but goes to ten feet(!) with all the leaves. It also has a huge matching sideboard and a smaller sideboard, along with twelve chairs. I waited four years to get it from the dealer!
Joy: I love my over-size wooden coffee table where I can stack my fave books, magazines, display trinkets and always a vase of fresh flowers. I love unique antique pieces that really tell a story. I love old signage for a touch of whimsy….
What’s your favorite room at home? Why is it your favorite?
Janet: : My kitchen– or as I like to call it ‘Command Central’– because I spend most of my time in there!
Joy: My kitchen – it actually doubles as a family room. It’s open concept and that’s where everyone ends up hanging out!
Who are your favorite designers?
For a contemporary interior designer it’s always toss up– we can’t pick just one! There are so many, but a few from the short list are Nate Berkus– we love what he can do with a space; and we admire Candice Olsen’s designs– she’s just so gutsy! But we’re also huge fans of Sarah Richardson’s work… and we like Kelly Wearstler for a that unexpected touch. (A room always needs one!)
What’s your personal design style? Has it evolved over time?
I think we can safely say that yes, our personal design styles have evolved over time– and thank GAWD! Remember when ‘totally country’ was ‘totally cool’? Been there. Remember when peach and sea foam were all the rage? Been there. And the ‘hunter green’ phase everybody went through? Yeah. Had it on our walls.
Today, we’re similar yet different in our tastes… Janet tends to be attracted to lighter palettes and designs with a modern-yet-traditional vibe where functionality and comfort are the first considerations. For her, a room has to be livable first and gorgeous second. Joy also goes for a modern/traditional vibe, but likes to throw in a zebra rug or other eclectic element to really add some zing to a space. So in the end we both balance each other nicely when it comes to designing a room!
Many of us have a product we bought for our home-that now makes us think-”what was I thinking” - do you have one?
Janet: Please. Too many to count. And it’s always that thing I couldn’t leave at the flea market that I got for dirt cheap…
Joy: An antique corner cabinet that is HUGE. We bought it because we loved it, but it really is too big!
Describe your dream room.
Janet: Mine is modern-traditional, it’s light, bright, has lots of windows, gorgeous trim everywhere and is chock full of gorgeous, pale-hued soft textiles and furniture pieces with a few deep, rich wood accents thrown in. And most importantly, it’s comfy!
Joy: My dream room is a bedroom designed in a modern/contemporary style. Dark hardwood floors, light walls, tall ceilings. It would be luxe yet serene and the bed would feature the finest linens. The ‘piece de resistance’ would be a walk-in closet to die for.
What are your favorite blogs or home design/improvement websites?
Joy & Janet: That’s like asking us who our favorite child is. We. Just. Cannot. Choose.
However, these websites do help us in our search every day for great things to post about:
What are your favorite books, design shows and/or magazines?
- Style At Home
- Canadian House and Home
- Elle Decor
- Domino Mag (Long gone but we still love browsing thorough back issues!)
Do you have a decorating, design or remodeling tip you’d like to share with The Decorating Diva.com readers?
Janet: Yeah– never apologize. 
Joy: Ditto.
Contact Details:
- Website: Moggit
- Twitter: @moggitgirls
- Facebook: : Moggit on Facebook
- HGTV.com : Moggit’s Series of fifteen ‘Do’s & Don’ts’ webisodes Including:
The Decorating Diva, LLC would like to thank Joy and Janet, the Moggit Girls, for sharing their light-hearted and humorous view of the design world with our readers.
