COTE DE TEXAS: Thank You!!

Thank You!!

 

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Well, this was a huge shock!  Cote de Texas was ranked 4th on this list of Top 100 Most Influential Interior Design Web Sites of 2015.  The award was sponsored by Tiffany Lamps Shop and the rankings were based on a complicated system of internet and social media presence that includes SEO Flow, Alexa Ranking, Twitter, Google, and Facebook profiles, MOZDA, SEM Rush Traffic, Majestic Root Domains and a few others that I’m not really sure WHAT they are!!!

Receiving this gives me a chance to reflect back to the beginning - I started this little endeavor in 2007 and through these years I have changed, grown, matured, and most of all, have had a TON of fun!  Your comments have always made me think, smile, laugh out loud, and also, shed a few tears along the way.  There were many times when the Comment Section was more popular than the blog itself and that is really special.

As the years rolled by, I decided that I wanted Cote de Texas to be a bit different than other design blogs.  I wanted to write detailed stories that if someone went to google “Grey Gardens,” for example, they would have all the information they needed to know in one story, in one place.   I wanted the stories to be meaty, interesting, but also entertaining.  I hope I’ve succeeded in my goal.

In the end, though, a blog is nothing without readers and I’ve been so lucky to have loyal readers.   There are times that I write a story and think – “no one is going to read this, much less like this” – and then I’ll get a positive comment or email which is always such a great surprise. 

It’s humbling to put yourself out there and I want to thank each and every one of you who have helped make Cote de Texas what it is today – a place where lovers of design and history can get together and share their thoughts over that proverbial cup of coffee.

So thank you Tiffany Lamps Shop for thinking of me and giving me this time to stop and smell the roses!!

To read “Top 100 Most Influential Blog Sites of 2015”  – go HERE.

 

 

48 comments :

  1. Congrats!!!...well deserved!
    Rhoda

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  2. Not one bit surprised! Well deserved, Joni. I hope you keep writing.....

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  3. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CONGRATS XO

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  4. Hi Joni, I am one of those that use your blog as a research/photo archive when I want to look for photos and information about a particular designer or look. I have a folder on my laptop called "Texas Looks" all of which are your favorites and mine too. You have seriously raised the bar for all bloggers in that you allow the comments to just keep on coming....sometimes with out knowing when the snark and goofy, odd comments will end, but it all works at Cote de Texas. The comment section is often more fun than any other blog out there for sure!
    Congratulations on this well deserved accolade; not surprising at all that you are on this list. I hope you have more fun and interesting things up your design sleeve to share.
    Thank you for your thoughtful and incredibly well researched posts and for giving readers a chance to voice their opinion without a filter. A gem indeed!
    I will now google Grey Gardens and enjoy your writing and photos once again. my sincere thanks Joni! kelley

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  5. Congratulations! BTW, I found you in 2011 during my breast cancer saga (you can write legislation on those goofy drugs...lol). I was searching Seagrass vs Sisal. You are my favorite blog. I'm cured, but now have a dependency ...on your blog! LOL.

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    1. That should have read CANT write legislation....on goofy drugs.

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    2. Wow! All the best to you! Glad you are well now.

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    3. Wow! All the best to you! Glad you are well now.

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  6. Congratulations. I love the detailed posts you create. Always exciting when a new one appears :)

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  7. Congratulations! I'm not a bit surprised. I've been recommend your blog like only a fanatic could. :-) I've been into interior design for years,since collage really, when I'd read AD in the library after doing my studying. When it came time to decorate my own home I still never felt comfortable, every purchase felt like a potential mistake. Basically, I knew what rooms as a whole that I liked but never was able to pinpoint the details that defined the look. Despite reading every design mag for 20 years I never really progressed into a comfortable place when trying to decorate. I'm telling you the honest truth here....after finding your blog and reading every single post you've ever made, I started being able to pinpoint the details and dissect what I was looking at. For the first time in my life I could make big design choices without worrying. I still hate dealing with paint but I really feel nearly fearless otherwise. When I buy something I know EXACTLY why I'm doing it, if that makes sense. I also feel like I know where to spend the money, as in what details are required for the proper impact. Sounds silly I'm sure but your detailed posts were like going to design school, sent my eye in directions and to details I never picked up on before. I've thought of telling you that you rock but figured you already had to know it! Thank you so much Joni for writing the best design blog in the universe.

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  8. Congrats. Hoping you have many more years of indepth stories ahead.
    Hoping too that you can let us know about the Antique Drapery Rod contest winner from April - and whether you still plan to have monthly draws as that first post says?

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  9. Congratulations Joni, you truly are the best! I can't start my day without you and my cup of coffee :)
    I don't know anyone else who does such research, or in-depth writing on a topic. You are one of a kind and so appreciated. Thank you for all of your hard work, and keep those stories, pics coming!

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  10. Congrats Joni!! Much deserved and of coarse I always enjoy reading your features!!

    xoxo
    Karena
    The Arts by Karena
    Jackson Pollock

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  11. Congratluations on your well deserved award! Yours is the first blog I have ever followed and is the first on my list of favorites.I look at your blog every morning.I just love your style and have adopted many of your decorating ideas.
    Debbie

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  12. Congratulations! You deserved it. From Lisbon, my best regards.

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  13. Congratulations! Well deserved for your excellent work.

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  14. Congratulations! You were the very first blogger I followed and I continue to enjoy your posts! Always learn something new and get so much inspiration!

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  15. You more than deserve this award! Congratulations!

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  16. In my opinion you should have been "First".
    Ann

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  17. Joni, I've only commented once before. I'm no design expert. I don't repaint and decorate every year. I'm just the everyday woman who appreciates a great read and if I learn something in the process that I can put into action when I do repaint or decorate or buy furniture or curtains or remodel, it's deserving of accolades. Your blog is the ONE that made me download a Reader and use it. I didn't want to miss a single post. So Congrats, congrats and more congrats!

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  18. Congratulations Joni! Yours is my favorite blog, fun and informative. I love your well researched, lengthy posts, with the best pictures out there! Thank you for all your hard work.

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  19. Cote de Texas is my favorite blog! Congratulations Joni!

    I had no idea what a blog was, but worked in the "Conservatory House" during the 2009 West University Home Tour. A friend sent me your blog post about the house and it was as if I hit the jackpot! I spent hours reading through your blog and am now addicted!

    Thanks for continuing to write such wonderful stories all these years, my favorite are the posts with a Houston connection.

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  20. If you have a new post, I always read you first on my Feedly. I am also a Houston/The Woodlands girl so I feel like I know you even though we have never met. Would love to run into you sometime around here. Congratulations for a reward for all the hard work you put in for all of us. Very deserving!

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  21. Even ahead of Sarah Richardson!! KUDOS!! franki

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  22. Joni, you rock! You are my #1 favorite Design blog! I so enjoy all of your very detailed and well researched posts. Keep up the fantastic work.
    Sarah K in CA

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  23. Joni: Great to see you acknowledged on a bigger stage on what your readers already know. You are the best blogger, period! Here's to many more wonderful posts and fun, provocative paragraphs of comments. Debbie

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  24. Texas girl does good...no make that great! And put that where the sun don't shine you disgusting ANONS, who no doubt, will appear on this happy moment to try to ruin your day. We may need to form a posse for that. Note to Mr. Slipper Sox: This occasion deserves flowers!

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  25. Don't know how I found Cote de Texas but I am very happy I did - especially since my daughter lives in Houston! You turned me on to other blogs some of which I follow. You are still my very favorite. Congrats!!!

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  26. I do so look forward to your very well done posts. It must take you days to do some of them.
    A Big Thank you! You go girl!!!

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  27. Hello and congratulations from the FL Keys! You deserve every accolade for such well researched and in-depth blog posts. Yours is my favorite design blog. And I'm the author of 4 books and a now-retired national columnist -- so I KNOW how much work goes into what you write. Please keep up the lovely pics and commentary on beautiful homes. BTW -- I found you when looking for info on Barbados and Mustique home designer Oliver Messel, as our new home is in his style, and have followed you since.

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  28. Congratulations! You have totally earned the award.
    After many years of reading your blog, I still check in daily.
    Your family should be pleased.

    Dee

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  29. Joni,
    As far as I'm concerned you are #1! Having been a professional designer for more than 20 years I have the greatest admiration for your own interior design. Your posts are so well researched and interesting! I appreciate all of your hard work. Thanks so much.

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  30. well deserved joni, i love your direction and am grateful to know about you
    congrats!
    debra

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  31. My favorite blog by a MILE!!! Congratulations on your well deserved honor and a huge THANK YOU! For all your exhaustive work and research! Vanna

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  32. Joni,
    I was in the house of a designer friend recently, and said to another guest at the party, "this house is so Cote de Texas" and she knew what I meant and we both laughed...
    Congrats on having all of your hard work and fun pay off !
    Dean (Dean Farris Style)

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  33. Joni,
    So well deserved - your blog is one of my favorite things. Congratulations!
    best,
    linda

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  34. Congratulations! This is a well-deserved honor. I love to see your updates, so full of content - I am taking Interior Design classes and have learned more from you than any of my profs! Thank you for your blog.

    Julie

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  35. Congratulations to you, Joni! You're the best. So glad I found you some time ago and so appreciative of the hard work you put into your blog. I've learned so much from you! You're so deserving of this and more!
    Thank you!
    Cynthia

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  36. Well deserved! Congratulations Joni! You have built a outstanding blog, your choice of topics and in- depth research, the large photos & floor plans, and the back stories & history - oh my, I was hooked after Grey Gardens! You've kindly shared photos of your own beautiful home and thanks to you, I can identify that Houston look a mile a way - and I'm in Illinois - I love that look, one of the best in the country and I've adapted many ideas to my own home. I always learn something when I come to Cote de Texas. The care & thoughtfulness you put into your blog really truly shows.

    And yes, the comments..wow. Funny, shocking, weird, angry, informative, friendly, cruel...we've seen it all here. I myself in a bout of hormonal craziness once left a stupid comment ( several years ago) which I immediately regretted and you graciously accepted my apology.. thanks for that. You've shown much patience, you continue to let people say their piece and I think it definitely has contributed to your blogs success.

    I have never felt duped here, you have always been just right out there, no smoke and mirrors that we see so much on other blogs. No agendas, just the true real interest in design and decor. You play it down, but you are very astute, informed, and you know what you're writing about backward and forward. I've thought many times, Joni should write a book and I've mentioned this a few time in the comments. Places, design, history..this is your specialty and there is nothing out there like it...I think it would be great!

    So Congratulations and Thank You, Joni!

    OK, I'm playing catch up and I have to go read the blog you wrote on Balmoral, I know its going to be good!

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  37. Congrats, Joni. Your blog is a Design class, art history class, and a model of good manners and gentility. Thanks for something pretty to turn to when I need it.

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  38. Congrats! Wow! You are one woman-show and ranking #4 is a real achievement!
    Good to know that meaty stories once in a while count more than many little posts a week.
    Cheers Joni!

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  39. Joni, Your blog posts are always so enjoyable. They are special. Thank you for all of your effort. Please know that you your efforts are very noticed and appreciated.

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  40. I'm not much of a commentor but I'd be remiss if I didn't second, third and fourth all these people. You enrich lives, you educate and you entertain. THANK YOU for what you do - it reaches and touches so many!

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  41. I'm catching up on your posts and just saw this -- congrats, Joni! Definitely well deserved. :)

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