But, since I'm not rich (yet), I spend my time browsing fun and funky interior design blogs to find ideas and small, afforable ways to improve the lovely unit my husband and I share. These are some of my favourites:
They feature really interesting things, from house tours of regular people with exceptional (and sometimes weird and wacky) taste, before and after shots of refinished furniture, trend DIY entries and basic styling tips. They'll feature anything from shabby chic to sleek minimalist, so you're sure to find something that piques your interest.
A comfy Boston dining room
A contemporary white NYC kitchen
Chest of drawers before and after shots - cute, no?
An NYC study - I love the burst of colour among the white and black
A San Francisco bedroom - a little crowded for my taste, but still quite stylish
Similar in feel to Apartment Therapy, Design*Sponge goes that little bit further by adding fashion style tips and mood boards, city guides, recipes and videos. I prefer Design*Sponge's web layout over Apartment Therapy, mostly because it feels less busy and the neutral background is easier on the eyes, but each site is as good as the other when it comes to content!
Floor Stencilling - I'm so into this idea. Too bad we have a fully carpeted house!
DIY postage stamp coasters - love the colours
Floral mini-trend. Mini-Trends are a great regular feature on Design Sponge providing tips on small ways to incorporate a theme into your home with subtlety and flair
Run by Jessica, a graphic and textile designer, How About Orange is more of a DIY / Craft blog, but there are some really, really fun ideas to add colour and patterns into your space. She offers a lot of free downloads, tutorials and a heap of useful resources for readers to use at their leisure.
These retro fabrics are designed by Jessica herself. I adore the bright colours!
One of the free downloads available - some super cute printable labels
Even though St. Patrick's Day has passed, you can use these DIY bottle labels for your celebrations next year
The Design Files has a great mix of everything you need to design your life: fashion, interior design, a peek inside Australian homes, and two categories devoted just to Melbourne and Sydney. They also feature entries on event styling, which I love. I'm not an event planner (although I'd love to do it if I weren't afraid I would punch a bride-to-be or mother-of-the-bride in the face one day), but there are lots of little ideas you can use for your own dinner parties or backyard barbecues that don't require too much effort or money.
How gorgeous is this retro kitchen? I suspect having a stove that tiny would drive me insane, but the colours are so cute
Some funky jewelry from Elke Kramer
Some event styling pics - I am totally stealing the hanging glass bottle idea. So pretty, and probably relatively easy and cheap to create
Two sites also worth mentioning are PapernStitch Blog and Down and Out Chic, which feature a good mix of a lot of the stuff mentioned above, but on a smaller scale. They're daily stops for me and definitely worth checking out.
We're planning to do some wallpapering soon and I can't wait to show you all the finished product. What DIY projects do you want to get started on? Or, tell me what your dream house absolutely HAS to have!
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9 comments:
Great post I'm trying to get more into interior decorating now that I'm in the process of buying a house :D Thanks for sharing :D
Oh wow, you have a fully carpeted home too. It seems so rare these days. I personally love it, even though most people prefer floorboards. I love the befores/afters on Design Sponge the most.
I have all of the above bookmarked! hahaha I do agree, they are quite addictive :)
Apartment therapy is by far my fave :) Great source of inspiration as Mr A and I still live in an apartment.
We can continue to dream…le sigh...
Jade - It's such a rabbit hole. Once you discover one site, then follow their links and find another great site and so on. Good luck with you new house!
Kiki - Yeah, fully carpeted except for the laundry, bathrooms and kitchen. Although we seriously considering floorboards at some point because our carpet is so light the tiniest mark is instantly obvious! I do love Design Sponge too - especially the before and afters of the furniture.
Genvieve - That's the thing I love about Apartment Therapy. They offer tips for homes that are large and small, so there's something there for everyone!
Man, site like this fill me with awe and at the same time make me feel so iadequate! I have no idea how to make my home pretty...
Hannah, I know, it can be daunting to just have a blank canvas - the possibilities are endless!
Ooh, I like the look of the Apartment Therapy site! Such beautiful & well designed homes!
April, it's like a rabbit hole. Once you start exploring their site you get sucked in for hours!
Thanks for reading!
Very nice! I really enjoyed your blog through out all the time I have spent on it! thanks for sharing such an informative and nice blog.
Interior Stylist Melbourne
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