Best in Blogs: Five Hot Design Spots Online
Inspiration. You can find it just about anywhere…a beautiful sunset, your favorite blouse, the internet. Yes, the internet. When I first started planning my décor years ago, I perused decorating magazines, watched countless shows on HGTV, and even pilfered ideas from my friends’ homes—yet today a whole new home decorating world can be discovered with the click of a mouse! I welcome these days when I literally can spend hours poring over websites and design blogs, searching for inspiration.
The word “blog” is the shortened vernacular for “web log”—or online journal—that anyone with a computer and an internet connection can create. The best home design blogs feature great writing and pretty photographs, and can be just the thing to get your mind’s wheels turning about color schemes, do-it-yourself projects, furniture arrangement, “before and after” ideas, and the newest trends. Interior designers often produce blogs on their websites to showcase their projects and give insight into their process. Some home décor companies include blogs on their websites to supplement their retail offerings, while other blogs are simply the collaborative efforts of a group of writers covering a range of areas of expertise. And not all blogs come from professionals; personal blogs from homeowners and apartment dwellers (people like you and me!) can also be inspiring and informational.
When looking for a blog to follow, find one that suits your own tastes and preferences. If you prefer a warm and inviting vintage-inspired space, blogs that feature modern design may not appeal to you. It may take a bit of trial and error to find a few that you like, but finding one that is updated often (posting three to four days a week, for example) shows that the blogger is passionate about constantly bringing new ideas to his or her readers. Also, bloggers often provide links to other blogs where they find inspiration—so when you find one you love, chances are it will point you to similarly great sites. You can usually subscribe via email or an RSS feed so that you don’t have to go to sites daily to look for new postings. Even following an online journal via Twitter or “liking” them on Facebook will keep you updated, and possibly give you a few tidbits from the writer that he or she doesn’t post on the blog.
So fire up your computer, get comfortable, and give these blogs a look.
decor8
If you are looking for color inspiration and interviews with interior designers, and love perusing art and fashion too, then decor8 is just the place for you. Offering decorating ideas from around the world and peppered with organizational ideas, this web log is written by Holly Becker, who knows her stuff: she’s an author, interior design consultant and columnist with Real Simple. Her credentials alone are enough to convince me to be a faithful follower.
Design*Sponge
Lauded by many (including yours truly) as “the queen of idea blogs,” Design*Sponge content runs the gamut, from decorating, entertaining, recipes, “before and afters,” and DIY projects. In their Anthropologie-meets-Martha-Stewart world, Design*Sponge blogs frequently, which keeps readers interested and coming back for more. Who knows? It may inspire you to grab a tack hammer to reupholster your own sofa, or try a new color on your dreary walls.
Green Your Décor
If you are concerned about the environment and using sustainable items in your home, you must give this blog a look. Self-proclaimed as the “one-stop guide for all things ‘green’ for your home,” the goal of the site is to “demonstrate that style and quality can also be sustainable, and we all can reduce our carbon footprints simply by being aware of the choices we make every day.”
Jennae Peterson, the main blogger at Green Your Décor, offers an online tour of her own home, along with feel-good decorating ideas, including her “Green Room in a Box” series that offers an entire room’s worth of decorating ideas with a cohesive scheme.
Ohdeedoh
Children’s rooms are some of the most fun to design because they are the perfect places to play with color and theme (where else could you include trains, ballet or woodlands in such a whimsical way?). For inspiration head to Ohdeedoh, which offers design ideas for nurseries and bedrooms along with cute outdoor projects like an adorable playhouse for the little girl in your life. Also offering smaller-scale projects, such as children’s party ideas or creating an outdoor reading nook, Ohdeedoh really has a knack for adding that fanciful touch for the little ones who grace your home.
This blog is part of a larger family of blogs which focus on other areas, such as overall home décor, green living and all things kitchen (design, products and recipes). These other sites are tabbed along the top of Ohdeedoh, so grab some coffee and be ready for a good long visit when you enter this site.
Young House Love
Close by in Richmond lives a young couple who is in the process of updating their home. Sherry and John Petersik call themselves “two DIY dorks,” and through the blogging world you will fall in love with them as they make their blog both personal and practical. They share highlights from their own home redo, as well as scour the web for other great finds and “before and after” projects. They are so good at what they do that they went from casually documenting their experiences to being full-time bloggers.
Still curious about design blogs? A quick Google search for “top interior design blogs” will offer lists that include brief synopses. Once you find one (or more!) that you find helpful, check back often for those design ideas. Who knows? In addition to discovering great ideas, you may be inspired to start a blog of your own and share your projects with the world.
