Inspiration is everywhere, but it's not always the accessible variety. We love looking at unbelievably gorgeous homes as much as the next person. It's part of our job, and we're happy to do it, but we're really thrilled when we stumble across an idea that's simple, affordable, and totally do-able. For a few real-life sources of inspiration, click below...
Your Own Home: Instead of focusing on what you don't have, examine what you already own. Get inspired by rearranging your furniture, cleaning your home, or just rethinking your space.
Other People's Homes: Seeing what others do with limited resources can lead to great ideas. For starters, look to the homes you admire that belong to friends and family, and check out Apartment Therapy's house tours for a peek inside homes around the world.
Beyond the Shelter World: For unexpected ideas, it often helps to step outside the world of shelter magazines and blogs. Think about the things that have meant something to you: movies, books, travel. Surround yourself with things that you genuinely love, and your place will feel like home.
These are just our initial thoughts. To round out the list, add your sources for real-life inspiration in the comments below.
Photo: Dana's Sunny Logan Square Apartment
1. Decide to redo a room, go shopping in the rest of your house for furniture, knickknacks, etc. to give it a new look.
2. Rethink furniture placement and the pieces you use in a room.
3. Clean out a closet. It's amazing what beautiful things you may find.
4. I redecorated a guest room/office from a picture of a plate that I tore out of a magazine. Not only did I love the design on the plate, I loved the colors. And now I love the room, and my interpretation of the plate.
view magicsbm's profile
i sometimes tune into natural objects---tree bark, stones, an evening sky. it's amazing how much color and subtlety are in these, but i don't often notice and quantify.
i also like just choosing a color. turquoise is the one at the moment, and start to assemble items around that that i already have, then other things that look good with it, then if i decide to decorate around it (we moved last year and our house has only one room "finished"), i might paint, buy furniture, etc. to carry on the theme.
view darlingcaro's profile
Ask a kid. Kids see things differently than we do, and aren't constrained by convention. And they can be very confident in their choices and opinions. Ask a 7 year old!
view redcloverstar's profile