Reading magazines and watching all the design shows can be fun and informative, however, it's all too easy to over do it. Sometimes it can be the smallest thing that truly sparks your imagination and keeps your design fresh, simple and totally you.
We are told so often what to think and what to buy that we forget to stretch our creative muscles. Here's a challenge that will help to hone in on your own sense of style:
This game can be played in a variety of ways depending on your location. Maybe you have a plethora of specialty design stores or independent craft stores to pull ideas from and maybe you don't. Whatever the case may be, use what you have to help influence you.
To show how this can be done in the smallest of towns, all the shopping has been done at an abundant big box store.
To start, find something small and seemingly inconsequential that catches your eye. For instance, a pack of AA Batteries.
Looking at the batteries and their packaging objectively, decipher some of the things it has to offer. Colors, shapes, textures, line weight and text style are all possibilities to repeat in your finished space.
Now take those elements and begin the hunt (Safari hat optional).
A black rug brings texture to the room and gives the other colors a blank slate to stand out against. The same goes for the sheets and bed spread with it's simple patterned stitching.
Keep pops of color bold and in check with pillows that have details reflecting your inspiration item.
Accessories such as flowers, sticks or a small bowl to catch your change and cell phone at night round out the findings.
Having something like a pack of batteries to jump start things can bring a whole room together in no time. Add in some lamps and furniture and your work is done. All from something that wouldn't have normally been on your design radar!
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
i don't get it...
view amandadom's profile
me neither.
view twenty twenty-one's profile
What don't you get about it?
I think it's a fun exercise in creativity. I like the idea of being "inspired" by things that aren't so obvious.
I think it's great.
view r.b.z.'s profile
I agree with rbz...it's a fun exercise in creativity. Doing that sort of thing can get you out of a rut and think outside the box again.
view RedMaiko's profile
Great post!
view HeatherAB's profile
Great first post!!! Sometimes design can become so cluttered when you look at the whole picture. I like that things can be simplified by looking at the small picture before attempting the large. :)
view Shutterbug678's profile
I agree...It's a great exercise. Recently I was inspired by a recipe feature in Metropolitan Home. I fell in love with the neutral colors and the textures in the photographic spread that featured sugar donuts and caramel, chocolate and cream topped deserts on black ceramic and hammered metal tableware on natural linen and beaded black placemats. Inspired by the Domino magazine column "Can this outfit be turned into a room?" I've been attempting to translate the recipe feature into an interior for my new home.
view Shasta's profile
It's genius. Seriously. No, really, I'm not kidding. And I think that you should do a whole series of these posts, because the possibilities are endless.
For those who aren't getting it, once you've done several, it will begin to seep in, slowly.
view Curtis's profile
I do that in reverse too. Take something that is already there, and provide a link to something that has a palette and can suggest a mood.
An example is one lady who had a very rich colored kitchen. I don't remember how she ended up with that color. I think it was there when she moved in?
Anyway, I gave her a link to this:
http://www.artselect.com/Claude-Monet-Footpath-in-the-Garden/Art/artID~3D18908~26t~3Db-c7422~26openct13274~3D7422.html
Her kitchen/dining area was either the reddish color over the path, or the purple color along the path.
Use art to create the mood. Eyes will wander around the room, we search (often subconsciously) for things to make sense. Visually. So that having a nicely framed Monet incorporating the colors of the room will provide an association for people to pick up on.
They aren't purple walls. They're part of a garden. Add in greenery in the form of hanging or potted plants. Cut flowers. And she then has a Monet garden kitchen and dining area.
Another person had yellow cabinets in their kitchen. Couldn't redo them. I went over to IKEA and found a yellow/gray combination in art, and suggested gray for the walls. This was maybe 4-5 years ago, way ahead of the crowd. Plus I created an X-base table for her living area.
She was thrilled with the results of my mock-up for her room. She was able to change the association of yellow from whatever it was she didn't like, into something she loved, via art and paint.
view TRUE BLUE's profile
Wonderful post! It's amazing how something as simple as a pack of batteries can inspire a whole room :)
view pinkninky's profile
I think Curtis' idea of a series of these is fabulous. I'd love to see more, because this is really clever.
view theseboots's profile
These are classic Kate Spade colors. I adore green and pink.
view surferartchick's profile
i think it's a great idea as well.
view STYLeyes's profile