Home Decorating Ideas and Inspiration

There’s something about flowers. They have a certain magic I can’t quite explain — having them around just makes everything a little better. If this neverending winter has got you down, why not bring some flowers into your home for a little almost-spring pick-me-up? And while you’re at it, try one of these creative ideas for arranging flowers that even a novice can master.

A sofa is a big investment that usually hangs around for quite a while — but as home decor loving people we like to express ourselves, and often change our minds. Maybe a little too often. It’s not new advice, but it’s true that accessories can totally change a look — both in fashion and home decor. Pillows are to a sofa what a great pair of shoes are to your favorite little black dress. New pillows, new look!

Math, they say, is the universal language. And it’s a lot prettier than Esperanto, so why not choose some number-based decor to get your child started early? I’ve rounded up some of my favorite pieces for kids’ rooms featuring a plethora of digits as well as some inspirational spaces using numbers as decor. Bold Number Cards are displayed on a shelf in SwissMiss creator Tina Roth Eisenberg’s daughter’s room on Design*Sponge.

Anybody else need a little pick-me-up from this cold and dull winter we’ve been having? I know my apartment is feeling the chill; I haven’t done anything all season to show it some love. I think it’s time to pick up some fresh flowers, re-paint a wall, and find some new furnishings to get ready for spring.

So you’ve decided to re-haul the lighting in your home. You know that the right lighting can make a space feel bigger, cleaner, and more welcoming, and you’re totally on board. But where to start? Before you run out to the store or call the electrician, you need to evaluate your home’s current lighting. Here’s how. Know your lighting types. Designers deal with five different kinds of lighting, but for the average design enthusiast that’s a bit much to deal with.

Having a blank canvas to work with is fun, but when it’s really big, that can be a bit of a challenge. First there’s the question of just what you might want to put up there that’s the right size, and then there’s the question of how to do it affordably. Here are some of our favorite fixes for big, blank walls. 1. Architectural salvage elements: Salvaged elements such as shutters are big and have lots of character.

Do you have a white wall that needs a little something? Take inspiration from these fabulous walls and consider hand stamping them. You can make your stamp from inexpensive materials like craft foam, cardboard, or potatoes, and the project doesn’t need to be ornerous — all of these walls were completed in a afternoon or two. Pictured above: 1. Dot Wall, DIY from Oh Happy Day 2. Yellow Diamond Wall, DIY from Design Sponge 3. Clementine Wall, DIY from A Beautiful Mess via The Kitchn 4.

I love hanging original artwork in my home, but I don’t have enough of it or enough time to DIY some to create an entire gallery wall. A desire to hang a series of frames in my narrow stairway, however, led me to look into the idea of a gallery wall made of mirrors: Mirrors will bounce light around in the narrow space and open things up a bit while giving us a chance to check our hair on the way down the stairs and out the front door at the bottom.

Beige walls, bare windows—- all hallmarks of a rental apartment. Some things you have to live with, but that doesn’t mean your hands are completely tied. Here are ten DIY ways to make the best of your living space. 1. Faux wall paneling (image above) adds interest and texture. If your landlord doesn’t want you to paint, get the same effect with washi tape.

What is a nightstand, anyway? Of course we all know what the pieces identified as nightstands at the furniture store look like: little tables, usually with a drawer or shelf. But all a nightstand really is, at its most basic, is a place to put the stuff you may want immediately before you go to bed or right after you get up, so you don’t have to lean over awkwardly and pick up your iPhone from the floor.

What’s that you say? Valentine’s Day is tomorrow? I should probably do something about that… Perhaps I’ll whip one of these sweet, quick crafts, which utilize elements most of us probably have around the house. Good luck to us all! Heart Garland by Hank & Hunt: Make this using scrap paper or old magazines, and then hang it someplace so your Valentine has to walk through it. Tangled in love!

Dining rooms are often the hardest rooms to casually re-decorate: most don’t have room for a lot of extra furniture, so once you have a table and chairs and paint on the walls, they can feel, well… done. Which is great, but what about when you get the urge to shake things up? Read on for some ideas on how to inject some fresh style into your eating space. Switch up the seating.

I love color. I can’t help it. I know many people are afraid of it, but I find myself having to hold back or I’ll go a little crazy. But I also get bored easily. That’s what’s so great about decorating with contact paper — you can have a ton of fun with it until you’re inspired to try something else. With contact paper, you can add small pops of color and fun, or give a room a true transformation.

We’re glad to see the colorblock paint trend continue into 2014. Paint is always a great way to add interest to a room without major commitment or a big budget and colorblocking takes it to the next level by adding unique interest to your space. The possibilities are endless, it really depends how creative you want to be.

It’s tough to keep a room feeling fresh and quirky while staying away from things that are a little too trendy. Case in point: my “Keep Calm” poster felt whimsical four years ago, and now I’m itching to replace it. This time, I’m looking to more timeless sources of fun — like the classic pub game of darts. Darts and dartboards have been hanging around bars in the US and UK for centuries, entertaining competitive patrons.

I don’t know about you, but all the places I’ve lived as a renter have been painted an awkward, almost-yellow taupe. I first encountered it on all the walls of my rooms in college, so I call it “dorm yellow”. Despite over five years of living with it (and knowing it could be worse!), I haven’t figured out how to decorate with sandy yellow walls. Happily for me, and all of us in this situation, there are a bunch of renter-friendly solutions to yucky walls!

You don’t have to give a room a full-on makeover to make it feel new. In fact, a few simple and free or very cheap tactics can quickly refresh a space — including your bedroom. 1. Clean your sheets. Nestling in between freshly laundered sheets is probably the easiest and cheapest way to feel like you’re in a new room. If you’re feeling fancy, try adding some homemade linen spray. 2. Make your bed.

As part of my January Cure this month, I’m hoping to pull my place together with a few finishing touches, starting with the bathroom. While searching for inspiration I found myself drawn to these images. Each incorporates warm touches usually found in other parts of the home, instead of the usual matchy-matchy bathroom accessories. They are much more suited to my home’s aesthetic as a whole and a great way to create an extra inviting space.

I was visiting a new friend’s home for the first time recently and my favorite personal touch was that she had framed and hung a series of her son’s superhero drawings. Not only did they look great, I’m sure it made her son feel great seeing them gracing the family’s walls. I resolved to do something similar at home as a way to honor my son and show him that he is as important as anyone else who lives here, even if I don’t let him pick out the new curtains.

I know that feeling. The new year rolls around and you peer into the kids’ room and wish it was beautiful and stylish and yet… it doesn’t quite hit the mark. You wish it was better. Is it time to redecorate? But when kids are growing and changing all the time, how do you know when the time is right for a kids’ room rehaul? Here are a few questions to ask yourself that just might help you decide if this year is “the year” or not. 1.

Here’s a great idea for a DIY art project you can make, inspired by the art of Mark Hearld. Hearld is a British artist whose gorgeous prints, illustrations, and ceramics depict British fauna and flora dancing with color and movement. His installation at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park is a huge flock of painted wood birds suspended over visitors— something I dreamed of hanging in my house. Alas, I’ll have to (happily) make do with this DIY bird mobile I concocted instead.

Here are 12 easy ways to make the un-fun process of hanging artwork a little bit more tolerable. Follow these tips and tricks and you might just spare your fingers some physical pain, or skip the mental frustration that comes from drilling holes in the wrong place the first time around. Read these, and live wiser my friends: 1. This goes in the “how to figure out where to stick the nail” folder, and it’s a good one from Fabulous Home Blog. 2.

The talented ladies at my local public library created a few charming book trees out of a seldom-used set of reference books, a string of lights, and an old, unreadable book. Perhaps you have similar supplies around the house? Your collection of Babysitters’ Club book would make a perky, pastel tree, while the complete works of James Patterson would create a huge and darkly dramatic tree, full of ominous titles such as 1st To Die and Cross Fire.

For most people, the laundry room is something unsightly they’re happy to hide behind a closet door or in the back of the garage. But there are others who—by choice or by chance — opt to show off their laundry machines in a mudroom or (looking at you, kitchen laundry renters) some other high-traffic area of the home. If that’s the case in your home, this simple and temporary polka-dotted and striped machine makeover is for you.

Ikea stylists are good at showing us common folk how to style our homes in inspirational ways for the holidays. You don’t need to shop at the Swedish giant in order to have a festive and fun household this season. Follow these tips, tricks, and suggestions to do it yourself. TOP ROW: Hang Ornaments on the Wall: Perfect for small spaces, wall-hung “trees” have all the festive feeling without the large footprint.

“He broke another vase,” my friend lamented to me on the phone a few weeks back. I had to think – why do you keep buying them? And displaying them? When you have the loveliest, sweetest, well-meaning, but absolute klutz of a kid living in your house? I know we love pretty things, but sometimes our pretty things have got to coexist with crazy kids. If you have a klutz in your house, here are some options to keep the pretty decor, but stop having so much broken, already! 1.

While we love a traditional Christmas decorating scheme as much as the next person, there’s something fun about updating a few classic elements in unexpected ways. One simple way to up your holiday decor prowess is by thinking outside of the box in terms of your Christmas tree skirt. Below, you’ll find five brilliant (and affordable!) alternatives that will have all your party guests talking.

Here’s an easy DIY craft for you: grab some leaves from the backyard, whip out some craft paint or thread, and go to town. If your budget doesn’t allow for buying store-bought decorations, this is a cheap alternative that do-able and fun. TOP ROW: Alisa Burke painted a series of leaves, then strung them up as festive garland. Try painting leaves still on the branch, for a great centerpiece like Rachael’s. Or, simply tape up a collection of leaves like Elsie Marley did.

Take heart, rookie decorators; everyone needs a little push once in a while when it comes to finding their personal style. We’ve learned some very helpful lessons through trial and (a lot of) error so don’t follow in our footsteps. Avoid these common first-time decorating mistakes. 1. Catalogue Crush — You know when you walk into someone’s home and it feels sorta familiar? Like you’ve seen it before, say, in your mailbox?

You can go old school and stick a tea light or candle in Mr. Pumpkin (or Ms. Watermelon), but you’ll have to keep an eye out for it. At some point the candle might blow out or burn down, and all your hard pumpkin-carving work will go unnoticed. But! There are other options for lighting your jack o’ lantern, from basic moves to more hi-tech choices. See which works for your time and budget: BUY: Short on time?

The idea of collecting art can be a daunting one and when it comes to finding the perfect pieces to fill your walls it can feel like there are only two directions you can go in, mass produced cookie-cutter art or the intimidating, confusing and often expensive option of buying directly from a gallery. The internet has democratized the process quite a bit, but can be hard to sift through what’s available. Here are ten of my go to resources for good, affordable art.

Floor cushions are hot items right now. They make great alternative seating to accommodate extra dinner party guests and they’re perfect for back patio garden parties during the summer. Every shop from West Elm to Serena & Lily offers plenty of options, but depending on your budget they can be a little on the pricey side.