Everyone who's been decorating or any good at it...

[somethingcleverer]

Where do you go for inspiration and ideas. I am the worst at decorating. My walls are mostly blank. The kids rooms are pretty bare too. I would like to make our house seem a little more homey but when I start looking at ideas I feel like I can't do most of that stuff (for example shelves for our powder room). I think it will look good but I'm not super handy, more crafty.  Any good decorating for dummies type websites? 

 

[summergirl1211]

This is my lyfe! I will be following this thread for ideas too.

[somethingcleverer]

I'm glad it's not just me summergirl1211!

[aimeefarrahfowler]

I used to love Young House Love, but they've stopped posting. You can probably find some good ideas in their archives. www.younghouselove.com

That's all I got. We moved into our house 2 1/2 years ago and I still have nothing hanging over the fireplace. Or any of the other walls, for that matter...

[paddyb]

I am horrible at this as well and have relatively plan walls. I have a friend who has a blog/website dedicated to DIY remodeling/design etc. www.withheart.com i'm not sure how easy it is to search for particular things since I haven't tried. I do think her pinterest is a GREAT place to start. tons of boards with pictures, and links to sites you might like.
www.pinterest.com/jennifer_stagg/

[summergirl1211]

Mar 17, 2015 11:59:00 GMT -5 somethingcleverer said:

I'm glad it's not just me summergirl1211!

somethingcleverer: I'm awful. For smaller spaces I can easily find a picture frame to fill the spot. Larger walls though, I'm completely lost.

[trixi282]

Before the days of pintrest, I used to look at magazines, get inspiration from tv shows (sticoms even, not just things like HGTV), etc.

I will admit for being an Interior Designer there are certain things I sometimes struggle with - but more so because I can't make up my mind, or I like so many things I want them all! I think about it for awhile usually before hanging something, or buying something.

Start small, and go from there. Sometimes it's about finding one thing you like and using that as a springboard for what you want to do. Pintrest definitely gives me even more ideas... sometimes you have to dive in and try it (again starting small) but most things really aren't too difficult once you get started.

[pinkluna]

Mar 17, 2015 12:05:05 GMT -5 aimeefarrahfowler said:

I used to love Young House Love, but they've stopped posting. You can probably find some good ideas in their archives. www.younghouselove.com

That's all I got. We moved into our house 2 1/2 years ago and I still have nothing hanging over the fireplace. Or any of the other walls, for that matter...

I was going to suggest their blog as well. Their projects are very do-able and affordable.  They've reorganized their site so it's easy to navigate by project type. I think they also have tips for planning a gallery wall if you want something like that. 

For children's room art I like to search etsy for ideas. I still have a blank wall in the "nursery" that I never decorated since it was last on my list to do the weekend before my c-section (and I gave birth on the Friday). I have a few prints from this shop that I love and am looking to get a few more for the wall:

www.etsy.com/shop/ChildrenInspire?ref=l2-shopheader-name

[xanthepants]

Making It Lovely is a nice blog. Along with designsponge, apartment therapy, decor, lonny.... But I digress .I use pinterest to search for specifics. Say I know I want to use "Coral" in a room I will do a search for that and keep the things that strike a cord. There are tons of ideas on "picture groupings" or "how to hang" or whatever if you are getting stuck figuring out how to put up a collection. I always say buy or collect what you love and find a way to display it. It never makes sense to me to put something up just for the sake of hanging something. Find something sentimental or meaningful and figure out a way to frame it or display it on a table. THAT is the key to an interesting and meaningful space.
For example I have a billion chicken scratchings from Cosette so I took a nice circle punch and punched a bunch of them until I had a nice pile of colorful dots. I put them on a white background and framed them. Thank you pinterest I have a cute new artwork piece for her room. I have my baby spoon and fork displayed in a shadowbox on her wall along side it. Just think thru the things you already have and see if you can repurpose them.

[trixi282]

somethingcleverer,what kind of shelves do you want to do? Like hung on the wall (store bought) or something built in?

[somethingcleverer]

Mar 17, 2015 13:32:29 GMT -5 trixi282 said:

somethingcleverer,what kind of shelves do you want to do? Like hung on the wall (store bought) or something built in?

This is what I wanted to do. There is a tutorial but I'm not sure I can do it myself and H is no help at all.

[trixi282]

Awe man... Do you have a link? Pic doesn't show at work, so I tried my phone and it's not showing there either.

[somethingcleverer]

Here is the link. It seems easy enough but I know that once I get started it won't be.

www.misadventuresofthecranes.blogspot.com/2013/07/new-bathroom-shelves.html?m=1

[trixi282]

The way they did that, does seem fairly straightforward. I've done some floating shelves before that weren't too terribly difficult. Since these are built in it wouldn't be horrible.

Honestly, the center "supports" I don't see as fully necessary if you have the two sides and the back, unless it's a really wide span. It's not like you're actually putting super heavy stuff on these things.

I think if you dedicated a day to it, you could totally do it!

[cookiesandwine]

Mar 17, 2015 15:24:54 GMT -5 somethingcleverer said:

Here is the link. It seems easy enough but I know that once I get started it won't be.

www.misadventuresofthecranes.blogspot.com/2013/07/new-bathroom-shelves.html?m=1

Those are super cute!   I feel your pain though, because at about step 5/6 is where H and I would be contemplating divorce. The man can build a house, but hanging shelves is somehow too stressful.

[xanthepants]

Not a fan of liquid nails. Use the real thing. And a level from the start, and a square. The gyp board walls probably weren't square to begin with so that might have been their first issue (I skimmed). Anyway - doesn't seem too difficult to be honest, but I'm not really afraid of this sort of thing. You can do it!

[jodielyn10]

Mar 17, 2015 12:31:38 GMT -5 summergirl1211 said:

Mar 17, 2015 11:59:00 GMT -5 somethingcleverer said:

I'm glad it's not just me summergirl1211!

somethingcleverer: I'm awful. For smaller spaces I can easily find a picture frame to fill the spot. Larger walls though, I'm completely lost.

I am NOT a designer, so xanthepants,  and trixi282, can probably help you more, but for big walls, I find that anchoring a framed photograph or print I love or decorative mirror over a piece of furniture that is a focal point in the room is more effective than trying to cover the entire wall. 

But some spaces, like over a sofa, call for a bigger impact, so you can find large artwork at affordable prices at places like World Market or Pier One, or if you want a personal touch you can place smaller family photos in matching frames and hang them close together in a square or rectangle pattern to achieve the same look.

[britbratjf]

Honestly most of what we have hung on our walls are personal photos or something my sister has painted for us (she's a really good artist). If I was looking for something I would look for some original artwork. It's not my style to have a print hanging that 5 million other people also own. It's more expensive but I think worth it in the long haul. Maybe look for some local art shows or galleries in your area to see if there's anything that fits your taste.

[roo1582]

xanthepants - The designsponge blog is awesome! It may be my new favorite blog to peruse at work...Thanks for the suggestion I still have to check out the other ones you listed.

[USCgirl]

Totally following! We are adding on and I need inspiration.