If you’ve been following me for any amount of time, you know that I love interior design. And if you’re new to following me, let me give you some background. Back when I entered college, I had no idea what I wanted to major in. I wasn’t one of those people who went into college saying “I want to do THIS” and do it. I took a variety of classes. I had a hole in my schedule and saw that Intro to Interior Design was able to fit in my schedule. So I took it. And as the say, the rest became history. I graduated four years later with a degree in Interior Design.
I learned through my classes in Interior Design that spatially designing a room is something that came naturally to me, I had a pretty good knack at putting colors & textures together, and that I loved learning about how art has affected our cultures throughout time. Since before I even entered design school, I have always dreamed of designing and building my own home… And I must admit… I’ve been keeping a secret! A secret that I finally announced… The husband and I have finally started on building our dream home!
So welcome to a new series here on the blog: Building a Home!
I hope to cover the entire process and journey here on the blog. Design process, construction process, picking out finishes, etc. We have been in the planning process for about 5 months and this weekend, the construction process finally begun. We are so glad we didn’t rush the design process and gave ourselves plenty of time to finalize our house plans. For those of you who haven’t ever built or remodeled, the design process is so important. And for those of you who are looking to build a home someday, the design process can start right now!
Knowing what you like and what you don’t like will help those working with on you on your eventually built home. Before Pinterest and during my college years, I kept a file folder full of magazine tear outs. I called it my dream home inspiration folder. This folder housed anything from spacial layouts to bathtubs I like and even things like paint colors I liked. Anything and everything related to design that I liked, it went in the folder. Now, thanks to the internet, we’ve got a virtual inspiration folder called Pinterest.
So where did I find my inspiration at? What resources do I regularly use to pin, tear out of magazines, or purchase books?
I want to share with you a few of my favorite go-to places to find inspiration for homes, decor, and even sometimes DIY projects.
Magazines & Websites
I subscribed to most if not all of these AND MORE while I was in college. Many of these I follow on social media and of course pin a lot of their stuff to Pinterest. But sometimes I like thumbing through a magazine too!
- House Beautiful (hands down my favorite)
- Dwell (for my modern design fans)
- Traditional Home (for more traditional design fans)
- Better Homes & Gardens
- DIY Magazine (put out by Better Homes & Gardens)
- Elle Decor (another one of my favorites)
- Sunset (for residents in the West)
- Real Simple (for organization tips)
- Martha Stewart Living
- Country Living
- Luxe
- Domino Magazine
Blogs
There are endless amounts of home, DIY, and interior design blogs. These are just a few of the ones I visit every now and then as well as follow on social media.
- Young House Love (GREAT DIY budget friendly home blog I love their style)
- Bower Power (found them through Young House Love and she’s got more of a traditional sense of style)
- Ana White (has AMAZING plans for all kinds of knock off furniture)
- Honey + Fitz (does online consulting but also a great DIY home blog)
- Centsational Girl (great DIY tutorials)
- Design*Sponge (great for looking up inspiration)
- Freckled Laundry
- Shanty 2 Chic
- Coco + Kelley
- Emily Henderson
Catalogs
I find so much inspiration from home catalogs and seeing how they display their furniture. These are also my go-to places to look for something when I need furniture or any sort of home decor. Some of them are way out of my price range and those I just use for ideas. I have been known to take photos while shopping in high end furniture stores simply just to look at how they display things or to knock off products they sell for way too much money!
- Restoration Hardware
- Pottery Barn
- Williams Sonoma
- Crate & Barrel
- Napa Style
- Anthropologie
- West Elm
- Grandin Road
- World Market
- Ikea
- Ballard Designs
- Wisteria
- Ralph Lauren Home
Books
If you are needing to get serious about design, there are a few really great books out there to add to your collection. I have probably two shelves on my bookshelf that are just interior design books from college.
- Candice Olson (anything by Candice Olson I just love! She’s hands down my favorite designer out there)
- Details
- Decorate
- Domino: The Book of Decorating
- Undecorate: The No-Rules Approach to Interior Design
- Flea Market Style
- Etcetera: Creating Beautiful Interiors with the Things You Love
- Design Sponge At Home
- The Find
- Young House Love Book
Well there you have it! My favorite interior design resources! I hope this maybe helps some of you to get inspired and maybe even DIY some projects in your own home!
Congratulations!! I can’t wait to read more about this..I love looking at floor plans and seeing how everything turns out once completed. I hope you don’t have a crazy North Dakota winter that will delay your building process!
Congrats., Jenny; hope I am still around(heck!! I am almost 88 now so can’t figure too much on tomorrow) when you get all through with it, it will be so exciting to follow your process and dreams. I do not envy you though for I did that almost 9 yrs. ago, moved in just before my 79th birthday in 2005. I bought blueprints to do mine with and let my kids (3) do most of everything geared to everything you are probably going to do yourself. Must say I love all they and the little bit I did from start to finish. Well I will patiently wait to view all your progress; and “The Best Of Luck To You.”
I am so excited for you two. It will be a very stressful time, but it will be worth it in the end 🙂 I find it so funny that your resources are the same as mine! I love looking in those magazines, blogs and catalogs for ideas. I just got a Crate and Barrel magazine and have to hold myself back from going online and buying anything…. It’s killing me!
I agree that blogs are a great resource for interior design tips. They give really practical advice. I say this because usually their authors have first hand experience with designing rooms.
I think it’s great to have so many resources when designing a home! It’s become a lot easier to keep track of designs with blogs and Pinterest now, as you’ve learned. However, like you said, it can still be fun to find some design magazines and keep some of their ideas as well. Thanks for sharing your sources of inspiration!
Hi Buddy!!
Great article. Interior designers can plan and visualize your property, they will present you a few options you will be able to choose the most convenient one for you. Apartment is quite nice, such a classic that will certainly make your stay pleasant.
I completely agree that hiring an interior designer to help is a great way of saving time and money. A combination of your own individual ideas and preferences mixed with an expert whom understands the parameters of interior design inside out is a excellent way of approaching projects.
Thanks for sharing
This is a very useful collection of resources. Your appreciation of art is also interesting. Learning how cultures have been influenced through its use must be an informative way to look at design.