My interest in home design and decor has been developing at a rapid pace for almost three years now. It wasn’t until I got engaged in the summer of 2006 and realized that I would soon be making a home for myself and my new husband that I began exploring the world of interior design. Boy have I learned a lot since then! As I said in an earlier post, most of what I’ve learned is from trial and error and a whole lot of studying! I study everything! I study my surroundings and the interiors of all the places I frequent regularly, I study books, magazines, catalogs, design shows and decor blogs, and I study my friends and families’ homes. I take absolutely everything in. I promise you, go anywhere with me and wherever I am, I will be noting every last detail. To a fault. Because of this, I feel like I will never stop learning because I can’t help but absorb all I see. Fortunately, since I am pursuing interior decorating as a career, I will have an outlet to pour all of this learning into. Eventually.
Over the past few years I have spent hours accumulating images from the internet that are saved on my computer by the hundreds. These images go into my “Interior Design” inspiration folder and are divided up into categories. I regularly save anywhere from 10 – 30 + images weekly. I like to cycle through a handful of these images every day just to stay inspired and to get my mind working to come up with new ideas for myself and others. My primary source for these images are from other design blogs. I will put up a list of some of my favorites when I get a chance.
I also love leafing through design mags for inspiration. I’ll keep them intact for a year or so until I clip out the best images and discard the rest. (I’m determined not to have years and years worth of magazines overrunning my office.) Some of the magazines I’m subscribed to also have websites set up for additional resources. Suffice it to say, I don’t think I’ll ever run out of places to find inspiration, that’s for sure!
I recommend to anyone with an interest in home decor to study, study, study! Start rooting around for images that inspire you. Don’t think too hard about it. Even if you only like one thing in the entire photo, save it! Come back to your inspiration folder 500 images later and see if you start notice a tendency towards a particular style (or two). You will. You’ll notice similarities in the images you’ve saved and that’s how you’ll eventually be able to develop your own personal style. I even recommend keeping a folder of “hate it!” images. If you can articulate AND visualize what you DON’T like, it will save you a lot of time and money when you get around to decorating your space. Do it. Do it now! 5…4…3…2…1. Now.
