Fabulous Sites for Interior Decorating: Part I – Inspiration

Do you have a home decorating project in mind?  These fabulous interior design sites will awe and inspire you.

Design Sponge – dedicated to home and product design

Design Sponge is a well-known site dedicated to the latest in home and product design.  It is run by writer/editor Grace Bonney, who has been a featured guest on Good Morning America and the Martha Stewart Radio Show.

The Interior Design Sneak Peaks section gives you a look at the homes of experts (not necessarily interior designers) from within the design industry.  The spotlighted abodes range from modest to grand.  All of them offer creative design ideas and solutions, tell where or how key furniture and accessory pieces were discovered, and illustrate the integration of design and lifestyle.

You’ll want to look at the Before and After section for do-able design makeovers.  Also go to the DIY section for small design projects accompanied with instructions.

Finally, check the Mini Trends section for a visual display of popular design styles and accessories.  Just click on a topic for more information and an array of illustrative photographs.

Desire to Inspire – an Australian and a Canadian trying to inspire the world one room at a time

Desire to Inspire is the result of the partnered effort of Mid Century Jo and Kim (sorry, I don’t have more information about them, except that it appears Kim also designs kitchens).  They beautifully display the work of interior designers on their blog.

You’ll be inspired, all right, and get some great ideas, large and small.  For instance, see fine wines stored in an antique library card file cabinet (small) and a church converted to a home (large!).  A wide range of style and concepts are presented because designers everywhere are invited to email links to their blogs or websites.  If Desire to Inspire thinks their readers will be interested, a designer’s site is featured.

Be sure to click on the Blogs We Love link.  It leads to the most elegant blogroll I have seen, and connects to some of the finest design blogs on the Web.  Prepare for hours of design pleasure, and note-taking.

Elle Decoration - South Africa

The South Africa edition of Elle Decoration Magazine produces the superb Elle Decoration blog.  It will keep you up-to-date on the latest world-wide decor news and trends, and you’ll be able to see photographs that didn’t make it into the magazine.

The current issue features a concrete (as in cement) dream house, an “elegant and witty” create-it-yourself weekend project with instructions (what exactly? well, you must see it), a garage make into a grownups’ playroom, and more.

You can view back articles by clicking on past issues listed in the left-hand column.  I happened upon the amazing story of an abandoned farmhouse turned into a lifesized dollhouse!

Note: The site encourages fresh talent with an annual design contest for South African students and aspiring non-student designers (included for the first time).  This year’s challenge is to design a “standing lamp that provides indirect, ambient light yet can still brighten up a room.”  Entry deadline is July 31, 2009.

House Beautiful – your online interior design and decoration destination

House Beautiful, another magazine site, does not compare to Elle Decoration in beauty, but it makes up for it with great practical value.  The landing page provides convenient access to featured articles via sliding gallery.  Below are thumbnail images linking to the Decorating & Ideas archives.  These articles are organized by a slideshow.  As you progress through the slides, each is accompanied by a text paragraph.  As an example, read New American Living Room, which features a slideshow of outdoor living rooms.  It’s slick, and easy to breeze through an article (image load times are quick).

Click on the dropdown menu of Decorating & Ideas (located immediately below the House Beautiful title).  A wealth of informative articles are organized according to the following categories:

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• The Peak of Chic
• Color
• Design Tips
• Fabrics
• Makeovers
• Organized Home

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• Paint-A-Room
• Sites We Love
• Love It or Leave It
• Trading Up
• Do It Right
• Valspar Color Inspirations

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The dropdown menu under Shopping & Gifts includes a category with which many may identify: Technophobia.  It covers everything from trash compactors to iPod accessories.  I mention it because of the article, [Paint] Color Matching: Does It Really Work? For home decorators who want to know, the answer is yes – the technology works; read the article for details.

Small Space Style – decorating and planning for smaller spaces

Finally, a small but delicious site.  If you live in a normal-sized house, you’ll appreciate Small Space Style. Do you live in a small apartment?  Click the Apartment label.  One article features a 200 sq-ft apartment makeover culled from Domino Magazine (no longer printing).  That should give you hope and inspiration.

The site is kept by Lisa in St. Louis, MO.  She has been blogging for two years, so be sure to look in the blog archive for past posts on decorating ideas and styles suitable for small homes.  Lisa has a soft spot for cottage style, and prefers small homes to large.  She puts it this way, “I guess it’s like puppies and kids.  [Homes] are adorable when they are small.”

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Most of the sites reviewed in this post host blogrolls that link to more fantastic design sites.  Use them to explore interior design further, and let us know what you love.

Next week watch for Fabulous Sites for Interior Decorating: Part II – Color.

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