designing your space : questions.

These days I am absolutely obsessed with redecorating our home. We are at the point right now where we do not know whether or not we are staying in Portland or moving to New York, so all my decorating ideas have to be put into a notebook, stored for the future. So now I am taking the time to fully plan out what kind of design we are going to go for. My husband and I have very different tastes (he's the classic historian and I'm the modernist), so we are trying to find the balance between the two (which has led us to something like this - thanks Greg!)

All of these home design thoughts made me think about a bunch of questions that should be asked to figure out which direction one should go when trying to decide how to design their space:

1. Do you spend a lot of time in your home? Are there particular rooms that you will be spending the majority of your time while at home?
2. What kind of mood would you like your home to reflect? Calming? Energetic? Sexy?
3. What are your favorite eras of design? Do you prefer Victorian, mid-century, art deco, etc?
4. What colors are you drawn to? Do you prefer whites and neutrals or would you rather go for bold and bright?
5. How much space do you have to work with? How many people will be living in your home? How can you work with that space to make everyone comfortable?
6. How much money to you have to work with? What is most important for you to spend your money on to make a noticeable change in your home? Wallpaper? A new couch? Different flooring?
7. What inspires you most? Are you constantly inspired by sixties French films? Do you love gorgeous graphic design? Are you a fashion obsessie?
8. What will you be spending your time doing while you are at home? Will you require an office to work/craft in? Are you a cook/baker? Do you spend a large amount of time watching films and television?
9. Do you like to entertain and have parties? Will you require a large table? Extra seating? Storage for party supplies?
10. Above all, who are you? What's important to you? What are you favorite things in life? How would you like your home to reflect who you are?

Great resources:
-Apartment Therapy (always inspiring).
-Grace's sneak peeks.
-Magazines: Domino, Blueprint, and Elle Decor.
-Desire to Inspire weblog.
-Flickr groups: Interiors, Fresh New Spaces, and Corners of My Home.

design your life : some advice.

Design your life : 10 tips:

1. Take a trip to Ikea (or if you don't live near one, browse through their website) and purchase inexpensive decorative items that are all one color. Display them on a shelf, a tabletop, or in a glass cabinet.
2. Keep a notebook with you at all times (I love this one). Constantly jot down home decorating ideas, personal style plans, things you love, goals, advice for yourself, wishlists, etc.
3. Keep folders on your computer to look through for inspiration. I use flickr as my main source of images, and I save everything from pictures of beautiful food and table settings to people I find to be extremely fashionable and gorgeous handmade art. There is so much inspiration out there!
4. Design "business" cards for yourself and print them out on card stock (Good on Paper has some beautiful design ideas). These can actually be for your own business (i.e. graphic designer, crafter extraordinaire, baker) or to hand out for your website, zine, or just when you meet new people (list a few great things about yourself with contact info and socialize!) If you don't feel like you can design a great card, there are always Moo Cards, which print out adorable little cards with photographs on them for $20 for 100.
5. Take a ton of photographs. Go on adventures around your city and find little hidden nooks, lettering, brightly-colored signs & flowers, and just things you find to be beautiful. Print out the photos and display them around your home or paste them in your journal.
6. Buy a few new outfits that you can wear a ton of different ways. For me, the perfect things to mix around are scarves (ones that can be used on the head, around the waist, AND around the neck), a simple black dress (I love this slideshow), leggings, a pretty little slip, bright stockings, and a couple different colored camisoles. Always buy things that make you feel confident.
7. Save up money to go to a fabulous place. In the United States, New York and San Francisco are my favorite vacation spots for window shopping, delicious food eating, and taking amazing walks (they are meccas of design), but there are inspiring places all over the world. If you can't afford to take a vacation anytime in the near future, find the simple good things in your town: visit a great bakery, eat scrumptious chocolates with a friend, lay on the grass in a park, have coffee in a friendly cafe, spend time in a bookstore, etc.
8. Paint your walls a new color. Doing this can totally change the mood and feeling of your surroundings. Of course, only choose a color you would love to see everyday (if you live in a rental apartment and are not allowed to paint your walls, this article may help).
9. Learn to bake something beautiful. Some inspiration: Cupcake Bakeshop, The Vibrant Table, Delicious Days, 101 Cookbooks, and Vegan Yum Yum. I find beautiful food to be design perfection.
10. Make your own list of how you personally would like to redesign your life. Write in big bold writing on brightly-colored paper and hang it on your fridge.