Interior design is a slight hobby of mine. I say slight because if you've seen the state of my own home right now, you would be skeptical that I had any interest in it at all. But I blame that on being young, poor newlyweds who are in a state of residence-limbo. Someday far, far in the future when we own our own house and are planning on staying there for more than a few months at a time, I will make our little nest comfortable and cozy and just the way I like it. But for now, I satisfy my growing interest in good home design by peeking at the blogs listed below, drooling over the beautiful homes and bookmarking things I want to try someday.
Now, I realize that there are a lot of design blogs out there, and these are only a few of the ones I actually peruse often. I also realize that these blogs may be highly suited to my specific taste, and some things that I may love, others may find less than appealing. But, I like these particular blogs because while there may be an overall theme and style to the decor, there are lots of ideas that can be used and molded to fit into any style of design.
I don't think any discussion of interior design blogs would be complete without talking about Design*Sponge. What started off as the simple musings of interior design enthusiast Grace Bonney, has grown into a hugely popular design forum. While the over-arching theme is interior design, the blog posts several times daily during the week, with columns on everything from design, food, travel-guides, and do-it-yourself ideas. My favorite days are Mondays, when they showcase "sneak peeks"; basically home tours. (See one of my favorites here. Oh, someday I will have white wood floors and dark wood doors in my house and it will not be weird.) I also love Wednesdays, when they post DIY ideas, and Thursdays, when they post before and afters sent in by readers. Some people are so clever!
Run by an interior designer based on the east coast, LGN is a treasure trove of good ideas and just plain good design. I want to live in every room she does, with all the amazing fabrics she uses. And the best part is, a lot of the projects she does are do-it-yourself that teach you how to get a certain look inexpensively and include a lot of revamping stuff found on craigslist. Added bonus, she's LDS. :)
Oh, Lonny. Lonny Mag isn't technically a blog, but an online magazine. Back in 2008 when the economy was in the dumps, my favorite design magazine, Domino, closed shop. That was a sad, sad day for me. But thankfully, last year, a few former editors of Domino started up Lonny, an online magazine full of stuff that made Domino so great. I still miss actually having paper in my hands to read, but Lonny has lots of great resources and lots of pretty pictures.
Centsational Girl
http://www.centsationalgirl.com/
I like CG because it just started out as the blog of a woman in northern California who liked interior design and happened to be good at it, and has only recently gained a lot of followers. She has great country french style, and almost everything she does is DIY. She redoes a lot of stuff found on Craigslist, and while she may be tad heavy-handed with the white spray paint for my taste, her rooms always turn out beautifully. I would love to have her home office for myself. You know, because I have so many things to get done that require a home office...
Apartment Therapy
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/
And of course, Apartment Therapy. AT is not my favorite because it seems a bit more impersonal than the others (probably because they have a million people working on their blog from different cities), plus the fact that it tends to focus on more modern and minimalist design. However, AT is still great for inspiration and it's cool that each big city has their own separate page.
So there you have it. Like I said, there are tons of websites and blogs dedicated to this stuff, and these are only a few. But some of these I especially like, in particular LGN, CG, and design*sponge, because they show ways in which you don't have to break the bank to make your house look good. There is a lot you can do with inspiration, paint, and elbow grease.
