Using an Inspiration Room for Interior Design

I feel as though I should preface this article by saying that I am a Wedding and Event Planner and am by no means an Interior Designer...in fact, I am the opposite.  I know what I like but have the hardest time actually putting it all together. The idea for this article came from Pinterest.  I love it oh so much, but it has become my undoing...all of these pins where the rooms look so gorgeous and I keep thinking, "Oh, I can so do that" just keep getting pinned and pinned. Then I keep thinking of all that I haven't done and how my kids' bedrooms are just so ho-hum. {Sigh} 

So, here is my post on inspiration rooms and how I plan on re-doing the boys' room. First off, I love blogs...love, love, love them.  My favorites usually have to do with mom stuff, interior design and finally, weddings.  Amanda at Dixie Delights combines both mom and interior design...it's like heaven when I look at her photos.  I am a huge fan and am using her little one's 'big boy' room as inspiration for my boys' room.  For this post I am specifically focusing on the artwork as my inspiration (since that's as far as I am in my own room re-do!)

I adore this room!  I want to take every element out of it and transplant it into my boys room...it's perfection in my opinion.  So, here is how I decided to start...with the art work of course!  I love the crab painting by Catherine Lovett but it is a bit out of my price range.  So, I found something similar that I really like on etsy and purchased that.  

The artwork from Recycled Wood Art is much easier on the budget and still similar in feel.  Plus, it's an original painting and not a print, so I don't necessarily have to frame it (big budget saver!!).

Next, is the art work and prints on the wall.

I love how they are clustered together so I started on the hunt for similar items in the light blue/teal hue to compliment the crab.  I hail from West Virginia and it's very important to me that it is represented in my home...the easiest way, a map.  Dixie Delights highlights maps of Georgia and Savannah on her wall, so again, I went to etsy and found this sweet map of West Virginia.  

(map from Blast from the Past)The map from Blast From the Past is also an original and not a reproduction which I really like but this one will have to be framed.  

I also found this graphic print from Jessica Sutton - JSGD.  It's perfect.  My Jack loves to "rawr" like a dinosaur (he's 2) so I knew I had to have this from the moment I saw it.  Plus it follows closely to my inspiration room photo without being a complete knock-off.

The next item on my list to purchase is from The Old Try Print Shop.  They are my new favorite and I love that they are Southerners also...making it so much more appealing for me.  I am going to purchase this print of lightning bugs (yes, lightning bugs and NOT fireflies to all of you non-southerners out there).  I love it and it reminds me of my childhood.  

I have also been scouring etsy for small, original watercolors to frame but have yet to purchase anything.  Here are a few shops that I have found items that I like for now.  I keep adding them to my favorites on my etsy account, so that I can easily find them when needed.  

Art by Susan Windsor

Art by Seaside Studios UK

Art by Tricia Herald

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Our 2012 Interior Design Snapshot and 2013 Decorating Trend Predictions

In 2012, we had a year of excitement in the field of interior design - but only if you were looking at color and contemporary furniture design. Here's my frank evaluation of the year that was.

• Color palettes were bold and daring, and strong color blocks dominated both the fashion and home design industry. Pantone's Tangerine Tango led the pack with bright hues replacing cooler jewel tones and muted metallics.

Color Blocks influenced interior design beaucoup.

• Mid-century modern continued as a furniture trend and style influencer. There was a glut of "antiques" from the mid-1900s on the market, and young homeowners followed their Mad Men tastes and turned their homes into hip lounges. Personally, I think this was a dreary trend that will soon be waning. Many mid-century pieces were mass produced and they were boring and brown and drekish when they were first produces; time hasn't been kind to them. There are mid-century gems, however, that deserved attention, but I doubt if a majority of homeowners and designers were particularly discerning. Buyer beware!

Wow - yet another piece of mid-century modern furniture!

• Modern furniture continued to be sleeker, more sculptural, and more creative. I'm a huge fan of contemporary furniture. Rather than reaching back to the past for inspiration - or creating past styles "with a twist" (a way overused design concept) - many furniture designers created completely new ways to sit, dine, relax, and sleep. 

Edra's Corallo armchair beautifully combines function and sculpture.

• I loved the way handmade home goods counterbalanced the glut of mass-produced items, e.g., hand-woven upholstery, bulky yarn rugs, hand-carved wood legs, fine inlays, and bright and colorful dyes on casegoods.

Handmade goods deserve places of pride in every home.

• There was caution in the air last year with home decorating. People curbed their spending on luxury goods and furnishings due to breath-holding over the U.S. presidential election and the stalemate in the U.S. Congress. 

Cash-and-carry design stores like CB2 captured design dollars that might have gone into pro decorating and custom work.

So what's ahead for our industry in 2013? No one has a crystal ball and can predict with any accuracy how interior design will go from year to year. HOWEVER, the home design industry is very much in line with fashion, and by looking at fashion edicts - those predictions on colors, for instance, from industry leaders like Pantone - we can definitely predict the hot colors that will show up in a wide range of products, from fabrics and home textiles to flooring, appliances, and wall covering. So here are my predictions (but don't blame me if they don't come to pass!).

• Professional decorating will hit a new industry high. Many people who weren't decorating last year, or who either held back or settled for quick design fixes at a cash-and-carry stores or discounters like Marshalls/HomeGoods, will come back into the pro designer fold again this year. I'm very confident about this prediction. After the U.S. presidential election and the "fiscal cliff" issues were resolved, many homeowners are now moving forward with decorating projects. Many interior designers I know are busier than they were before the recession, and that's an excellent trend. 

After a quiet 2012, I predict designer showroom traffic and professional decorating business will be on the upturn.

• The color palette is cooler and more muted this year. Pantone's cool-yet-bright Emerald is their 2013 Color of the Year, and Sherwin-Williams followed suit with a muted shade of green, Aloe. Benjamin Moore embraced Lemon Sorbet, which is on the cooler side of a warm color (it's yellow-ish, but also a color that's barely there, a true goes-with-anything tone). Softer pastels will be big this spring, and I think we're definitely over the color block trend and heading towards a zillion shades of a single color that will all form a single-color matrix within a room, like a room that's decorated with 14 different shades of blue or 24 different shades of green. 

Softer wall colors and muted everything will likely be on trend.

• I can't see anyone taking the contemporary furniture design lead away from the Italians. They just continue to push the innovative envelope, and their work is extraordinary. Many of the old-favorite furniture makers from the United States come across a bit too traditional, fussy, and quiet for younger buyers. They're hitching their wagons to older homeowners, the traditional decorators of the past, but they're missing the boat on younger couples who are roaring into the interior design space. With wall colors and general decorating palettes swinging towards the muted side this year, I predict that there will be a stronger uptake on sculptural, contempoary, startling signature and focal pieces for rooms. Italian companies will finish first, French companies second, Dutch companies third. You heard it here first!

I love Italian contemporary furniture; they're going to rock the industry in 2013.

• Handmade furniture and accessories will continue to grow in the New Year. I'm just facing reality. As more elements of our lives become mass produced, we yearn for unique artisanal touches in our homes. The mark of a skilled craftsperson, the tactile quality of an artist with imagination - these objects will continue to gain in popularity and command more of our spending and attention.

Elise Wilhelmsen's knitting clock exemplifies the appeal of handmade furniture and accessories.

If you're interested in learning more about wedding and event planning, we encourage you to explore the Sheffield School, New York, NY. Sheffield began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng Shui, Wedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.

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