<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Thursday, March 28, 2024
March 28, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

Websites harness a treasure trove of design ideas

By SARAH WOLFE, Associated Press
Published: March 31, 2016, 6:05am
3 Photos
Designer Sean Juneja used home design blogs and other online resources to help design a bright-yet-rustic living room with industrial accents in a home in Greenwich, Conn.
Designer Sean Juneja used home design blogs and other online resources to help design a bright-yet-rustic living room with industrial accents in a home in Greenwich, Conn. (Photos by Decor Aid) Photo Gallery

There’s Houzz, Remodelista, home design Twitter feeds, Tumblr accounts and, of course, the granddaddy of all online decor depositories: Pinterest.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by online resources when remodeling or redecorating. Where should you start?

For homeowner Sarah Schuster Canahuati, creating an idea book on Houzz was the perfect way to mesh her rustic, farmhouse style with her husband’s more modern tastes when they recently began renovating their Los Gatos, Calif., home.

“It was a very helpful way to give our architect and designer very clear ideas of what we wanted in our remodel, from paint colors to appliances to overall style,” she said.

Home design experts and contractors echo those thoughts and offer the following tips on how to harness the bounty of the Internet for your next project:

• GET TO KNOW YOUR SCOPE, RESOURCES.

First, determine the scope of your project and your goals. Redoing your kitchen is a lot different and more involved than finding a few natural accents for your living room mantle.

Are you going to do the work yourself? How-to blogs and sites such as AllThingsThrifty.com, DIYNetwork.com and ThisOldHouse.com are your new BFFs.

Looking more for ideas to pass on to a contractor or designer? Head over to Houzz.com or Pinterest.com.

And don’t overlook retailers. Paint company websites are often an underutilized home-design resource, New York designer Karen Gray Plaisted said.

“Many times, clients have problems with colors,” she said. “Benjamin Moore, Sherwin Williams and PPG Paints all have fantastic interactive sites to allow them to ‘try’ a color out or find a palette virtually first. It also helps me as a decorator to then narrow down the array of colors to find the right one for them.”

Annalisa Nash Fernandez, a Connecticut business owner and self-described “serial mover,” started a Facebook group with friends who are also into decorating.

“I post all my design quandaries there and get instant feedback,” she said.

• FIND YOUR STYLE.

Figure out what you love. Are you a boho-chic kind of girl, or do you gravitate more toward the clean, traditional lines of craftsman-style homes?

“To use home-design websites to find your own style, I’d advise you to pin or bookmark photos of every single room you love,” Amy Bell, owner of Red Chair Home Interiors in Cary, N.C., said. “The more rooms you save, the larger your data sample will be. Once you have collected many images, take a step back and look for common themes that the images share.”

Are there recurring colors or color combinations? Are you drawn to dramatic contrasts, such as white cabinets paired with dark floors? Are the rooms sparsely or heavily furnished and accessorized? What do you notice about architectural elements such as windows, doors, fireplaces and ceiling height?

“Having a theme and palette in mind really helps narrow down the infinite options on design sites and blogs,” Patricia Leitao, marketing manager and blogger for the Boston-based site homeyou.com, which matches homeowners with area contractors, said.

• CREATE A PROJECT PAGE OR BOARD.

Collection sites such as Houzz.com and Pinterest.com allow users to create an unlimited number of boards or idea books. Go big and create one board for your entire project, or go smaller with more specific boards such as paint colors, accessories or furniture.

These websites make it easier to keep track of ideas and are more visual than a list of bookmarks or a scrapbook of pages ripped from books and magazines. They’re also a great resource if you decide to hire a contractor or home designer.

“We love going through our clients’ inspiration boards on content-rich sites. It gives us an immediate look into their personal style and preferences, and we can help them narrow down exactly what will fit into their space and budget,” Margo Nathanson, a designer with San Francisco-based InteriorCrowd, said.

• DESIGN IT YOURSELF.

If you’re looking for the ultimate in control, IKEA.com, Lowes.com and smaller sites such as Roomstyler.com allow you design your own rooms from scratch with a virtual planner. Type in your room’s dimensions, then drag and drop furnishings, windows and other elements where you want.

Try an unlimited variety of cabinet and countertop combinations when remodeling your kitchen. Or see what your living room would look like with wooden floors. Then tile. Maybe concrete.

Don’t like it? Simply press delete.

mobile phone icon
Take the news everywhere you go.
Download The Columbian app:
Download The Columbian app for Android on Google PlayDownload The Columbian app for iOS on the Apple App Store
Loading...