Inspiration - and some bathroom stripes

My M.O. is: I get a vision for something...like I want the walls to be painted in wide vertical stripes of off white and light light tan. Voila - I search http://www.houzz.com/ and others - and I can see what I thought I came up with on my own. No idea is a new idea. But that's a good thing...because then we can copy! (Truth be told, I think Steph and Filipa provided the true inspiration with their half bath paint in Parkside - a variation of matte and glossy red, also a great technique...and then there was that one house in Beverly on the "cut through street"...)

Only I think I'd want vertical stripes like this...but just in the tan/off white color. Though the Black and White is kinda cool, huh?

We clearly have bigger fish to fry than the paint color for our half bath...but ya gotta start somewhere. And the kitchen cabinet and island situation is too hard to explain after a long week and 9 hours of driving today.

So, back to inspiration: I think it would be only fair to let you all know where I’ve been getting a lot of my ideas. These places are my favorites so far. What are yours?

www.houzz.com - Okay, I am OBSESSED. They have the BEST photos. The site is searchable. Great articles and tips. People are responsive to questions you post about the photos. And you can save photos to different "ideabooks" or photo albums. I now have an "ideabook" for each room in the house. Thanks to Sarah Taheri for the referral there. It’s like “the knot” of home decorating, design, renovations, etc.

www.younghouselove.com - Thanks to my coworker Christine...and a shoutout to Kate Kudrna who is obsessed. Just a cute, fun site to follow. Makes me wonder: should Chris and I spend ALL our time DIYing and blogging...and get so good at it that, like this couple, it is a full-time job and hobby.

www.decorpad.com - Good photos for ideas.

And here are some recommendations I’ve gotten some friends thus far… I haven’t gotten addicted to any of these (yet). But it’s only a matter of time. I mean, if I can get away from houzz.com. Most of what’s below is a copy and paste job from a coworker friend’s email. Just want to give credit where credit is due and share some resources.

One Kings Lane – this is a home decorating flash sale site – My friend used it a lot just to learn about companies for lighting, bedding, etc. that they have on sale that day https://www.onekingslane.com/all-sales

Pink Wallpaper – this lady is adorable I hear – she’s really cute and southern (and we like Southern, esp the juxtaposition of Southern and New England charm – her sister site sells fabric if you need any (designer’s attic) http://pinkwallpaper.blogspot.com/

Style by Emily Henderson – she’s on HGTV – she does two “looks” for each room and does it on a budget – a lot of her stuff is from West Elm, etc. – http://www.stylebyemilyhenderson.com/blog/?currentPage=2

Material Girls – Houston is supposedly the one to follow, and it’s easy to search by things like “lighting” – http://materialgirlsblog.com/

http://www.hgtv.ca/sarahscottage/ - Kacey LeGeyt and Beth Pollock say she’s great. I’m still new to this world…

www.designspongeonline.com – Kacey also likes this one.

Good mags for getting ideas:
• House Beautiful
• Veranda
• Elle Décor
• Traditional Home
• Southern Living
• Better Homes and Garden: Renovation Style
• Better Homes and Garden: Kitchen and Bath Special Edition

Okay, something I've learned - these magazines are not priced like, say, US Weekly is priced. Chris and I have a "date" at Barnes and Noble this weekend to peruse the magazine shelf, lattes in hand. We are wicked cool.

-KCPXOX