Ever heard of Houzz? If not, then you should check it out. That is, if you like tons and tons of home design and decorating inspiration.
Houzz offers a huge compilation of photos from professionals, designers and architects alike. You can search through the database by style, space {wine cellars, anyone?} or keyword.
If you create an account {free of charge}, you can save images that spark your interest in Ideabooks to look back on for inspiration when decorating your own home. You can write up little notes attached to your saved Ideabook images to specify what exactly about the space caught your eye.
If you have heard of Houzz before now then you probably knew all that. But there’s more. Product Picks Ideabooks.
I’ve been an avid Houzz follower for over a year now and didn’t know a thing about the Product Picks…that is until Houzz contacted me and asked me to create my own Product Picks Ideabooks. Basically, Product Picks feature items {instead of entire room shots} that can be incorporated into the design of spaces. Of course, I jumped at the chance to become a member of the Houzz contributing team! How couldn’t I?
You may have already noticed the link on H*T’s side bar to my first Product Picks Ideabook, A Gender-Neutral Nursery. It’s a selection of products that I put together that would be appropriate for a boy or girl. Not only is it relevant to parents who choose not to find out the gender of their baby prior to the birth but also to families who plan on reusing nursery items from one child to the next. I wasn’t given a budget to work with and a few of the items reflect that {i.e. crib and chair}, so it’s more of a ‘dream’ nursery to me. Still, it’s meant to inspire an overall look.
And, yes, I do plan on referring to my gender-neutral Ideabook for our own nursery. Maybe not item-for-item but as a loose reference. So, for those of you who have been wondering and asking how I would approach the design of our unborn baby’s {boy or girl??} nursery, there you go! I definitely want to incorporate pieces that can follow baby through to his/her older years, and I want to avoid a theme of any kind. I really want the nursery to fit into the rest of our home but be sweet and warm and cozy too. Of course, our nursery will have to be completed on a budget. As much as I looooove that freakin’ awesome chair, it’s not going to happen. Neither is the modern crib. I’ll be working with what I’ve got to tweak an old crib {already on hand…the only baby thing we have leftover from our boys} and secondhand chair {hint} into affordable, stylish options for us. Stay tuned…
I’m set to create a Houzz Ideabook monthly and I’ll be linking to them on my sidebar and probably giving you a heads up about them in blog posts. You can follow me over on Houzz too if you want. I’m crazy excited about this newest venture. It’s fun. I have free reign – no forced themes. I find it way more fulfilling than I probably should.
So now that I’ve spilled the beans about my newest gig, I have a quick question for ya. Any requests for future Ideabooks? It could be as specific as ‘striped rugs’ or as broad as ‘family living.’ Have at it, peeps.
images: Houzz
budget decor, inspiration, kid-friendly