Where to Begin: Decorating

Decorating an interior space can be a overwhelming task.  Where do you begin? What style is your style?  How will it function when serving a whole family.  There are a lot of considerations to make.  I will begin a series for the new year in which I will explore the process of creating an interior that will meet your needs. I will take you through a major remodel we did to our very own house in 2008.  At least once a week I will post an entry on the process of our major remodel.  

• The first step in in any decorating project would be to create an idea notebook.

Here are a few pages out of my idea notebook.

It has been a few years since I started this notebook.  You could probably date the interior by the photos. I had a collection of transferware and I always pictured it in a Welsh dresser.  So, I collected every picture of transferware in a Welsh style hutch that I could find.  I clipped pictures out of magazines and taped them to cardstock then placed them in a binder.

As the years have progressed I have grown beyond a straight English Country style, although it is still one of my favorites.  I now want a more streamlined style that fits every family members needs and is comfortable and peaceful.  Pictured above is a layout from Ernest Hemingway's home in Key West by Victoria magazine.  I have pulled the colors on the wall and drapes right out of the page and found paint chips that give me that peaceful color scheme.  The picture also evokes the naturalist that Hemingway was envisioned as by Victoria and it has a true British Colonial flair (think Out of Africa, the movie).  A style I have another fondness for and the naturalist elements I love to see in decorating.

Beyond a single style you can find just certain ideas that you can use.  I will never have a home that looks like this English manor but, I can go to Lowe's and buy outdoor lanterns and place them on either side of an entry chest in my home and it will get the look.   

I don't stop at the interior either, my idea book has photos of outdoor spaces and how I might landscape them.  Outdoor spaces are an important extension to our home and shouldn't be overlooked.  

If you need to tackle a remodel in 2010 join me as I show you how I did mine and start yours with and idea notebook.

To Do: 

• Make an idea notebook of your personal favorite interiors.  Get clipping!