Free Inspirations

I recently had one of my readers contact me and ask me what my favorite free magazines were for design inspiration. However, aside from Pottery Barn, Ballard Designs and West Elm, all of the magazines I get are through paid subscriptions. But I must say they are a much better deal than buying them off the shelf. Usually around $15 for a year. That's only a little over a dollar a month. And many magazines run great promotional deals on their sites. For instance, right now Better Homes and Gardens is running a deal for $5.99 for a one year subscription. However, if subscriptions aren't your thing, there are still many available resources online. Here are a few I use:

1. BHG.com- Better Homes and Gardens has a great website with a variety of topics they cover. From crafts, to food, to decorating, to gardening...they have it all. If you go to their website, you can sign up for their weekly newsletter to be emailed to you. I receive this and find inspiration all of the time. It's not one of those newsletters that you delete before even having read it. And the best part is you can subscribe to whichever ones you want.

-Recipes

-Weekly Update (Decorating)

-Life Made Better

-Holidays & Celebrations.

Even if you do have a subscription to the magazine, I would urge you to sign up for this as well because it covers completely different material. And it's free!

2. Decorpad.com- If you're looking for furniture and accessory pieces that are design worthy but not too costly, you should check out Decorpad.com and their "Look 4 Less" page. They also have a huge gallery of rooms to give you inspiration for your own spaces.

3. HGTV.com- This may sound like a no brainer, but I can't tell you how many people love this channel and watch it religiously, yet rarely tap into their online resources. They have tips for every room in your house and advice straight from the show designers.

4. Marthastewart.com- This site offers more DIY crafts, recipes and entertaining ideas than it does actual interior decorating tips. However, it is great when it comes to making you think outside the box, especially for inexpensive accessories and artwork for your home. And if you are planning to throw a great party at your newly decorated place, Martha is your go-to girl for great ideas. She also offers a wide range of newsletters like bhg.com to be sent to your email.

5. Etsy.com- Because so many of the products sold on this site are handmade, it gives you great inspiration for DIY projects. Type in an item you'd like to make for cheap and see what comes up. You'd be surprised how simple it is to make something beautiful at a low cost. Who knows, you might be so inspired that you want to open up a shop of your own on there!

Hopefully these sites will give you just the inspiration you need!

Do you have places that you regularly checkout for great ideas? Where do you get your design inspirations?

Our Living Room Mood Board

Our living room is slowly but surely coming together. The biggest To Do's are ordering a new media console, painting the room (which is unfortunately open to the dining room, kitchen, office and breakfast area which means lots of painting to be done!), order a few lamps and a console for the long wall behind the couch. I realize I haven't shared any pictures of our "new" house (we moved in at the end of last October) with you guys. So here's a glimpse of the living room before we moved in. This is what you see when you walk in the front door. The dining room is on the left, the living room is straight ahead and the office on the right. A closer look at the living room. Florida loves their plant ledges...I do not. You win some. You lose some. I also want to replace the tile around the fireplace. A view from the back of the living room looking toward the front corner of the house. The room behind the half green wall is the o...

Guest Room Before and After-Healing Aloe

Here is a shot of the room in all of its coral glory. Great for a teenager, not for a soothing guest room. And here is the Healing Aloe after. Healing Aloe is a color by Benjamin Moore. It was hard to get a good shot of the true color, but it is more of a seafoam than gray. Aside from painting the walls and buying a new white quilt for the bed, everything else in the space we already had--most of which are hand-me-downs (bed and dresser) or thrift store finds (lamp and side table). It will all be sufficient for now, and hopefully a space that our guests will love. I'm very happy with the outcome and the progress of one more room in the house coming closer to completion. One down, three to go (at least in the painting department!)

Table Decorating Contest

Jon and I are leaving to spend a long weekend in San Antonio with his parents and his brother (who will be town from Arizona). But before we go, I wanted to leave you with some pictures from the Officer Spouses Club Table Decorating Contest that was held last night. I called Jon on my way home from base, and he immediately asked "How was the contest?" to which I responded "Victorious." The 32nd FTS, our squadron, took first place! The theme was Silver Screen so we decided to focus on famous quotes from each movie genre. Each place setting featured a different movie. We had a "drive-in" for our center piece where clips of the famous quotes were shown. Welcome to the Jayhawk Drive-In! Wizard of Oz place setting. The glass had a button you could turn on to make the water swirl and look like a tornado inside. Also notice the witch's feet sticking out from under the plate :) A close-up of the yellow brick road I painted. Silence of the Lambs pl...

House of Hydrangeas

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