So if you read me regularly just read this post with your eyes closed. You’ve read my whole decorating and road trip speal before. But for everyone else…Whenever I work with a client I ask them to show me pictures of rooms they like. I tell them it’s like going on a road trip without a map if they don’t have a goal. Yes, you may eventually get to California but after many detours, wasted gas, and extra motel stays. Going to the store and buying things willy nilly without knowing what you really are aiming towards is the same thing. You end up with lamps you don’t really like, a rug that matches everything you hated, and furniture that looked good in the store, but once it came home–wasn’t what you really wanted.
Looking at images of rooms full of things you can’t afford housed inside amazing architecture may feel like a waste of time when your budget is Target and your house is more of a box with windows–but that couldn’t be more wrong. When you really start setting aside pictures of rooms you like–you start to notice trends. Houzz.com is great for this. It has about 8 Million pictures to inspire you (it really does–today it was 8,002,820) and it is free so you don’t need to spend a fortune on magazines. You can make ideabooks and share images with others. You can filter the pictures to just “traditional kitchens” or “green counters” or “white bathrooms. You can filter it by region to see certain architecture styles such as “London exteriors” or “Santa Barbara living rooms”. There is a place where you can just see Contemporary or Eclectic styles. I’m only scratching the surface for all it has to offer but the bottom-line it is a great resource for sorting through what you like, and what you don’t.
As a professional that works with clients–it makes my job easier, and that really is what this is about. How to make life easier for me;) So please–go on Houzz.com, create some ideabooks, call me, and I’ll help you sort through it so you don’t end up in Idaho instead of California.
