Inspiration for creating a beautiful home
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It’s summertime in Southwest Florida and if you are running a little low on inspiration for your home, a vision board with some of your favorite things is a good place to start. Photos, paint color, textures, samples of wall coverings and fabric samples and anything else that you love, help when deciding how you want your home to feel when you walk in the door. Photo and inspiration board are from one of my favorite places to go to go for inspiration, Kravet. Check out this to- the-trade source at Karvet.com. Photo: Kravet.
Wrenda Goodwyn • special to the Fort Myers News-Press/USA Today Network • July 3, 2021
A couple of months ago a client asked me to walk through her home and give her tips on how she could “make it look like something out of a magazine.”
Before I booked a designer for a day consultation, I talked with her at length on the phone about her home and what I could do to help her. She told me that she no idea what she wanted. Had no strong likes or dislikes. Her home was not really any particular style. Did not have any color preferences. Was clear that she had no design style. She just knew that she wanted it to look great. And she thought she would know what she wanted when she saw it.
As a Fort Myers interior decorator, I can tell you this is not all that rare. I’ve found that many homeowners, especially post COVID, want to change their homes but are lacking clear ideas about what they want. Not a problem!
This is where inspiration comes in. And maybe we are all feeling a little uninspired and disconnected after the past year.
Making changes
One solution is to call a decorator or designer. We are full of ideas. But before you make that phone call, it’s really important to gather some thoughts about what makes you happy and how you would like for your home to feel when you walk in the door. After all, it’s your home.
Maybe you’re making a fresh start in a new home. Downsizing to a smaller space. Looking for a new look after a life-changing event. Feeling the need to restore balance to your home and life. Or maybe you are just plain bored and want something different.
Set the stage
Decide how you want your home to feel when you walk in the door. Everything you do will relate to this feeling. I always tell my clients I don’t need to know details about how they want it to look. That comes later. But tell me the feeling that you want your home to reflect and I will help get you there.
I have some thoughts that I share with my clients on finding your inspiration and you may find them helpful.
Home inspiration and where to find it
Design books
Magazines
Design blogs
Hotels
Restaurants
Nature
Travel
Fabric
Fashion
Antique markets
Art
Furniture showrooms
Model homes
If you love to travel or just enjoy dreaming about faraway places, be inspired with this World Traveler wallpaper from Ballard Designs. With whimsical maps of favorite cities, it’s perfect for a powder room or office. www.ballarddesigns.com. Photo: Ballard Designs.
Transform your home like a professional
• Make it your own. Ideas from magazines and Instagram are great inspiration starters but it’s your home and should reflect you.
• Order samples of paint, wallpaper, fabric, tile.
• Make your own vision board. There are free programs online or you can create one on Pinterest.
• When working on a room, I like to lay everything out on a white tray: fabric sample, paint swatches, tiles, bits of inspiration like shells and other objects found in nature, photos, etc.
• Keep it simple and remember: trends are fun but they come and go. Look for classic style that is never outdated.
• Remember to have fun and don’t overthink things.
This month:
• Review your hurricane plan and stock up non-perishable supplies. www.leegov.com/publicsafety/emergencymanagement/plan
• With 175 days until Christmas, it’s time to think about holiday decorations. Put a plan together and order what you need. This is also a good month to review what you have and eliminate old decorations that you no longer use. Donate them to a charity. Now you can forget about the holidays until November!
Wrenda Goodwyn is a Southwest Florida interior decorator, A.S.I.D. associate and gold member of the Interior Redecorators Network. She helps homeowners throughout Southwest Florida with timeless, affordable ways to create beautiful spaces and solves decorating problems. Her articles appear the first Saturday of each month. For more information visit her website at spectacularspaces.com. Call her at 239-850-5800 or e-mail wrenda@spectacularspaces.com. For more decorating tips, articles and photos, visit spectacularspaces.com/blog
