Interior Design - Resources Online

Hi all,

We are not in the position to afford an interior designer at the moment so I am trying to put a resource together of good websites where I can pick up good ideas.

I like a traditional chic interior - basically I would like to look at a lot of pictures and put them alltogether as a portfolio and then I can pick and choose - there are load of excellent magazines out there I know but they are just too expensive any help would be good.

Thanks

J

Not quite sure what you mean by "traditional chic" but you could try

http://www.desiretoinspire.net/
http://www.designspongeonline.com/
for starters. There are loads of great websites, just google "design blogs" and you'll get more than you can handle!

Thank you for your reply, I have attached below a link I have been looking at for a while I have never spoken to anyone who has used this person (however sure this is a catalogue of their work so I suppose its as good) but I think this seems to be my style also.

This will give you an idea:


http://www.architecturalspaces.com/press-releases/upstairs-downstairs-lakeside-luxury.pdf

http://www.architecturalspaces.com/...wnstairs-transforming-spaces-may-jun-2010.pdf

I wonder is it possible to replicate these looks? What type of budget would one need? (- I realise this is probably impossible to say.)

Any help or ideas would be great....

had a look at both of them link, very impressive (but also very common in alot of peoples home) as for the budget it can stretch from min to maximum.

In our case we found the DIY route very doable, some paint shops have staff who can tell you the paint colour or similar from a picture, coving always adds to a room as does the old flatscreen on the wall,

one can build up the room as you go along (im five/six years in the house and Im at the decluttering stage)

Great furniture can be sourced mush cheaper than few years ago, practically newish stuff on donedeals, adverts.ie etc for €less than shops. Some of the photos have really old looking furniture like the book cabinet in the piano room or the dining table table and chairs (some times youd see theses on net for free,). Have a friend who believes only one piece in any room needs to be expensive so its the first thing you spot as you enter the room.

Was in closing down sale of a bedroom shop few weeks back when mattress/furniture a giveaway, also attended a liquidation auction of a designer shop in athlone last year where the prices were unbelievable....

Thank you for your reply.

I would agree with you and I have a few pieces of furniture that I have gathered over the years that could be accents in a room. I suppose if I take it bit by bit I will get the look I wanted somthing classical I suppose that wont date too much.

Can I ask you where you heard about the liquidation sale? Do you just keep an eye on local press I have been looking out for clearance sales of tiles and bathrooms ect but I have seen nothing yet.....

Thank you for taking the time........

J

These are some of my favourites:

http://theletteredcottage.net/
the before and afters are fab.

http://www.houzz.com/



You can recreate almost anything on a lower budget, often the thing though is it comes down to time and effort - you'll need to put in a lot of both. If you enjoy it that's part of the fun!

ETA: try www.donedeal.ie and www.gumtree.ie or www.jumbletown.ie for cheap/free furniture to makeover in the style you want.

Thank you Mel,

Wow the potterybarn how cool is that you can design your room I will have lots and lots of fun with this it will be a brilliant help.

Thank you so much for taking the time......

J

Mel said:

These are some of my favourites:

http://theletteredcottage.net/
the before and afters are fab.

http://www.houzz.com/



You can recreate almost anything on a lower budget, often the thing though is it comes down to time and effort - you'll need to put in a lot of both. If you enjoy it that's part of the fun!

ETA: try www.donedeal.ie and www.gumtree.ie or www.jumbletown.ie for cheap/free furniture to makeover in the style you want.

Click to expand...

Clicked on the 1st site, and once the 1st line read:

"Howdy! We’re Kevin and Layla Palmer and we're enthusiastically passionate about life, love, music and design!"

I couldn't go any further.

RMCF said:

Clicked on the 1st site, and once the 1st line read:

"Howdy! We’re Kevin and Layla Palmer and we're enthusiastically passionate about life, love, music and design!"

I couldn't go any further.

Click to expand...

They're american! Layla is a celebrity in the interiors-blogging world, her husband seems to be in a band. If you can get past the twee-ness, her ideas are great and very low budget.

From what I have seen of the interior blogs there seems to be a lot of this - I usually cant spend much time on them because I find it annoying.

That is why I posted here because I thought there maybe Irish sites that I was unaware of - there must be quite a few people like me who are going DIY and I thought these resources could help.

Thank you all for commenting.....

A lot of the Irish-produced stuff is very high-end in my experience - what's shown in Irish magazines is expensive and out of most people's budget.

While I personally like the American blogs, the 'god' element can be very strong and a bit offputting. Also a bit frustrating seeing the great range of DIY materials available over there that's not here yet, in addition to the much cheaper prices for materials over there.

I also love this one:
http://itsthelittlethingsthatmakeahouseahome.blogspot.com/

This is a list of the top blogs:
http://padstyle.com/top-25-interior-design-furniture-blogs/810

Most of the UK interiors magazines have good websites where you can pick up ideas.
Try these, there are others that I can't think of right now:

http://www.idealhomemagazine.co.uk/
http://www.homesandgardens.com/

liquidation sale was advertised on donedeal.ie by the auctioneers, you did need to give five hundred cash at door to get bidding number that was fully refunded if one didnt purchase,

local papers in galway always have closing down furniture sales,

another great place (and Im sure people will go mad) is when we were building six years ago the old showhouses and even just houses on sale. Nowadays I just read property pages and check the photo's on the auctioneers website. However just spotted on this morning in galway freesheet paper that has a open viewing on sunday that looks to have a fab garden. the house is described "as a little bit of heaven"....plus I learnt fairly quickly goin to the real expensive houses is the one you'll aspire to. I actually did the two houses in moate that were used in the RTE Showhouse.

Thank you for the info sandals.

People probably will go mad! But I think lots of people do that - you are correct also the most expensive is the one you will aspire too. What I think I will do is take it piece by piece and sourse suppliers that are mentioned in the magazine articles that I like and see can I bargin with them.

Coving for example and joinery work seems to be important as it creats a look - it seems the coving is not that expensive and would only be required in some rooms - joinery around doors is somthing I know nothing about so I must research it - we thought we would go with pre-hung doors but I doubt we could achieve the look with them...

Off I go searching and more researching........

J