What is my style?

I find often times people don't know where to start when redo their home or even just a room.  When people say, my style is modern or Victorian, it may be, but very rarely is that they end all be all.  My personal style is Tailored Transitional. It means I like a mix of contemporary and traditional, but cleaned up a bit and a little matchy-matchy. I like that. That is me.  You know how I came to that? I stored pictures.  I used to rip them out of magazines when I saw a picture and I looked at it longer than all the other ones or I let out a gasp of visual delight. THAT is when you know what you like - that little gasp. Now, I have Pinterest. I pin so many ideas of rooms.  Most of the time, it's because I really love that table, or rug or whatever. Sometimes it's because I love the color scheme, or is that what I love? I'm not sure why I love this room, but I just do.  Save it.  Once you do this for a month or more. Go back through them and you will see your style emerge because the pictures will have things in common.  Find the commonalities and build on that. Maybe you really like curvy furniture, or a mix match of artwork, or super sleek lines. After looking through pictures that made you gasp, you will see what your style is.  When you go shopping, for decorating that is, don't buy things because you need them. ( I know the opposite of shopping for anything else.) You buy them when you LOVE them.  I have needed curtains in my office for...forever now, but I haven't found the ones that I just love yet.  Wait for them.  It will make your space that much better and you will truly feel happy when you step foot into your space. It will make you gasp.

Homerefresh.webs.com

Along with this lovely little blog, I have a website, www.homerefresh.webs.com  On the website I offer more personalized advice on home improvement projects rather then generalized know-how like on this blog.  The site is very simple.  It allows people to upload pictures and then I will give them advice based on their actual space!  If you hop over to it, it has step by step instructions on how to do it.  The reason I started the site was because I know from experience that a lot of home improvement or decorating advice is inspirational but I can't always figure out how to make it work for me.  That is the beauty of homerefresh.webs.com. Instead of me saying good ideas, I can tell you exactly how to make the ideas work for you in your exact space.  That way, you will know exactly where to start and why it will work for you.  I have also noticed that people wonder how to make things 'feel like me'.  By using the site, along with pictures of the space you upload pictures of preferred color palettes or a favorite collection of knick knacks you don't know how to incorporate into a space. The more pictures you upload, the better your advice will be and the better the space will turn out.  Not everyone can afford an interior designer, so having someone that can help you out, for cheap and quickly, without having to leave home is quite the service.  Try it out at www.homerefresh.webs.com!

More on Ana

In my last post, I talked about the blog ana-white.com  I wanted to dig in to see what makes it a successful blog.  Firstly, I noticed how the blog looks.  It  looks like a DIY page due to the blueprint background that she has and the 'handwriting' links she has scattered around the page. It looks very casual and down to earth which is appealing to her target reader of DIYers.  She focuses on building things like furniture, inside and outside, and storage options. She also posts a new plan every day or every other day, which keeps it fresh.  It makes people want to visit her site often. Her plans are also very easy to understand because she puts it into everyday terms and sprinkles in home construction lingo.  She makes a cut list for each plan which is nice for the people who don't have their own saw and are getting them cut at the home improvement store for them.  Having the cut list makes it doable for people who are beginners, but just seeing the pictures is enough for people who have more carpentry experience like myself.  As far as comment from readers, I actually never saw a negative one.  I only saw comment praising the plan and how easy it was. I saw a couple that asked for some more direction but those were few and far between.  Overall, ana-white.com is a very successful blog because she has gotten in touch with her target readers.  Her posts are often pinned on Pinterest which makes for more frequent traffic.  She does a great job at her blog!

Other's Ideas

Being an avid DIY-er, I have lots of skills, but sometimes, I can't always think up what I need to do before I bust out the tools.  I found this great blog that has a ton of DIY furniture projects that come with complete plans! This helps me a lot because I may know I want to build a table, but need ideas of how to make it.  This blog/site is:
www.ana-white.com
She has great plans for building everything from dining tables to dollhouses to bunk beds!  Not only does she give you ideas of what to build, but also, how to build it. She has extremely detailed step by step pictures that will comfort any novice. She also isn't afraid to use real construction lingo, but does so in such a way that it will teach you the correct way and not scare you off.  Her finished projects look beautiful; like she bought them at a furniture store! And, you get the satisfaction of doing it yourself.
This just goes to show you that if you scour the internet, you can find real gems to help you refresh your home at a fraction of the cost with twice the empowerment, because you will do it yourself.  Nothing feels better than getting a compliment on something in your home and telling them that, "Yes, I built that myself." If you don't have the right tools, get them or rent them.  I can't recommend enough having a large, good quality sliding, compound miter saw. It can do almost anything and will replace A LOT of cheap hand tools and make that work half as difficult and time consuming.