Dwelement's Room for Inspiration - Design Ideas - Budget Decor - Solutions

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File this under "I wish I'd thought of that first."

Jun 28, 2010

Take a mailbox full of home catalogs with over-zealous stylists, add a couple of sarcastic bloggers, and you get this:

Catalog Living

You'll laugh, I promise. It's even better than Unhappy Hipsters. —Diane

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Spill it! A tablecloth that turns stains into art.

Mar 10, 2010

There's just no way around it: Tablecloths get stained. A glass of red wine here, a spot of gravy there. Norwegian textile designer Kristine Bjadaal made real life a part of her design concept for the Underfull Tablecloth. The traditional-looking damask bursts into a flutter of butterflies when a stain happens, turning the tablecloth into a story of dinners past or an homage to clumsiness.

Way to turn a flaw into a feature, eh? The tablecloth is only a prototype, but it's getting a lot of press so I wouldn't be surprised if a retailer snatches it up soon. What do you think?

Underfull - the tablecloth that turns spilling into poetry from Kristine Bjaadal on Vimeo.

TAGS: kristine bjaadal underfull tablecloth textile design

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Coolest Fabric Selector Tool!

Jan 15, 2010

{Short & Sweet Friday}

I'm pretty good about keeping my possessions in check. I try to enforce a one-in/one-out policy in my closet. So why can't I seem to curtail my fabric obsession? I think it's because of the potential that fabric holds. Each piece is worth a good hour of daydreaming what it might become.

As if I didn't have enough trouble resisting, now there's a super-cool online tool that helps you find fabric for sale on Etsy within one of 236 color palettes. Try this! It's amazing, beautiful, clever, and scary all at once. Especially useful for quilters since a lot of the fabric for sale on Etsy is quilting-weight cotton. It's appropriately named, too: morecloth.com

I could also see myself using this as an idea-generator for color schemes as they apply to entire rooms. Thank you, Catherine for creating this useful tool. I think. —Diane

Results from one of my favorite palettes on the page:

Need some help identifying a color palette that's "you"? I can help. Just email me!

TAGS: morecloth.com fabric shop by color palette tool etsy buy material color picker chooser

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Find Your Personal Style with a Fun Visual Quiz

Oct 28, 2009

I create design plans for rooms anywhere, often without setting foot in them. And one of the challenges with this concept (which I call eDecor), is getting to know the client. It's so important to me to understand each client's preferences and style. Your room should reflect you, not me.

Most people have a definite personal style but don't know how to articulate it. They just know it when they see it. So as one part of my detailed style questionnaire, I ask clients to head over to sproost.com to complete the visual design style quiz there. Everyone says it's fun. Lots of people even take it 3 or 4 times! The room above was one that I marked "Love it" and it pegged me yet again as a fan of Rustic Revival. (Which is true, though I like a little Midcentury Modern thrown in, too.)

The quiz is simple. Look at a picture of a room and rate how much you like or dislike it. Do this several times and the quiz begins to make connections and find similarities in your choices. Then it puts a label (or two or three) on your style. It will also suggest products that fit your style. Even if you don't buy those items, the information can help you explain what you like to decorators or sales staff when shopping for furniture. I use it as one of many components to help me identify what a client wants.

Take the Sproost Style Quiz.

Now how do I get that look in my house?

If you're stuck, I can help. My eDecor Plans give you all the knowledge you need to put together a room that's all about you. You'll get a complete design plan, from wall colors down to accessories, and a photographic Inspiration Board where you can buy everything with a click, or just use it as a visual guide for shopping in person. I take out all the guesswork for a fraction of the cost of a conventional interior decorator. Check out the Plans here or just email me and I'll answer all your questions. —Diane

TAGS: edecor edecorating e-decorating personal style quiz

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