Wednesday, January 6, 2010

The Decor Notebook

You can see where the start of the year has been for me on the domestic front. Organization and learning to make the perfect cup of coffee... well I guess you couldn't see the cup of coffee thing, but the organization is clear enough.

This is the stuff that belongs in the pocket of my decor notebook. They are color swatches for rooms in our house. I keep them together in that pocket just in case I ever need to get touch up paint for a room, or want to find a shade I loved in another house. It is very helpful to have them for projects I am currently in the middle of as well. I can take the paint swatch to the store with me to pick out other paint colors, or counter tops, or even door knobs.

There are only two sections to my decor notebook. It is designed as more of a flip through book than a strict guide. The first section is the ideas we have used that have our version with them, and the second is for inspiration. Of course, both sections are filled with page protected printed pictures of wonderful things that inspire me.

Above is a two page spread of what I would like to do in Alex's room. The closet desk on the left, and the color scheme along with a tiny picture I found that I like the style of, on the right. My notes about what I would like to do, and paint swatches at the bottom looking for the perfect beige to go with the navy he already has in there. This has been in the notebook since June. None of these are things that happen fast (decorating never really is something you can rush if you want it to be right) but there it is... so when I want to start on that room, I don't have to hunt and peck for the paint colors or ideas I was thinking about last year.

On the 'inspriation only' part of the binder, I collect all kinds of pictures. I even have pictures of things that I like about other peoples yards on here. I do try to give credit, but I am not as careful about this book as the craft ones. Nearly all of the things in this book will be for nothing more than my personal use. So if I find something on a google image search, and can't find who did it... I don't worry that much.

In the inspiration section of the notebook, I have many pictures that I like the style, but wouldn't really fit in my house. This was an email from Apartment Therapy that was sent to me about a year ago:

I just finished my own version on a blank wall in our house. Well, finished isn't exactly the word... it still needs a lot of work, but I spent the last year finding used wall letters from the Goodwills and Value Villages in our area and then about a month ago I decided that I needed to fill in the gaps and bought G, J, Q, & Y at a local toy store. It still needs some work, but I am excited about the way it looks with our little reading corner under it. And I added the "work in progress" picture next to this one in my decor notebook.

Being able to have my work in progress picture right next to my inspiration picture has been SO helpful in so many of my decoration ideas. It really gives you an idea of how close you want to be to your inspiration... and what you would like to change.

Like with this:

This was an inspiration picture that I really enjoyed... but to me it didn't look "finished". It screamed "children will get splinters while hanging up their coats" and I just couldn't do it exactly the same... so I did this instead:

Sanded and finished, uniform and whitewashed... the backdoor is just to the right of this picture, and every time I walk in there, I enjoy the view of this interesting but still very functional coat rack. And of course, this picture is in the decor notebook.

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3 comments

Christina Scovel said...

Goodness you have some of the coolest ideas!

5orangepotatoes said...

I LOVE the coatrack!
lisa

M.E. Greene said...

I have a similar notebook and I love it! :)

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