Inspiration: Home Decor, Part 1

Today I have some fun home decor inspiration for you all! Of course I love graphic design best, but interior design is really neat, too, and some of the principles I see in interior design carry over into other art forms. The things I'm featuring today are generally more simple and modern looking...that's a style that I'm coming to like more. Clean and simple can be a really good thing.

First I want to show you a cool couch I saw on Bloesem.

I think the curved sides of this sofa are so neat. They're quite unique, and different from the classic, more rectangular couches. I like the neutral color, too - that seems to be a common feature of the simple, almost minimalistic style I've been liking lately. This couch (and also the presentation of the photo - love all the books!) inspires me to trim things down some, both design-wise and color-wise. This couch has very few lines, and also is entirely one color. Of course, there are times when more than one color (even lots of colors) can be good, but designs like this inspire me to try something a bit simpler every now and then. You can see more neat, minimalist sofas in this post from Bloesem.

I have lots more to show you, but before I go any further, I want to tell you about a blog I started reading recently called Design*Sponge. It has some great interior design and other inspiration on it, and while I can't recommend everything mentioned on the site, I've been enjoying all the cool ideas! Quite a few of the home decor things I'll share in this series come from that site.

And my next source of inspiration comes from Design*Sponge! It's a tutorial for a ceiling fan redo. Here's a picture:

You can read more about the project right here, but I want to mention why exactly this idea inspires me. I like the minimal, clean and simple look to it, but I also love the idea of revitalizing an ugly fixture. This ceiling fan doesn't look like it was that bad before the redo, but I have a ceiling fan that I really don't like, and I'd love to repaint it. The chevron stripes look cool, but I'm thinking painting the entire thing dark gray would give a cool, industrial look. We'll see if that idea ever comes to pass. It was neat to see that someone actually did redo a ceiling fan, though!

Next up is another redo project from Design*Sponge, but this time, it's for a whole kitchen and not just one item. I really like the way this room looks. The title of the post called it "industrial yet cozy," and I think that perfectly describes it. It certainly is possible for clean and simple design (both in home decor and in other art) to look start and uninviting, which isn't the best when you're decorating a kitchen. This design managed to avoid starkness while still keeping a simple, industrial feel as well.

I think my favorite things about this room are the exposed beams at the top (so cool!), and the chairs. I love the simple, almost retro look to them. I think the way this design combines coziness and cool, minimalistic style is really neat.

I have two more things to show you, and actually they're both shelves. Here's a neat one from Etsy.

I think this shelf is a neat representation of simple, clean style. The use of shapes is unique, too. Triangles instead of squares/diamonds was a good idea. I like the simplicity of the overall design.

And another neat, inspiring shelf idea... a modern art shelf! Here's a picture of the finished project, but you can read about the process here.

I love the simplicity of the shelf design itself - it's just a long, plain shelf! That is very indicative of the simple, modern style I've been talking about. But what inspires me about this shelf even more is what's on it: inspiration. The person who made this shelf put the art she loves up on a shelf to look at. And I think that's a great idea. So I am inspired by this idea to display inspiration. :) I may not have a shelf like this, but I can use a bulletin board or another means to put up things that inspire me.

I'd love to hear what you all think about all these fun home decor pieces and ideas! Do you have a favorite thing from this post?