“Every single one of us possesses the strength to attempt something he isn’t sure he can accomplish.”
-Scott Jurek in Eat & Run
Tag Archives: inspiration
Decorating My New Pittsburgh Home
When you move in to a new space, especially one so drastically different from your old, it’s pretty overwhelming to begin the decorating process. To start decorating my new 70-year-old Tudor-style duplex in Pittsburgh (I moved from a clean-cut suburban apartment in Madison, WI), I began with images. Pinterest, of course, is probably the best place to collect visual inspiration. After spending some time browsing, I decided to narrow down my decorating plans into 4 sections:
1. My bedroom, bathroom, and closets- with a focus on organization
2. My living room- with a focus on comfort, displaying eclectic pieces of art and memorabilia, and entertainment (a bar cart included in my plans!)
3. My dinning room and kitchen- with a focus on my favorite moments, brunch and coffee, by creating a coffee bar and a bright and open eating area
4. My sewing room- with, well, a focus on sewing!
Not a bad start for a pretty overwhelming ordeal! My goal this week is to get up most of my wall art and begin to rearrange. Stay tuned as I start to put together my two favorite ideas, the bar cart and the coffee bar!
Ciao!
Sarah
Design Inspiration for My New Place
Just about a year ago, I was moving into my first place and starting this blog (in Italian, “la mia prima casa” means my first house) to catalog my adventures. This week, my sister and I are moving into our second place. When we first moved, we wanted an eclectic, comfortable space, but faced the problems of living in an old house (bad trim, wall colors that didn’t fit our palette, and an outdated kitchen). Our second place is newer and lighter, with higher ceilings and a modern look. Our new decor inspiration is open, comfortable, and a mix of patterns with pops of bold colors. Below are my favorite inspiration images for my newest place.
Can’t wait to start the decorating process anew!
Ciao,
Sarah
What’s Inspiring Me Right Now…
This amazing goat created by my talented friend, Diana. Originally posted on the Canvas Lands’ End blog.
Some cozy artist’s space inspiration from 79 Ideas.
Memories of Florence.
Salvatore Ferragamo’s Men’s Fashion Show AW 2013 2014. Watch it here.
Everything about the second season of Girls and the music from it.
And finally, some guiding words of inspiration from the great Paulo Coelho:
“The energy of hatred will get you nowhere; but the energy of forgiveness, which reveals itself through love, will transform your life in a positive way.”
What’s inspiring you today?
Sarah
Some Good Ol’ Wisco Inspiration
5 Images to Inspire
Visualizing my (Home) Vision
I think the worse mistake I can make when trying to decorate my new place is attempt to do it blindly. I like to think that I have some vision for a perfect house in my head, but until I have some way of truly visualizing it, there’s not much hope that my vision will become reality. So, as well as finding inspirational images to get my house vision on track, I also utilized Polyvore to create my color pallet and pull some key images to create the mood for my bedroom. I’m going to introduce pops of bright colors through a couple Venetian masks, a vase of fake flowers, and my bulletin board/jewelry organizer. I suppose I’m going for a vintage, feminine, peaceful space.
What do you think?
Bettina Prentice, Lots of Stuff, & My New Place
I ran across this Vogue article about Bettina Prentice’s NYC apartment and found that her space has the essence of what I want to achieve with my bedroom (on a much smaller budget, of course). What I’m drawing inspiration from in Bettina’s apartment is the eclectic mix of lots of stuff. Having traveled Europe and having a penchant for antiquing and thrifting, I’ve collected a lot stuff, and I like the idea of displaying it all and incorporating it into your decor. I’ve chosen, for example, a pallet of purples, yellows, and blues to match my Venetian masks and vintage cameo collection. Centering the room all around these little things not only fills up space in an inexpensive way, it also keeps them from being stuffed into a box in my closet.
Images from Vogue.com
So far, I’ve created inspirational bulletin board jewelry organizer and bought a shabby chic comforter. My place isn’t like Bettina’s yet, but I hope soon enough to have an eclectic, shabby chic bedroom full of lots of stuff.
Ciao!
Sarah
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