Cooperative Living September 2015 - 23

CAUGHT IN THE WEB by Laura Emery, Field Editor
Live, Love, Laugh
and Decorate
Websites that make decoratingfun and easy.
For direct links
to suggested websites,
visit www.co-opliving.com.
Y
our home is your haven; the place where you unwind and refresh your mind, body, and soul. It's where little feet
toddle over soft, sumptuous carpeting, where friendly faces gather around a decadently adorned dining table, and
where lovers lounge atop plush, pillowed sofas. It's where color, pattern and texture say something about those
who live, love and laugh there. In short, it's where life happens. Whether you're decorating a new home or just
refreshing and updating your tired decor, there are some great resources online to help you create the best space possible.
From the best online room planners, to the top decorating websites, to the best stores for shopping online, you've got everything
you need to design and decorate your space without ever leaving the house.
www.decorist.com
Many different factors dictate
www.homestyler.com
Whether you want to design
your personal design taste -
and, based on those factors,
design tastes may change and
evolve over time. If you're
unsure of what your current personal
design style is, take the
design-style quiz at www.
decorist.com. This website combines
technology and design
talent in an entirely new way to
bring you personalized product
recommendations and affordable
design advice. It's easy to
take your room to the next level
using Decorist. Here's how it
works: First, you shop great
product finds. Decorist designers
handpick the best home-decor
product finds from their favorite
online sources. For a fee, your
personal picks are delivered
right to your customized
Decorist page. You can also
seek advice from a real designer.
If you have a quick design
question, just ask a Decorist
designer, for free. If you need
more involved help pulling
a room together, you can
purchase a Decorist room
makeover and work with a
designer to transform your
room in your style and budget.
your dream house or experiment
with redecorating the home you
already have, Homestyler can
help you visualize your plans.
The site lets you drag and drop
furniture and brand-name products
(there are over 15,000 items
to play around with) into your
virtual home to check them out
before you commit to buying. It's
user-friendly; ideal for design and
computer novices. When you're
done you can print out the list of
items to take to the stores. With
this online room planner even the
novice decorator can create a
room that looks like it was decorated
by a pro. It's the fast, easy
way to create rich 2D and 3D
home designs for your dream
kitchen, bathroom remodel, interior-
or exterior-design projects.
www.bhg.com/decorating
From creative (and easy) DIY
wall art to picking the perfect
color palette, the Better Homes &
Gardens website has got it all -
the best home-decorating ideas,
do-it-yourself projects, paint-color
palette suggestions, windowtreatment
tips, and small-space
solutions for your favorite spaces.
September 2015/www.co-opliving.com
Find inspiration for your own
spaces as you browse through
hundreds of photos that showcase
unique decor ideas. Or, learn decorating
basics with tips from experienced
interior designers. This is
the place to go if you need to be
inspired to put together a new
color scheme, as there are plenty
of tips on how to choose the proper
colors - from paint to upholstery.
Also, be sure and take
advantage of the website's helpful
tools, such as Arrange-a-Room
and My Color Finder, to help
make decisions on furniture placement
and paint-color choices.
diyonthecheap.com
The mission of DIY On the
Cheap is to share creative ideas
for home decorating on a budget.
This blog focuses on everything
from bargain shopping and thrifting,
to craft projects, to furniture
refinishing and other DIY projects.
There are currently two regular
series on the blog: " Ask Five, "
where blog owner Erin, a 30year-old
Southern transplant originally
from Indiana, periodically
conducts quick five-question Q&A
interviews with experts in home
decor, crafting and " DIY " ; and
" Frugal Friday, " where a list is
shared of hand-picked bargainpriced
home-decor items that she
comes across each week. This site
features everything from furniture
makeovers to building an affordable
toddler bed.
olioboard.com
Ask interior decorators how
they get inspired and they will likely
show you a mood board. Often
featuring visually appealing compilations
of fabric swatches, furniture
photos and torn-out pages of
decorating magazines, mood
boards are a great way to start
any home-decor project and
remain focused on the overall
design plan. However, not everyone
has the time to cull all those
bits and pieces. At olioboard.com,
you can build your own mood
board in just a few clicks. Search
the site's listings, which contain
thousands of pieces of furniture,
works of art, maps, fabric, tiles
and more, then drag them onto
your virtual board. Additionally,
all items on olioboard link through
to the retailer's online store for
purchase. Olioboard is also a
community of home-decor lovers
who chat and compete in design
challenges. This website makes
decorating fun.
21
LAURA EMERY PHOTO

http://www.co-opliving.com http://www.decorist.com http://www.homestyler.com http://www.olioboard.com http://www.decorist.com http://www.diyonthecheap.com http://www.olioboard.com http://www.bhg.com/decorating

Cooperative Living September 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Cooperative Living September 2015