Every decorista remembers the first time they knew they were in love with home design. For me, it was at age 13, when my mom let me redecorate my foofy pink room however "I wanted!" I chose lavender walls and pastel green and blue bedding from the then totally new Anthropologie. I don't even think we had a store in Houston at the time. My bedroom was accented by green/blue tulle made into wispy "curtains" on my traditional four poster bed. I also picked out an antique desk in Austin. For Wall art, I chose tons of framed black & white photos of Marilyn Monroe. The whole thing is a little nauseating in retrospect, but at the time I thought I was the hippest 13 year old decorista on the block.
I smartened up my taste a little in late high school when my mom got me a pretty sage green comforter by Rachel Ashwell and we painted the walls a cream/taupe stripe. I stayed in my "everything has to be white, shabby-chic" phase all through college and didn't emerge from that chrysalis until I graduated, when I fell more in love with the "industrial chic meets Hollywood Regency meets Understated French" thing.
This is more my speed nowadays....image via Vintage Living
As I've honed my tastes a little better through the years, and added in influences from Domino (tear!), Home Decor Stores, Elle Decor, House Beautiful, Country Living, and my FAVES British House & Garden and British Country Living, I think I've ended up with a much more
well-rounded style.
About two years ago I discovered home decor blogs. I was more than a little tardy to the party on that one, but I honestly had no idea what blogs were before that. I'm obviously living in the dark ages, because I still can't wrap my head around "pod-cast". Anyone who wants to explain to me what it is, please feel free.
image via La Dolce VitaLast year, I was searching for photos of Olivia Palermo's Fabulous NYC apartment, and I discovered Paloma Contreras' Blog, La Dolce Vita. I immediately fell in love with it, mostly because of her incredible taste and eye for design and style, but also because she's a fellow native Houstonian! Before Paloma, I was a little intimidated by most of the female bloggers out there, since they all are designers in L.A. and NYC and seem to be impossibly chic and some are kind of unrelatable.
Miss Palomaimage via La Dolce Vita
I discover new home decor blogs everyday, but Paloma's is my first blog love, and she never ceases to entertain me with her fabulous finds! She has awesome series like " 10 things I can't live without" where she interviews bloggers and designers alike about their fave things and
"Fabulous Room Friday!" which is one of my personal favorites. It's one of the "10 things I can't live without!" ( No pun intended.)
A recent fab room Friday on LDV.Please note the Black and White Marilyn Picture.
Perhaps I wasn't so off base after all.
This morning on my way to work, I was talking to my friend Jill and she told me that Paloma came into the store she works in yesterday. I could NOT contain my excitement. She might as well have told me that Julia Roberts or Jennifer Aniston walked in. I hope to meet Paloma one day and perhaps share design secrets! I just hope I would be able to contain my star-struck behavior. It could get embarrasing.Perhaps I wasn't so off base after all.
Besides providing loads of design eye and mind candy, Paloma has introduced me to a lot of home decor blogs that I now read. Yesterday she did a post on Kyle, who writes Knight Moves.
I have been looking for a surrogate local blogger since I left Houston for Dallas/Fort Worth, and Miss Kyle definitely fits the bill. I spent all yesterday evening perusing her blog. She mostly talks about the adventures of redecorating her FABULOUS Dallas home. What I like most about Kyle's blog is that she scouts out deals in the most umimaginable places. Like HSN, where she has found Awesome Nate Berkus Stuff.... 
Or Walmart where she found this trellis bedding that she used for the bed and another set that was used for curtains in her third guest room. So fun!
Since I'm such an advocate of imaginitive bargain shopping at places like TJ Maxx and Salvation Army, I love that Kyle is too!
Whatever their posting about, these Lady Bloggers are an inspiration.
Where do you find design and style inspiration?
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