A late start is better than no start! As promised I hope to kick it up and post more this year. Where to look for inspiration in 2012? There are so many ideas! Whenever I’m feeling a little stumped or just want to get the creative juices flowing I turn to a number of places. 

Inspiration One: Design Inspired Websites… there are a number of them and of course millions of blogs. However when I need a little extra oomph in a design I like to turn to Houzz.com. It’s always fun to see what other designers and homeowners are up to and how they tackle interesting spaces in the home.

Inspiration Two: Books… two of my latest favorites are…

For its images of vast beautiful spaces both inside and out:

To find the best color that wills et the tone (literally and figuratively) for a space:

Inspiration Three: Classes… what better way to challenge the mind than to learn something new. “They” keep saying that using your mind and exercising your mind in different ways will ward off so many things later in life like Alzheimer’s and dementia to name a few. The latest class I took was all about learning how to felt. We are just down the road from an alpaca farm and as luck would have it we stopped by with a friend yesterday (Saturday) to buy some yarn. One conversation lead to another and voila… today (Sunday) I leaned how to felt! My first project was a wine cooler (photos to follow later as I need to finish a few details once it is dry). Who knew you could take this:

and make this:

The process was fun and interesting but word to the wise, it is repetitive and it takes some time (hours actually) to complete one item. Now I know why it is considered an art.

What are your favorite places to turn for inspiration? I would love to hear all about it.