We often look towards the internet gurus for inspiration on everything, especially interior design. Your home is where you probably spend most of your time in, therefore it should look and feel the way you want it to. The experts here at We Got Lites searched all over the web and created this list of the top home design blogs that we think you should follow for great interior design ideas and DIY tips for your home.
Making it Lovely is a light pastel pink themed blog that is as much a means of inspiration, as it is an archive detailing a blogger’s life journey. Run by designer and online shop owner, Nicole Balch, the blog was originally created as a means for Balch’s family members to see her home decorating progress. Today, the blog details two stylish houses, lifestyle tips, and short lessons on designing.
Our featured work from Making It Lovely is the inspiring and instructive Making It Yours (MIY) series. Each post from this series follows a piece of furniture coupled with various types of furniture and décor in order to showcase its range decorative uses.
The Lettered Cottage is a quaint blog created by southern writer, Layla Palmer. This blog follows the Palmer’s cottage style designs and renovations around her home and explores tips and tricks on how others can transform their homes into design spaces of their own. Additionally, the blog tracks Palmer’s adoption process as she works to bring a son home from Haiti, thus giving the overall feel added slice of life flare.
Our favorite from this blog is an amazing post titled, “Camp Treehouse”. As its name suggests, the post details the process of constructing a treehouse atop an old tree and the elaborate interior designing work that came after.
A Beautiful Mess is not only a blog on home décor, but also a blog on recipes, crafts, and the general musings of life. It is a good place to find blogging tips, crafting ideas, meal ideas, and style advice. A Beautiful Mess is co-created by two sisters, Elsie Larson and Emma Chapman. It is a good place to find inspiration on modern looking home decorations.
“Washi Tape Wall Décor” is an instructional piece on how to make modern wall designs from something as simple as tape. The post details the tools and the step by step process on how to create a geometric heart.
Totally Home Improvement is an arsenal of home improvement and interior design ideas. It features a wide array of information, from home décor to exterior designs and even home security and safety. It is the perfect place to find advice for every aspect of your home.
Check out this informative post about the Shabby Chic style. Jason Horton goes over some tips for recreating this popular style in your own home.
Before After is as simple as its name sounds: a blog that showcases the before and after photos of a project. It is a blog with the main purpose of inspiration. As the author, Lindsey, describes, there are no paragraphs of tutorials to wade through. It is a good fit for those just looking for ideas rather than instructions.
Our recommended post by this blog is called, “Take Me to Church”. This piece showcases an amazing journey turning an old church into a beautiful personal home.
Emily A. Clark is a blog that features designs carrying popping color schemes. Its writer, Emily Clark, is a wife and a mother of five. This blog is a nice place to pick up simple interior design ideas, as well as help on how to recreate the look. People looking for cheap and affordable project would surely have a blast here.
Our favorite from Emily is an instructional piece on when to paint wood furniture, and when not to. The post shows five examples from Craigslist and what the author would do with each one.
Think modern, but cozy, and you have a feel for the House of Fifty Blog. Quite unlike other home design blogs, House of Fifty also comes in a printed magazine version you can subscribe to every month. Its creator, Janell, is an editor and a seasoned.
When you have a lot of art and don’t know where to hang it, we recommend House of Fifty’s post by that exact name. In it, you may just find one of the simplest, most helpful tips you can get for hanging your art.
The authors of Young House Love introduced themselves as John and Sherry. Their blog is a place where they recorded their seven year journey fixing homes and raising their two children. Their projects range from light and airy homes to houses in a woodsy setting. Regardless of where they work, their designs seem to carry a light, house by the sea feel to it.
Our featured piece from Young House Love is a list of 18 tips on picking out the right curtains for your home and how to hang them. These tips cover everything from how to accommodate window shape to match the general feel of the room.
Centsational Girl has a simple purpose: “transforming the drab into the fab with an arsenal of paintbrushes and power tools”. It is a blog with cheap and affordable ideas for those on strict budgets, as most of the things featured can be found in thrift stores or home improvement centers. The designs feature harmonic colors that are easy on the eyes and the furniture are painted in a wide range of color schemes you can try.
The tone of your wooden furniture is just as important in the finished feel of the room as the accessories are. Our favorite piece of Centsational girl teaches you the techniques to mixing wood tones.
The Décor Chick has designs that are what one would picture when one thinks of upper middle class home design. It is a perfect for someone looking to use a little more use of decorations, rather than having a plethora of space. The posts on this blog cover everything from décor, to crafting, to weight loss.
Forget the fireplace; all you really need to spice up the house with a little warmth is a mantel. For ideas on where to install a fake mantel and how to decorate it, we recommend the post, “My Fake Mantel”.
The Nester isn’t your typical decorating blog, or even a DIY blog. It’s a blog that seeks to inspire readers to key their own homes to their own styles. That being said, you can still pick up some lovely decorating ideas from this blog, from hanging plates on the wall to using Aphrodite’s head as a flower vase.
Our recommended piece from the Nester teaches you to steal your own stuff. We think it’s very useful in teaching you to create a room using what you have, even if it means you don’t have a frame for that extra mattress you own.
The designs from SF Girl by Bay represent what is known as the “Bohemian Modern Style”. The showcased projects range from anywhere from classily modern to woodsy and spiritual. In addition to designs, SF Girl by Bay blogs product reviews, shopping tips, and entertaining lifestyle stories.
Coming from a blog called SF Girl by Bay, the title: “Make Mine Chunky” could refer to just about anything. We here to tell you that it is a really just very nice showcase for fat knit textiles, a perfect decoration for beds and rugs — take a look here.
Décor 8 is run by best-selling author, journalist, and stylist, Holly Becker. It is a blog that shares products, people, and places with an emphasis on creative decorating. For those looking to explore new products for decorating, this is the blog to look at.
For any green thumbs reading this, we would like to direct you to the “Garden Inspiration” post. This piece will teach you how to spruce up your room with a snip of green from your own garden.
The Blissful Bee is a blog that focuses on home design, DIY, fashion, and bits of life. Its featured projects make use of clean colors and makes use of furniture arrangement without making the room feel too cluttered. It is a useful blog for breaking down the individual components of the room with design plans.
Our favorite post from this blog is a room reveal piece of a living room that feature flashes of pink colors popping out against a white backdrop. Individual decorative items are helpfully pointed out and the store name for each item is given.
The slogan for Fox Hollow Cottage is: “real girl, real life, real budget”. Predictably, it is a very practical blog with inspirations and lessons on how to style homes with a budget. Its designs are light, down to earth, and helpful for elegant, yet attainable home makeovers.
The “Farmhouse Flair DIY Wood Storage Shelf How To” post offers insight on creating a rustic looking shelf for storage and decorative purposes. It is simply written and worth checking out.
The first impression we get from Happy Interior Blog room designs was geometric. The second was vegetation. This blog features an artistically modern way of furnishing your home with a touch of plant life in the mix. It offers good insight on how to arrange your belongings in a clean manner.
The post “Inspired by Africa: Rugs for Modern Homes” shows you that a simple tribal rug can make your place stand out. In the right location, like a library, the shapes and vibrant colors can make the room shine.
HomeJelly is a blogazine run by self-taught DIYer, Skaie. This blog explores inspiration and tutorials for simple and manageable home design and improvement. We recommend this blog especially for people looking to use green products and repurposing different items for decorative use.
Our favorite piece from HomeJelly will teach you how to achieve the side table look with a touch of creativity. The best part is: you don’t even need a table — a chair, or even a drum, will do just as nicely.
The Inspired Room offers a wide set of affordable and doable ideas for interior design. This is an instructive blog that teaches you not only to decorate, but also to organize and clean. The author, Melissa, promises that the blog will do its best to inspire the creation of authentic homes with no big budget.
A good read from this blog is a piece on how to create a calm home. It teaches that the patterns, colors, and visuals used to create a peaceful looking environment in a room.
Believe it or not, Domestic Imperfections is a blog that can fly by your average perfectionist. Making use of decorative items that are not overly extravagant in looks, the showcases in this blog convey a very homey, down-to-earth feel. It is a blog loaded with tips and tricks on DIY projects, crafting, and renovations.
If you have old furniture that needs repurposing, Domestic Imperfections offers you 15 ways to give it new life. We like this piece for its affordable methods of giving you the satisfaction of new decoration without paying for new furniture.
The cool thing about House of Turquoise is that in every room showcased, there is a pop of turquoise (or just blue) somewhere. It is a good source of inspiration for someone looking to find a way to make an eye catching room. The designs featured range anywhere from classic American to spaciously modern.
“Dearborn Builders + Tory Haynes Interiors” is a post featuring house-on-the-prairie styled rooms with artfully arranged furniture. Inspirational things to pay attention to in these designs are the little details, such as the splashes of colors against the overall scheme.
Simply Grove is run by interior stylist, Kristen Grove. It is a display and inspirational outlet for all things aesthetically pleasing. In addition, it can be wonderfully instructive in choosing furniture, color palettes, and accessories.
Our favorite post from this blog teaches you to arrange your bedroom in a stylish way. It covers everything from the feeling that colors bring out, to the choice of bedding.
Sarah Sarna is good for décor posts and guides hailing from individual categories, such as furniture, bath, books, and art. It covers topics going from the latest kitchen trends to the prettiest interior awards. It is also a good source for finding deals like sofas under $1,000.
A good example of the showcases this blog features is “10 Swoon-Worthy Chinoiserie Wallpapers”. We can tell you now, it is definitely swoon-worthy and definitely worth the look.
Amber Interior Design is owned by principal designer and owner of Amber Interiors, Amber Lewis. A blog for an established interior design company, it sits on the inspirational side of the spectrum. In addition, the blog features fashion related posts to spice things up.
A good thing to note on this blog is the before and after section for some modern and elegant ways to spice up your rooms.
FRENCHBYDESIGN is a repertoire of vintage interior style inspired by Scandinavian designs. The blog explores works of newly discovered designers, DIY projects, and instructional material on the general interior designing trends. Its design makes use of simplistic decoration against a non-cluttered backdrop, good for a classy, modern feel.
A post we recommend is a piece on wall painting techniques. The anti-conformist vibe of the finished feel can add a spark of personality to any room.
Open up to The Decorista’s page and the words “luxury doesn’t have to be expensive” greet you against the image of a luxuriously furnished room. It is a helpful mix of How-Tos, decoration ideas, and styling tips. As an added bonus, it also offers you a place to shop for the things either featured on the blog, or the author recommends.
Our favorite post showcases a decorative idea of a mirrored wall. It not only offers different ways of mirror arrangements, but also where to find them.
