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Top 25 Home Design #19 & 20

Oct 31, 2011 - Article Views: 476

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It's a biological fact that decorating goes hand in hand with motherhood. Even after the initial urge to nest subsides (in which you transform a neglected nook in your home into an adorable nursery using only spackle, sweat, and a hand-me-down crib), your children's constant growth dictates periodic re-dos of the space you share as a family.

Out goes the crib, in comes a twin bed...no more room for the home office that was hiding in the nursery...cleverly recreate it in a hallway closet...add twins to the family, get a bigger kitchen table...ready to get rid of the kids' play table...refinish it as a new end table for the porch…

And so on, all the way up to the day your no-longer little one leaves home, and you finally get that nook back and transform it into something else entirely: a craft room maybe?

Even if you've never experienced design fever, you may well start to after looking at our list of the top 25 design blogs, as shared and ranked by Circle of Moms members.

These resourceful writers brighten our days with eye candy from the worlds of decor, architecture, design, food, and everything that falls under those umbrellas, including thrifting for vintage finds, inspiring before & after transformations, and "get the look" how-to's for budget projects. Read on, and just see if (as the husband of blogger #5, Emily Clark, shared on her blog) you don't find yourself "intently staring at a blank wall" and mentally canceling all plans for the weekend.

19Table Tonic by Louise Bell

Table Tonic

What inspired you to start blogging?

Probably the fact that everyone else had one, to be honest! I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I didn't have too much direction when I started it, I just wrote that first post, planned on blogging daily, no matter what, and went from there.

What are 3 distinctive features of your blog:

It's not too serious — I am by no means a qualified interior designer or stylist, I'm just throwing some inspiration around.
Colour features heavily — I have a magnetic attraction to colour, like a moth to a flame!
It's very "me" — Everything is from the heart, things that I am ridiculously infatuated with or passionate about. It's personal.

20The View Along the Way by Kelly M.

The View Along the Way

What inspired you to start blogging?

I thought, “You know what the internet needs? It needs someone who doesn’t really know what they’re talking about to start a blog. We don’t have enough of that.” Okay, here’s the truth: I write all day for work. I love it, but everything I create has to go through layers and layers of approvals, and never really feels like mine in the end. I started blogging as a creative outlet, where I could spill and be real and messy, sometimes embarrassing myself and always being imperfect. Where I click “publish” and suddenly I am out there, and no one can take it back. It’s freeing and terrifying.

When my husband and I laid claim to a run-down, shabby foreclosure that needed, well, everything, my blog became a place to share our DIY projects, get advice and commiserate about what the heck we were thinking buying this place.

What are 3 adjectives that describe your blog?