Quite often, the problem is not planning a remodel or even redecorating, you may even have the funds just burning a hold in your pocket ,waiting to be spent; sometimes, the problem is simply deciding what you want to do! Whether your mind is blank or if you’re over-inspired with so many fantastic ideas that you can’t decide on one, these tips will help get on track.

Finding Inspiration

If you’re having a hard time finding something to inspire you, maybe you’re looking for too much. Instead of trying to vision an entire room, perhaps find a rug, piece of art or a color that just draws you in and then plan your decorating scheme around that. Sometimes just looking through magazines, browsing the internet or going shopping will trigger the design that you’ve been looking for.

Finding Your Style

Don’t be afraid to try something that is totally not you! If you’ve always had neutral rooms, go bold! Been doing the contemporary thing since before it was in style? Why not try Victorian? It’s always a thrill to shop for antiques and vintage items.

Reuse What You Can

On a budget? Quite often, just changing the paint color on your walls, buying a new cover for the couch, moving the furniture around and adding a few new decorative pillows is all that you need to get you out of the boring rut that you’ve found yourself in.

Address Your Lighting

Whether you’re doing an entire remodel or just sprucing things up a bit, don’t overlook your lighting. There is nothing exciting about that same light fixture you’ve been looking at for the past 10 years. Adding pendants, recess lighting, chandeliers, wall scones or an assortment of fun lamps will give your space an instant facelift. You can’t imagine the impact that stylish lighting can have on a room until you see the transformation!

When all is said and done, don’t forget to insure your home! Design provides you with the ease and enjoyment of your space, but home insurance gives you peace of mind.

Funky, contemporary, retro AND vintage all rolled into one? Is that even a possible or logical combination? Apparently so! One of Padstyle’s readers was kind enough to recommend the Plush Deco site in the comments section of our Top 25 Interior Design and Furniture Blogs entry. Well, if you can’t tell by the flower-inspired chair in the picture, this is definitely a furniture line worthy to be labeled as Friday fun!

The upholstered Flower Blossom Chair is not only incredibly unique and a definite showstopper, it’s surprisingly comfortable. It comes in green, purple and black, covered with a shiny microfiber fabric and it has a gorgeous swiveling chrome base. If you have a room that’s just lacking something, this may be that one focal point piece that you desperately need. This is a chair that would look great in an office too, it certainly is a conversation starter and a fabulous way to break the ice.

Who says furniture has to be either stylish or comfortable? Why can’t you have the best of both worlds? For more information on the Flower Blossom Chair or to view the rest of the incredibly fun and oh-so-stylish furniture, visit the Plush Deco website.

While you may assume that painting a mural on a wall is only practical for nurseries or a child’s room, this is not true. Depending on how creative and artistic you are, they are perfect for walls in your bathroom, kitchen, hallways, etc. Even your primary living space that maybe has a short wall would be the perfect place for a life-sized piece of art. If you’re ready to tackle a wall, don’t go into it blindly. The last thing you want to do is eye-ball a mural, unless of course you’re just that good!

• Create a Graph – The easiest way to paint a mural on a wall is to create a graph first. Measures out specific distances across the wall vertically and horizontally and then either thumbtack yarn to create a grid or use a pencil. If you plan on using a pencil, you should be either painting the entire wall or you better have the best quality eraser available to not smudge unpainted parts of the grid when you erase the lines.

• Draw Your Design – Grab a piece of paper or poster board and create the exact same grid on it so there is the same number of squares with a pen and draw your mural on this. You will have a lot more freedom to make errors and start over this way and since you created the lines in pen, you can erase as many times as you need to.

• Transfer to the Wall – Using the squares on the paper as a guide to the squares on the wall, recreate your mural on the wall. You can either just make really light outlines if you’re pretty comfortable with a paint brush or you can go ahead and draw yourself a detailed picture to paint.

• Paint – The last step in creating a mural is to paint. Acrylic paint works best and don’t forget to seal it when it is completely dry. When working with a lot of colors in an area, you may have to let one color dry so your arm or hand doesn’t smudge it.

Murals can either be a quick and simple project that you do over the course of a day or they can be detailed masterpieces that you continuously return to over a long period of time. Either way, they create a really spectacular focal point in any room!

The last weekend in April has arrived, it’s time to open those curtains, clean the windows and let the sun pour in. Of course, if you really want to bring your indoor living space to life, you’ll hang a crystal in those windows that welcome the sun.

Why Hang Crystals?

It doesn’t matter if you hang one or a dozen crystals, they are going to bring an array of intoxicating color into your home. Beams of light that dance around your room not only make the space appear larger, they breath new energy into the environment.

Placement

When you hang crystals in your window, they need to be close enough to the glass to capture the sun’s rays yet not so close that they can’t twirl around. It’s easiest if you hang a tension rod for this purpose, then you can hang one in the middle, scatter several across the width of the window at various heights or create a cluster.

For an even more dramatic look, position them so their light beams will reflect off a mirror or stainless steel object so your entire room will fill with a rainbow of color. You may want to experiment with several different sizes and shapes because every crystal will create its own unique pattern. Be warned though, staring at dancing rainbows can be additive!

Well, it is April and depending on where you live, it seems as though you have about a 50/50 chance of either grabbing your sunglasses or your umbrella as you’re walking out the door. Where is your umbrella anyway? Buried in the hall closet? Under the bed or in the dog’s toy box? Wouldn’t it be nice to find the thing when you desperately need it and you’re late leaving the house?

Now, what do you do with your soaking wet umbrella when you come home? Lay it on your wood floor or set it on the table? You may not but there is a good chance that if you have kids, they probably do! Really, what else are they suppose to do with them?

An umbrella stand set politely at the door welcomes springtime, helps you find what you need and get out the door faster and gives everyone a universal place to put their umbrella when they come home. If umbrellas have a home, they’re more likely to make it there when not in use.

Umbrella stands don’t have to be boring though! Take for example, the cubed umbrella holder shown in the picture. It’s modern, attractive and stainless steel so you don’t have to worry about rusting and it certainly is one of those pieces that will catch the eye of anyone who comes in the door. They’ll probably even leave wondering why they don’t have one and how you ever came up with the idea that you needed one. Umbrella stands have been around a long time but they’ve never looked quite like this. You can find this cubed holder at CHIASSO online.

Spring is officially here and without a doubt, nothing goes hand in hand better with a warm sun and a cool breeze better than a hammock! While you may be picturing Gilligan’s Island and feel as though your contemporary outdoor living space has no room for rope, you should know that these loungers made for lazy days have come a very long way!

The Hatteras Hammocks Adventurer Collection pictured above is comfortable and extremely stylish. It features a fast-drying, durable fabric that allows your skin to breathe so you never feel sweaty like you would if you were laying on a lounge chair. The spreader bars are stunning, made from South American cumaru and for those who are environmentally conscious, good news, Hatteras Hammocks only uses cumaru harvested from managed forests!

Have you had a hard time getting comfortable in hammocks you’ve laid on before because they’re just too short? This hammock is an amazing 13 ft long and almost 5 ft wide with a maximum weight capacity of 450 pounds so yes, there’s room for two!

You can find the Hatteras Hammocks Adventure Collection as well as full selection of rope, fabric, tree-hanging, free-standing and chair models at The Soothing Company.

If a single piece of furniture could define the word contemporary, the Amphora couch by Desforma furniture would be it. The piece literally screams for attention without being obnoxious. It is surprisingly comfortable, exceptionally crafted and simply elegant. In fact, the entire collection by Desforma is stunning and years ahead of its time. Just when you fall in love with one couch the Gravity chaise lounge or Safari sofa will catch your eye, making your decision that much harder!

About Desforma Furniture

What is there to say about a company that manufactures their furniture by hand like pieces of art? The result is furniture that is mysterious in design and looks phenomenal from every angle. These are not pieces you toss up against a wall to hide the boring back. No, these functional art pieces deserve to be showcased in the middle of a room to admire from every angle.

Desforma uses pure wood when creating the structure of their furniture, not polyurethane mass so it is durable, stable and comforting to every inch of your body.

If you are looking for a one-of-a-kind piece of furniture that will impress your guests and invite you to relax, Desforma has something for you. Also, good news to Padstyle’s American readers, Desforma ships abroad so you can enjoy their gorgeous furniture too! Visit Desforma Furniture to view the entire exquisite collection and take your decor to a superior level.

Interior design, like fashion, tends to come full circle eventually. What was old is new, what was retro is reclaimed as modern. Take a look at some of these images from the 60s- and 70- era drama Mad Men for some old school inspiration for your modern home. And if you really have some time to kill, check out an episode or two for some stylish entertainment!

The original Mad Men office is a stunning example of updated retro – minimalism, clean lines and lots of light. We love its sleek look – how about you?

Wood paneling is difficult to pull off, but take a look at the paneling alongside those blocky retro chairs. It doesn’t get any better!

The Draper residence is opulent and, in our opinion, has just a bit more “Betty” and a bit less “Don”. The feminine peach accent pillows, floral chair and peach-toned wood is calming and sophisticated.

Helen Bishop’s mustard yellow couch, ornate lamp and tree branch wall decor comes together in a welcome throwback that would look great in any modern home.

We don’t want to ruin the plot for anyone who isn’t caught up in the clandestine Madison Avenue drama on Mad Men, but we think it’s safe to say that the makeshift office that Draper and the others move into temporarily in the third season is full of patterns, rich colors, and lots of inspiration.

Today’s Friday Fun post is meant to inspire you to do something with those boring rectangular windows you’ve got. It is so important to have sunlight flooding into your home, but that’s just half of the equation: the other half is the portal through which it floods. So enjoy these three stunning windows that you can use for inspiration, and get renovating!

Arches have been part of modern architecture since the days of Julius Caesar, but that doesn’t make them ancient. There is something timeless about their sweeping curve and their tall form. Arched windows are a stately and bold item, and they will make your home feel like a castle. You can flank a large arched window with two smaller arches on either side, or convert all of your windows to the arched look for royal effect.

Image courtesy of 601 Dolores Street

Stained glass isn’t just for church windows anymore. It can be a modern approach to window treatment as well. Not only does it look stunning as-is, but when the light comes through, it casts a rainbow of colors onto the interior. To avoid a dated look, go for geometric patterns as opposed to floral.

Image courtesy of Just Glass Online

You can completely ditch your rectangular windows in favor of circles if you want to. Circle windows have not fully caught on yet, but just take a look at the image above: the inlaid circle increases the design of the whole room, giving the impression of an upgraded porthole. Circles should be used with caution, but they can definitely create a unique look.

Image courtesy of designShrine

Today’s Friday Fun post is in anticipation of the holiday around the corner – Halloween. Pumpkin carving is the must-do decorating trend of the season, but you don’t always have to go for the traditional jack-o-lantern to spruce up that orange orb. Here are five modern pumpkin decorating ideas that will make the trick-or-treaters (or at least their parents) jealous.

Pumpkins gilded gold. Is there anything more sophisticated? This look reminds us of Cinderella, because it has that certain magic about it. You will find instructions on how to get the look from the Country Living website.

Image courtesy Country Living

If you’re looking for a simple but effective way to spruce up your pumpkins this year, try decorating them with ribbon. Black, white and orange ribbon can be attached to the circumference of a pumpkin with a little double-sided tape, and voila! You’ve got a stunning centerpiece.

Image courtesy of Good Housekeeping

For the more crafty out there, you can give your pumpkins a silvery sparkle with a little wire, some pliers and a screwdriver. Simply bend the wire, leaving a half-inch point sticking out. Then poke a hole in the pumpkin skin with the screwdriver, and insert the wire. Beautiful!

Image courtesy of Bella Knitting

Pumpkin candle holders are an ingenious way to maintain that glowing jack-o-lantern feel without the spooky grin. When placing these hollowed-out pumpkins around your home, just be sure they are in a well-ventilated area to avoid a fire hazard.

Image courtesy of Midwest Living

Painted pumpkins pack quite a style punch! You can add tribal bands of black symbols around its exterior, or paint the whole pumpkin white for a ghostly effect.

Image courtesy of Alabama Living