I’m a self-proclaimed paper fanatic. Notebooks, stationery, cards, envelopes – you name it, I’m there. With bells on. Especially when it comes to wrapping paper. Over the weekend, I was “window shopping” for some new and interesting wrapping paper. During my quest, I started to notice that some of the by-the-sheet gift wrap was so detailed and unique it could easily pass as bionafied art. Well, it is art. And it looks even better framed!

Floral, abstract, maps, illustrated, modern. With so many styles to choose from, it’s pretty safe to say you’ll be able to find some art wrapping paper to fit your style. Ordinarily the wrapping paper designs by-the-sheet run around $4.00 – which isn’t bad for a unique art print. Here are some of my favorite wrapping paper turned art possibilities…

Marigolds | Brush Stroke Gold | Pixel | Dogs | Lokta | Penguin Book Titles | Records
Boston Map | Chicago Points of Interests | Lotus | Yuzen Cherry Blossom Clusters

So, what do you think? Next time you’re in a pinch for some wall art, are you going to double-check the gift wrap section. You never know!

Frame from Pottery Barn.

Today, we’re talking about color. Coming from an advertising/art design background, I have a hollywood-ending-kind-of-love of color. I’m constantly finding myself taking cell phone photos of color combinations I see in ordinary everyday situations – like the butter dish and cutting board sitting on the counter a couple of Saturday mornings ago…

When it comes to home design, my favorite color scheme is a mix of light and dark neutrals with pops of fun color – which is what we’re aiming for in our place. We’re going for a palette of neutrals like grays, charcoals, and white with pops of blues, green, reds, and what I like to call “grellow” (a greenish yellow). Like the stack of books, remember? Yet another color inspiration from an everyday thing.

What’s neat about this kind of color palette is you can easily change up the accent colors down the road without thinking too hard or spending too much money. Picking out paint colors can be tricky – even when it comes to the neutrals. Thanks to Glidden paint, there’s a place called My Colortopia to answer all of our color questions and fuel our inspirations…

My Colotopia is the place to go if you are weary about choosing paint colors, or even if you just want have some fun and experiment with different color combinations. You can also get painting and color advice from some of our favorite fellow bloggers (like Kate from Centsational Girl, Nicole from Making it Lovely and Stefanie from Brooklyn Limestone).

The folks at Glidden put together a really nifty quiz to reveal the colors that suit your personality. It only takes a minute, so go ahead and give it a spin to see what colors might suit you…

We thought it was interesting how our answers were completely different, but our color results complement each other – just like our personalities!

How about you? What were your results? Are you a rock music loving Amethyst Jewel or a creative Walnut Bark?

We have been sponsored by Glidden brand paint to write this post, but the thoughts and opinions expressed are our own.

A few times a week, we get asked to give the 411 on some of our favorite on line design tools. Being one of the most FAQs around these parts, we thought it deserved it’s very own post. So without further ado, here are some of our favorite, easy-to-use, oh-so-awesome online design tools:

First on the list is Pottery Barn’s Room Planner. To get started, you can chose from an example design from their room gallery or create your own design from scratch with your room dimensions. What makes this online program so much fun (and so useful) is all the tools are super easy. If you’re just looking to lay out a room, this is a great tool. But if you’re are a PB fan like I am, you’ll love the fact that you get to use furniture from the Pottery Barn catalog to design your room. Even if you aren’t planning to redecorate anytime soon or make any furniture purchases, it’s a lot of fun to daydream and decorate your ideal Pottery Barn-styled living quarters.

Art.com is the bomb diggity. They have everything: black and white photography, abstract, scenic, still life, botanical, modern and classic movie posters… you name it, they’ve got it. One of the best parts of Art.com is the My Galleries feature. I use it all the time! It has been around for a while, but it seems to keep getting better and better. As you’re browsing through the thousands of artwork pieces, when you see one that catches you eye, all you have to do is click the “Save to Gallery” button and it will add it to your collection. In your Art.com gallery, you can organize your findings in folders (I like to organize by room), visualize how the different pieces you’ve collected look together (if you’re planning on a wall gallery of some sort), and share your collections with your friends/family on Facebook. My favorite feature is the ability to preview the art in your home by uploading a photo of the room you’re decorating. Yep, bomb diggity.

It’s no secret that we love to make mood boards here at 7th House on the Left. They’ve been a staple here since the very beginning, and they’re not going anywhere anytime soon. I’ve always used a mixture of Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator to make my mood boards – both are which open on my computer pretty much constantly. Right now, actually. Recently on my journeys around the internet, I came across Olioboard. As it turns out, it allows you to create great-looking mood boards for free. (There’s also a Pro version that lets you add color swatches, text, and a budget to your mood board for $8/mo. That’s still several hundred dollars shy of Illustrator’s price tag!) They’ve even got a huge gallery of products to choose from so you don’t have to upload pictures from another site.

MyDeco.com is a site that I’ve seen mentioned a lot around the world wide web recently. I’m  not too very familiar with the ins and outs yet, but from what I’ve learned so far, it seems to be pretty awesome – hence making it to our list. MyDeco is actually a suite of three tools in one: It’s a 3D room designer, a utility that can take images from around the web and save them to your account, and a mood board designer. (Yay for mood boards!) I feel like Olioboard is just a simpler tool to use if you just want to create mood boards. If you want to store your whole design in a single place, though, and “whip up” some 3D rooms, MyDeco seems like the place to go. I can’t wait to start playing with this more!

Last but positively not least is none other than the one and only Pinterest. It seems like everyone and their mother is on Pinterest. Simply put… I. Love. Pinterest. Even though it’s the place to collect photos houses we want to live in, things we want to buy, places we want to go, and cute animals we want to own, it’s also a great place to collect inspiration for “that room you have no idea what to do with” or DIY projects you want to try. Pinterest is what you make of it. You can have a board totally dedicated to black and yellow bedrooms or all white kitchens. Therefore, it’s the end all and be all of online design tools.

So about you? Do you have a favorite, must-try online design tool? Are you addicted to Pinterest too? Share it with the class in the comment section…