I’ve said it before, and I’ll probably say it a million times more, but inspiration is all over the place. It’s in the simplest things… packaging, the color of an apple, the pattern of the bricks in the road, a cosmetics bag, a vase of flowers, an old door, a concert poster, a perfume bottle… yeah, you get the idea.

I had one of those “aha inspiration moments” the other day while I was busy rearranging the books on the shelves of our TV unit in the living room. We’re still in the process of finding the right “things” to be displayed with the books, but I still tend to rearrange the book collection every few days. The right side is a little more “done” than the left, but we’re getting there.

After a few minutes of stacking, switching, and moving things around, I had somehow concocted a relatively unexpected and fun color combination:

Then it dawned on me: these are the types of colors I want to use in this room. I had been going back and forth with color combos in my head for weeks – specifically trying to decide if I wanted to use red or not (I talked a little bit about that here). I’m not looking for a “designated color scheme” by any means, just a color combo to use as my inspiration when picking out things to go in the room. And by “room”, I mean the room that consists of the living room, kitchen, and dining room – oh, and my office. Right now, we have a pretty bland pallet: gray walls, white trim, white fireplace, and hopefully one day a new gray sofa. Even though it looks “blah” for now, it’s the perfect “canvas” to incorporate my new favorite color scheme.

Greg’s pretty happy with the colors, too! Well, as happy as a husband gets, haha! I’m not looking to slather the room with bright bold colors. Even though that could totally work in other spaces, I want to go for something that’s subtle yet colorful. Oxymoron, right? I’m thinking something kind of like these rooms…

I wonder if I can find a purse big enough to carry all of these books inside stores with me when I go shopping… just kidding! I’ll probably just to keep the photo of the books on my phone for on the go.

How about you? Have any “aha inspiration moments” lately? What’s your take on color schemes? 

Simple inspiration grid photos found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and lastly, here. Room inspiration photos found here, here and here. Whew! That was a lot.

As I mentioned the other day, I’m planning on including an inspiration board in my office (read more about the plans for the office here). I also mentioned that I’ve been dying to have one in my office for what seems like forever. There’s just something about having a designated place in an organized office where you have permission to clutter it up with things you love and gain creative inspiration from. It’s almost like creating a piece of art that completely captures your creative senses. When you think about it, an inspiration board can be a pretty powerful thing to get the creative juices flowing.

I think my love affair with inspiration boards started when I was about 13 years old. At the time, my mom wasn’t too crazy about me hanging posters in my room. Now, before you go there, no, my mom wasn’t Mommy Dearest. She just liked things neat, orderly, clean, etc. After bugging her for months to let me hang the Jonathan Taylor Thomas “Got Milk?” ad in my room like my cousin Dana, we came to a compromise. She hung a giant bulletin board (the kind you get from the teacher’s supply store) on one of the walls in my room. She painted the wooden frame to match the rest of the room then glued wooden letters that spelled out “Ashley’s Stuff”. To tie everything together (of course) she painted the letters to match the jewel-tone color scheme of my room.

I really, really wish I had a photo to go here. Hopefully, I’ll come across one someday! In the mean time, here’s a little love for my fellow JTT fans out there…

Brings back memories, right?! I think it was the hair.

Inside the four borders of that bulletin board, I had free reign. I collected photos from magazines, postcards of places I wanted to visit, notes from friends, and, yes, the occasional Jonathan Taylor Thomas photo – until it was covered by a Hanson poster. All in all, it was my creative outlet. To this day, I’m pretty sure I owe that bulletin board – and of course my mom, for my ability to think on the artistic side of things. Is it weird that I’m getting teary-eyed as I write this??

When I went off to college,one of the first things I did was drive 30 minutes to the nearest Target to buy a bulletin board. Over the next few months, I made it into my little piece of home away from home. Now this, I have a photo of…

Now that you know my “heart” behind the concept of an inspiration board, let’s get to the how. Until I figure out exactly what kind of board I’ll be making, I’ve been having fun collecting photos of inspirational spaces with inspiration boards (how many times can I say “inspiration” in one sentence?). So far, here’s what I’ve rounded up…

How about you…. Do any of you have an inspiration board somewhere in your home (or office)?

Btw, if you haven’t entered the $100 Pottery Barn Giveaway yet, go do it! The awesome people at HomeTalk are going to up the prize to a $150 gift card if we collect over 500 entires! Everyone has THREE chances to enter, so get clicking!

Inspiration board in the office of Holly Becker found here. Flash back Jonathan Taylor Thomas photo found here. Inspiration photos found here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Okay, well it’s not quite 2012 but thanks to Ikea, we can start decorating like it. Okay. Maybe that was just a tad too cheesy, even for me. Moving on! Last night, I finally got around to devouring the 2012 Ikea catalog. The very first thing that caught my eye was the quote on the cover: “A home doesn’t need to be big, just smart.” Not only is this my “quote of the week”, but it’s SO true. The quote is very fitting for the cover because after all, Ikea is the end all and be all of maximizing your space and utilizing every square inch. I love the sections in the Ikea showrooms where they show you what you can do with only 300 sq feet. It makes you think, “Wow, I could SO live like this!”.

While flipping through studying the catalog, the folks Ikea seemed to be doing exactly what they do best: maximizing storage.  However, the rooms in the catalog look much more practical and lived-in than I remember from past issues. It was super-refreshing seeing Ikea step up their game like this, and I was so excited about it I just couldn’t contain myself. So without further ado, here are my favorite spaces in the 2012 Ikea catalog…

Overall, this room looks super cozy. It’s the perfect read-a-book-on-a-rainy-day room. As for the individual pieces, I’m especially digging the Hemnes glass-door cabinet to the far left of the room. I would love to find a place for one of these in our house and try out the same contact paper method we did on our back doors. I’m seriously considering it as a paper storage solution in my (currently neglected) office.

When I first saw this photo, the first thing I said was, “Hey, the walls in our laundry room are that color.” followed by “We should totally paint the back door in the laundry room red!”. Greg just looked at me like I was crazy. I’m not sure if it’s because he questioned the color choice, or if he was about to kill me for wanting to pick up a paint brush again so soon! I also really like the giant clock to the right of the door. I actually had the same one hanging in my apartment in college, but I sold it in a yard sale a few years back thinking it wasn’t my style anymore. I was wrong. The man who bought it said he was going to put it in his barn for his cows. As I reluctantly took his $5, I thought to myself, “Cows? Really?”

Well thought-out spaces like this sometimes makes me want to forfeit my big office for a closet space. I’m a firm believer in that you can make a functional office out of any space, no matter how small or awkward, and I think this makeshift workstation is a perfect example. It’s almost like a little treasure box of productive and useful items! I really like how the strategically-mounted glass-front cabinets to the right create a nice, easy-to-reach storage area in the tiny space. The wall-mount light, magnetic inspiration board, small chandelier, and black and white wallpapered wall are the icing on the cake!

What I LOVE about this room is how it’s divided into different zones: dining + homework area (with a window seat!), a reading nook (with lots of natural light), a tv-watching area (complete with a spunky orange couch), and a flex storage space in the corner (with extra seating). Even though it was created as a show piece, the room looks totally livable and real. Refreshing, isn’t it?

So, how about you… Have you seen the new Ikea catalog yet? Have you found any favorite new pieces?

Btw: Sign up to get a paper copy of the 2012 Ikea Catalog here. For you iPad users out there, you MUST download the *free* IKEA catalog app. It’s very sleek and full of iPad awesomness. Check it out here.