Gulty Pleasure: Design Blogs

My guilty pleasure? Design blogs. I check them almost everyday. Design blogs are like design magazines (think Domino or Home and Garden) combined with an IKEA catalog. Not only do the blogs share really beautiful, inspiring images/ideas but they often times link you up with a place you can buy the items online.

There about six design blogs I frequent regualrly but the following images are from a blog called sfgirlbythebay. Today I went and checked out her recent entries and I was soooooo excited to see her showcase various rooms using bookcases. I LOVE bookcases. I have been begging Matt about getting a few for a long time. Unfortunately, bookshelves = money and in our house we have to pick and choose the money we spend. Bookshelves never make the cut. The thing about book cases that I love is they are practical pieces of furniture that can be displayed in really artistic ways. Look at these cool examples:





Dont you love it? That first one looks like a room I could lock myself in for an entire day. Love the color of the dark books and the pink wallpaper. Love the way the books are wrapped around the top of the room - it looks so old world and mysterious to me. That idea probably woudlnt work here in California where we have earthquakes from time to time, but it sure looks neat. Something I adore that these two images have in common is books coupled with the artwork/framed pictures. I LOVE that look. For some it might be cluttered, but to me it looks so worn in and real. When I see such personalized spaces like these I cant help but wonder about the people who inhabit them.

I loved looking at these images on sfgirlbythebay so much that I went into my "inspirational" file and picked out a few other bookshelf gems I had tucked away for future reference.

These next two bookshelf examples are from another design blog named Design Sponge. My favorite part of the blog is the "sneak peeks" section where they showcase images of stylishly, individualistic homes. Real creative stuff.

I recently told matt I wanted to do something like this next image, but instead of that fugly picture, I want to put our tv there. Im pretty sure its impossible, but I can dream right?


I think its so neat how the bookshelves act as the wall. Im sure there are people out there who would hate this kind of thing. Too cluttered or messy. I adore the look. I think it looks lived in and it has character.

Last one:

When we were in Italy, we visited a house where the owners had a bookshelf like this. I had never seen anything like it and was totally drawn to it. Theirs was taller than the one shown and reached more than half way up the wall. I think its so cool seeing the books seemingly "floating in space" like this. How original.

Hopefully some day in the future I'll get myself a couple bookshelves. With all these great examples (and more saved on the computer) I shouldnt have a problem with ideas.