All the Pretty Pictures

Contemporary Living Room by San Francisco Interior Designers & Decorators Lizette Marie Interior Design

This is not possible in our house but isn't lovely to look at? All those BOOKS- and a comfy place to read them. Houzz gives you the price on the light fixture, the rug, and the chaise and let's you see what other work this designer has done.

I realized I've left out one of the most fun and easiest part of any home project- whether you are building from scratch, remodeling an old home or just updating a room. Heck, this is fun even if you live in your dream home and just want to spend time online doing something more relaxing than paying bills and looking at your neighbor's vacation photos. It's a site called Houzz and it is nothing but photos of beautiful rooms, fantastic ideas, and options for buying the home decor items you like.

Getting started is easy- just go to www.houzz.com and create an account. It's free and you don't have to give away any personal info unless you want to. I did put in my location (Seattle) because I was interested in finding professionals in my area. Once you're set up, you can use their search tools to create Ideabooks, meaning every time you see a photo with something you like you can save it in an ideabook to refer to later. Right now, I have 7 books- Kitchen, Outdoor Space, Our New House, My Office, Bedroom, Accessories, and Bathrooms. Even better- if you choose to, you can give other people access to your ideabooks. So, our contractor can see photos and items I am thinking about for our remodel. Here is one of my favorites (be prepared to drool):

Contemporary Bathroom by Minneapolis Kitchen & Bath Remodelers Sicora Design/Build

Every woman's dream- all your hair supplies and products tucked away- just like at the salon. Unfortunately, it's expensive to do so it will probably remain a dream.

So, while my little photos are fun, Houzz is the place where you go when you need to get away from all the hassles that go with a building/remodeling project. Plus, if you haven't even started yet having hundreds of thousands of photos that you can search by room, style, cost etc. really helps you get a jump on the planning process. Last but not least, the site also allows you to add your own photos, either ones you take yourself or ones you find on other sites. Right now, I'm starting to think about paint so I've gone to various paint company sites and come up with options, which I've added with comments (to remember why I added the photo!). 

Traditional Paint by Portland Paint & Wall Coverings Colorhouse Paint

I'm thinking about a soft blue like this for the master bedroom

Thanks to houzz even if you're project is making you feel frazzled you can escape for a little while and pretend you're at places like this. At least until your house is finished.

Contemporary Pool by Other Metro Home Builders Ecobuild Construction Pty Ltd