Many of us remember the “old days” of filing away photos and magazine cut-outs into an inspirational file. This file was relegated to an envelope, scrapbook, or bulletin board filled with your favorite ideas. But nowadays, inspiration boards have also gone digital in the form of online pin boards, idea books and portfolios. Those with a penchant for design can post their photos online for all to see. The best part is being able to share inspirations back and forth with other people and drawing inspiration from what is being posted by each other.

With so many ideas and inspiration available to you, it can be a little overwhelming and you might not know where to start. Here are three simple steps to starting an inspiration board of your own.

Define Your Style

A good starting point in creating an inspiration board is choosing a style. There are so many different styles out there. So, what is yours? Is it mid-century modern, shabby chic, Asian or eclectic? Maybe you favor a beach theme, in which case you will need to decide if your style is more Cape Cod or California Coastal. Urban, post-modern, Southwestern… there are so many possibilities. There is a name for every style as long as you can describe it. A way to figure out the name of your style, if you don’t already know it, is to do a Google search of the type of items you like and see what style category is mentioned on the search results. Once you have that style, take it and run with it.

Choose Your Palette

Another thing you can do to get started on your inspiration board is to choose a color palette. A popular activity to do on Pinterest is to create specific color themed pin boards – for example, creating a board with all things orange titled “Orange Crush,”  putting all yellow items that strike your fancy on a board called “Mellow Yellow” or all blue items that work for your design scheme onto a board called “Blue Heaven.” This is a great organizational tool that you can refer back to when the time comes to choose items for your home with those specific colors.

Consider Your Themes

Themed rooms can sometimes come off as gaudy when overdone. Like a sports themed game room filled with an overabundance of team merchandise. But when themed rooms are tastefully planned and masterfully executed, they can turn out great. For example, instead of a room filled with team merchandise, it can mean strategically placed vintage team memorabilia from the family collection that sits among your other thoughtfully displayed items. For a jungle themed children’s room, it doesn’t have to mean a floor covered with stuffed animals; instead, it can mean incorporating an indoor jungle gym structure that attaches to the bed, with rich green paint or jungle print wallpaper. Keep your themed room tasteful and eye-pleasing, both on and off your inspiration board. One idea is to ask your online friends their opinions!   

Now that you’ve read about what you can do to start your pin boards, you’re well on your way to creating your own inspiration. Whether you stick to a tried-and-true homemade pin board or opt for an online version, your inspiration board can be a fun way to play out your design ideas and plan for home design projects. Keep checking our Facebook and Twitter this week. In the next few days, we will be posting links to our favorite digital board and idea book websites. You can take a look at our boards as well as start your own.

Take a poll of homeowners regarding the feature they would most like to incorporate into their backyards and there’s a good chance that a pond will be one of the top five answers. Backyard ponds are features that can provide the illusion of serenity during life’s most hectic moments and enhance your existing inner peace during quiet, reflective times.

Backyard ponds can be enjoyed whether you’re relaxing in your backyard or inside the comfort of your home. That’s what the owners of home above had in mind when they opted to have a pond built just outside the expansive glass doors of their reading room. They loved the idea of relaxing in the room with the doors open on warm days while listening to the calming sounds of trickling water – and of course, glance up every few minutes for a satisfying gaze.

No matter what your reasons are for your interest in backyard ponds, it’s important to research the options regarding installation – DIY pond kits, hiring a landscape architect, etc. – so that you’re completely happy with the end result. This is the case with any water features, including fountains, man-made lakes or Zen garden-style creations.

Another popular feature to incorporate into backyards, especially in southern California where space comes at a premium, are patios. A front patio can provide neighbors a spontaneous gathering place for enjoying a cup of coffee together in the morning or a glass of lemonade together in the afternoon, while a back patio gives families a more private place to break bread.

Whether you choose a front patio or back, the key to a successful patio project is to draw up a design that can be easily brought to life; it may be a front porch/patio combination, a back patio paved with flagstone or a deck-style patio on either side of the home. No matter what you envision, be sure you have the vision created on paper before the project begins. That’s good advice for all home addition projects!

There’s nothing like the relaxing and serene sounds of water. This is why many of our clients have opted for them in their homes. Ponds, fountains, and other water features can transform any outdoors space into a beautiful paradise to be enjoyed both inside and outside of the home. This week’s Monday Makeover features a few of these beautiful water features our clients have added to their homes.

Ponds can be as elaborate or as simple as you want it to be. This pond was built to blend naturally into its surrounding landscape with its organic shape and rock formations. The expansive glass doors on the home allow for the pond to be viewed from inside the home and let the sounds to trickle into the home so it can be enjoyed indoors.

The sounds of water splashing from this koi pond creates a calm atmosphere that anyone can enjoy. Adding a water feature to the yard creates a beautiful and peaceful area for relaxation.

Strategically placed in the center of the home, the tranquil sounds of water can be heard all throughout the home. Installed in the new atrium, this koi pond, with it’s waterfall feature, is framed by large glass sliding doors that allow it to be viewed and heard from various places in the house. The architect designed 16” cantilevered overhangs to shade 2 sides of the Koi pond so that the fish can hide from hilltop predators.

Home buyers are used to seeing listings that advertise homes with a “luxurious master suite.” Unfortunately, that usually means nothing more than having a large tub in the master bath. But there is so much more you can do to a master suite. One idea is to turn your bedroom into a home retreat by creating a resort-like experience.

Here are a few features you may wish to incorporate into your master suite that will give it that extra lavish touch:

Heated floors: Never wake up to icy cold floors again. Imagine sauntering from the bed to the bath in the morning without ever needing your slippers. A heated floor provides you with that experience.

Wall textures: Using a unique material or paint to add texture to the walls will give your bedroom a romantic, old world ambiance – and who doesn’t need a little more of the old world in their life?

Home automation: Remote controlled window shades, lighting and fans mean you’ll never need to leave the comfort of the bed to enhance the comfort of your environment. Homeowners are accessing these systems for the entire home, including the master suite.

The master bathroom is also essential to creating the resort experience. It seems the most popular way to create the hotel experience at home is by upgrading the master bath. Consider adding one or more of the following:

Jacuzzi tubs: We’re not denigrating the large bathtub; in fact, the bigger, the better. But for a five star soak, there’s nothing like a jacuzzi tub with powerful jets that massage and soothe. And while you’re at it, why not install a flat screen television, sound system or even a fireplace? There’s nothing more luxurious than enjoying a crackling fire and a good book – or, a favorite movie – while relaxing in the bath.

Steam showers: One common question among those who wish to create the hotel experience at home is, “How do I turn my bathroom into a spa?” The answer is a steam shower. There are many different steam shower systems, with fixture options that are both classic and modern. Some systems can even incorporate aromatherapy oils to invigorate the senses, and homeowners can choose their own tile to visually and texturally enhance the atmosphere.

Wide open showers: Is there anything more romantic than a shower built for two? A large, wide open shower – ideally, one large enough to be its own small “room” – with two fixtures and a solid glass, frameless door, is the ultimate shower extravagance. If you add some comfortable tiled seats, a place to set your drink and a waterproof sound system, you may start losing track of time in the morning.

With everything you could do to bring the resort experience home, why would you ever have to go to a hotel? Whether it’s upgrading your master bath or renovating your master bedroom, this should be a project you can indulge in, both during and after.

Cabanas are the perfect place for relaxing in the summer. Most of us think of a small hut built with a thatched roof, commonly found in tropical clients, but they can range in size and lavishness. Cabanas are really any temporary or permanent free standing shade structure with transversing curtains, decorative drapes and/or solid walls. With such a broad description of what a cabana can be, building one in your own home can be quite a creative experience.

Some homeowners may want a structure that resembles a hotel cabana, which tends to be more intimate and draped with weatherproof canvas curtains. These cabanas are often lightly furnished – perhaps with a single outdoor reclining piece, such as a stylish, weatherproof couch or bed, along with a compact cocktail table or small bar. These types of cabanas are often designed with the intention of enjoying them solo or as a couple.

For other homeowners, a bigger cabana design can provide a comfortable outdoor living area for entertaining guests. Cabanas of this size create enough shade to entertain a large group of guests when they need a break from the sun. This cabana is a solid structure with a Spanish tile roof and wood beam ceiling. With its near 360 degree panoramic view of the yard, the cabana overlooks the rear of the home to the west, the sparkling rock formation swimming pool to the south and the putting green just a few feet from the outdoor fireplace.

A cabana of this size wouldn’t be complete without an outdoor kitchen. The owners of this cabana included a full kitchen into their design complete with whitewashed teak wood cabinets and old world sconces framing the natural stone countertop with sturdy iron bar chairs. Other features in this cabana also include safe, comprehensive electrical wiring for multiple lighting fixtures and a media center and a guest bathroom.

Outdoor kitchens are a great feature to have in your backyard for entertaining. For smaller cabanas, that may mean a stainless steel outdoor grill area with a pull out refrigerator. For those that want a more impressive custom design, particularly those that hire a design-build firm, it means creating an outdoor living area that incorporates all the function and comfort of an indoor kitchen but with the casual ambiance of a poolside retreat.

Whether you want a small intimate cabana perfect for two or a cabana built to entertain large gatherings, the possibilities are endless. With summer rapidly approaching, adding a cabana or outdoor kitchen to your backyard is a good way to prepare for the coming months of fun and relaxation.

Home remodeling, both the DIY and the contracted variety, is often thought of as exclusively encompassing interior projects. But outdoor restoration projects can fall under the home remodeling category as well. If a project involves architecture, construction or renovation, it nearly always qualifies as a home remodel – something that owners can use as leverage when setting a sale price on the home later.

Garden retreats are a popular aspect of outdoor restoration, both at residences and on public property. Structures like arbors, trellises, columns, gazebos and fountains – not to mention gates and walls – can wear down so significantly over time that they require restoration (or in some cases, full replacement). Renovating these structures can serve as the focal point of a larger outdoor restoration project, wherein the garden plants and other landscaping are enhanced in a way that complements the new, improved structure they surround.

The gardens at this residence in Claremont, CA use these guidelines for their renovations. Here, the first step involved constructing trellises that serve as focal points over covered walkways. Next, organic paths were created and native foliage was planed throughout the entire garden area. The finished garden is now the delight of its owners.

The Margaret Fowler Gardens, also located in Claremont on the Scripps College campus, is another example of an outdoor restoration taking place on public/institutional property. This campus renovation effort was deemed necessary because many of the 78-year-old garden’s materials, including the trellis lumber, redwood beams and concrete columns, had become severely compromised over time. The project entailed careful replacing of the lumber on the trellis while preserving the mature wisteria growth hanging from its beams, repairing the damaged concrete columns that uphold the trellis structure (without compromising the intricate wisteria vines or adjacent murals).

Outdoor restoration projects like garden retreats are a great way to enrich the quality of your home, increase its resale value and add to your enjoyment of it. Whether it involves a major structure renovation, intricate landscape architecture or both, the process can be a creative outlet with a satisfying payoff.