Top 5 Online Resources for Design Impaired

By Linsey Knerl (from Wise Bread) on October 25, 2010

If the pages of the home design magazines leave you drooling - and frustrated about your own lack of skill - there's no need to give up on your dreams of having a chic, modern, or even award-winning look to your home. The following websites not only inspire readers with the perfect mix of cutting-edge and classic elegance, they show you how to do it! Before you settle for tired DIY styles, check out this list of online destinations sure to stir your interior design desires.

Green Your Decor
With an eye for trends that are easy on our environment, Jennae Peterson of Green Your Decor gives her picks for the best new eco-friendly design products, while sharing her own DIY projects. In addition to cheeky commentary via her Drab or Fab reviews and putting step-by-step "green" tutorials right into your hands, she shares practical advice for those who are looking to cut costs by thinking outside the design box. Her bed bug prevention piece is perfect for new and used furniture connoisseurs, while the guide for curating quality pieces over time is priceless. If your love for Mother Earth runs deep (and the time to design something different is now), this is the blog for you.

ReadyMade
You're probably already familiar with the print magazine from the same people. ReadyMade has been bringing unique and trendy DIY projects to a culture of inner artists for years. While their site is mostly focused on afternoon projects (bookshelves, planters, and even chicken coops), they do have some very well-done whole room plans to harvest ideas from. Perhaps the most valuable feature of the ReadyMade site is its collection of blogs and community posts. Why leave notions of ways to use up paint chips to just one sole author, when an entire audience can give their two cents?

Design Sponge
Who can forget about one of the original (and most popular) design sites on the internet - ever? Design Sponge takes on some of the bizarre (and therefore whimsical) projects ever conceived: newspaper taxidermy, love logs, and faux gold alligators. Don't be afraid, however, there is plenty of design fodder for the more mainstream designers-in-training. The tutorial on sewing your own shower curtain and creating a portable DIY sunshade are not only beautiful, they're frugal, too! Dip your toe into something truly unique with this site.

MomAdvice
Amy Clark is the new and better version of Martha. She not only shares her own classy renditions of holiday decor themes and cozy comfort foods, she does one better: Her regular Notebook features each list over a dozen unique and beautiful projects from blog posts all over the web. While some of those mentioned are from the big players in design and home improvement, others are just scratching out their expertise in a tiny corner of the blogosphere. Each is equally stunning, and Amy does a great job of finding those rare internet gems that will keep you in the way of transforming your home over and over again.

Real Simple
Perhaps the most versatile of all our online resources, this print and online magazine boasts beautiful photos of all the projects it features, plus an extensive product list and final costs. Whether you're looking for a list of inexpensive living room decor tips, or need a step-by-step set of instructions for painting a wall (you need start somewhere, right?), they've got it, and it's all free! Full color photos, printable lists, and helpful videos are overflowing from the pages of the site, and they leave no excuse to put off your projects out of ignorance.

Are you overwhelmed with all our design resources? We've got a few helpful places to start with. These projects are 101-level and approved by professionals!

Decorating with Grey (Real Simple)
Incorporating the Use of a Loft Bed (Mom Advice)
Dry-Brush Painting Basics (Design Sponge)
Thrift-Store Chair Turned Tree Swing (Green Your Decor)
Surf-Shack Fold Down Table (ReadyMade)

Do you have a design nut living inside you that needs to be set free? If you're held back from creating the dwelling of your dreams out of fear of failure, your time has come. What new projects will you take on - now that you have a little help?

See more from Wise Bread: