Where do you look for inspiration?

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguVdMTZs72R-WLji_7FBzZs-lqjWUkGdUMIOD39VFWuokFKkqGQvwP3tGn0AzIjOUW7botgUvmhTDVWoLz8_Vrm7SPdqVJBmhBT_91l3AueTuGiPag6rAmVYn2mFbVa4TIazhomSa3WfC9/s1600/inspirationjarNSDS.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535368669213411538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguVdMTZs72R-WLji_7FBzZs-lqjWUkGdUMIOD39VFWuokFKkqGQvwP3tGn0AzIjOUW7botgUvmhTDVWoLz8_Vrm7SPdqVJBmhBT_91l3AueTuGiPag6rAmVYn2mFbVa4TIazhomSa3WfC9/s400/inspirationjarNSDS.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">My jar of inspired objects includes green glass<br />knobs, paint samples, pretty threads, gold keys,<br />a silhouette of a little boy on a rocking horse,<br />and </span><span style="font-style: italic;">a celebratory cork from a bottle of bubbly<br />opened in honor of <a href="http://designvignettes.blogspot.com/2009/05/fairy-tale-event.html">my first design show</a>. </span> </div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiLmmLfvlMMTaP2F_gr7atRMWudo37p4kGLl1kj3APPN0D3_pA9AdaxMGyZ5fBMM2BqDOq-T3-uVJYal6Y9CymCNnRPuNhDbSZUMv9ctgoLCemVlCpB7PFjuCo3rnkOADqIeFQb4INWKqS/s1600/hotelrecamier.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><br /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Last week I mentioned that I was chosen as one of the top 100 entries for the Design Sherpa “<a href="http://design-sherpa.com/contest/">What Inspires You</a>?”contest based on my submission of a chosen photo accompanied by a 100 word post explaining how the image inspires me. My photo? <span style="font-weight: bold;">Glinda the good witch</span> from the Wizard of Oz. What does Glinda have to do with interior decorating and good design? When we base our choices on what we love, and surround ourselves with the people and memories that are important to us, we are being authentic – and good design always comes out of authenticity.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://www.google.com/images?q=glinda&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=VnXKTJyDOcL38AbYhJm8AQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=2&ved=0CD4QsAQwAQ&biw=1860&bih=1051"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535362216038986098" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8BK-H9GG4hoLp-yB-gS6o-6jLt_Fkk0Fy3gRR59c_YVw9wJZ_Iq17SYWrV7S8Fs5s-yXzj-oMaZu_eVqeZdL3eyvHBoh-VyqogvAMtaAE53nFXYE1xb5j3zDbzqZYLXpWhcgY7fR2V_tw/s400/glinda.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 333px;" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;">Well <a href="http://design-sherpa.com/featured/what-inspires-yvonne-blacker-of-yvonne-blacker-interiors/">this entry</a> qualified me to move on to the second round of judging! Phase Two required a 350 word post “on an interior or architectural design topic that communicates both your unique passion for design and writing style.” And guess what? <a href="http://design-sherpa.com/featured/meet-the-what-inspires-you-judging-panel/">The judges</a> (who include talented design-industry professionals Diane Carroll, <a href="http://tobifairley.com/blog/">Tobi Fairley</a>, Michael Fink, Elaine Griffin, </span><span style="font-size:130%;">Marcia Sherrill and </span><span style="font-size:130%;">Clinton Smith</span><span style="font-size:130%;">) liked my post enough to <span style="font-weight: bold;">qualify me to be one of the top 10 entries!</span> I am not sure if they plan to share the 350-word posts we submitted or not, but I will<br />let you know if they do. In the meantime, this week<br />on the <a href="http://design-sherpa.com/">Design Sherpa</a> blog, our <span style="font-weight: bold;">3-minute video submissions</span> required for Phase Three are<br />up for *everyone* to see!<br /><br /><br /></span><a href="http://design-sherpa.com/contest-updates/part-2-of-our-top-10-what-inspires-you-contest-video-entries/"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535360347886246882" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1WX9eoW0_Kmvd44NIXrDukX3L4g9KWvVeJapznLZ_c6O8c1UtBAXPWc5Y3V657Oa7FBhzD8ZvNFbZ7IJGwr4iN_UHhhW-VcokQyhAqtpip1I8_hdBZpOLG9BMA5AddheadLyV3nfhT3ZT/s400/YB_youtube_DesignSherpa.png" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 320px;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">We were asked to provide a video that was “both entertaining and informative about some element of home design.</span><span style="font-size:130%;">” It is harder than it looks to be both entertaining and informative in a mere 3 minutes (all without the aid of a teleprompter or video crew -- I give those <a href="http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv-design-star/show/index.html">Design Star</a> contestants a lot of credit!)<br />Plus we were required to condense our .mpeg video to less than 10 MB in size so the end result of the submitted versions appears pretty grainy. </span><span style="font-size:130%;">When I was “filming</span><span style="font-size:130%;">”</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> this video, shortly after <a href="http://designvignettes.blogspot.com/2010/09/mecca-to-nate-and-back.html">my trip to see The Nate Berkus Show</a> and just a day before <a href="http://designvignettes.blogspot.com/2010/10/saturday-shopping.html">New England Fine Living opened</a>, I had no idea my video would actually make it online. <a href="http://networkedblogs.com/a17tF">But here it is.</a><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">So far, six videos have been shown and the remainder will be aired in the next couple of days (I am guessing). The winner will be announced on or around November 7th so I am thinking it may be as early as this Friday!<br /><br /><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.hotelrecamier.com/hotel-paris.html"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535172412076536370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiLmmLfvlMMTaP2F_gr7atRMWudo37p4kGLl1kj3APPN0D3_pA9AdaxMGyZ5fBMM2BqDOq-T3-uVJYal6Y9CymCNnRPuNhDbSZUMv9ctgoLCemVlCpB7PFjuCo3rnkOADqIeFQb4INWKqS/s400/hotelrecamier.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 283px; height: 400px;" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >{Photo from the </span><a href="http://www.hotelrecamier.com/hotel-paris.html"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >Hotel Recamier</span></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" > website}</span> </div><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Did I mention what the winner of this <a href="http://design-sherpa.com/social-media-and-design/">social media driven</a> contest will receive? Just a 10-day trip to PARIS, hotel accommodations at <a href="http://www.hotelrecamier.com/hotel-paris.html">Hotel Recamier</a>, and a 4-day VIP pass to the <a href="http://www.maison-objet.com/en/index.php?page=maison-objet">Maison & Object</a> trade show, PLUS $10,000 (!!!!!) and the opportunity to blog as part of the Design Sherpa site!<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:78%;" >(<a href="http://design-sherpa.com/contest/rules/">click here</a> for all the fine print)</span></span><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.maison-objet.com/en/index.php"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535373137182259858" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiujvRi1vji5i176GINL63dqifO3GHcRZ-uActl6mC41PfM_igelRcvd48f5QSaun_5L4E3EYJ6XnGXuk3AlCXrPqsoc52MS2z8XPrw4Z6WDqX8RigzrTyF2j6rjZWsO-Ee8XW6Z9hZYB04/s400/maisonobjectimage.png" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 316px; height: 329px;" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">{Image from the <a href="http://www.maison-objet.com/en/index.php">Maison & Objet </a>website}</span> </span></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />If you know me at all, you know I am good at keeping a secret. All I am going to say for now is that I would love to put the six years of French that I took to good use, and would love even more to discover the amazing home fashions that will be on display at <a href="http://www.maison-objet.com/en/index.php">Maison & Objet</a>. Just to walk the streets of Paris would be a dream! And who couldn’t use an unexpected 10 grand these days? “Hello</span><span style="font-size:130%;">”</span><span style="font-size:130%;"> <a href="http://designvignettes.blogspot.com/2010/10/10-weeks-10-projects.html">unfinished design projects</a>!<br /><br /></span><a href="http://dailyfix.interiordesign.net/industry/designers-architects/2554/scad-student-wins-project-udesign-competition"><span><span></span></span></a><br /><a href="http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/10/prweb4664134.htm"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535379508483993122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCRxjdSLmRsrgyH9IS4vgBwksVLttzQ9-rhO_K9e1WB63NzKEeiwIla6_UdvJXGEvJPw3L_i1jEoGC4_e6UhOtdItXemq2yZmQJg9evcsZMFPdFYUJkbBCgRGI8igMEppLB2ZhdlzuBGVl/s400/gI_0_Alifair2.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 224px;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br />And speaking of winners, I would like to properly introduce you to <a href="http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/10/prweb4664134.htm">the winning eco-friendly chair from Project UDesign</a>: the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Alifair</span> designed by Savannah College of Art and Design student Ryland Quillen. </span><span style="font-size:130%;">Even though <a href="http://designvignettes.blogspot.com/2010/10/kona-chair-at-high-point-market.html">my posts featured the Kona chair</a> by Emily Carpenter, I thought each of the designs had style and merit. The well-tailored <span style="font-weight: bold;">Alifair</span> almost<br />looks a little French to me ...<br /><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;">Congratulations, Ryland, and to everyone who participated in and organized this inspiring competition. A little competition certainly goes<br />a long way in raising the bar on good design!<br /></span><br /><br /><br /></div>

Where do you look for inspiration?

My jar of inspired objects includes green glass knobs, paint samples, pretty threads, gold keys, a silhouette of a little boy on a rocking h...

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