I couldn’t ignore the powerful online presence of artist Sally King Benedict. She is a favorite among bloggers and you can’t do an art round-up without one of her paintings or works on paper. As I lean toward abstract paintings anyway, I am particularly drawn to her work, especially the paintings. They are full of movement and blocks of colors in interesting palettes. Most of these I’m featuring are sold, but I’ve heard that you can find some of her work in shops and galleries in the South, where this Southern Belle lives and paints. Also visit her site to browse her works on paper, which are also beautiful.

Attention Seattle area residents (yep, that includes you, Bellevue and Tacoma!):

From now and through the month of February only, I’m offering a special low-cost package for local readers. I’m calling it the Love Your Home Event, and if you’ve ever considered hiring my decorating services, you don’t want to miss it!

The package includes an hour consultation at your home (no mileage charges!) and up to ten product recommendations specifically for your home. What’ll we do during the hour meeting? A detailed-as-possible walk though where I’ll help you assess your floor plan, accessories, textiles, furniture, organization, and styling. Then I’ll follow-up with my recommendations for products (up to 10) that I think will address issues we’ve identified and that would add style and a finishing touch to your space (all in line with your budget). Whether I’m looking for furniture or textiles or accessories will depend on your space and needs.

The price? Only $130. A steal if you add up my hourly rate for shopping for items for your home!

But you have to book by the end of February (we can schedule your appointment anytime during the spring, though) to get this package deal. Otherwise you’re looking at $400 plus mileage for the same service (based on my hourly rate). Hmm, $130 now or $400+ later? I’ll let you be the judge of that, but I know what I would choose!

Want to love your home? Don’t miss this deal. It ends February 29th!

It’s easy, just…

… and I’ll be in touch to schedule your appointment.

Like her clothing, the bedding collection is not an inexpensive purchase, but I bet the silky softness would be worth the investment!

1. Hang stuff on the walls. Yup, with nails (and drywall anchors if necessary!). Don’t be afraid to put a hole or two in the wall – that’s what spackle is for. It’ll immediately add a sense of comfort and home. And for the love of Pete, get those old concert posters framed! Nothing screams dorm room like posters thumbtacked to the wall.

2. Hang curtains. I know, more holes in the wall. But I don’t think there is anything grosser than those vertical blinds that so many landlords insist on. If you can’t take those down, at least you can disguise them with a generously sized curtain. To disguise mini-blinds, I’ll hang a roman shade right in front of them – when they’re up, no one is the wiser (and you can do a faux roman shade if you want and still use the mini-blinds for privacy at night. Not only will drapery add texture and warmth to the boxiest of shoebox apartments, it adds architectural interest as well and can make your windows seem bigger. Just remember to hang them high (at least six inches from the top of the window) and wide (at least six inches to the right and left of the window).

3. Don’t fill it with Ikea. I know the temptation is great – after all, who wants to invest in furniture that is specific to this apartment when the next may have totally different needs? I get it. And I think the occasional Ikea purchase is warranted. But for items like a coffee table, a pair of beautiful dining chairs, a console table… those are pieces that can go with you anywhere if they are something you really love. If you have the budget, invest in quality pieces. If your budget is small, search for vintage pieces with character. Learn to see your furniture in new ways. Just because that dresser was in your bedroom in your last apartment doesn’t mean it can’t be used as extra storage in the living room in your new place. If you move frequently, this may save a lot of “well this doesn’t fit anymore so we have to get rid of it” when there may be another use for it.

4. Make it over with lighting. Man, some rentals have the WORST lighting and it’s never where you really want it to be. Use a mixture of table lamps, floor lamps, and wall lights (like mine, above!) to bring a lot of lower-wattage lighting into all corners of your home instead of one high-wattage light glaring down from above. Ask if you can swap out a fixture if you pay the electrician and put back the old one when you move out. You can also find hanging lights and chandeliers that plug in the wall and hang from a ceiling hook – run the cord behind a curtain or down the corner to disguise.

5. Finally, don’t put off decorating just because you rent. Unless you plan on moving in three months, I don’t think that a home being “temporary” is any reason to not make it as beautiful as possible while you’re there. Same goes for giving up and not putting in the effort because the place is already drab anyway. Life is too short to live in an ugly apartment! Choose things you love and make the most of being where you are. You can even see it as a chance to take some decorating risks – after all, it’s not your forever-home, so try something new!

Have specific questions from your rental? Ask in the comments and I’ll answer there (or book me for a mini session and we can really get detailed!)

All photos by Maggie Morgan.

Bursting with excitement today at the launch of my new ebook, Design Demystified! It is now available for sale for just $14 (coincidentally it contains 14 pages if you don’t include the cover!). Over 90 tips for decorating your home, some of which you’ll be able to put to action immediately and without spending another cent. You’re sure to learn something, if not a lot!

Learn things that I consider when I’m decorating a room for a client. Tips are broken out into categories like Furniture, Space Planning, and Textiles so you can jump right to what’s bugging you (although there are gems in each section, just my humble opinion).

After putting (not much) blood, (some) sweat, and (ahem, quite a few technology-related) tears into this project, I can’t wait to share it with you. And I can’t wait to hear what you think! Please share your thoughts and comments on this post or by email (maggie@maggieroseonline.com).

You can buy directly from the button below, or visit my Downloads page (always available on the homepage) where my first ebook baby lives as well. Design Demystified is $14 and you can pay with PayPal or any major credit card accepted by PayPal.

Thank you, thank you!

Buy ‘em here:

1. High Street Market, $195

2. Furbish, $135

3. Jonathan Adler, $295

4. West Elm, $29

5. Cococozy, $333

6. Dwell Studio via Layla Grace, $150

But with the rise of Pinterest, I’m hearing laments on twitter and even on some pins that the original artist/designer/photographer isn’t being credited. Most often I’m hearing how difficult it is for bloggers to track photos back to their original source in order to credit the photo when they blog it.

Here’s the thing though – I don’t pin things as a free resource for other bloggers to use for their posts. I don’t pin to promote my business or to attract readers. I pin things that I find inspiring and that I want to remember. It’s much the same way I used to simply save photos off blogs and websites into a folder on my computer, only it happens to be on a website now. If I want to blog it, then I do the footwork to find the source and credit information – but probably 95% of the things I pin I don’t intend for blogging, just to remember it and be inspired by it.

Here’s how I use Pinterest: Most of the time, I pin from within Pinterest. I don’t typically pin photographs when I’m reading a blog post. So unless the source information is included in the caption (and I don’t ever erase it if it is), I’m not going to go out of my way to find crediting information just to pin a photo. A lot of the time I don’t even know whose board I’m pinning from. It’s just all about tagging inspiration. When I DO pin from a blog post (rare) I do take the extra second to click on the post itself before pinning – not just from “page 3″ or whatever because the nature of blog feeds mean that “page 3″ will have a totally different set of posts in a few days. And I’ll include info if it is readily available, but I definitely don’t track back to the original source of the photo before pinning. In fact, a lot of times I want to remember the context of the post I found it in.

Does it suck for the photographer/artist/designer that their work is circling the internet without credit on it? Yup. But that’s kind of the risk you take when you upload your work onto the internet – I find photos from my blog and my portfolio all over the place! It doesn’t bug me (unless someone is pretending that it’s their work – that’s different). I know that it’s part of having a blog and publishing those images. I see ‘em on Pinterest, but unless someone has a specific question tied to it that I can answer, I don’t go around “claiming” or “crediting” my images. I figure that person is using my photo the same way I’m using someone else’s photo… they think it’s beautiful and they want to remember an idea that it sparked. And that flatters me! I doubt that this means I’m missing out on business – if someone wanted to track me down from an uncredited Pinterest photo I’m sure they could. If you’re concerned about it, watermark your photos. Elle Decor does it and I don’t think it detracts from the photograph at all.

So I guess here is where I end up: Absolutely find out the real source of a photo if you’re sharing it your blog (besides being polite, it’s also being a good journalist and getting as much info as possible). No using “via Pinterest” as a source. But that’s because Pinterest isn’t designed to be a blogger’s source of stock images. It’s there to inspire and to organize inspiration. I think it’s going overboard to backtrack to pin directly from the original source and I think it’s going overboard to insist that every pin include the information of every person included in producing that photo. Should we make an effort to include that info if we’re the one bringing that image to Pinterest? Yes. Am I going to jump down your throat if you don’t? No. Because I don’t rely on Pinterest to tell me where an image is from. If it’s worth blogging, it’s worth doing some work, in my opinion.

(One last thing… if you don’t like the language or subject matter of someone’s pin, please refrain from leaving a nasty remark on their pin. There are plenty of images on Pinterest that I don’t like, but I’ll simply unfollow that board/person or move on… swear words or nudity (or even “tacky” interiors/clothing) aren’t worth making a snarky comment, I don’t think.)

I welcome constructive comments on this issue (even if they differ from my own opinions) but please be respectful – as always, my comments are moderated.

Think I do my design boards just for clients? Nope – even when making decisions in our own apartment it can be really helpful to see everything laid out. Above is my design concept for our living room – minus the bar area, coffee table, and TV area, which are all staying the same.

One reason I feel that I work so well with budget clients is because I’m in the same boat myself (no one ever said being a first-year business owner was going to rake in the dough!). I too want quality products but I have to save up for each one or find creative solutions to get the same look… hopefully with the easiest DIY possible (I’m soooo losing steam on the DIY front – I’d just rather spend the extra money and save the stress for something else). Gathering my “vision” for the room early on can be a good way to steer clear of impulse purchases and quick fixes that only end up being a waste of money when it doesn’t work with the design or I end up hating it six months later.

And this is a good tool for me in combining my style with Ryan’s – I don’t have the luxury of total free-reign over our interior design and we have similar but still quite different taste (like many couples!). So mapping it out lets me see if our styles are both represented and playing nicely together. I think this room may need a chandelier but other than that we’re on the right track!

If you need a little guidance on your interior design, I’m currently accepting new clients! Contact me today.