Top 18 Interior Design and Home Decorating Blogs

A person’s home is their castle, and a castle always needs to look its best. But with a tough economy and an even tougher job market, it can be hard to devote the resources to hiring a professional home decorator or interior designer to bring out the best.

That’s why we’re taking a look at the Top 18 Interior Design and Home Decorating Blogs for your inner do-it-yourselfer. Before you start your next project check-out suggested strategies and advice from these home decor sites and get it right the first time and for thousands less!

1. Design Sponge

The Design Sponge is a clean and easy-to-use interior design blog that specializes in DIY projects, product recommendations, solutions on a budget, and before-and-after looks, to name a few. With 21 ongoing regular columns from some of the best in the business, the site’s owner Grace Bonney has been featured on top programs like Good Morning America and The Martha Stewart Show (TV and radio).

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2. Apartment Therapy

The Apartment Therapy website places a strong emphasis on home design, but that’s not all it offers. Sections on technology, children, cooking and green living, are also highlights, but they all tie back in to practical solutions for your apartment lifestyle. Decoration ideas, tips for de-cluttering your lifestyle, and ongoing contests where you can show off your own designer skills, are all part of the fun.

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3. Habitually Chic

Heather Clawson, author of Habitually Chic, is a great source for the latest and greatest in the world of interior design and home decor. She lives in New York and works in the industry. Her blog is devoted to what she defines as “habitually chic people, places and things” that she is constantly surrounded by in her work. Blog contains musings on art, architecture, fashion, design, events, books, and photography, related to the industry.

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4. The Lettered Cottage

“Our blog is our playground and passion pushes our swing.” That’s the motto of The Lettered Cottage, a place where authors Kevin and Layla Palmer bring their love of life, love, music and design to a devoted following of more than 8,000 subscribers. The Palmers left their day jobs in 2008 and have been professional designers ever since. The blog is very personal in tone, while still delivering helpful information on Christmas ideas, master bedroom choices, and removing ceramic tiles, among other features.

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5. The Inspired Room

Melissa Michaels operates The Inspired Room, a personal blog that has picked up a strong following since it begun in 2007. Melissa tackles a lot of interior design DIY projects, though she proudly admits she is “not a DIY diva.” Yeah, right. With posts on how to turn a formal dining room into a craft and office space, how to create vintage living room makeovers, and how to put together that dream kitchen, we have a hard time believing it.

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6. Thrifty Decor Chick

Sarah, the Thrifty Decor Chick, specializes in showing you budget solutions to your do-it-yourself interior design needs. A self-professed lover of Goodwill and thrift stores, Sarah delivers many different solutions for every room of the house that are doable on almost any budget. Blog features a devoted stream of more than 17,000 subscribers.

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7. Young House Love

John and Sherry Petersik of Young House Love are Manhattan transplants to Virginia, where they bought their first home, a 49-year old fixer upper. Their blog walks users through the “TLC” process of making their home into a 1,300 square foot palace. The sense of community and fun from a couple of 29-year olds really sends across the message that interior design and home decoration can be as much fun as it is work.

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8. Material Girls Blog

New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, and Chicago, are snapshots of America, and at the Material Girls Blog, they give you “design inspiration from coast to coast,” targeting each of these areas. Emily Johnston Larkin, Lauren Haskett, Julia Buckingham Edelmann, Jill Seidner, Rebecca Soskin, and Taylor McCammon, are collectively known as “the girls,” and their expertise has landed the blog dozens of mentions and press clippings to date. They know their stuff, and can help your home or apartment look fashionably big city no matter where you are.

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9. Addicted 2 Decorating

The Addicted 2 Decorating blog is a place where Kristi, devoted blogger, DIY fanatic, and interior designer, will put you through a Masters class on interior design education. With extensive tutorials featuring detailed instructions and photographs, she’ll show you advanced skills like how to make unlined draperies with contrast fabric band and pinch pleats. Seasonal projects, room makeovers, accent furniture before-and-afters, and artwork/wall decor projects are just the tip of the iceberg here. Pack a lunch. You’ll be here all day.

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10. Decor8 Blog

The Decor8 Blog is the brainchild of the more-than-capable Holly Becker, a freelance journalist, author and interior designer. Becker’s book Decorate: 1,000 Inspirational Ideas for Every Room in Your Home is a bit of a bible for those interested in interior design, and her site is filled with more practical tips and advice for customizing and classing up your home or apartment. Press clippings include Family Circle, InStyle, and Good Housekeeping.

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11. Design Milk

The Design Milk site takes on interior design, architecture, art, home furnishings, technology and even style and fashion. Here, you’re going to get some great ideas for your home or apartment, but they’re not always going to be the most conventional, so keep an open mind. Founder and editor Jaime Derringer is also a consultant, a frequent blog contributor, and speaker on all things design and fashion. Seven informative columns ranging from weekly to monthly contribute to making Design Milk a unique voice in the industry.

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12. Joys of Home

The Joys of Home may be a small one-woman operation-and with five children, three grandchildren, and an undisclosed number of “children-in-law,” this is one busy woman-but it has attracted more than 1,800 avid subscribers and countless more monthly visitors thanks to the ideas, the warmth and the camaraderie that blog owner Joy employs. The site is an indispensable source for the busy female interior decorator, who struggles to find time for her passion while meeting the demands of everyday life.

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13. Inside Avenue

This blog isn’t one to take the typical thrift store route of the working mom and intrepid do-it-yourselfer. No, the folks at Inside Avenue are more about the hot new trends in interior design. They turn a special eye towards boutique vendors and emerging designers with an emphasis on new products and theories. More for the individual, who looks at interior design and home decoration as a viable career path and less as a hobby.

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14. COCOCOZY

Coco at COCOCOZY is a licensed attorney and self-proclaimed “suit,” but she’s also a passionate interior design junkie, who shares ideas and sells her own products. “Coco” is not her real name, but that’s not important to the thousands, who swear by her designs and her friendly and informative site. COCOCOZY professes a “living, breathing style” that values the input and feedback of its users. The site is a must-visit if you’re looking for a design resource that is both professional and accessible.

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15. The Shabby Nest

Wendy Hyde started The Shabby Nest as a creative outlet for herself amid raising four children with her husband. It grew into a more focused effort on design and do-it-yourself projects along the way. Hyde has a bachelor’s degree in fashion merchandising and is now pursuing a graduate degree from the Sheffield School of Interior Design. Her site is friendly, personable, and informative. She has appeared on HGTV, Apartment Therapy, Parents Magazine, and Creative Home Magazine, to name a few.

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16. Decorno

The Decorno blog is a very simple one in design, but it is filled with a plethora of ideas and before-and-after shots that show you how to take the raw clay of your home and mold it into something wonderful. Decorno’s lack of web design prowess (standard Blogger template) is made up for by its compelling and straight forward blog posts. The blog has been featured by InStyle, Elle Decor, House Beautiful, and the New York Magazine, among others. Proof you don’t have to be a design junkie to run a great site.

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17. Tiny House Blog

Who doesn’t want to know more about how to live simply in a small space? After all, most everyone is feeling the pinch of harsh economic times. It’s only natural you would want to make the most of your (probably) reduced living area. Enter the Tiny House Blog, which focuses on this very thing. Great advice If you are looking for great advice on tiny houses, offices, and even green living, complete with informative videos, this is the blog destination for you.

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18. Apartment-412

For those who desire a sense of adventure with their interior design, the Apartment-412 home decorating blog is just want you need. The blog is a virtual diary of the site owner’s conversion of a small rental apartment into a stylishly decorated home. A good resource for those designers on a limited budget (or those who are forced to get in touch with your inner do-it-yourselfer), the blog also contains product and book recommendations.

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Although not an exhaustive list, this resource selection of 18 Top Design and Home Decorating Blogs covers a little bit of everything. If you know of one we missed OR which would make a great addition to this list don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below.

Tagged as: blogs, decorating, home decor, home decorating, home design, home improvement, interior design