Tired people with busy lives can barely stay awake during DIY SOS if they even get around to watching it.

Last week we focused on topping up your home décor ideas the old fashioned way, that is to say in the non-digital realm. As much as we are big fans to getting out and about, on these cold cosy nights, you needn’t look too far to discover your signature home look.

The following advice will ensure you don’t even need to leave the sofa (unless you require an accompanying cup of tea).

ONE: Follow Instagram hashtags

Social media may not be the answer to all world problems, but it certainly helps with any crisis of inspiration you may encounter.

It’s so easy to find images of beautiful décor, home furnishings and accessories by a simple search on a relevant Instagram hashtag. The app will then bring up a fantastic selection of photos for you to browse and save. You can create collections to sort your saved items, so you can view them in categorised themes.

Ensure you are following the top design gurus so you never run out of ideas.

TWO: Match with Pinterest

Likewise, on Pinterest, you can search for elegant decorations and create a pinboard for different styles. The Pinterest browser extension enables you to add images to your boards that you find on other websites to help build a picture of your tastes and curate the perfect look for your room. Think about materials, colours, textures and accessories and refer to our latest design cheatsheet to guide your inspiration.

Pinterest also has a nifty feature called “Lens”, which is an image based search engine.  It allows you to take a photo of an object that you like the look of and it will bring up complementary images to give you more ideas to match that painting you love.

You can also add in your own camera photos of items you own or have seen out and about.

Don’t forget to follow other accounts for daily updates to fuel your ideas.

THREE: Spend time visiting shopping websites

Home furnishing stores most often have an online equivalent, so start browsing high street names, or do a Google search for web-only stores.

Using the Pinterest browser extension feature, you can add product images to your vision boards.

FOUR: Read online articles

You can get just as much insight into interior design trends from reading about them as you can from scrolling through social media feeds. If you enjoy reading, use a bookmarking site such as Feed.ly to curate some lists of magazine sites that regularly publish articles on home furnishing trends so you never miss a trick.

FIVE: YouTube for putting it together

Pictures of perfect rooms help you get into the zone, but if you really want to start to think like a designer, start watching them perform their craft on YouTube. YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google, so where better to look? You’ll begin to get a handle on why they do what they do and what their decision processes are: processes you can then apply when you decide to design your own room.

 

These tools and resources will help you come up with a preliminary action plan for your new, trendy room, all without leaving your sofa.

 

When the time comes to realise your vision for your next beautiful space, you can make some room by using home storage.