YYou know how confusing it can be when your decorating style is evolving—holding on to collected pieces while bringing in new items?
If you prefer to decorate gradually or reuse what you already own, you’ve probably experienced this. I love so many different looks that I sometimes head off on a whim in several directions at once.
Lately I’ve been in that place: decorating the house little by little and wondering what should stay, what should go, what works, and what doesn’t. I kept asking myself what’s missing, what I might add, and whether the direction I’m taking is really the one I want.
A lot of wondering.
Then I had an idea: what if I made a visual style collage to map where I already am? Not just an inspiration board, but something showing the actual rooms and pieces I’ve already put together.
I made an inspiration board for my office because I wanted to visualize combining old and new accessories and furniture. For my progress-collage, though, I used photos of the rooms I’ve already finished to see whether they’re moving toward a cohesive style or need adjustments.
So that’s what I did: I created a “Progress Report” style collage. Maybe there’s a better name for it, but late-night brain wins sometimes.
To begin, I gathered photos of areas of the house I like or have already worked on. I arranged them in a Pages document (I used the Mac app Pages), then studied the layout. Seeing the photos together helped me identify what I like about the overall vibe, what feels off, and what might be missing. It was fun—and surprisingly useful—to view my home as a collective snapshot.
I haven’t solved all my design questions yet, but experimenting with the collage has been enjoyable. I’ll probably add photos over time—new pillow options, fabrics, or furniture ideas I’m considering for other rooms. My goal is to use this style collage as a springboard to refine the whole-house vibe.
If you don’t have photos from your own home, you can create a similar collage using curated images from sites like Polyvore to represent pieces you already own or want to include. Search for furniture and accessories that match your current items and assemble them into a board—that process is fun and revealing.
How to Make Online Inspiration Boards and Collages
Here are a couple of simple ways to build attractive online collages with your photos:
Use a free online image editor like Pixlr to create and arrange images into a collage.
Use Picasa (or another photo-management tool) to make photo collages and experiment with layouts.
My collage is larger on my computer; for the blog I had to reduce it, but viewing it at full size makes it much easier to evaluate and plan.
I hope you try making your own style collage! It could be fun to share boards—to link up and compare fresh perspectives. Thoughts?
Do you know other easy ways to make virtual collages?
Note: Friday is the last day to vote for blog nominations in The Homies before Apartment Therapy selects finalists. Thank you to everyone who’s supported me and my fellow bloggers—your support means a lot.