be inspired

Blog writer’s block exists. It’s different to writer’s block though. With writer’s block, you know what you’re writing about but you just reach an obstacle. With blog writer’s block, you don’t even know what you’re writing about in the first place.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I go months without a post sometimes. I hate that. It happens because for some reason or another I am uninspired. And then I become a bit defeated and stop looking for inspiration in places.

This is all about to change.

Inspiration is everywhere. There is no excuse not to see it. So where can you get it?

There are so many great sources of inspiration: looking through magazines, at pinterest boards, other design or lifestyle blogs, shop window displays, photography, runways and fashion events, markets and antique shops, cafés, restaurants, tea rooms and artisan bakeries..

But how do these help with sparking an idea for a design blog?

You have to look deeper.

Someone I worked for once was hugely inspired by the artisan bakery, Cocomaya. She saw gold tea cups and tea pots being used there, and wanted them for her workshop events. So she bought some. And created a whole theme with the crockery that fed into the design of the rest of the workshop space.

For my blog, I could take this one step further. I could have seen those, been inspired, and created a post on how gold is used in interiors (something I think I might just have to do. Typing that into google alone is enough to find something to talk about!)

People often say you can gain inspiration from nature. And it’s SO TRUE. A walk in the countryside can bring inspiration in many forms. The lines of the horizon or the close up of a leaf can be the basis of a pattern for wallpaper design. Or the natural colours of flowers can show you a new pairing you’d never have thought of for a colour scheme. Walking around towns and cities can be the same. The patterns on the old tiles at the entrance to a quaint shop or the shapes of the skyline or texture of the natural brick work. The contrast of old and new buildings juxtaposed. Eras. There are so many decades with a vast array of design styles. In both interiors and fashion. You might look to two completely different time periods and find a combination of things so unique (that works so well) that no one else has thought of yet.

Inspiration is literally everywhere you look. I know that when I am feeling uninspired, I am not looking closely enough. It’s not that my surroundings have suddenly become less exciting, or that there’s nothing new to look at in the markets. It’s just that I have stopped seeing things for what they can potentially be.

I want to encourage you (and myself) to see the potential design in everything that surrounds you. So next time you feel uninspired, sit on Pinterest until you find something that speaks to you, or grab your camera and head out for a walk until you get a couple of photographs. Don’t be blind to your surroundings. Be inspired. No excuses.

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