(Gwen of Ragland Hill Social and Valorie of Visual Vamp at Perch in New Orleans over the holiday)As most of you already know, Ragland Hill Social was born out of being inspired and reading zillions of other design and lifestyle blogs. I have been amazed how quickly friendships and design collaborations occur because of the blogosphere. The Design Blog Community has become a great source and much needed addition to the design world.
(Holly of Things That Inspire, Suzanne Kasler and Brooke of Velvet & Linen in Atlanta)I have great admiration for this Design Blog Community and the inspiration you have given me. I have been in the interior design business for 10 years, slowly building my business and honing my craft. I'm a book and shelter magazine addict and now blogs have provided a new outlet to fuel my passion even further.
(Megan of Beach Bungalow 8, Linda of Surroundings and Joni of Cote de Texas are the amazing brain trust behind the wildly popular podcast, The Skirted Roundtable)Two of the biggest benefits of being part of this community is the building of friendships and access to the best "design minds" in the business. I have collected tear sheets for years (even before I started doing interior design as a career). I have images of interiors in addition to anything that is interesting or might spark a design concept. As some of you already know, my first love as a teenager were clothes! I was obsessed with them and even had an entire wall in my bedroom that had images from magazines. Now, in my office, I have a huge bulletin board with the same concept, though the presentation is a little more professional. And now, with the birth of Ragland Hill Social, I have archives of digital images that I couldn't live without.
On a whim in December of last year, I decided to do an entire week filled with images of green. Many of you commented and stated how much you loved it. Michele, author of My Notting Hill, was even kind enough to do a blog post on Ragland Hill Social and "The Green Revolution".
(Brooke and Valorie again with Julie of Bayou Contessa in New Orleans)A common challenge for blog authors is finding your voice and providing something to the greater community that is new, interesting, helpful and inspiring. I've decided that every month I will focus on a color or design concept for one week. I hope this will provide everyone a place to come and pull images that you can use in your business or life. Many images I've been compiling for years, some as recent as this morning, but I, along with everyone else, needs them all in one place.
My design process is very organic. I start with many, many images some of which have no relation to interior design. I save ads out of magazines, pictures of beautiful places to travel, things in nature, beautiful cars, jewelry, even common things we use everyday, like q-tips. I think it's really cool to peruse lots of images and see what that inspires and brings to my design process.
( Brooke, Megan and Ronda of All the Best in Los Angeles)Thus, the second installment of this series is my "Week in White". I hope you all enjoy it and are able to use it like I do. There are so many blogs, magazines, photographers and stylists that have aided me in compiling these images. I can't thank all of you enough for your inspiring photographs and hard work. My favorite thing about this compilation is looking at them all together as a color scheme. It's awesome!
So, starting tomorrow I will feature white images inspired by Winter, Tuesday will be Spring, Wednesday will be Summer, Thursday will be Fall and Friday I will feature my Favorite White Things.
What's in it for you?
For every comment I receive next week, starting Monday and ending Friday, I will put your name in a hat and draw randomly a winner who will receive two beautiful monogrammed terrycloth handtowels from Leontine Linens. For those of you who aren't familiar with Leontine Linens go here to drool!
After the winner has been chosen you will get to pick your favorite Leontine applique, color of applique and provide the letters of your monogram. I will get them ordered and send them to you as soon as they are ready. So comment away! Every time you do your name goes in the hat (only one comment per person per day please).I have been lucky enough to become close friends with the founders of Leontine Linens, Jane Scott and Philip Hodges. They are wonderful people and through our friendship I was lucky enough to decorate their beautiful home in Georgetown, Kentucky in the middle of horse country. Jane Scott and Philip started Leontine over 10 years ago and it has become a fabulous resource for the design community.
Below are some images to wet your "White" whistle. I'll see you tomorrow.
We'll talk soon.Gwen