Finding Inspirations

Anytime I open up questions on Instagram, bar none the most frequently asked is where do I find inspiration. Inspiration for the blog, for design work, for my own apartment. I used to answer with a few of my off the cuff go to’s – being outside in nature, movies, traveling. While those all bring me great inspiration, there are so many layers to being inspired. The more I thought about it, I realized this topic of finding inspiration and feeling inspired is really fascinating.

For me, inspiration is about extracting the essence of something. When I started my blog I wrote down that I wanted it to be a space that emitted the feeling of comfort and contentment. I drew upon moments of eating Al fresco in Europe, summer morning farmers’ markets – moments that make me feel so at ease and then try and translate those moments into a broad picture. Little everyday moments are incredibly inspiring if you are paying attention and I find those are what I pull the most from. It is not as literal as studying a photo on Pinterest or Instagram. It is pulling out of that photo or memory, how it makes you feel.

I talked about this recently, but lately I have been spending a lot more time on Pinterest and Tumblr. As I rework my own space I realized it was time to pull a lot of fresh inspiration. Instead of looking at interior shots all day (which can lead to unintentionally replicating someone else’s style.. definitely guilty of this before) I like to pull a bevy of different images. From here I can get inspiration on color stories, patterns, textures, lighting. It is crazy how a collection of images that have nothing to do with an interior can send you on a path of creating.

I find it challenging to narrow down a few elements that I pull inspiration from. It can be everything from the way morning sunlight casts shadows on a wall to how crisp white bedding wrinkles and creates incredible movement. These nuanced details that can be replicated in larger moments and designs which ultimately make it look more layered and thoughtful. Seeing seemingly mundane moments in a new light and paying attention to your surroundings – whatever they may be, can have an incredible impact!

{a collection of images on Tumblr}

{a very preliminary mockup of how I start extracting color palettes and textures and combining them into design elements}

  1. […] Finding Inspirations from Harlowe James @_harlowejames […]

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