Demystifying Polyvore – Part 2

I wrote a basic tutorial last week about using Polyvore to create design boards. I wanted to do a second post to show you one other really cool thing you can do in Polyvore – you can grab items from other websites.

First, remember in my last post how I told you to follow this tutorial to download the clipper tool? You need to do this before you can grab items from other sites. Okay? Okay (you’re so compliant..love you).

Okay, so let’s say you’re browsing the Anthropologie website like you do everyday occasionally, and you stumble upon this rug. Your heart goes pitter pat, you let out an audible “Ohhhh”, and you instantly want to use it in a design board.

Since you already downloaded the clipper tool all you have to do is go over to your “Favorites”, and then “Links”, and then scroll down and click on “Clip to Polyvore”.

(Yes, I blacked out a couple sites I didn’t want you to know about. In my defense, they’re work related…and I like having a job. Also, I have no idea why I have so many Yahoo links! Sheesh!)

Once you’ve clicked on “Clip to Polyvore” a little box will appear in the upper right corner of your screen, telling you to click on the photo you want to save to your items in Polyvore. Once your mouse is over the photo that you want to import, a green box will appear around the picture. Once the green box appears around the picture just click on the picture.

A new box should then appear in the upper right corner of your screen asking if you’re sure you want to save the photo to your items – just click “Save”. You also have the option of including tags. This helps others in Polyvore to be able to find your item to use in their design boards. So, it’s kind of a nice thing to do to add tags.

(Note: My computer was acting up and wouldn’t let me grab the Anthro rug like it should have. So in the interest of finishing the tutorial, we are now looking at a different rug…same principle. Okay – carry on).

Once you’ve clicked “Save”, the item will appear in your saved items in Polyvore and you’ll be able to see them next time you visit.

One little caveat is that you can’t clip every photo to Polyvore. Only certain photos can be uploaded. For instance, I’ve tried to use photos from Ebay listings before, and no dice. Drats. Most “store” sites can clip to Polyvore though.

And that’s it. Happy creating!

A Few Things I Learned from My Mother

• Just about any problem can be fixed with a good meal and a new outfit
• A good color sense and some paint are the only tools you really need
• Thinking inside the box is highly overrated
• Eating a donut for breakfast is totally acceptable
• Wisdom is earned through gracefully weathering the fierce storms of life
• Patience is a virtue and a little selflessness can move mountains and touch hearts
• After taking that first sip of a perfect Diet Coke you should say “Ahhhh” and then smack you lips and say “Mmm that’s a good one”
• With a little strength, creativity, prayer and perseverance you can accomplish just about anything
• God’s love is displayed through mothers

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the amazing mothers out there. And I’d also like to thank and celebrate the many non-mothers out there that inspire me daily.

XOXO

Demystifying Polyvore

As some of you may know, I have a bit of a Polyvore addiction. To me, being able to go in a program and virtually create room design boards is the equivalent of playing with Barbies as a kid (…without the whole Barbie-Ken smooching thing). I’m a really visual person, so when I’m designing a room it’s a huge help to be able to see how my ideas will actually look before I actually start working on a room. It also helps me to be able to experiment with different design elements without the commitment of going out and buying that wacky Amy Butler fabric or faux deer head. It’s basically risk free decorating. Love that. Okay – hang on for a highly technical (but hopefully informative) post.

Polyvore can be really confusing the first time you look at it. First you need register to create your own account.

You’ll then want to follow THIS tutorial to download the “clipper tool”.

Then go back to the Polyvore Homepage and click “Create”.

Now the real fun begins!!! You’ll see a screen that looks like this, which is still really confusing.

No worries. Go to the search box and type in whatever you’re looking for. This can be an item like “sofa” or a brand like “Pottery Barn”.

I typed in “Pottery Barn” in this example, and of course, I got tons of results. You can type in more specific searches too, but they don’t always yield that many results. This is unfortunately due to the way items are tagged when people upload them. Hopefully Polyvore will come up with a solution at some point.

Okay, so you’re looking through the pages of Pottery Barn items and you see something you really like and want to use in your design, like this blue Charlotte Armoire…mmm yummy.

 

All you need to do is click on the item and you can then select from 3 options: 1) Add to set, 2) View details, 3) Save to my items. If I really like the item I want to save it in my items to use again later. So I’ll click “Save to my items” first, and then I’ll click “add to set”.

Sometimes you’ll add an item to your board and it will look kind of fuzzy and see through, like this:

All you need to do to fix this is go up to where it says “Background: Remove”, and click “Background: Keep”.

Ahh, much better. But wait, I don’t want to see the wood floor behind that rug. So I go back up to “Background” and click “Background: Custom”. It then pulls up a screen that looks like the photo below. You just use the little squares to draw a line (or box) to crop the photo…keep want you want and eliminating what you don’t. When you’re done, click “OK”.

Now I want my rug behind the sofa, though. So I go up and click “Backwards” until the rug is behind the sofa. It usually takes a few clicks…not sure why. Also, if you want an item in front of another item, you click “Forwards”…but I’m sure you would have figured that out.

  Also, if you want to duplicate an item (like I wanted the rug to be double sized), just click “Clone”. No photo of that. Sorry. You can also rotate photos by clicking “Flip” or “Flop”. You can’t rotate them 45 degrees though, which is a bummer.

Also, a note about finding items: Don’t be too worried about finding the exact item you want to use in your room. If they don’t have my exact sofa, I find one that’s similar enough to give me the right look.

Once you’ve created a “room” you like, you can either click “Save draft” to save it for later, or click “Publish”. Clicking “Publish” is the only way you’ll be able to save the photo in your own computer file.

Once you’ve published your room, just click your username (mine is obviously AnNicole).

All of your published design boards will then show up. Then if you want to save the room to your own computer file, just right click on the photo and save it the way you would save any other photo.

And that’s it. You’re Polyvoring!

My Favorite Vignettes

Beth at Stories of A to Z is having a “Ready Set Vignette” party today, and I really wanted to participate. I hoard accessories, but oddly my own vignettes don’t change very often. Hmmm, maybe if I stopped painting for five minutes they would?… :). So rather than boring you with more photos of the same old vignettes in my house, I also hoard photos of accessories, and here are a few of my faves

This Martha Stewart mantel has been in my “dream home” file for a while. I love the soothing colors and interest of the vintage landscape paintings – especially combined with a simple starfish and a tiny vase that picks up with the green in the paintings. For a similar look be on the lookout for vintage paintings at thrift stores and “flea-tique” stores. I see them all the time. And you can paint unsightly or uncoordinated frames in matching colors that you draw from the paintings.

I love this BHG vignette below. I hope you haven’t already seen it too many times. Ahhh…the combo of white/black and warm wood. Lovely. This look could easily be replicated with a couple black and white drawings or photos placed in large black frames with thick white mats. Warm wood accents and rustic baskets complete the look.

This Country Living vignette is a great example of how repeating similar items can add a lot of interest and result in a a big impact. I love how the topiary kind of breaks up the look too.

Oh symmetry…I love symmetry – mostly because it’s fairly foolproof :). In the photo below they’ve created a visual triangle, though by having the birdcage in the center be slightly taller than the lamps on either side (and much taller than the vases). Triangles are good when it comes to creating vignettes. Make your arrangement create some kind of triangle and you’re probably going to be okay.

Finally, I love this photo from Ballard Designs. This vignette shows how you don’t need a lot of stuff to have a nice vignette. In a nutshell…go big. The combination of the large items, as well as the varying colors and textures, creates a really interesting vignette.

His and Hers Style: Contemporary Meets Earthy

I thought I’d take a stab at something different today and look at the dilemma of combining two very different styles into one cohesive look. You married folks know what I’m talking about right? Not so easy when your spouse has a heartfelt love of all things Nascar and you prefer…well, anything but :).

Today, we’re pretending she loves contemporary style with clean lines and not too much fuss. He loves all things earthy. Give him wood grain and leather and he’s a happy man.

Meet the happy couple’s bedroom:

As you can see, Ms. Contemporary and Mr. Earthy have learned the art of compromise. She gets a bed, nightstands, and artwork with stylish and clean contemporary lines, while he gets his manly leather chair and warm earthy colors. They even managed to find a mirror that combines both simple lines and his beloved wood grain. Ahhh, a match made in heaven.

Now, don’t worry. This single gal isn’t going to attempt to give marital advice here, BUT I have a few suggestions when it comes to combining styles.

• Find a Common Thread: What do you both like (I know…duh)? Even if it’s something as simple as a color, or a texture, that’s something you can build on.
• What’s REALLY Important To You?: Our contemporary gal would feel completely suffocated in a a room full of intricate details, raw wood and cowhide, right? What’s really important to her is clean lines that let her feel like she has order and can breathe. And, let’s face it, a pristine white room would make our earthy man break out in hives. He really needs to feel the warmth of earth tones around him in order to relax.
• What Can You Live Without?: In the example above our contemporary gal would probably prefer brighter colors or a nice tone on tone palette, but as long as she has a simple, orderly bedroom she’s content. And our earthy man would rather have a solid oak bed (and he isn’t a big fan of throw pillows), but he feels comforted in his warm hued space.

Feel free to let me know if you want me to do this again, and if so, are any particular styles you want me to try to combine?

Finally, thanks to all of you who entered the Pleated Poppy giveaway! The winner of the set of 3 posy pins is lucky number 81, Stacy from Snow Business.