Make the Most of Your Home Equity Reno Funds with Olioboard

OK, all you new home owners and renovators…I’ve come across the coolest thing ever to help you with your decorating and home designing!

Check out Olioboard, a sort of Facebook meets Changing Spaces, website. Olioboard allows you to create design boards for any room in the house or the garden and it’s so easy my three year old can do it.

Drag and drop wall color, flooring, furniture, draperies, accessories, anything you can dream of, really, to design one of those cool design boards that a professional designer would create for you, swatches an’ all. The pictures that you use for your designs are of actual products you can purchase. The prices of the items and the stores you can buy them at are conveniently listed for you below your design. You can even upload pictures of your own furniture or something you find online to assist you in getting the exact look you’re after.

I’m in the process of sprucing up our living room as we’re hosting Christmas at our place this year. I’ve replaced our older family room furniture with more modern pieces over the years, but we haven’t yet changed the sky blue paint with the cream sponging that came with the place. Although out of date, the blue creates a peaceful atmosphere in the room that we really like, so I’ve been hesitant in picking a new color.

Using Olioboard, I was able to choose furniture, floor covering and accessories very similar to my own, right down to the artwork and the usual teddy found on my couch. Then I was able to go about trying out some of the wall colors and even wallpaper that was considering. I also noticed that the custom order rug I had in mind didn’t fit at all with the decor, saving me about $200 and alot of disappointment. Seeing my living room in this format, I was able to recognize that investing in new, more modern lamps would give me alot of bang for my buck in the character department.

Now, when I visit Home Depot or Winners, I know exactly what I’m looking for, saving me plenty of time and money. And, if I really wanted the exact piece I had chosen for my design board, I could click on the item and I would be brought directly to the store site that I could order it from. This site provides an an amazing tool to help you keep track of your ideas and priorities when you have an entire, brand new house to decorate or if you want to make the most of the home equity dollars you may have pulled out to update your space.

And if you find yourself addicted to all that creativity, Olioboard is also a community where you can share your designs and talk with other members about their’s. There are even friendly design challenges you can compete in if you’ve really got the bug. Enjoy!