Where can I get decorating/soft-furnishings inspiration?

[NoseyNooNoo]

We finally exchanged (yay!) so now I can start decorating, at least in my head. However, I am devoid of ideas. I had a quick flick through magazines at Sainsbury's this morning but could hardly come home with 10 of them.

I think the house is in good order so shouldn't need too much work on it (famous last words) so much of the decorating will be soft furnishings really.

What resources can I use for ideas/inspiration?

We had a complete house refurb/extension last year and the amount of catalogues and magazines I amassed was obscene.

I got a fair bit of inspiration from magazines and websites eg Living etc. I am less keen on stylished shots made up by magazine editors and more interested in actual homes and taking a few ideas from here and there. WHSmith stock a good range of US and European living/style magazines which I often find more inspirational than the UK ones, although having said that a lot of the homes featured in Living Etc are not in the UK.

One example - we decided on a big window seat. The carpenter needed a design. I saw one that was quite good in a US house featured in Living Etc, adapted it to suit our storage needs. The cushion design ( eg one large, one med, one smaller ) adapted from magazine idea, material for covers found in sale at Ikea, similar to window seat I saw in another UK mag a few years back. So a mishmash of stuff really.

The Laura Ashley catalogue has room sets featured, also get the catalogues for M&S and John Lewis Home. They will give you a good idea of what the colour trends will be. Also, look on the websites of the big fabric companies - harlequin, sanderson etc.

Thanks ladies for your ideas. I am trying not to buy too many magazine and have already ordered M&S and John Lewis catalogues.

I shall take a look at the Living website.

That's great. I hadn't thought of the library!