Shop Like a Design Blogger: Decorica

After last week's brief hiatus, I'm back this week with yet another installment of the "Shop Like a Design Blogger" guest post series. This week, I'd like to welcome Erica from Decorica. Erica, who launched Decorica nearly a year ago, is the talented interior decorator behind Erica LeBlanc Designs. Erica has a wonderful knack for bringing great style and color to just about any decorating budget and I look to her blog regularly for stylish, budget-friendly inspiration.

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In addition to helping people improve the look and function of their home, shopping is one of the best benefits about being an interior decorator. And I do shop! I prefer to visit small stores and websites that offer big style. I'm a fan of fixing things up myself and bringing sexy back to drab and outdated pieces. Being an East Coast gal, I've found that the coastal states of the Atlantic offer a plethora of shops and products needing a new home. At the same time, I love perusing websites that offer cool and unique new pieces. As a child, I was a Brownie, and we used to sing a song that went something like this..."Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold." That's my design motto: keep your old pieces and incorporate some new. You'll get a well-balanced look that will reflect your personality!

Make New Friends:

Perusing websites is a convenient way to find great new products and inspiration. House Eclectic is one of those websites with shapely and colorful furniture. Buy it new or use their look for inspiration when updating your flea market finds. They are a family owned business with their main office outside of Washington, D.C.

If you're looking for a beautiful natural fiber area rug, look no further. Merida, headquartered in Boston, MA with a mill in Fall River, MA, offers a wonderful and eco-friendly assortment of flooring options. Their rugs are made from wool, abaca, sisal, paper, jute, and sea & hemp grass.

Merida's website allows you to view the different materials and textures that they offer, get an custom rug price, as well as order swatches for free!

Modern Dose, based out of Queens, NY, is home to some amazing accessories and mid-century reproductions. They have a great assortment of lighting fixtures which includes unique table lamps and glamorous chandeliers. Their mirrors are fantastic - all sorts of shapes and motifs. Modern Dose is the perfect site to find that one thing that your room needs to complete the look.

Started in a garage by a New Hampshire couple, Company C is the source for whimsical and colorful rugs in amazing patterns. These rugs will be the focal point of the room. Company C offers handmade area rugs floral, stripe, geometric and border styles to suite any home decor.

In addition to gorgeous rugs, they also offer furniture, fabric by the yard, coordinating bedding ensembles and toss pillows. Visit their showrooms in Hingham, MA, Portland, ME, and Concord, NH, or order from their website.

Keep the Old:

Newburyport, MA, has a handful of small antique shops and boutiques that offer great prices on items needing a little TLC. There is no better way to show your personality than by fixing up an old piece to fit your home decor. Every town has a little shop filled with treasures - take the plunge and purchase those pieces that catch your eye.

Flukes & Finds & Friends has an amazing selection of small tables, chests, foot stools, and hutches that are already painted a coat of white or some fun color that could easily fit into any decor as-is or fixed up. Vintage Faire Antiques is home to a ton of old accessories and furniture just waiting for a makeover. They place adorable items on the street - which is where I saw my new-to-me Louis chair that will soon get a new look. Both shops are so small and quaint, they don't even have websites.

A little farther north on the infamous "antique mile," aka Rt. 1 in Cape Neddick, Maine, you'll find Columbary House Antiques. They have a multi-dealer store loaded with oddities, old paintings and photos, and decor you can use to fill up your shelves.

They also have an outdoor area that is packed with architectural salvages and great garden pieces that you won't find anywhere else.

If you're a DIY gal looking for the perfect fabric to cover your new antique find with, visit your local Calico Corners. I'm a huge fan of their fabric selection, which I feel is always kept current with the "in" colors and patterns of the season. They carry bolts of in stock fabric as well as designer fabric which you can order.

For inspiration, their showrooms are full of furniture upholstered in beautiful patterns and colors and window treatments that are breathtaking. If you've never visited a Calico Corner showroom, you must - they are my favorite resource for fabrics as well as ideas and inspiration since many furniture showrooms just show neutral fabrics.

A special thanks to Averill for the pleasure and honor of participating in this fun series!

Next Week's Guest Blogger: Jami at imagine.