Obsessions & Compulsions: Home Edition

I'll be the first to admit it: I am obsessive and a little compulsive. Since I was a wee PhDini, I've been very particular about things. Barbies were always put away in the chronological order by which I procured them. My closets were arranged in a specific chromatic order that my poor, frustrated mother kept getting wrong (she was a more than concerned about her little head case). Once I became interested in a topic--say the Beatles, phantom-limb phenomena among amputees, hairstyles of 1920s Hollywood, or the differences in table manners around the globe--I would create a file for it, which I would fill up with all of my research.

Anyway, this proclivity for order and thoroughness has worked wonders for my career and for my hobbies! Especially, home decor! My hubby introduced me to mid-century modern design when we first met...one of the major draws to the West coast for him as it is a mecca for this style. I was more of a Spanish colonial, eccentric, integrationist kind of gal when it came to matters of the home, having an appreciation for the old with a new twist--like a Louis XIV chair with plum velvet fabric. As the daughter of an Italian upholsterer (an artist, really), home furnishings were like playing catch in the yard for others--just a part of everyday life.

Marry my obsessiveness and a love for home stuff and you get a list of some of my favorite home/design sites:
1. Apartment Therapy (all offshoots, especially theKitchn.com)
2. Mighty Haus
3. DaWanda
4. Design Sponge
5. Huset