I admit it – I’m a home decorating voyeur.  I love looking at houses and decorating.  I like seeing how others live and decorate.  I love looking for home and decor ideas that might transfer to my home and lifestyle.  What about you?  Are you infected or addicted or obsessed, however you want to describe it, with homes and decorating?

You Might Be a Home Decorating Voyeur If…

Answer True or False to the following questions honestly to find out if you’re a Home Decorating Voyeur:

1.  I love reading shelter magazines (or at least looking at the pretty pictures!).

2.  I love watching HGTV.

3.  I have visited Open Houses even when I wasn’t in the market for buying a new home (confession – Terrie and I spent an entire day together looking at all the model homes in a very large Las Vegas PUD – it was our adult Disneyland!).

4.  I like buying home accessories as much as – or maybe more than (that’s me!) – clothes or shoes.

5.  I enjoy Home Tours or Street of Dreams Tours. 

6.  I sometimes walk through furniture stores just to see the displays (another true confession – Terrie and I have also done this together in a number of cities!).

7.  I love evening strolls or drives through neighborhoods when the lights are on and you get a peek at the inside of homes (Have you seen the “House Hunters” promo on HGTV where a voyeur couple are driving through a neighborhood and are “busted”?  It makes me chuckle because I can relate).

8.  I enjoy perusing the Internet for home decorating ideas and input (I sure hope you answer “True” to this since you’re reading our decorating blog!).

If you answered “True” to half or more  of these questions then Welcome!  You’re a member of my HDV Club (Home Decorating Voyeur Club).

Yesterday I Paid My HDV Dues

After all these years as a home decorating voyeur I paid my dues Saturday, throwing open our front door to other home decorating voyeurs.  Our home was one of five Chelan Valley homes on the 2010 Home Tour presented by Guild “B” to benefit the Lake Chelan Community Hospital.  A $20 ticket allowed visitors access to each of the five tour homes from 11:00am to 5:00pm and proceeds will purchase a Rotary Vane Medical Vacuum system for the hospital. 

You peeked inside my home  most recently in the second half of last week’s post “What’s To Love About Your House?”  – so you have an idea of what Home Tour visitors saw here. 

So how did I occupy myself while the public toured my home?  Why in true HDV fashion, of course -  I visited the other 4 tour homes!  Even in our small community there’s a wide range of decorating and lifestyles showcased in homes.  None of the five houses selected by the Guild were alike, which made it great fun to tour.  Here’s what I found:

• One home titled Lakeside Lodge featured natured inspired decorating including bear paw prints inset into the kitchen’s slate floor, a bear decorated bedroom and bath, a deer bedroom, a horse bedroom and bath, and a Hawiian bedroom and bath and great use of antlers plus hand hewn log corbels, railings and mantels.  

• A home titled Life is Better at the Lake had front yard views of the golf course and back yard views of the lake.  The kitchen/dining area of  this fabulous home included concrete counters and featured a large, stainless steel, built-in gas pizza oven for the 5 teenagers in residence and a restaurant quality glass walled wine room where the bottles’ labels presented as art to the 12 lucky people at the built-in-place concrete dining table.

• In An Extreme Makeover the homeowner worked a stained glass window from his mother’s home in an England into the master bedroom remodel and decorated the home with artwork collected while traveling around the world. 

• In a home titled Norm’s Resort the lady-of-the-house got the pool she wanted while her husband got the 4-car garage and 2-car carport he wanted for his collection of classic cars including a 1960 Chevy Impala, 1962 Nova Convertible, 1964 Pontiac GTO, 1968 Camaro Convertible, 2003 Chevrolet SSR and 2006 Corvette Convertible.

You can get a little peek at these homes by clicking here.  It was fun seeing how others in my community interpret their lifestyle in their homes.  I enjoyed seeing the similarities and the differences from how I live and decorate.

Be a Voyeur But Not a Carbon Copy

The point of being a Home Decorating Voyeur is to gather inspiration, not to copy what others have done.  As you peruse magazines, the web, TV, retail stores, tours and visit friends’ and family’s homes, gather ideas and direction for your home but don’t try to superimpose someone else’s style into your space…make it your own, springboard from what you see and put your own stamp on it.

I’m sure some of you are full fledged Home Decorating Voyeurs.  Own up to it!  Use the Comment link below to share your experiences – tell me about the time you realized you were an HDV, share one of your most inspiring sources,describe how you’ve incorported inspiration found elsewhere into your home.  All of us Home Decorating Voyeurs would love a peek into your home or decorating experiences!