When it comes time to start putting your shopping list together for a gift-giving occasion – whether it’s Christmas or a birthday or a graduation – you naturally try to coordinate the gifts with the passions of the person you’re shopping for. For those of us who feel like we don’t have a creative bone in our body, coming up with gift ideas for the DIY interior designer in our lives – you know, the person who redecorated your living room for free and who drags you to every garage sale in the area on a regular basis – can seem like an insurmountable challenge.
Here are some great ideas for that aspiring designer in your life, a list of possible gifts that only a design-obsessed person would appreciate – but boy, will they appreciate them!
Gift Cards for the Budding Interior Decorator
Gift cards might seem impersonal, but for the interior designer, they are like magical portals to a creative world where anything is possible. The keys to remember about a DIY interior designer are
- Just about anything can be useful or inspiring, so gift cards to hardware stores, furniture stores, or just about any other store can be a godsend.
- Tools and raw materials like paint and fabrics and textiles are just as useful as mass-produced decorative items – possibly more useful.
So, a gift card to just about any store that sells tools, materials, or interesting things will be much appreciated by your designer friend.
Things They’ve Used
Designers covet things other people throw away, so think back on some of the designs your friend has created, and consider some of the unusual items they’ve turned into amazing room decor, like
- Old books re-purposed into wall art? Buy a bulk lot of garage sale books for them.
- Magnets, stickers or buttons? Find a source and get a gift certificate or buy a random supply.
- Canvas prints? Get a gift certificate for an online canvas printer and let them upload the photos or scans they want.
Designers don’t like to repeat themselves, but they often use the same materials over and over again.
Inspiration
Great coffee-table books on interior design, books written by their favourite designers, architecture and art books filled with photos: Inspiration comes to designers in many different forms, and a good designer, whether amateur or professional, is always hungry for stimulating new ideas from a variety of sources.
A Brag Book
Finally, if your designer friend has worked on one of your own rooms in your home, make a Brag Book for them! Take some high-quality photos of your room or rooms, perfectly staged, in great sunlight. Then print them out on good photo paper and add descriptive text highlighting everything you love about the design. Make it a story. Include close-up photos of favourite pieces or moments.
Bonus: Make it a digital booklet your friend can send out to potential clients if they’re thinking of making design a career!
Designers can be intimidating to shop for, because they’re so creative and inspiring you might imagine your own sense of style or imagination can never measure up. These ideas will guide you towards a fantastic gift – and if you need a canvas print resource, click here!
