grandinroad on Olioboard

I can't tell you how many times I've been emailed or Formspringed with the question, "How do you make your idea boards?" I always explain to people that I use a program called Pages on my Mac. It is super easy and user-friendly. I realize, however, that many people have PC's, so I also suggest using Photoshop or polyvore. Today, however, I discovered another option - Olioboard.

Where polyvore is mainly for fashion, but can be used for room idea boards, Olioboard is specifically geared toward home design. I still prefer Pages because its more versatile, but for those who don't have that option, I think Olioboard is a great alternative.

They are currently hosting a contest sponsored by grandinroad that I discovered via Decor8. I decided to enter despite my recent track record with contests. I'm hoping that this one will be fun and I'm not going to even ask you to vote since I may use the wrong phrasing...(*wink wink*) Besides you have to register on Olioboard first anyway (which I think is a GREAT idea), so it's not as easy as a quick click of the mouse).

You can enter multiple idea boards and you have to use at least three items from a selection of grandinroad products. While grandinroad has a lot of great products, the specific ones you can choose from are a bit challenging for me, as they aren't my typical style. But I love a good challenge!

 
Here are two idea boards that I've come up with so far. If they look a bit different from my usual idea boards, it's because 1) I'm using a different program and 2) I have a more limited range of products to choose from:

I'd say the first one is a little more eclectic. This next one is a bit more traditional:

You must use at least three grandinroad items in each board, but I tried to go above and beyond a bit and used four in each. I also tried to use a couple of more substantial pieces and not just go with dinky little accessories - because where's the challenge in that? I may create more (maybe a more modern one next), so stay tuned!