The Best Home Blogs, Apps, & Hidden Gems, Courtesy Of This Industry Pro

When it comes to decor and digital shopping, no one knows the game better than Tom Delavan, creative director of home at Gilt.com. As the former editor-at-large at Domino mag, former Sotheby's contemporary-art specialist, and Harvard grad, Delavan is a certifiable interior-design expert. But what makes this industry pro truly special — besides his résumé and, of course, taste — is his knowledge of the world of virtual-shopping and inspiration. Ahead, Tom breaks down his favorite decor and design apps, blogs, and tips on how to curate your home when, literally, the entire market is only a click away.

The obvious benefit to shopping brick-and-mortar locations is that you can see the materials, dimensions, and overall look in person — how do you do this while virtually shopping? "The biggest error I think people make is really not paying attention to the scale or the dimensions. And I think we've all done this before: You didn't really look closely and you order the thing, and it shows up and it's like whoa — this is like doll-house size. So, what I do is actually tell people to get your tape measure out. And if it's a piece of furniture, not only measure but tape it out on the floor with blue tape if it's a sofa or something.

Basically, draw a floor plan for yourself before you get started. And, there's software now: There are iPad apps — I think I have one called [Magic]Plan — and then there's something online called Icovia, in which, basically, you can draw your room to scale and you can plop your furniture in, so you can make sure you're not buying a sofa that's going to overwhelm a room or just look really dinky. And my general advice with scale is err on the side of being too large. For example, if you're in your starter apartment and you need to get a sofa, a 6.5-foot sofa might fit perfectly well right now, but this isn't the apartment you're going to stay in forever. A 7 foot, which is more of a standard size, is probably a better bet."

What's the Gilt curating process like? "The first thing is to be really thorough. We have a team of buyers — myself and the buyers — who attend major trade fairs...so, we really know what's out there. And then we really know what our customers are looking for, because we're online and they're flash sales — we get to know really quickly what our customers are responding to. It's really fun. We get better all the time with this process of understanding our customers and really focusing on what they need."

For people who can't go to trade shows and fully immerse themselves in the industry, where should they go for inspiration. "People have a lot more places now to look for inspiration — all the home blogs are making it easier than ever to just get inspired. So, in addition to the magazines that have been around for forever, there are also blogs."

What are your favorite blogs to look at? "People always ask me this, and it gets me in trouble. Refinery29 is at the top of my list [laughs]. I do look at Remodelista a lot. And, I love...Emmas DesignBlogg. During [Hurricane Sandy], I basically spent three days online just going through this girl's blog. I love it! And she has all these sources you'd never know about like some weird shops in Sweden and even some weird Japanese shops that are selling Swedish design and vice versa."

What's a decor gem — either brick-and-mortar or online — that everybody should know about? "There's Funkis.com. I think I found this on Emmas DesignBlogg. There are just beautiful things."

Now that you know how to shop the goods, don't miss the Gilt Home Collection — all designed by Delavan himself — which goes on sale this Sunday, July 28 at 9 p.m. (EDT).