We’ve all been there—to those “perfect” homes that uniquely and beautifully reflect the owners with a well-curated, seemingly effortless sense of style.
How do they do it?
If you Google how to identify my home design personality, you’ll find lots of quizzes you can take to help you classify your “look” or style as a specific genre—modern, eclectic, traditional, etc.
But what do these classifications actually mean? And, how do you translate your design personality into selections for your home remodel?
How to Discover Your Home Design Personality
It’s definitely worth taking a little time to find your design style before you dive into a home remodeling project.
Begin by taking an introspective look at yourself and your lifestyle, and then use outside resources to help you create personal “design mood boards” that speak to you. These are the cues that define your unique personality—and that you can use to help make decisions about design/layout, products and fixtures, paint colors, and more.
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Take stock of your home right now: Consider the current layout…what do you love? What would you change? Which furniture items, fixtures and accessories are your favorites? By identifying these things, you’ll start to see a style pattern emerge.
- Look in your closet. I know I have seasonal “uniforms”—my go-to staples that I go back to time and again. Use your personal style as your guide for home choices: What colors, fabrics and patterns speak to you? Incorporate these into your selections for tile, cabinet colors, surfaces, etc.
- Use Pinterest, Instagram and Houzz. While these platforms can be overwhelming due to the sheer volume of information, for that same reason, they’re really helpful for home design. Get specific with your search: i.e., instead of kitchen ideas, look for open-concept kitchen or small-space kitchen design. Save your favorites and then look for commonalities among your design favorites.
- Get out of your house. Tour model homes and visit home anchor stores like Pottery Barn, West Elm and IKEA—take pictures of design elements and fixtures that you like and then save them in folders on your device for easy access and organization.
- Print media. Home and houseware catalogs, design magazines, coffee table books—use these resources for design ideas and inspiration.
- Look to your family and friends. Take note of homes that you love and feel a connection with—and then identify (specifically) the items or features that you could envision replicating in your own space, but with your own personal twist.
- Check out other designs. Home remodeling and home decorating posts on Instagram are great sources of inspiration. Instagram is so visual it’s easy to find inspiration. A few accounts that I follow are:@Christiandawdesign, @beforeafter.design, @glam_style_living, @the_real_houses_of_ig and @rustic_meets_modern.
Next, assemble your home design ideas into categories, organizing by rooms. Take notice of the patterns that form. It’s likely you’ll see a lot of repetition. With this balanced approach you will discover a style that you love.
By finding a home design style that matches your personality, you’ll be better prepared to remodel and decorate with confidence, with results that will stand the test of time.
Good luck!
The best is yet to come,
Beth Orr
