Decorating your home for the first time can be a daunting task.
The initial excitement of designing your own space can soon turn into a sense of overwhelm when you walk into a homeware or furniture shop and see the countless options and styles available.
Or perhaps you’ve already been living in your home for a while, but your mishmash of furniture and accessories is just not working.
When designing or redesigning your space, you should have a good understanding of your own interior style. This will help you navigate all the options out there when purchasing furniture and accessories, and help you create a harmonious and stylish space.
With so many design styles out there – scandanivian, modern, classic, glam, minimal, industrial, nautical and modern country, just to name a few – it can be hard to know or figure out what your décor style is.
Here are some ways you can determine your interior style.
Get pinning
If you don’t already have a Pinterest account, you need to sign up asap.
This is not only the perfect place to get design inspiration, but you can curate your own boards to guide the décor of your home.
Simply start by pinning any rooms or designs that catch your eye and that you personally feel drawn to.
After some time, when you’ve built up a collection of images, you should begin to see some common themes unfolding throughout. It could be certain colours, textures, accessories or an overall feel. You can then start to build upon this style and use it as a base for designing your own home.
Not into Pinterest? You can do the same thing on Instagram or create a physical mood board with pictures from interior design magazines.
A visual style board will make it easy to identity recurring themes and your style preferences.
Take a quiz
Want someone else to tell you what your style is? Well you’re in luck with hundreds of free “What’s your interior style” quizzes online.
Simply answer a few questions about your preferences, home and personality, you they’ll tell you what décor style you’re most suited to.
Play around with a few different quizzes and research suggested styles a bit further, and you’ll soon find a décor style that works for you.
What’s in your wardrobe?
Head into your wardrobe and take a look at your existing style.
Quite often, our wardrobes choices are reflected in our home interiors, both determined by personal taste. As such, your taste in fashion can be a good guide for your interior style.
Do you stick to neutral colours and like everything simple and clean? A minimalistic, monochromatic look might work in your home.
Do you go for well made, expensive and classic pieces? Then you might be suited to a traditional/ luxe interior look.
Or if your closet is filled with loud colours and outrageous patterns, a bolder design choice might be more your style.
How do you want your home to feel?
Beyond aesthetics, think about how you want your home to feel.
Do you want it to be clean, sleek and uncluttered? Or do you want a more cosy, homely feel with a big squishy couch you can unwind on at the end of the day?
How you plan to use your home and the feel you want it to have will play a large part in determining your interior style.
What textures do you like?
Think about what textures you like and find appealing. Typically, different décor themes feature specific textures and materials, so this can act as a guide.
For instance, if you love the look and feel of concrete and metal, an industrial look might be more suitable than a beach shack theme.
Don’t force your interior style into a box
While there are some very specific design styles out there, don’t feel that yours must fit perfectly into one category or that you have to give your style a name.
It’s likely you will like elements of different styles and it’s completely fine to combine these styles into your own unique look.
This will better reflect your personality and bring more character into your home. It will also help you avoid the “cookie cutter” home décor look, with no substance or personal flair.
Part of the appeal of home decorating is putting your own unique spin on established looks and creating your own personal style for your home.
At the end of the day, it should be something that you love, are proud to show to guests and want to come home to at the end of the day.
