Finding Your Interiors Style
Image courtesy of Pinterest/Domino Magazine/Ikea
Style - What is it? I don’t believe that everyone knows what their style is. Some may not have given it much thought, perhaps style isn’t particularly important to them. For others, style plays a huge part in their life - it is how they want the world to see them and the messages that particular style conveys. Style can be communicated in many ways including clothes, music, make up and interiors. It reflects who we are or who we want to be.
I believe our style preferences are there - consciously or not. Our upbringing, our interests, our work, our way of life all contribute to the choices we make when it comes to style and our style can change and evolve over time as we and our lives change. Style is subjective and is there such a thing as good & bad style? Err yeah 😂
Growing up I can remember my mum redecorating our family home over the years. I remember the Laura Ashley era - lots of florals and frills, a touch of William Morris in there and lots of Habitat - Oh how I loved the Habitat and Ikea catalogues! We’d go out at weekends looking at show homes and I always loved a trip to Texas Homecare, (remember that?!) where they had a house created upstairs, used to display all the merchandise. I loved it all and I think that’s where my love for interiors was born. I’ve always been a homebody and was fortunate, I grew up in a considered home, a beautiful home. I love how home can, or rather should make you feel - safe, cosy, protected, warm, relaxed and surrounded by things and people you love.
Having seen and loved how, as a child, our family home changed, me using my brute strength to rearrange my bedroom multiple times and deciding how I wanted it decorated, I am fully aware of how my style has evolved over time and will continue to do so. What I have learned is that style shouldn’t be prescriptive, it should reflect your uniqueness. Whilst I describe my style as Scandinavian and Mid Century Modern inspired (which it most definitely is), I am conscious of all the other influences that spark joy for me. I love a bit of shaker style, a frill here and there, a pop of bright colour. Occasionally I’ve questioned my style, particularly recently as I’ve set up my interior design business, but I’ve learned that my style (and everyone’s) is unique and to go with it. When it comes to designing for others, it’s my responsibility to extract as much information about them as possible, yes, their style preferences, but also how they live, what they enjoy doing, their likes and dislikes so that the design I produce is individual to them, it reflects who they are as well as being aesthetically pleasing. Defining your style, i.e., what you’re drawn to, what you find beautiful and a reflection of you doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll know how to articulate it in an interiors setting. My skills lie in understanding my clients, creating a vision for a space that is best representative of them and the way they live.
So, when it comes to interiors, what if you don’t know what ‘your style’ is? How do you find it? Pinterest can be your best friend and is one of mine. A virtual pin board which enables you to collect and curate your favourite images. Once you get started you can lose hours so be warned! Pinterest will gradually know which images/styles you gravitate towards so it’s easier to build your boards. Once you’ve created boards it may be worth reviewing them and you’ll probably start to see commonalities in images. For example, you may find that a particular colour keeps appearing or a certain style of sofa. You may see lots of pattern or minimal pattern. From here you can really start to understand what you’re drawn to and what sparks joy.
Another tip is to take photos when you see something you love. It could be a hotel lobby, a shop display, a piece of artwork. Cut out images from magazines and catalogues. If it’s not instinctive to you to know what your interior style is, and I’m not suggesting we should limit ourselves style wise, then a little bit of detective work will go a long way to figuring it out and don’t forget you can always enlist me to help 😉