How To Find Your Decorating Style

When it comes to your home and decorating tastes, you may find yourself vacillating between several styles or certain trends you currently favor. And guess what, that’s perfectly fine. While style may be a constant process of curation, life is a blend of experiences and our authentic taste inherently reflects that.

Most people in this big wide world gravitate toward a mixture of options rather than a single, solitary choice. Sure, we all have our favorite “somethings,” but when it comes to broader terms such as techniques or approaches, we usually mix things up and jumble them together. So how do we make it cohesive? The struggle is real when trying to stick to a theme, narrative, or style - especially while living in a changing world that’s full of limitless possibilities.

However, if you want to narrow down the list and nail a more distinctive, individualistic style preference, here are some steps towards finding your decorating style, one step at a time.

Respect Your Living Situation

When revamping your living space, it’s not just a case of finding a good decorating style. You need to find a decorating style that suits your circumstances. Consider a range of factors such as the dimensions of the home, the local climate, and your budget. Otherwise, you stand to fall in love with styles and strategies that just aren’t viable.
Every home is different, and doing what is right for you should be top of the agenda. For example, in today’s world, the need for multifamily housing design is increasingly common. When sharing certain spaces, it’s imperative that everyone is happy. Crucially, you will want to ensure that a sense of consistency has been achieved in communal rooms as well as the private living spaces.

Likewise, decorating a top-floor apartment may mean using different styles than a bungalow that has vast outside living areas. Ultimately, any style you choose should be aligned with your actual situation and not the idealistic version.

Seek and Gain Inspiration From Different Sources

Whether you are looking for bathroom remodel ideas or innovative ways to transform your kitchen, there are a plethora of different ways that you can seek and gain inspiration. With the internet and social media platforms, it has never been easier to find your decorating style and upgrade your home.

Inspiration is literally everywhere around us. We seek it every day, whether we are fully aware of it or not. Fortunately for us in the modern-day, we don’t need to look for inspiration solely in print or in-person anymore. There’s so much value in going old-school and looking through magazines or going on an endeavoring trip to the nearest furniture shop or designer show house. That being said, let’s be honest - nothing compares to the ease of browsing online for design and decor inspiration.

Use technology to your advantage. Create a Pinterest board of ideas. Skim posts or survey Instagram tags to take the guesswork out of designing. Glance through pictures of past travels or adventures. Save photos to your phone’s camera roll for priceless potential. Inspiration is always in reach—make a point to tap into its enduring assets and soak up creativity and innovation. We’re here to learn from one another and our collective experiences.

Ignore the Labels: Focus On a Blank Canvas

Aesthetic design trends and decorating styles have their own labels, but by all means, ignore them for your own purposes. A great tip is to ignore all terms describing a specific look and create your very own hodgepodge style. No need to pigeonhole yourself one hundred percent to “modern” or “Scandinavian.” In fact, sticking to one single style can become very difficult to sustain.

Varying decor details can look just as much like home in other style schemes with consideration to cohesiveness. Consider how to select furniture that authentically harmonizes with your lifestyle. From there, you can build a theme. Otherwise, shoot for a more eclectic look that serves function and artistry together.

Don’t Be Afraid Of Trial and Error

Looking at the entirety of a home or the setting of a single room as a blank canvas is one of the essential steps for finding your decorating style. Feel free to start small, one stroke at a time, to decrease intimidation. Design and decorate a small area of a room, or try out a vignette for a week or so. Details are easy to adjust as you get closer to pinpointing a style preference.

Conversely, start with a key decorative piece or design feature, such as a piece of furniture, and anchor the remaining style on that reference. Concentrate on hues, textures, and shapes with decor. Like anything in life, trial and error—and the passing of time—can provide the ultimate solution.

Take Your Time

There’s no rush to the finish line - in fact taking your time to put together a room with your own unique style can be an experience all on its own. Treating your space like a living entity will help you dial into best solutions and styles while connecting you on a personal level to the space itself. Happy decorating!