5 Simple Tips to Find Your Design Style

Do you ever feel overwhelmed with thinking about exactly what is your design style? You are not alone!!! I felt the same way!!!

There are so many amazing design styles in the world, it really is hard to choose which suits your home and personality the best. After following the tips I’m going to share with you, I finally figured out my design style. I would describe my style as traditional, with a mix of French chic and a touch of glam.

When we moved into our home 9 years ago, I remember feeling so overwhelmed staring at the mostly empty house, trying to envision what on earth to fill it with.

This was our family room shortly after we moved in 9 years ago. Ugh! I show you this, so you can see that I really was starting with a blank slate. So many decisions to be made, and it wasn’t done overnight.

I asked myself many questions I’m sure you ask yourself… “What style did I want to go with?” “What colors did I want to use?”  “How should I cover my windows?”

I didn’t want to spend money just to realize I had made “the wrong” choice. As a result, many of the rooms in my home sat empty.

One day, I had an ah ha moment! I would scour design magazines and tear out my favorite photos. They would go into a binder, categorized by rooms. This became my inspiration, my guide as to what exactly was my style.

I used that process to transform our empty family room…

Room Sources

Fast forward 9 years! The process I used then, I still use now only now I can store my inspiration virtually, saving space and time! This process is the exact process I used when we had to redo our master bathroom, due to a water leak. It made the process so much easier because I knew my design style!

Let me walk you through my simple steps so you can figure out your design style too…

1. Get yourself a Pinterest account if you don’t already have one. It’s easy, just go to their website and follow the prompts to set up an account. You can follow my Pinterest inspiration here. When we realized we were going to have to redo our bathroom, I started a board for my bathroom.
2. Create a few boards where you will pin your inspiration. If you have rooms in your home that you are focusing on, make special boards for them. When we realized we were going to have to redo our bathroom, I started a board for my bathroom. I am getting ready to remodel my kitchen, so I have a board called, kitchen. This is your place to gather inspiration.
3. Start looking for design photos that you like. Don’t pay attention to anything else except that you like the design and pin it to your board. Some of my favorite place to look for inspiration are…

• Houzz  |  Home Bunch  |  Decor Pad
• Pinterest
• Blogs – Some of my favorites are –

Decor Gold Designs  |  Kelley Nan |  Z Design at Home  |  Driven by Decor  |  Citrine Living  |

The House of Silver Lining  |  Addison’s Wonderland  |  Haneen’s Haven  | The Sunny Side Up  |

• Google image search whatever your are looking for. For example, when I was looking for inspiration for our master bathroom remodel, I typed in elegant master bathroom and found this inspiration…

Found via House Beautiful

I searched the words, “white kitchen”,  for some kitchen inspiration. I then pinned any photos that caught my eye.

 O’Brien Harris

Mobili Martini

Designer Unknown

4.  Start looking for similarities in the photos you have pinned. After a period of time has gone by, a couple of days or weeks, go back to your inspiration board and start making observations. Look for patterns in what you have pinned. Let’s use my kitchen board again as the example again.

• What type of cabinet doors did I mostly pin? This was really eye opening to me. I thought I wanted ornate cabinets with lots of detail. In actuality, what I was most drawn to were cabinets with shaker style doors, clean and simple with heavy moldings. I’m so happy to have discovered this now, before I spent a small fortune on cabinets I didn’t really like!!!

• What kind of counter tops did I seem to pin the most? Hands down, I liked marble the most.

• What color faucets was I drawn to? Mostly polished nickel and polished brass.

• What kind of hardware showed up most frequently?

• What floors were most predominant?

Do you see how many of my design questions are answered by simply looking at what inspiration photos have been gathered?

5.  If you aren’t able to answer a question you have indefinitely, keep on looking for more inspiration until you feel confident that you know what is your style! I like to pin product in my folders too. This allows me to see items I’m debating all laid out next to each other, creating a mood board. It helps me decide whether a piece will work with the room or not, without having to purchase it!

These tips have helped me find my personal design style!  I will be sharing our master bathroom remodel next week to show you how this process helped me figure out my design style for that project.

Use these tips for your next design project and I know you will find your design style for your home!

xo,

Don’t miss a post! Subscribe to our weekly newsletter!

*This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience.