What Design Style are you?

How do you know what Design Style you are?  Do you flip through various magazines or scour the internet and look at page after page of beautifully decorated rooms to see which one peeks your interest?   Or have you always known your design style but is changing overtime as new ideas and designs are gracing home decor magazines?

Personally, my Design Style used to be more Classic, refined and sophisticated.  I used to love the look of classic furniture, and how elegant and timeless it was.  However, over time and two kids later, my needs and feelings changed, maybe due to the stress of keeping them away from my beloved Queen Anne Four Poster bed that my daughter proceeded to destroy one of the posters by scouring into it with a small pair of craft scissors or my living room cocktail table that my daughter also insisted on using as a drum and indented the table top repeatedly with a drink coaster good times!!  

So from these experiences my design style has changed to more of a casual, rustic glam design style,  something that is comfortable and kid friendly, oversized upholstered seating, repurposed, vintage and unfinished accent furniture and a little glam as in light fixtures and accents for good measure but still hold true my love for just a little elegance.

When I first started studying design, there were only really a few Design Styles to speak of, all noticeably different in their elements and principals, Traditional, Contemporary, Mid-Century Modern, & Art Decor.   However, again overtime, design has and continues to evolve based to peoples wants and needs not necessarily what is typical of a design.   We are seeing more and more designs using an eclectic variance of pieces rather than uniformed and matching.  People are choosing to rather salvage or re-purpose what they already have in their homes then bringing in newer and complementing pieces.  Many of the new design styles follow this same premise of using old with new, Industrial, Rustic, Country, Shabby Chic to name a few.

So how do you know what design style you are, or if you even have one for that matter.  

One of the best ways to get an idea and inspiration is by looking through magazines or various images online to see what really inspires you. 

Another option and in the age of technology, consider taking a Design Quiz, many of my colleagues in the Design Industry offer a Design Quiz on their website, where you look at a collection of pictures and decide which are most relatable and pleasing to you. An algorithm will match up all your answers and give you a pretty good idea of what your design style is based on that information.

The same holds true with In-home Designers and Online Designers, in that when we have the opportunity to meet or Face-Time with you, we can ask some general questions to get a peek into your world and life-style to determine what you like and don’t like. Questions could be something like….

How would you describe yourself; a Beach, City, Country or Mountain kind of person?

Do you see yourself as an Uber, Mini-Van, Jeep or BMW person?

Are you a homebody or do you like to go out to parties? Would you rather have hot chocolate or wine and cheese?

Awe… are you a cat or dog person or neither?

What colors do you like? Are you more of a bold, dramatic color person or a serene, calming color person?

From questions like this we can slowly start to identify and piece together what kind of person you are and how that translates into a particular design style.

From here we then start to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

So, for example, let’s say you like to go to the mountains, you are a Jeep kind of person, always hot chocolate, dog lover and like warmer colors.

Those answers to me would describe someone who is an outdoors type of person, loves hiking and/or the thrill of off roading, so you are probably young at heart:-) Loves companionship and quiet time and a place where you can relax and retreat and get away from it all.

So how would that translate into a design style?

I would categorize these results into maybe a Rustic Modern Design Style. Where the colors are very simple and organic, exposed architectural elements, beams and wood floors, stone fire places everything you would associate with the outdoors. Modern furniture with a comfortable and casual feeling accented with pieces of natural, metal or repurposed accent furniture. Greenery to bring the outside in and cozy pillows and throws to add a pop of color.

Photo Credits: Emily Henderson & Elle Decor

Once you have inspiration pictures, everything will then start to fall into place. We can then begin to research like-minded pieces and put together a design that is reflective and completely personalized to you.

So if you find that you want to decorate and don’t quite know where to start, drop us a line and we would be delighted to help you find your Design Style.