Full Disclosure: I am weary to ever write about finding your style, style quizzes, or giving advice on home design styles. I am an interior designer and editorial stylist by day, but I have struggled deeply with how I want my own home to appear. One factor is my budget and the layout of my home, which greatly detracts from the look I really want. If I had unlimited funds, I would have a very light and bohemian beach inspired home.
That is what I discovered when I was deep in thought this past weekend anyhow. I could go on a whole speel about how life is too short to not eat the damn cake, but you get that. I am here to say, if you want to do something in your home, you have a specific style you love, even if it’s opposite of everything you own…go for it. Let me break it down a bit more.
Deciding Your Style..when you’re totally not sure.
I infamously go between wanting a dark and moody, hygge inspired Scandi-clad space. You feel me? I like the idea of being wrapped in twinkle lights and big chunky knit blankets and dark painted walls..and then the sun comes out and I’m over here pinning beach home pictures. I’ve gone between painting my walls black and then white and then back so many times in my house I think my fiance is going to take my paintbrush privileges away (I kid.)
I was driving him and myself and probably all my Instagram followers crazy. Like yes, my style is eclectic but it’s verging on the edge of just “hmm..that’s interesting” because it’s eclectic trying to be 8 different styles. I fought the urge to have a mostly neutral home because I felt like that was overdone and boring. Then I fought the urge of doing very dark in my house because I thought it would be too depressing.
Then one day I was in my living room picking the space apart about what I loved and what I didn’t love and it hit me!! I took a pile of all the things I loved in my living room and put it on one side of the room and then everything I hated and put it on the other side. I continued to do this through my whole house. It turns out…when I put all the stuff I loved together, it was pretty cohesive. It all made sense..and the things I didn’t like just looked like odd outliers.
Want vs no longer love piles.
In the past I have tried making mood boards with colors and styles of furniture I liked..they were fun but felt hard to actually evoke the same style in my home. By going through my house and selecting actual items I owned and pitting them into my “want” pile, it felt like I already had a place to start.
I also used to feel guilty about changing my style so often, but I decided I was letting trends and everyone else’s voice influence my style when I knew what I instinctually was drawn too.
I also learned another lesson. You can love multiple styles and love the look of things but not want them in your home. This was always hard for me..I tried so hard to capture all the looks I loved, hence the eclecticism. However, I only want to feel one way in my home. RELAXED. I want my home to be so relaxing, cozy and inviting to me, my family and any guests I invite in. When I finally just prioritized how I wanted to feel in my space instead of finding a place for all the looks I loved I instantly became less overwhelmed.
How can this help you?
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by style or you have a space in your home that just doesn’t feel quite right, just pause for a moment. Leave and re-enter the space, pick out what you’re automatically drawn to. Maybe it’s a feel random items, maybe it’s just one big item. Try to gather 3-6 items into a “style want” pile. (Physically put them all together.)
Then find the items you don’t like in your space and do exactly the same. You may find a similar theme among the wants and the no longer love. If you go through your home and do this, my hunch is that your style will be cohesive throughout and the things you don’t like in one room will be similar to what you don’t like in another.
So as I go forward, it may look like I have some “undoing” to do in my house. However, I look at it as an evolution. I will eventually get to the style that feels like me and fits my goal.
Follow along with me on Instagram to see the
style evolution of my home!
