Five Clues on Finding your Personal Design Style - Women's Lifestyle Magazine of Greater Kalamazoo

As a designer, it’s true, I do have a favorite personal design style. Defining it in words may not be as easy as it is in photos, but it’s a mix of timeless, classic, global, organic modern (more on this in #3). Don’t worry, yours is probably easier to define. Spending life living and breathing design influences me in many ways. However, I believe that my job is not to impose my personal style on client’s spaces, but to help discover their own personal style and implement it in a fresh and cohesive way, all the while maintaining function and injecting a little bit of my own twist to keep it exciting. I tell my clients I have done my job well if upon completion people enter their home and say “This is so beautiful! It’s a perfect expression of you!” Whether you use a designer to help you along the process or not, defining your personal style will help to narrow down decisions, give a framework to work within and keep a consistent flow from room to room. How do you find your personal style?

1. Multiples. This is a trick I use all the time during the discovery stage of starting a project with someone. Do you

have multiple items of the same shape, color or style around your house? When you pull out a number of pages from a home magazine, is there a consistent theme from picture to picture? Maybe there are different style houses shown, but every photo has white cabinetry in it or dark hardwood floors. If you instinctively select multiples, it is a big clue on where your style lies.

2. Where you Shop. Do you find yourself meandering through the same home furnishings store, even if you’re not necessarily shopping for anything for your home? Does an ad for a weekend antique’s market get you excited? Is there a décor website you browse to the point of addiction? These are all good indications of what your style is. In fact, many clients will use these references to explain the look they are going for, such as “Room and Board” or “Restoration Hardware.” It doesn’t mean every object is bought from these places to make your home look like their showroom, but it does invoke an inspiring base to build on. Each brand has a certain feel it gives off and you can use that to define your style.

3. Most Recent Purchase. Our personal style changes through the years. As a child, already intrigued with design at a young age, I used to pour through floor plan books available in the magazine aisle. I would spend hours studying Victorian homes and designing my own, wanting to re-create the dollhouse look. Now, this couldn’t be farther from what I am attracted to. Living in a big city during and after college infused a natural attraction to all things modern. Traveling the world gave me an appreciation for classic architecture and global colors, textures and finds. My personal style continues to evolve each year. Your most recent purchase is a wonderful clue on where you are now. Have you suddenly been buying up global inspired vases or modern lamps? These are clues to your design style, especially if they are a departure from your “normal” style. Maybe it’s time to expand in this new direction.

4. Art. What you choose to hang on your wall or prominently display on a shelf says something about you. Art is purely personal, not tied to function or need and is usually a good indication of what inspires you. An abstract lithograph likely means you lean towards modern design, while a

landscape oil painting may define your attraction to more traditional décor. Look around at the art you surround yourself with or aspire to buy and use that as overall style inspiration.

5. What’s your favorite hotel? This is the ultimate secret weapon in the search for your design style. Hotels have a very deliberate, clear design style, so use them to help find yours. Do you love staying in cozy, rustic B&B’s with wood paneling, layers of throw rugs and patchwork quilts? Does a cleanlined, modern city high-rise hotel have you oohing and ahh-ing over its’ chic décor around every corner? Did a recent stay at a Bali-inspired island retreat make you come back from vacation wanting to completely renovate your home to give a spa-like atmosphere? Take photos and start a dream board, my friend. This is where your design style begins.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ashley Cole is a professional interior designer and her work has been featured on HGTV as well as numerous publications, including Kitchen Trends and Home Magazine. Ashley’s passion is “creating environments that enliven the spirit”.

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