One of the most common questions that we hear nearly every day is “how do I know what style really appeals to me? I seem to like a few conflicting things and I just can’t seem to make a decision with any confidence.” Well, here are three ways to get over decorator’s block quickly and relatively painlessly.
Tip #1. Gather inspiration images and see what they all have in common. We’ve mentioned that we keep our favorite rooms organized in a nice thick plastic-sleeve-riddled binder (read more about that here). And this anthology of sorts was really paramount when it came to pinning down our style and learning what we love. It’s amazing how an arsenal of love-it-so-much images can help you identify commonalities in rooms that really grab your attention. Sure you might find that you have a million “favorite” rooms sitting in a pile (or in a binder if you’re Captain Organized like me) but it won’t be until you go through them and make a separate pile of about 15 rooms that REALLY stand out to you (read: the best of the best) that you’ll begin to notice some common color schemes, furniture finishes, and overarching style cues that many of these rooms have in common.
Take note of the wood finishes that you’re drawn to. The wall colors. The furniture shapes. The textiles and accessories. The art. The overall effect (high contrast? dreamy? tone-on-tone? pops of color?). Of course your favorite rooms might not all be super obvious and similar when you study them as a group, but just try to see what patterns you can pick up. Maybe they all have dramatic floor to ceiling curtains or dark velvet sofas? Or perhaps it’s more about patterned rugs or bright modern art on the walls? You might notice they all have neutral backdrops with pops of color in the pillows or accessories. Or a high contrast vibe (like dark wood floors paired with white walls). If you look long enough, we’re sure you’ll see some definite commonalities- and that’s how you can start to develop your confidence and create a real overarching “look” for your home.
This exercise is the single most important thing you can do to help define your style and hone in on your aesthetic, so don’t rush through it or halfheartedly select your favorite rooms without some serious thought. Heck even if you only have five cream-of-the-crop-holy-cow-I-love-this-room images, it’s still more effective than tossing ten more eh-this-room-is-ok images into the mix. So really do some serious soul searching (and magazine and online searching) to see what tickles your fancy. Then lay them all out to study what they have in common- and what you can adapt and introduce into your very own home. Oh and check out these great online sites (here, here, and here) for galleries full of gorgeous rooms in a variety of styles.
Tip #2. Take a few find-your-style quizzes to see what they say that you like. Sure they could all be complete hooey, but it’s not like they can really hurt. And they’re all pretty quick to complete. Sometimes one or two of them will hit on something so eye-opening and illuminating that you’ll literally feel like you finally know exactly what you like. Or at least like you’re a lot closer to cracking the code.
Tip #3. Don’t get caught up with a label like “Elegant Classic” or “Cottage Meets Vintage.” Sure sometimes they can help (and if a label or a specific descriptor keeps you on track then by all means embrace it). But we don’t really go out of our way to describe our exact style in any words at all. We just know what we like (capiz, jute, neutrals mixed with sea glass-esque greens and blues, dark wood, bamboo blinds, natural materials, glass based lamps, and white white white). Here’s a post all about that. It’s safe to say that we finally know what we love and can easily identify what will fit seamlessly into our house (and what won’t – which is just as important).
But even though we have a handle on what fries our bacon when it comes to furnishings, accessories and so on, if you were to ask us to label our style we’d probably hem and haw while tossing out a slew of general terms like: clean-lined, airy, light, breezy, beachy, modern, classic, transitional… the list goes on and on! So don’t worry if you don’t end up with a specific decorating style name at the end of your figure-out-what-I-like pilgrimage. Just be open to embracing the colors, shapes, materials, and elements that you’ve identified time and time again as your cup of tea. Because a label doesn’t make the room, and sometimes trying to encapsulate your style with some two or three word description is nearly impossible anyway.
Oh and remember that our we-know-what-we-like confidence didn’t happen overnight. It was all thanks to decorating in stages and taking the time to figure out what worked and what didn’t (the wrong paint color can be painted over & the wrong pillows, rugs and blinds can always be returned or upgraded down the line). Sometimes it’s the mistakes that tell you the most about what you like and get you a lot closer to pinning down your true style. So don’t be paralyzed with indecision- it won’t get you anywhere! You have to start somewhere, and after you try out these three style sleuthing tips you’ll hopefully have a nice little map that will get you closer to your own personal decorating holy grail.
But enough about what we think. We’d love to hear any and all tips that you guys have on the subject of pinning down your style and making your house feel welcoming, chic, and oh-so-you.
Psst- Looking for more decorating advice when it comes to pinning down your style and figuring out what will work. Here’s a post all about avoiding decorating indecision and here’s one about keeping things looking layered and lovely as opposed to hodge podge or matchy-matchy.
Misty says
I love taking those find your style quizzes! While reading through the archives on YHL, I came across the binder idea and can happily say that I have also started a binder to collect things I covet. Thanks for the tip!
Monique says
I keep an inspiration binder with clear plastic covers too..
I cant define my style yet.. but I’m getting there! Thanks for the post!
ps. is there a YHL style? There should be..
Laura @ youngDCliving says
Love the ideas! I definitely think sometimes just looking (and saving) at images of favorite spaces and seeing the similarities can really narrow down your style.
keri says
not sure if it’s because i’m on a mac (though, using the latest version of firefox) but the ikea quiz just stays on the “IKEA Business” loading screen, and the HomeGoods one is stuck at the first question – there’s no next button. Anyone else having issues?
Loved the Ethan Allen and Sproost quizzes! They hit my style on the nose :)
Dennis says
I use this same process for inspiration in my photography business. Great idea!
Roshni says
I actually use Image Spark which works like an online binder to upload images of beautiful rooms and furniture that I find on the web. It automatically lists the source website and I can put in notes of what exactly I like about the image, if I want!
liz @ bon temps beignet says
‘Sometimes it’s the mistakes that tell you the most about what you like’
I coudn’t agree with you more. Sometimes it’s worth it to buy something and then find out it totally doesn’t work for you or the room. Practice makes perfect.
Sophie says
You have such great ideas! I’ve started to keep an inspiration folder. My problem is that I like everything! I’d like to think I’m a positive person so I can see parts of any room that I like :P
Melissa Sonnek says
This is a great post. Thank you!
I’ve gathered tons of inspiration photos of rooms that I love, but I always get stuck on what to actually do to my own house. I’ll have to try some of your ideas.
Leigh Anne says
Hey Sherry,
I’ve really just begun my “DIY Journey” and am looking for some inspiration as my husband and I tackle our home room-by-room. What are some of your favorite magazines/books for finding inspiration images?
YoungHouseLove says
Here are two posts about just that:
https://www.younghouselove.com/lucky-seven/
https://www.younghouselove.com/get-a-read/
Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Jennifer says
I started an ‘idea binder’, as I call it, before I became a homeowner b/c it was so frustrating to see these great ideas and not be able to do anything with them. Now it’s fun to look back and see which ideas ever turned into reality.
Caroline @ youngDCliving says
I keep binder full of images I like, too, organized in plastic sheets. I sometimes also make a collage of images to “design” a room, which I also stick in the binder. I cut out a breakfast table I like from a magazine, glue it down on a white sheet of paper, then add a chair design, a swatch for a wall color, etc. I actually did this as a little kid for fun! I still do it now because even though it’s time-consuming it’s really helpful for picturing a whole room!
Beth says
Most of the images I like fall into two categories. 1) white walls with really bright pops of color in the furniture or accessories or 2) muted/mature palettes, like you guys have. But in my own home, I always choose colored walls because I can’t stand living in a space with neutral walls. Then, because I have color on the walls, my furniture tends to be more neutral. So I never end up decorating like all the images I’m attracted to. Is that odd, and is there a name for that style? :-)
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Beth,
Hmm, no name that we know of. You know we’re not very serious about “decorating style names” anyway. We say make something up. A whole new term! Go for it. And everyone else, feel free to chime in!
xo,
s
cassie @ hi sugarplum! says
Great tips! I was super overwhelmed before starting our kitchen renovation. I did the same thing, looked at as many images as I could until I began to see a pattern of what I was drawn to.
Then you just have to trust yourself! And if it doesn’t turn out ‘just right’, it’s usually something that can be changed….you’re not stuck with it for the rest of your life. :) When I took that pressure off, I was able to enjoy the process.
Anna says
How incredibly helpful!! Thank you for this post! I’m going to buy a binder and some plastic sleeves after work today! I’m hoping my husband wants to help with it so we can develop our style together. While I love our house and most of the decor.. it is starting to get a little hodge-podge! I think if we did the quizzes and binder together our vision will blend! We’re moving in two months.. what a perfect time to start off fresh by purging some of our old things and bringing in some new to compliment whatever styple we pin down! :) Eee.. I was so worried about moving.. now I’m excited! Thank you!
Beth says
Mmmm….bacon! :-)~
Carol N. says
I have had one of those binders since we built our home 24 years ago (wow, am I old!). I’ve gotten off track some but am trying to get everything back to those original inspiration photos and ideas. Now I’m off to read your article about decorating ADD so I can learn how to not drool over every different style I see. Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions you guys give us on a twice-daily basis!
Sarah @ The Ugly Duckling House says
I was completely surprised by my results. Glamorous Classic? Really? I guess it pins me well enough – I lean toward chunky furniture with interesting (and sometimes shiny) details, but love modern prints and “funking” things up, all the while making it feel relaxed. I guess that explains why I can’t ever pull the trigger on buying a new piece… I have trouble unifying my space unless I plan, plan, plan!
Cecilie says
I am very much a collector of rooms and interiors. I have a folder on Flickr where I put all my inspiration images so I can go look at them often.It is truly a good way to find out what it is that makes a house turn into a home.
One tip I wish some one had told me when we bought our first home at 19 (yes we bought it at 19), 12 years ago, was that it is okay to decorate slowly. While Ikea is great for quick fixes, the things I truly love are never from Ikea. They are thrifted, inherited or gifts. And they are almost without exceptions things that have had a life prior to moving in with me and my husband. So not only does it take time to figure out what you like, it might also take time to find what you like. Give yourself time – you cannot have a fully decorated home in 14 days. Actually, I don’t ever think a home is finished and fully decorated. It changes and evolves and that is a journey and a treat.
Amy says
I often wonder if some of the things that look so classic and clean NOW will ever look dated? When we started renovating our home, we took away alot of the drab, dated mess, but I couldnt help but think that at sometime that stuff must have looked cool (maybe). I try to make some design decisions based on this premise, like, will this look good in 10 years? Does anyone else have that confusion?
Kind of like when you look at old pictures of yourself and wonder, why was I always wearing baggy sweatshirts and scrunchies?
YoungHouseLove says
Anyone have opinions for Amy? We just select things that make us happy and try not to go for anything too trendy, but in the end we bring things home that make us smile. Here’s hoping that makes them more timeless than something that we would buy because “it’s so in right now.”
xo,
s
Kim at Yellow Brick Home says
Sherry, love these tips.
Sort of off topic question: In that magazine tear out, does it say where those white bar stools are from? I’ve been on the hunt for fabric covered, high back bar stools for months, and you wouldn’t believe how impossible that seems to be!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Kim,
So sorry but it doesn’t say. Boo! Anyone have ideas where Kim can find something similar? Have you tried overstock.com?
xo,
s
Cecilie says
I think that when it comes to picking something that will last and not seem dated it is all about lines and material. I am Danish and thus the Danish / Scandinavian aestethic is ingrained in me from my early years.
Buying pieces of furniture with clean lines and in solid materials will almost always be a good investment for your future. So to me: simple, strong elegant lines is what I seek out. We live with a lot of thrifed furniture but common to almost all of them is that they have very simple lines. I am sure this is what keep them ageless even though some of the pieces have a 100+ years on them.
I think that you want to consider how the pieces age as well. Try and consider how this piece will look five, ten, twenty years down the line? Will it wear beautifully (like wood and leather that only grows more attractive with age) or will it more likely change to the worse with wear (stain, chip or otherwise be adversely affected by the years of use).
I don’t think you can invision what might be fashionable 10 years from now, but you might be able to invision your home with 10 years of added wear, love and life.
Gloria Nickels says
If these pictures are your inspirations…why do you all then use so many easter egg pastels in your paint selections?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Gloria,
Here’s a post all about how we came up with the palette for our house. As we said down in the third tip’s description in this post, we’re drawn to sea-glass tones of green and blue along with neutrals and white. But we do think our living room actually looks very similar to the style of those two inspiration photos, right down to the iron and glass coffee table with the pops of yellow in the second photo. See the resemblance?
Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Beth says
In response to Amy: I think homes go through transformations just like hair/clothes/make-up/etc. styles go through (and then add in that our tastes change over time). And that’s OK! We wouldn’t want our houses looking the same for four or five or six decades. In fact, Nate did a make-over on Oprah one time where he talked about how we change our hairstyles, clothes, etc, over the years, but some of our homes are still wearing blue eyeshadow. Haha! Change is a good thing, because it gives us the opportunity to be free and creative, even with our homes. Embrace it!
YoungHouseLove says
Gotta love that Nate Berkus. He’s the man.
xo,
s
Lisa in Seattle says
My inspiration file was not a success. It took months but I finally learned that the *pictures* I like are very different from the *furnishings* I would want to live with in *this* room. Bye bye, PB style. I haven’t learned from my mistakes either – when your mistakes cost you $500-$1,000 a pop and you’re watching your savings drop, you start to feel pretty discouraged. The M-I-L is coming to visit in August and I have to furnish the whole house before she gets here. ::weeps::
KimB says
lovely post! i’m going to start keeping an inspiration binder… ever since moving in to a new place, it’s been hard to choose what items we should get that really go with our “style”. i think sometimes we are so hung up on finding something that will be “timeless” that we are afraid to just pick things that make us happy now… a few years later, we can always change it!
Lindsay says
Great post, Sher!
Couldn’t agree more with “not pinning yourself to a style name”. In the end, it doesn’t matter if you are cottage chic, urban loft, or country. I think you can be *all* of those things and make it work. I *also* have a “House bible” that I throw all of my inspiration photos in. Couldn’t live without it!
I guess I would just add that I try to keep my style “tight”. In other words, I try to narrow down my rooms to a couple of basic elements: 1) one main color, 2) one accent color, 3) one metal finish, and 4) one wood finish. Then you can mix and match across those elements with the things that you like. I also like to keep big pieces (couches, chairs, tables, beds, etc) relatively neutral because they’re so expensive to replace.
My house isn’t perfect by any stretch of the means, but narrowing down your style to a few cohesive “elements” can really help you hone in on what you want – and prevent you from going crazy when you fall head over heels in love with something that clashes with your house.
I dunno – hope that makes sense and hope it helps!!
xoxo,
Lindsay
Krystal says
You have no idea how wonderful this post makes me feel right now! I’m moving into my first apartment on Friday, but I’ve been buying furniture and all the little things that make a home since January-ish (so excited to have 721 sq. feet to play with!) I started out by just buying stuff I liked, then all the colors started coordinating, and now I can’t wait to see how it all comes together this weekend…but I’ve been thinking to myself, what exactly is my style? Thanks to the quizzes, I now know I’m Modern Elegant/Modern Romantic…which is kind of what I was going for!
RD Shugart says
Well, I just took all the quizzes and here’s what was determined:
Sproost quiz – 40% French Eclectic, 40% Rustic Revival, 20% Vintage Modern
IKEA – 40% Modern, 40% Scandanavian, 20% Country
Ethan Allen – Metro-glamour
Homegoods – Bohemian Classic
Maybe cause I don’t know enough about interior design, but ???? Guess I should keep at my inspiration notebook and let the chips fall where they may …
{The Classy Woman} says
This is such a valuable post for those that are unclear on their design style. When I ask my design clients what they like, I try not to ask them what their design style is. It’s kind of limiting. I know for myself, I’ve changed my style slowly over time and have learned so much by keeping a folder on my desktop of what I really love. After months, I was amazed at ALL of the similarities. :)
I think this is a great post that I’d like to link to next week. All content will be linked back to you guys as usual.
Warmly,
Karla
danae says
the most important thing i’ve learned while pursuing our collective [mine and my husband’s] style while decorating our home: i can like – even love – a style, color, piece of furniture, etc. without needing it in my home. i can appreciate and drool over so many different kinds of styles! but my home may not hold all of the styles i love. my husband and i work hard at morphing a style that combines his love of rustic & traditional with my passion for bold colors & clean lines. sounds crazy, but it works! and i still love lots of things that wouldn’t fit with my personal style!
Melissa says
This is a great post! I did a similar one a few days ago. I too have an idea book which was INVALUABLE when we did our home renovation last year. I actually loaned it to my architect for about 2 months while she tried to read our minds and figure out what we were picturing for our new space. http://www.houseography.net
sonja says
Hey there – Sproost says my interior design style is:
46% Modern Elegance
31% Hollywood Couture
23% Rustic Revival
Sarah @ Dream in Domestic says
I have both a binder for physical images and a Photobucket account (my hardrive space was really lacking with all the photos I had saved) for all the inspiration photos.
I’m so glad you posted this because I am struggling right now with my style. I am moving into a studio apartment in September and will be able to decorate it however I want (within the limits of my school’s guidelines – no painting or anything). I have a comforter and headboard to use from my parents’ house which I was absolutely head over heels in love with two years ago when I got it. I now am bringing my bed up to school and will most likely keep the comforter, but it doesn’t seem as “me” anymore. I’m going to try to work with it, however, but will blend in aspects that are more me into the rest of the room. I will look at design picture for this.
This post came at the perfect time because I keep wondering how I can love really quirky, colorful rooms filled with polkadots, stripes, and other patterns but also adore more glam rooms with chandeliers, huge ornate upholstered headboards and floral wallpaper. Looks like I have a lot of work ahead of me….
Ellen says
Thanks for this post! It was enlightening and clarifying for my husband and to both take the quizzes and see what we have in common and where we differ. I think we’ll start a binder soon!
UmbrellaIsland says
Hello Sherry,
I have been reading your blog for a while now and you guys are a big source of inspiration. Just today I started my own home-deco blog as well :) I am excited of this starting adventure.
Anyway, this post was really interesting. I also have a folder where I keep all the pictures that inspire me. I spend long time looking at them to understand what are the things I really like and how I could steal some ideas for my house :)
Renee says
This post came at the perfect time. I was at TJ Maxx last night and kept seeing awesome decor but I couldn’t figure out what my style was. This will def help in the future.
Dana says
This post couldn’t have come at a better time. I just moved into my new apartment and need TONS of inspiration. I can always count on you guys to help me make my home fabulous!
tarynkay says
Amy- I have totally thought that too! I’ve noticed though that when we’ve been renovating, we’ve only been ripping out the fake stuff- fake wood panelling, layers of vinyl stick on tiles, fake wood countertops- you get the idea. The real stuff we’ve kept and refinished- like the red oak floorboards. So I would say- stick with real stuff. My grandparents have a pink marble bathroom they built decades ago, it still looks amazing. My house has green faux-marble stick on tiles installed 3 years ago, they already look dated.
Jessie says
I took all those quizzes and posted the results on my blog. Thanks for rounding up a bunch of them. I love taking quizzes like that. Some are right on the money and others are so far off it is funny. I also gave you a shout out for being the ones to find the quizzes. Love your blog!
Richard says
Any idea where the tables in the living room photo are from? Looks like that may be a catalogue photo, so I’m hoping….
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Richard,
Check out the bottom of the post for the source of the photo (Pottery Barn!).
xo,
s
stephanie says
This is awesome. I have always wondered what the “rules” are for pairing different woods/stains, though. Have you done a post on this? We’re in a rental right now and can’t paint the doors/baseboards, but I tend to like darker stains of wood with pops of white/cream. We’re looking to buy some new furniture and I’m not sure what stain we should look for… Do your woods typically follow some sort of color palette?
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, we mention that a lot in the post about avoiding matchy-matchy decor that we linked to in the last sentence of this post. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Jennifer says
Glad our shots inspired you! Feel free to link back to us at http://www.houseandhome.com.
Jennifer
Web promotions editor
Canadian House & Home magazine
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Jennifer,
Done! Check out the bottom of the post!
xo,
s
alison@semi-fab lane says
love this post! i know i suffer from really knowing what my style is, but i figured out, sometimes you don’t need a style, life is too short! that’s why my style is modern, vintage, eclectic:)
Alison says
Thank you for these ideas! I’m just in the beginning stages of decorating our new house. I’m french eclectic it seems :)
Cris says
You organizae your tear files just like I do! It’s like we’re anal retentive twins separated at birth…
renee says
Captain Organized…I’m totally stealing that one Sherry!
Anna says
Thanks for the post! I’ve just recently been able to figure out what my “style” is instead of randomly throwing images into my inspiration folder without really taking a look at why I like it. I am such an “eclectic” person, but I’m also drawn to clean white, with a tropical, world market feel.
I also feel that if you like two different styles, that they can be expressed in two different rooms in your home so you don’t have to choose which one you love love.
Thanks again for posting, out of all the blogs I follow, I look forward to yours most!
Hanna says
What’s really helped me looking deeper than just a label or a style and really getting to the root of likes/dislikes. For instance, I found that I really gravitate towards the Middle Eastern/Moroccan look but I just loathed the idea of being phony (I’m dutch-canadian) and poser-ish and didn’t want my house to look like a harem. However, after careful analysis, I found that what I truely liked about moroccan style was bold geometry, rich rugs, pattern, loungy areas, glints of metallic lamps and trays. What I don’t like? Too many draperies, oversaturated colour, over-ornamentation.When it’s broken down, not only is it totally doable, but the end look is far more ecclectic and personal than just cookie-cutter ethnic. My house now would never ever read as Middle Eastern but everything I like about that aesthetic is there!
Beth says
I so loved this post! I took all the quizzes and posted on my blog about it. Hope you like it! http://remarkablydomestic.com/2010/06/09/rockin-my-style/