Harnessing your decorating style is not as easy as many of us would like it to be. Sure, you could just copy the styles of others, all the time, but where is the fun in that? More so, where is the individuality in that? Outside of the house most of us don’t necessarily want to stand out all that much but inside the home, you can put your stamp on things and you can be creative and different. You’re catering to your own style needs, so why shouldn’t you have your own style?
Do you know what your decor style is?
It isn’t something we learn in school or university, it isn’t something our parents tell us about either. It is a personal process and a journey of discovery so don’t worry if you’re not there yet. Part of the difficulty in pinning down style can be the fact it is easy to say if you like something or not, but it can be hard to pinpoint or explain why that is.
When it comes to the style of your home, only you really have the final say on whether how it looks is something you want to live with.
To help you harness your individual style or at least get closer to finding it, take a look at these six handy tips:
1. Copying Isn’t A Cop-Out
You may feel that copying the style of another person or copying the style of a catalogue is some sort of ‘cheat’ but it really isn’t. Seeing a style or a design that you like can be a really good foundation to understanding your own style. Seeing Swedish minimalism nailed and wanting those crisp white walls and wooden floors for yourself is an amazing start.
Remember nothing is truly unique in design, everything is recycled and a copy of something else. Seeing a style you like and using that as a starting point is a really good start to finding your own style.
2. See The Depth In Decor
Decorating is so much more than the way things look. Learning about the deeper meaning in all elements of decor can help you understand what different elements of style mean to you, more than whether you like the way something looks.
3. You Can And Should Make Mistakes
According to some professional psychologists, fear is made up of a mixture of our genes and our personal experiences. And some fears need really hard work to break through. Some fears may be legitimate in that there might be bad consequences if something goes wrong. However, with decorating, you needn’t be fearful. You can make mistakes. If you paint a wall the wrong colour, will that affect you for life? Making mistakes in decor is not only OK, but recommended if you truly want to figure out your style.
Sometimes you need to live with a certain layout or with certain colours or textures to know how you feel about them. Some will work out, some won’t. There is every chance a pattern you loved could actually make you nauseous months down the line but there is just as much chance another pattern you took a risk on will become your favourite thing. Allow yourself to experiment, because the risk is so low but the pay off can be so high.
4. Try Starting With One Thing You Like
Sometimes it can be overwhelming thinking about trying to decorate an entire room, especially when you don’t really know what your style is. Consider starting with one thing that you like and working from there. Maybe a beautiful bath in your bathroom that you loved the moment you saw it such as these suites from bathdisc.co.uk could be the starting point for using materials or shapes from that bath elsewhere in the bathroom.
For example, if it is a steel bath you could look at using similar blue based metals for towel racks and plant pots elsewhere in the room.
5. Stay Practical
Thinking about the practicalities of a space can be an excellent start to designing it. For example, with your bedroom, there are elements of it that need to be right for you to sleep comfortably. An article released in the media last year said that Britons are struggling with sleep, with a massive 16% sleeping less than six hours a night.
Focusing on making your bedroom comfortable primarily will then give you a foundation to work on. A comfortable bed with cool sheets, blackout curtains, noise reduction and good storage is a good start. From there you can then choose material types, colours and materials that are practical and aesthetically pleasing to you.
6. Get Out There And Look
If it is important to you to decorate your home in a way that is personal to you, but also stylish and aesthetically pleasing, you need to put the time in to be inspired. Get out to the high street and have a look in the home section of every shop that has one. Go to well known home decor shops and enjoy touching, feeling and looking at all the different furniture and accessories available. If you can, go with your partner so you can both say what you like and don’t like. Patterns will start to emerge and certain colours or styles will take your eye.
Decor is an area of your life that is very personal to you, and the journey to finding your personal decor style is likely to be as individual as any other creative path you follow. Enjoy experimenting, being playful, taking risks and pushing yourself to be expressive. You’re decorating a space that only you have to decide you can live happily in, so there’s no pressure, just plenty of opportunity for fun and hopefully, a decorating style to call your own that you truly love.
