subject: The First Step To Understanding Your Decorating Styles [print this page] In all the flurry and popularity of interior design information today, you may be feeling frustrated because you don't know your decorating style. You are not alone with those feelings.
Despite what some may say about the unimportance of home decorating, studies have shown that a majority of people in the United States would not turn down a free Design analysis and would love to have folks like "Extreme Make Over" knock on their door.
To leave that frustration behind you can choose 1 of these 3 options:
1. Hire a designer who will work with you to provide definition and clarity to your likes and dislikes. Though this is a popular option for some, others will find the cost of this service prohibitive.
2. You can pretend it just doesn't matter and settle for what looks "OK". By choosing this option you will never truly enjoy your home because it does not reflect your true value and expression of creativity and design.
3. Decide today you will work toward understanding your interior design preferences by reading through this article to get started in the right direction.
Determining your personal decorating style can be a fun adventure of not only home design development but one of self discovery.
The best way to start is to begin browsing and then literally ripping out photographs from decorating magazines. Browse the internet and download pictures that really grab your interest and liking.
Gather any and every picture that grabs your attention as it relates to interior design; accents, pictures, furniture, color, lighting...etc.
As you gather your photo's, display them on a wall or on a large piece of poster board. They can be arranged by room, color, furniture type etc. Maybe a board per room, or collection by color.
Whatever categories you choose it's important to put them up someplace where you can easily view them.
Don't worry about coordinating anything yet, the idea is to collect everything you like no matter how eclectic it may seem.
Once you have a grand collection of your favorites. Arrange your boards on a wall, lean them in line against the back of a couch or hang them all the wall. Step back far enough to view them together in a panoramic style.
Now look for themes. Do you see a color trend? Do you see a large collection of natural woods? Look at shape of furniture. Are there big windows or small ones in the pictures. Warm and toasty rooms or big and breezy? Do you see simple smooth colors or are there a lot of textures and patterns...
Next, make a list of those consistences and begin removing those photo's that don't quite fit into the common elements.
This is the first step on your journey to determining your design style. The next step is really up to you. Maybe you could start with painting a wall, the color of your liking. Get excited about what you have discovered and develop a plan for implementation.
