How to Unlock Your Interior Design Style like a Professional Designer

Discovering your interior design style is one of the most powerful intentions you will make for yourself. Once you understand your likes and dislikes, the world of home design seems to unfold before you.

With my FREE interior design style guide, you can truly narrow down your design style with ease. Not only that, but it also acts as an informational breakdown of how interior design styles are developed.

Sign up to unlock your interior design style below. The best part? We’ve included a personalized style quiz to make your experience that much better!

Categorizing Interior Design Styles is Your Secret Weapon

Truly knowing your likes and dislikes – this is the tool you’ll carry with you as you design your own home.

Developing your unique interior design style doesn’t have to be overly complicated. If it feels like too much of a challenge, you’re doing something wrong. This process can be as simple as writing down your likes and dislikes.

Here, let’s do it together:

• Do you like neutral tones, such as earth tones? Or do you prefer brighter color palettes with pops of color?

• Are you more drawn to metal and stone materials or softwoods and fabrics? Maybe a little bit of both?

• Do your tastes tend to align with a sense of place? For example, are you attracted to coastal themes or French manor aesthetics?

If you’re stumped on any of the verbiage I’m using here, go ahead and do a little research. There’s no shame in typing “french manor aesthetic interior design” into the Google Images search bar!

This is the point:

Your interior design style can be as specific and nuanced as “industrial style with hints of coastal aesthetics,” or as simple as “give me that Studio McGee style!”

Your style is whatever you say it is, and it absolutely can be a blend of many different styles. Do not ever try to convince yourself that you should squeeze your style into a box when it comes to interior design.

Understanding which styles are built to last and which ones are not – there’s value in knowing the difference.

If you’re anything like me, when you hear that a style is “trendy,” you think “expensive change.”

This is what we want to avoid; a style that is trendy may actually have a shorter lifespan than a style that is theoretically more classic. In other words, a trendy style may not be worth the investment when you’re somewhat over it in a year or two.

Disclaimer: It is perfectly fine to like trendy styles. In fact, it is perfectly fine to invest in those styles if you believe they will make you truly happy. What may seem like a fad to some may actually be the forever home of another.

To avoid committing to a style that you may not be as in love with in the coming years, do some comparison research on classic styles – mid-century modern, transitional, traditional – and think about what makes those styles span over several generations, maintaining the same popularity.

If it makes you feel any better, I have about four outgoing trends (aka trends that are losing their popularity) in my own home. The truth of the matter is we are not endless wells of funds and energy; we can’t always change our homes with the changing styles of the world around us.

That’s why when you develop your interior design style it should be exactly what you want it to be, and it should – most importantly – bring you long lasting joy.

For more information on trends, read our blog 4 Ways to Know if a Trend is for You.