After spending so much time at home this year it's no wonder so many of us have decided to revamp our spaces, but where do you start when it comes to design? Interior trends like any fashion come and go but you've probably already got a defined interior style...you just don't know it yet - Here's an interior designer's guide to bringing it out!
Moodboarding
Whether you like to create digital moodboards on Pinterest, save your favourites on Instagram or create physical collections using magazines and fabrics, mood-boarding can be a great way to figure out your style and always the first step when I start any kind of design brief. If you're suffering with too much choice/image overload, group all your favourite pictures in one place either on a Pinterest board or physically and look at them together, you should see a theme start to emerge, whether it's for a particular colour, material or overall style - as well as those random images that stick out. Of course style evolves and as you keep adding to the board you might find things develop and change over time and that's totally fine! Moodboards aren't final selections so don't worry so much about the fine detail of materials -use this time to be your most creative!
Sources: Devol Kitchens | Novamobili | Ursino Interiors | Pufik Homes
Look to the style of your home for inspiration
We're all naturally drawn to certain styles it can just be hard to pin it down. Nowhere is more evident than the style of architecture you like, Victorian? Georgian? 60s Modern? Contemporary? Stone Cottage? If you envision your dream home from the outside it can often help to inform what you do on the inside - even if you don't live in that style right now.
Look in your wardrobe for colour inspiration
We've all got those foundation pieces in our wardrobe that we know just work and equally we all need those go-to pieces that add a bit of sparkle or edge to an outfit, it's the same with interiors. Choosing colours that work hard as your base (wall colours) then layering accent colours and textures on top to really bring the room to life (adding the sparkle through accessories) is generally a good place to start. Look into your wardrobe you'll find instantly the colours you're drawn to, for some they might love a neutral base but if you wear lots of hot pink in your everyday life then that can be an equally good foundation! (As Sophie Robinson is a testament to!)
Source: Sophie Robertson
Don't be afraid to mix it up
If you love the exposed brick of an industrial style space but enjoy bold colour - mix it up. If you have a traditional Victorian home but love super clean lines - mix it up! Most of our homes are a combination of a couple of different styles so unless you're a complete design purest, it's totally fine.
Eclectic is still a style!
If you find yourself being drawn to lots of different things then equally go for it! We don't all fit into a tidy "Scandi" box (Or mid-century, contemporary, etc etc you get the picture) we are all an amalgamation of different experiences, tastes and characters, which should all be told through our homes so don't worry if you don't think something fits because whatever blog or person said it wouldn't, there's always room for the things we love in our homes.
The dreaded trend...
It's soooo tempting to be drawn into trends, especially with Instagram shoving it in your face every 2 mins, but if it doesn't work for your style then don't feel you have to buy into it. I always feel like insta trends are like that dress you bought for 75% off...felt like a good idea (and an absolute bargain) at the time but here we are 12 months later still with the tags on. Don't feel like you need to do something just for social media, if it doesn't look like anything on your moodboard chances are you won't be happy with it in the long run.
Think practically
When you're confident with your style you can then look at how it fits into your actual life... sometimes we see beautiful imagery online and get sucked in thinking we can actually live like that (looking at you minimalism) so be real with yourself, you might love the minimalist look but have kids with lots of toys, so include tons of built in storage to help hide the clutter or only have your show jars of cereal out on the open kitchen shelves and hide the cornflake box away in another cupboard - just think how realistic these things are as ultimately a home is for living in!
So on that note - happy moodboarding! Hope this helps you to discover a little more of what you love, if you're stuck for a starting point we have a lot of boards for interior styles on our Pinterest if you wanted to give us a follow on there or get in touch and we can help bring your interior style to life!
Charlotte x