5 Tips To Finding Your Unique Decorating Style

Finding your unique style can be a challenge, especially when you’re desperate to inject some personality into your home, but aren’t sure where to start. 

We all have different styles. If you’re struggling to pick out a piece of furniture, particular accessories during your IKEA visits, or even just deciding on what colour palette you’d like in your home, you most likely don’t know what your unique style is.  

This is where starting from the basics, and identifying your personal tastes when it comes to interior decorating can be so beneficial. Then, you have a foundation of colours, designs, eras and decorative aspects to fall back on whenever you next tackle that DIY project or shopping venture. 

So, read on for tips on how to identify your decorating style. 

1. Browse Interior Decor Brands 

When searching for inspiration for your own personal decor style, one of the best ways to do this is by browsing through interior decor brand websites, or in-person stores! Whether you’re after accessories, new paint swatches or wall prints, searching through the glossy styles offered by household (get it?) names is the best place to start. 

For example, if you’re after artwork inspiration, looking through unique brand collections like The House Outfit’s wall prints offers you a wide range of styles, designs and colour palettes to browse. Whereas if you’re after interior accessories, looking through the collections in Anthropologie, Oliver Bonas, and even high street stores like Zara and H&M can give you that much needed inspiration. 

Shopping through in-person or online stores means that you can take a look at different styles and compare them, and take note of which particular colours you gravitate towards. Are you more neutral? Or do you favour the bold colours? This way, you can start building your personal portfolio of preferences.  

2. Take An Online Quiz 

We all love a Buzzfeed quiz, right? So why not consider taking an online quiz for your interior design style?  

These are wide-ranging and easy to find with a simple search on Google. Why not take a few, branch out with different sources, whether that’s from social sites like Buzzfeed or magazine sites like Better Homes and Gardens – if they end in similar results, then you know you’re onto a winner. 

3. Browse Magazines

Similar to browsing actual interior decor brands, flipping through the glossy pages of an interior design magazine can do wonders for helping you identify the commonalities in your choices.  

And while online inspiration and mood boards like Pinterest can be amazing once you have identified your style, the wealth of beautiful images can mean it’s hard to pinpoint your unique cornerstones for decor.  

So, grab some interior decor magazines off the shelf, and study them. Why not tear out the pages you like and collate them into a physical inspiration board – gather together the rooms you’re most drawn to and see what the defining similarities are. Do you notice a pattern between them? What do the images have in common? Are there particular furniture styles you like? What about wall art; are there particular designs you prefer, or painting styles?  

Once you start breaking down the rooms into aspects, you can decipher why you were drawn to them. 

4. Pay Attention To Your Wardrobe 

Even when it comes to something as seemingly different as wall art and clothing, there’s always a connection.  

Your wardrobe is your personal style. It’s the way you express yourself with clothing. So using this as a springboard for your interior decor isn’t that left field.  

Take a look at your wardrobe and analyse it. Are your clothes bolder, made with stronger colours and materials? Or are they neutral? Do you have a particular era that your clothes hark back to, or are they modern? If you prefer to dress yourself in a certain way, odds are, you’ll enjoy that style in your home too.  

5. Take Notes Of What Exteriors Grab Your Attention 

This is a great place to start. Because when we think about designing the interior of our home, for many of us, the exterior ties into this as well. There are unique styles of architecture that lend themselves to certain decors, and it’s a great idea to pay attention to the houses that make you feel all a-flutter. 

Do you prefer that all-glass, modern, contemporary home? Or have you been pining over the stone cottage with the white picket fence? Perhaps there are features of the houses that you can identify. All these add up to a larger image of what the interior of your home might look like. 

In conclusion, when it comes to finding smaller accent pieces for your home like wall art, furniture, or even home accessories, having a base understanding of what you like in terms of colours, eras, and styles of design, fashion and culture can come in handy.  

So, have fun, explore and find your style!