Figuring out your exact home design style and executing it is one of the hardest things to master. Much can be said for trial and error, since this seems to be how I’ve slowly figured my own style out, but over time you slowly figure out what works and what doesn’t.

How many times have you wandered through an interior design show, a gorgeous furniture show room, or even Ikea (don’t even get me started!) and found things that you absolutely adored, purchased it, brought it home, and then realize that it doesn’t really work. It’s just a bit off from whatever look you are trying to achieve. Frustrating, isn’t it?

For years and years, I’ve pored through pages of design magazines, my husband and I have decorated our many homes throughout the years, and we’re slowly starting to “get it”. It is possible to achieve that magazine look you love – whether it be polished and elegant, or charming and lived-in – it’s a matter of picking out the right pieces and accessories to go with it.

Personally, I have always been drawn to a modern, minimal, and industrial look, with just a hint of Scandinavian thrown in. I’ve always tried to achieve this look, yet when I’m out shopping or looking for items to put in my home, I often get steered down the path of cute prints from Dwell and silly looking blankets and things that when actually put in my space, I suddenly realize, it isn’t what I’m looking for at all! Yes, it may be cute in the store – but would it fit in with that magazine picture you’re thinking of?

It’s not as easy as it sounds, and I’ve literally spent years in the trap of shopping at Ikea, picking out grey and pink towels because, well, aren’t they cute? But it never looked quite as cute in real life as in my mind.  There is an art to mixing up different design styles, and it’s an art I seriously don’t have, and I’m not sure I want to.

When I look at my ideal home, it always has white walls, light floors, great pieces of furniture, unique lighting, a basic palette of black, white and grey – it may seem boring, but to me it looks so calm, so peaceful and uncluttered. I place for everything and everything . . . well, you know how that one goes, but that to me is my ideal home and for some reason it took me a while to purchase the right things, items that spoke to me and that I connected with, but that also matched my ideal aesthetic.

Creating your ideal style at home doesn’t have to be expensive, but it can definitely take a lot of time, and if you’re making over an existing place, try to establish what might work in the ‘after’ portion of the room makeover. If an item has the right lines or heaviness, paint it or reupholster it. Definitely take note of places you feel comfortable in, whether it be a hotel room or a restaurant, and try to figure out what it is about the place that you’re connecting with. Is it the dim lighting? The colours, the mirrors, the art?

Some things take time, and sometimes we do things on a whim and it works out perfectly! Just go with your gut instinct, make yourself a set of “rules” for the room (colours, textures, sizing), and then go with it! Discover, look in stores you’ve never been to before – creating a design in your home is an adventure and should always be fun!

Do you have trouble with interior design?

Do you have any tips to offer?

xo

Fab Brunette

(all photos from fancycribs.com)