Okay. So when it comes to designing, you think you have “a creative block.” Or you simply say you were absent the day the “creative design gene” was given out to people. Never fear! I am confident that with a little guidance, you can overcome these preconceptions. Your inner designer is there, waiting to be discovered. We just need to unearth it. Identifying your style is the first step in the design process.
Inspiration for your personal design style can come from every aspect of your life and the world around you. Think of your childhood. What are the memories you treasure the most? Was it the early morning foggy beaches at the vacation house during the summer? The wintry afternoons in the Rockies, skiing with your family? The lively and very expressive colors you encountered while on a summer vacation with a few friends to Mexico? The cobblestone streets in Tuscany, where you walked with the handsome guy you met on the train who became your boyfriend for a while?
Once you’ve assembled memories you cherish, ask yourself what the qualities of each experience were, that cause it to resonate in your memory. Was it the timeless, carefree, serene sight and sound of the water rushing at your feet? The coziness you felt in front of a fire after a long day on the slopes? Consider all five of your senses when trying to define details that still move you. Whatever you saw, heard, smelled—and last, but very importantly, touched—are all important factors in determining the design tastes that will have meaning for you now. Sights, sounds, scents, and textures are the basic components from which we can build your personal design style.
Other sources from which to draw inspiration are your hobbies, talents and skills, current favorite colors and textures, or your current lifestyle. Are you good at making things with your hands? You may want to surround yourself with handmade objects and furniture. Are you an athlete? You may want your surroundings to be extremely functional and industrial, to support your training and equipment. Do you like to wear red? Do you only buy clothes made out of natural fibers? The colors and textures in your interiors can either reflect or complement these tastes. Do you live near the beach and spend a lot of time outside? You may want a casual, easy environment that continues the sense of relaxation you get from the oceanfront.
Now that we’ve started to define qualities you like, and your personal tastes, what we need to do next is to create your “design portfolio.” Yes, you’ve got some homework to do. Get a two-inch binder with pockets, tab dividers, and a number of sheet protectors. Put a few pages of loose-leaf notebook paper inside it, for writing down notes. Your goal is to shape and build your personal style. With this in mind, you must consciously start to keep your radar on at all times for sources of inspiration, as you set out to identify and articulate your design style more specifically.
Look for inspiration everywhere! You are looking for what you like—and taking notes about that—but you are also cataloging your dislikes as well. Believe it or not, most people discover what they don’t like before they realize fully what they do like.
Rip and tear pages from magazines, books, and catalogs. The pages may include colors you like, styles of furniture, and prints on fabric. Look for and collect pictures of art that appeals to you, tile designs for bathroom walls, hand-drawn sketches, photos of arched, vaulted ceilings in entryways—anything that strikes your fancy.
When you’re traveling, it’s important to stop and take time to jot down or otherwise document any ideas that hit you, before you forget them. Take photos on the fly with your camera phone. Capture images of things and places you love, and print them out. Begin to organize your clippings and photos, images and notes, in inspirational design files that are sorted and identified. For example, you could file all of your material in separate folders labeled “Outdoors,” “Indoors,” or “Style Don’ts.”
