Are you searching for your interior design style? Trying to find the theme for your home décor and home design? Designing a cohesive aesthetic for your home design elements can create a polished and inviting look to your space.
This guide will help you answer the question, “what’s my interior design style?” and articulate it when designing your own space or for working with an interior designer.
Create Your Intention for the Space
There is power in using your intuition and intention to create your home. When you start by getting crystal clear with your intention for the space, devising a space suited to the mood and vibe you desire will come intuitively.
While outlining how to bring positive energy into a new home, we reviewed intention setting for a new space.
Choose Your Decor
- Quiet your mind. Get cozy in a distraction-free space and close your eyes. Ground and clear yourself in your favorite way: calming music, a grounding crystal like black tourmaline or smoky quartz, a soothing aroma, etc.
- With a clear mind, envision yourself standing in your ideal home or space. What do you see? What do you feel? If you’re having trouble in this step, try envisioning yourself in the favorite indoor place you’ve ever been and go through the exercise using that space. Then repeat the exercise envisioning calling forth your home space from that inspiration.
- Slowly move around the space and take note of all sensations and emotions you feel. What colors do you see? What textures do you feel? How do you feel in the space – Soothed? Energized? Inspired? Creative? Comfy?
- Ask your intuition to call forth key phrases important to designing your space. Stay in that moment until phrases come to mind.
- Return to the present and jot down as much as you can remember from your journey through your ideal home. If any key phrases popped into your mind, make a list of those, too. Meditate with these lists and call forth an intention that your home will embody this ideal space created through your intuition.
- Announce to your home the intention you have selected for your space. You can speak it aloud and write it down and put it under a crystal to help manifest that intention (geode, clear quartz generator, or manifestation crystals are recommended).
- Announce your intention every time you work on your home décor journey. Let your intention be at the front and center throughout each step of the process.
With the lists used when creating your intuition, make clear your intentions and goals for the space. Add photos to create a home “brand” board or vision board for your home, office, or sacred space.
Shop Around in Other Spaces
Now you’re ready to take your vision on a test drive. Your intention needs to connect to styles and pieces available in the market. With this clear intention, start looking at the designs of other spaces and find the love match to your intention. Ideally, you can go to other homes or even stores and buildings with different design styles and “try on” the feel of the space. Say your intention before you enter the space and ask your guides to give you clear signs of whether the space matches your intention. You can also use divining tools like a pendulum to clarify the messages you receive. Add your experiences to your notes.
You can also research online or in magazines and books, though it may be harder to connect with the feel embodied in these spaces. Again, announce your intention before opening the website or page.
Design and Emotions
To aid in your selection, here’s a list of some of the popular interior design styles and how you may feel in the space. You can find photo guides for these styles all over the internet, like this one from Decor Aid. In my guide, the focus is on the intentions that may draw you to each of these styles.
Pro tip: select furniture, décor pieces, and design elements that are versatile across multiple styles. Versatile pieces allow you to vary your style over time without a complete overhaul. I love barnwood or weathered wood for this method. It works with beachy, rustic, industrial, Pacific Northwest, and even modern styles.
Popular Design Styles
- Coastal Style. Beachy, airy style heavy on whites and blues for colors and accents of marine life, natural elements, and maritime pieces. Could go from traditional vibe to quirky. Feels cute, airy, expansive, nature-oriented.
- Industrial Style. Industrial designs feature exposed vents, emphasis on metal and metal tones, unusual finishes with metal and reclaimed pieces, and a vibe of functionality. Feels modern and hip, functional, minimal, a little funky.
- Art Deco. A truly unique style. The bold colors and geometric designs of the 1920s–40s are vintage yet timeless. Feels luxurious, decadent, uniquely vintage hip with a sense of whimsy.
- Modern. The benchmark of clean and sleek design. It’s not futuristic in the now, but what we thought felt futuristic in the late 20th Century. Heavy on geometry and strong lines. Modernism can combine with minimalism for the ultimate sleekness or it can be styled with more luxurious layers within the modern style palette. Feels understated luxe, clean, striking, elegantly simple.
- Contemporary Interior. What’s trending now and therefore has a freshness and sense of belonging (because you’ll see it often in other people’s homes, on TV, etc.). It offers more flexibility than its cousin, modern design. Feels fresh, lively, cozy, familiar in a way, flexible, relaxed yet still elegant.
- Traditional Style. As the name says, it’s common as it is a familiar tradition. Neutral or dark walls, rich tones of fabrics, and an emphasis on dark woods. Feels cozy, family, familiar, formal yet lived in.
- Hollywood Regency. A cousin to art deco, this style embodies the opulence of fancy, luxe hotels. Rich colors, opalescence, velvet textures, brass galore. You may be a libra (like me) if this style makes you swoon. Feels very opulent, luxe, fancy to the max, full sensory engagement.
Cozier Design Styles
- French Country. Mixing the antiques of Europe with the relaxed farmhouse lifestyle. Eclectic and historical with an emphasis on function and livability. Feels relaxed, worldly, unique, transformative.
- Bohemian Style. Boho style is everything from beaded curtains to artisan, fair trade imports. It is nearly eclectic, yet with a distinctly relaxed and ethereal vibe that’s unmistakable and a bit shabby chic. Feels relaxed, mellow vibe, cozy, supportive, earthy, organic.
- Pacific Northwest. A little rustic mixed with modern or contemporary design. Emphasis on local artisan goods, woven fabrics, leathers and woods, and an overall clean look. Feels cozy, lived in, inviting, contemporary, polished without being stuffy.
- Eclectic Style. Last but not least, a style that is almost about not being one style. The trick to this one is to stay true to bringing in only what inspires you, what you love. This creates a cohesive feel. Feels free, perhaps a little chaotic, warm, quirky, unique, individual.
Remember that you can always mix and match these styles within a room or across the home, so long as you stay true to your intention and vision for the space. Follow your intuition and have fun!
