Karla Dreyer is an award-winning interior designer who's passionate about helping others create a space that brings them calm, comfort and joy. In fact, her Design on Demand Program helps people do just that - confidently craft liveable spaces with the support and encouragement from a design professional every step of the way. Join us as she shares a couple of her fool-proof tips for identifying your personal interior design style before undergoing a renovation or redecoration.
I believe the number one thing that stands on the way of people having a home they love is not being clear on their personal style. Once you have clarity on your personal style you don’t waste time and money on things you don’t connect with. You start to create a space that feels like YOU.
Your home should tell the story of who you are, and be a collection of what you love. When your home style marries with your personality, there’s a certain magic that happens.
Here’s a few tips of how you can find your personal design style and start creating a home you love.
1. The Closet Method. One of the easiest ways to get a sense of you style is take a look in your closet. There is a definite connection to the way we dress and our design style. Is there a lot of colour or more neutrals in your clothes? Pattern or solid colours? Casual or dressy? What are the fabrics like? These are all key indicators of what you style preference is.
2. Cast a wide net on Pinterest. I always ask clients to save 10-20 images. And not to over think it. Just start pinning rooms you love. It doesn’t even need to be the room you may be decorating. Once you saved these items, don’t look at if for at least a day. Then go back and take a look for the similarities. You will start to see many similarities. Is there a lot of colour and pattern or are most of your images neutral and textured? What is the shape and style of the furniture? What finishes are in the lighting? These are great clues towards your style. And it’s fun to ask a friend what they see in your inspiration board.
3. Look up style preferences to see what FEELS most like you. Some examples are Scandi, Modern Farmhouse, Traditional, Transitional, Bohemian, Beach Coast, California Casual, Modern Glam. You don’t have to be just one style but we usually have one dominant style. And once we know this it makes it that much easier to know which stores to shop at and what items to buy that will have a true connections with us.
photos courtesy of Karla Dreyer
Lastly, let’s chat about mixing styles. Especially if you live with someone who has a different style than you.
I call it the 3-2-1 Method. You start with your dominant style (that you’ve discovered using the tips above). This is where you would buy most of your foundational pieces in this style ie: sofa, chairs. Then you can mix in your secondary style and this could be done through items such as side tables, lamps. And if you’re really going for it you can add a third style in the accessories.
Head over to Karla's website and get your design journey underway with her free style quiz. Read more about her Design on Demand Program and get on the waitlist here!
Want to see more from Karla? Find her on Instagram at @karladreyerdesign.