My style may not be your style. And that’s ok. 

Discovering what interior design inspires you can be a beautiful process. It changes over time as you grow, travel, learn and expand. Our tastes and preferences are what makes each of us unique and gives a sense of originality to the spaces we live in. 

As an interior designer, I look for clues into each one of my clients, to help extract the vision in what they are trying to create. Each project is different. Some people know what they love and have an overpopulated Pinterest board, while others don’t know where to start. 

Creating thoughtful interior design with intention is more than just finding a beautiful image that you love. Does your idea fit with your lifestyle, budget and vision? Does it truly resonate with your own style, or are you trying to please someone else? 

The exercise below will help you to discover your Colorado interior design style.  Knowing your style will help you determine how to communicate your likes and dislikes to your design team. The more they know the better they can help meet your needs. 

Part 1: Reflect On Some (Only Marginally Interior Design Related) Questions

Take time to ask yourself the following questions. Write about each answer and gain clarity around the whys &  whats you are about to design. For additional support, discuss the questions with a friend, partner or spouse. The more you can understand your needs, the easier your concept will come to life.  

• What do you want to create?
• How do you want to feel?
• Why do you want to create it?
• What is your long term vision?
• What is your budget?
• What is your time-line?

Pro Tip: Keep your answers in a google doc or easily shareable document so you can have your answers ready to share once you are working with your Colorado interior design team. 

Part 2: Discover Your Interior Design Tastes 

Take a personal inventory. Before hiring a professional, getting a quote or starting your remodel, it’s best to have an idea of where you want to go. Trouble is, most homeowners don’t know where to start. Part of an interior designer’s job is similar to being an investigator. It’s up to us to extract your taste, vision, likes and dislikes and distill it down into a creative, thoughtful solution that meets your needs. But you can save time by starting this prep-work on your own.

Look Outward: 

You can discover your style in many ways. One of the easiest ways to start is to research online, and gain inspiration on social media. Websites like Houzz, Pinterest, and Instagram are great for this sort of thing .Create an account and start making pins, saving images and adding notes. Don’t overthink this process. If you find yourself hesitating on something, it’s probably not meant for you or in alignment with your unique style. 

Look Inward: 

Look Inward. You know yourself best. Take a personal inventory to help filter down your tastes, find clues to what you love, and create your design vision.

Look for clues in what you already own. What’s in your closet? Are certain colors or patterns more prominent? Think about your past. What makes you feel comfortable? What did you have growing up? 

What restaurants, hotels, spas or stores do you like? What catalogs, brands or magazines do you read? What websites, blogs and online media do you follow?

Part 3: Focus On YOUR Kind of Colorado Interior Design

Once you gather your design inspiration, it’s time to focus and share your effort. You may find yourself going down a creative rabbit hole, pinning and saving more than you ever thought possible. Before sharing this with your interior designer,  it’s imperative that you narrow down your favorite images to your TOP 10.

Here are 5 Ways to Consolidate and Share Your Efforts:

• Create a dropbox folder for your favorite images.
• Create a vision board with your favorite images.
• Save links to your favorite sites/products in a single bookmarks folder
• Use a Google spreadsheet to budget, and link to actual products
• Share your Houzz or Pinterest account

By taking time to reflect, discover and focus you will be better able to communicate your needs with your interior design professional. If you have trouble getting started our design team can help to guide you through the creative process and help you define your vision.