What makes your home really yours?  The answer is of course the design as the design of the home reflects who you are and what you love!  It can be difficult to narrow down your specific style though as there are so many beautiful items and fittings from all eras and in all styles.  That’s why we thought it’d be a good idea to give you a few hints to help you identify your own personal design style.  For more information or advice, have a chat with your local interior decorator.

What Do You Like?

It may sound simplistic but one of the best ways to identify your own personal design style is to find out what you like.  You can do this by leafing through home magazines, by walking through display homes and by looking at fully styled rooms on internet websites and blogs.  You’ll soon notice that certain things jump out at you over and over; things that please your eye and that make you say “I can totally see this in my home!”

What Makes You Happy?

While this closely ties into what you like, it’s just different enough to be important when you’re trying to decide what your design style is.  You can find the perfect room in a magazine and replicate it at home for example and then realise that something “isn’t quite right” somehow. That’s because it’s missing those little touches that make you happy!  It could be a colour that makes you smile, an object that you just can’t stop looking at, or even a scent that triggers happy memories (scent is important in a room as well!).

What’s Your Lifestyle?

Your home is an extension of yourself so it only makes sense that it reflects your lifestyle to a certain degree in terms of design.  For example, if you love spending time outdoors, walking on the beach, going to the park and so on, a casual beach themed home could be perfect for you.  That doesn’t mean that you have to echo your life exactly in your home though.  If your life is all go, go, go, you may want nothing more than to come home to something chilled out, cosy, and relaxing, so shabby chic may be the perfect design.  Basically, it’s important to look at your lifestyle and decide if you want your design to reflect that, or to be opposite of that.

Popular Design Styles

It can be hard to narrow down your personal design style if you’re not sure what some of the different styles are!  Some of the most popular that you’ll see in Australian homes include:

• Eclectic design
• Beach themed homes
• Shabby chic
• Contemporary
• Country style
• Rustic
• Industrial