Living in a well-designed home is a dream come true for all of us.
But there are so many types of design styles that sometimes it is difficult for us to define exactly what style we like, and even more difficult to know how to bring it to life in our home.
It would be a bit difficult for me to write down all the styles that exist here, but giving you a tool that will help you formulate your own design style is definitely a possible task. With this tool, you can embark on a new path in home design.
When I start designing a home with clients, the tool that helps me know what their design style is the inspiration board that I prepare for them.
You have probably heard of this term before. The inspiration board is designed to bring order to the mess. The inspiration board will include the guiding colors in the home, the lighting style, the rugs, the combination of prints, the sofa, the table, complementary items, and more.
How do you create an inspiration board?
- I recommend opening a folder on your computer/mobile phone called “My Inspiration Board”. Every time you come across a picture of an item you like, save it in the folder. After you have selected your pictures, check if the pictures of the items you have chosen connect together or if you find them cluttered or some of the items are unrelated, it’s worth refreshing the items you’ve chosen and changing the order in the folder. Keep in mind that there should be harmony between the items you have put in the board. There does not have to be a complete match, but there is a kind of correspondence between them.
- It is worth doing a Pinterest search and doing some digging there… I believe you will be inspired and get to know a world that is all about design.
- You can make the inspiration board in a simple program like Word, PowerPoint or Photoshop.
Choose the pictures with the items you liked the most and start arranging them.
After you have created your inspiration board, you can look at it and see if you connect with it or if there is room for further change if you feel that something is missing. The more you go into building your inspiration board, the easier it will be for you later.
After you have created your inspiration board, you are basically ready to go on a shopping trip, but not quite. You need to do some pretty exhausting homework: finding the stores that sell the variety of products you have chosen. You should not be expected to know, like people whose profession it is, the large selection.
Here are some examples of inspiration boards that I have made, each one different from the other, but I believe that you will easily recognize the style and recurring motif of each board:
