How Your Interior Design Can Represent You
Have you ever walked into a house and immediately made up your mind about a person? What we place in our homes identifies us in many ways, and where we place them indicates their value to us. So, when we walk into someone’s home we don’t just take in the obvious indicators – dog bed, baby gate, muddy boots – but the more subtle and personal touches as well.
Developing a personal style is something most of us have to grow into, aside from the gifted few who have an eye for design and beauty the rest of us must learn.
We all remember our first home. Some of us opted for a new build, a blank canvas on which we could paint the story was us. Then we realised we didn’t really know who we were yet. So, our clean slate sometimes saw a couple of posters and a vase but, was left otherwise blank.
Some of us opted for a little ramshackle house where we could enjoy the quirks and character of those who came before us. However, this leads us to take on the style of others instead of truly discovering our own.
Saute & Soak
What we choose to place in our homes can be a powerful reflection of who we are as people. These reflections come in many forms which we will break down here.
Colour and Patterns
As we grow, the singular favourite colour we would tell every adult we met about, tends to change. Our relationship to colour deepens but also becomes more subtle. We begin to associate colour with elements of ourselves and the things around us. We don’t often use these colours in our interior design, preferring to choose colours we feel make sense for the room, rather than make sense for us.
There continues to be a leader among lasting colour trends: neutrals. As their namesake suggests they give no bias. They go with everything and match everything easily. But it is in this way that they fail to truly represent a person, in order to make a statement in your home you need to pick a side.
But this colour palate remains popular with those who want a timeless feel to their rooms. In these spaces, it is often the accessories that capture colour. The beige tones may see a splash of colour in a mustard throw pillow or rust-coloured curtains.
This is also where patterns come in, neutral colours can be lifted to boldness with a geometric or floral pattern. Sometimes this is in the form of an embossed design or print.
There is a rising love, however, for bold maximalism. Birds of paradise wallpaper and emerald green velvet sofas, that wash colour over you every time you enter the room. They are loud and demand to be seen, heard, and remembered. This is usually paired with a person of a similar mind and a lively spirit.
Hobbies and Interests
Just as many of us used to cover our bedroom walls with posters as teens, we show who we are through our interests. Incorporate this into your interior design by displaying collectables – let your husband have his signed sports memorabilia in the spare bedroom.
Don’t be scared to display that painting you made a few years ago in the hallway, it may just encourage you to fall in love with painting again.
This in, particular, is important. It is easy for us to get caught up caring for our new house, with all its everyday things, and forget the things we once enjoyed in our leisure time. Display your guitar on that stand, and let it start the conversation at the dinner party that leads to someone giggling and asking if you can play Wonderwall.
Memories and Experiences
This relates nicely to your previous point, in that many of us have left our holidays and brought back a piece of local art that captured the feelings of our trip. Make time to get this framed and find a central place for it. That painting still holds those happy memories and represents who you were at that time and the things you undoubtedly still love.
If you like to travel, there are a plethora of travel-related items you can include in your interior design that go far past the dated predictable globe. Wooden, laser-carved world maps for the wall alongside the travel memorabilia you’ve collected along the way. This tells a story of your life of travel as well as being a token of each memory.
Printed photos were often something we could all gather around when they came back from the shop. But in the age of smartphones, it’s easier to send these digitally to each other or post them to social media. These places create a fantastic personal catalogue of our lives with names and dates we can remember. However, there is something gained in the tactile feel of a printed photo. Consider getting your favourite photos of your friends, family, and pets frames to hang in your entranceway or sit on your bedside table.
By infusing elements of personal style, and showcasing hobbies and experiences you can create a home that is not only visually appealing but also deeply reflective of your unique identity.
See our partner post on Saute & Soak for tips on how to develop your own personal style and explore interior design as self expression.
You can chat to us on our Facebook or Instagram, we would love to hear from you.