Episode 6 - How To Define Your Personal Style

Let us help you define your own personal interior style to carry through on ALL your future projects; time and money will be minimised and results will be the maximised!  Debs & Sue distill their joint 40+ years of experience as we look into all the main elements that make up an interior design, and guide you through so you can confidently understand what really connects with you.  Pure magic! 

• Defining personal style is essential for effective interior design.
• Your home should nurture and reflect your personality.
• Patterns and textures play a crucial role in design.
• Emotional responses to design elements are important.
• Curate inspiration from various sources to define your style.
• Finding a signature color palette can enhance your design.
• Color has a profound impact on mood and atmosphere.
• Mixing furniture styles can create a unique aesthetic.
• Design should be authentic and true to oneself.
• Mental health and well-being are influenced by home design.

ALL ABOUT DESIGN

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 Novo Interiors - www.novointeriors.co.uk
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email - susan@novointeriors.co.uk

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Transcript

So welcome to this week's All About Design and I'm joined once again by Deb's, This week we're going to define personal style. We're going to help you find what it is you love because there's so much out there. Unless you can distill and curate what you love, then you're going to be floundering in a world of images and you probably keep going out and buying lots of different things, bringing them home and they're not working. 

So Debs and I are going to go through ways to define your style. 

Which will help you create rooms that are completely authentic to you 

We're going to talk about how you can simplify and hone in on what actually is your style, what excites you and what you should put in your own home. 

Ways that you can achieve the interior that not only excites you, 

but shows off who you are and is individual to you, which sounds like a massive task, but there are ways to simplify it and make it work. It's got to reflect your personality, your lifestyle, your taste. you may have seen lots of lovely things in magazines 

but think about what you've loved for five or 10 years, not what you've just seen in the last three months. 

Taking all that on board, understanding yourself is probably one of the hardest things, one of the biggest things we help clients with. 

We'll highlight many areas of interiors, both obvious and less so, for you to think about. And this will help you form an all-important 360 degree view. So we'll be talking even more about colour discussing in more detail their attributes and ideas on how to use the main ones. We're talking about symmetry or otherwise, about texture, pattern, mood, furniture style, and hard materials. All of these will form your own particular style. 

So think about if you prefer jewel colours to muted, if you dislike denim or worship wallpaper. And after listening to this episode, you'll be able to get a strong plan of what you in interior design loves right now. 

We've talked about DNA 

before, but this is central to everything. it could be furniture or fabric that you love, something you're really drawn to. That's a good starting point. This might be something you have already, or it might be something that you need to look for. And we've touched on ways to go out and find unique and beautiful pieces that just give you a buzz and give you that moment of 

I love that. But why? Question why? Because there might be elements of that that can help you with the rest of your interior. And it's about an emotional response to something, not just an aesthetic response. 

How you can start to define your own style. the first thing is colour, 

One of the best things you can do is open your wardrobe and have a look, my wardrobe is full of colour and pattern, I can't get away from it. You're absolutely right because what you wear, we all know that, you you put something on it makes you feel good. It elevates you, 

So you can do that in your home. Why not? Your home should also, when you walk into a room, give you that same sense of elevation or calm. Well, what we're after and the whole reason of doing this podcast is how to get an interior in your home that nurtures you It's good for your wellbeing. This is why we need to create something that is truly all about you and not just something that looks good, but doesn't have much of a soul to it. 

I think it's about those kind of magpie moments. What attracts you? Why does it attract you? 

Can it become part of the existing interior or be balanced out by other things? And that sounds quite technical, but it isn't. It's about just finding out why you like it. What is it? Is it the colour? Is it the texture? Is it the finish? So, there's lots of elements to things and that's something we're going to explore, in different parts of today's podcast. 

Sue and I are going to take you through a few ways that might help you discover what your style if you're not really sure. 

So you need a lot of self reflection and think about key, parts of design and your reaction to them. 

Your style will continue to evolve over your lifetime but this is where you are now so be honest and it'll be quite an interesting journey. 

So one of the first things we want to put in front of you to think about, do you walk into a space and if it's symmetrical feel more comfortable in it? 

So if it's got balance and order, everything has its place. Does that appeal to you more than something organic or asymmetrical, eclectic, Which appeals to you more? if you walk into a room and it's unorderly, effectively, 

even in patterns and designs, being more casual and eclectic can be more relaxing to a lot of people. square edges and sharp corners. 

does that appeal to you more than something that's a bit more curvy and rounded and soft? 

One of the biggest things is pattern and that can be quite striking or it can be quite soft. Do you like pattern? Is it something that you could embrace in your home? Some people love pattern everywhere. I'm one of them. There's so many different types of pattern out there. 

that actually can give you some colour and texture without actually having to go too crazy you might be person that walks into a room and feels a bit smothered by pattern. You might prefer things plain 

You might always prefer geometrics to a floral or an abstract to a stripe so just write all this down and then you'll suddenly start to see a picture forming of what you really do love Pattern can be 

more organic and nature based designs. So it can lend itself to very different types of scheme. Just keep your mind open to it. It's a scale of the pattern, isn't it? There's some huge 

overall pattern repeat or there's the tiny self pattern ones that got a place in a supporting role in a fabric scheme another good one Deborah is texture 

Texture is great for if you're doing a very minimal scheme of colours. So you can have anything from a lovely soft silk all the way up to a chunky knit. But in between that is a vast amount of different levels of texture, which can define areas, 

in a relatively simple colour palette. Some people, can't stand touching velvets, but for others it's the key fabric really to go into a sumptuous scheme. So, have a look again at your reaction to fabrics. 

not just texture of fabrics, but texture of materials. Things like marble or carpet, wallpaper, stone, what are you drawn to? What do you really like? What would you like to incorporate? You might say I love marble, but I can't really afford a great deal in my scheme. Well, actually, yes, you 

can afford to put it in somewhere because you could get a little side table that's got a gorgeous marble top. So there's always ways to bring it in, doesn't have to cost the earth. And again with texture it can make a scheme. So cottons and and linens, that's a very relaxed kind of scheme. And on the other side of it with the velvets and silks and those high-end materials gives it a glamorous feel. So you're evoking those 

emotions through texture. And actually, people don't really think about texture They just think it's all about the colour and perhaps pattern. But texture has a 3D depth to it. So it gives a tactile feeling to space. If you you use the same texture in everything, then it would 

disappear. Nothing will stand out and that's the beauty of texture presents each piece in its own right 

And then have a think about the mood, that you're trying to evoke overall. We're not talking about one particular space. We're trying to define your overall personal style, so that you can then translate that into every room in your home. have a thought about where you really loved, where you visited in the past. Look back before you can look forward, really. 

Get some old photographs out and places that you've been that stick in your memory as special and somewhere that you had good reaction to the space and what you can take from those places and bring it back to your house Also think about eras and furniture styles 

I think just going to touch on what you were saying, it's really good to look at those. if it helps you identify why you like it. So when you're thinking about it, I like that room because it had velvet chairs for, you know, and things like that. So that's what we're trying to help people with is actually identifying why. 

Because it is hard to know. then it will help you tick those boxes and get a plan. You might have liked an interior that had a mid-century feel. It might be something modern with clean edges that you like, quite minimalist, where everything is out of the way and storage is key. It might be something that's classic, perhaps, panelling, cornices, coving. 

something that's perhaps you'd find in an older home, but that we are starting to put back into our more modern interiors because they've got an architectural presence to them, could be timeless. And I think we would always say, try to create your overall canvas as a timeless interior because then you can add in and it won't date. I think you can actually also do the hat trick, which is a little bit of everything. 

It's about choosing the right pieces that relate to each other, whether that be materials or shape you start to get a keen eye for what works together and it's a lot to do at scale and things like that but you could actually mix a lot of these styles together and come up with something that reflects yourself. It is absolutely a minefield out there so I agree completely with what you're saying because 

If we can help you narrow it down with today's podcast so you're on the right track if you actually googled design styles, probably about 60, 70, 80 different ideas come up. You know, you've got coastal cottage, you've got boho, you've got hygge I think there's probably a new one coming up right now. 

Just so many. Obviously, this is the ones we've mentioned, mid-century modern classic timeless, but you know, but it's just crazy. How was anyone meant to know what direction to go in? So this is why everything has to completely hit you between the eyes or in the heart to know that you want to include this in your overall scheme. And what you actually end up with is your style. There isn't anything. 

that can be wrong about it because it's what you are. And that's very freeing, When you realize you're not a slave to some sort of design style. exactly. And I think they're the most successful interiors 

So, it's the essence of you has to come through into your interior design. 

So start collecting lots of photographs of images you like on Pinterest or Instagram and then almost get like a proof sheet of them and start to curate them and whittle them down because your home may not actually suit some of those elements. 

think so. you have all these pictures of this beautiful California sort of home with loads of big glass windows, loads of light, but you live in a Cotswolds cottage. It's not going to marry how you want, but you can take 

elements. I'm not saying not take the elements of it it's 

you can take the colours out of it but it's about balancing it and being realistic what the elements really are that matter to you in your Pinterest board or your proofs or your mood board you you start getting those elements together and then it's kind of freeing because it's limiting yes what you're looking at 

and limiting your time that's spent going round in circles, which happens to a lot of people. And your own personal style has evolved over your whole life and it will continue to evolve. it's a work in progress, but you will know things that you react well to and things that you just want to walk away from. So I'm not a big fan of pink. I don't know why. 

But a room that was vivid pink, I wouldn't be able to spend a lot of time in there. So I know that's a signpost for me to say, no, I'm not going to have that. Whereas you might love it, So get lots of images together. Start getting some little swatches of paints and put your mood board and your swatches and your imagery together. And then just. 

be really harsh with it and start crossing through will that work in my home Yeah limiters limiters yeah limiters we keep saying that all the time don't we limiters and be realistic 

cut through things and cut back. It's okay. You can put things back in, but it is about balance. understand your home, understand where the light comes from. understand the size of the room because all these elements come together, don't they? So defining your personal style almost transcends space planning and all those other things, but it 

then will tie back into it so perfectly because obviously as Deb said, you need the floor plan to work, but your personal style will be something that you will see in every single room throughout the house. Every space that you touch So it's not an exercise that you'll do and will be a waste of time in in a few months because what you're projecting and putting forward 

is your character, it's coming from inside of you, had an emotional reaction to it so it really is something that's authentic, it's real, it's going to stay, 

think that's it we want to find out what's your style and don't try and emulate someone else's because that won't work If you if you can figure out your own style and what makes you tick it's exciting 

It's very exciting because then you have that freedom to continue through your home and the pace picks up. So this element of time at the beginning of your project really will give you time in the future. Because you know what you're looking for, you know what you like, you know what works, you know the hues, you know the colours, you know all the things that we're talking about. And you have that confidence to go ahead. And things like art and travel and nature can all be massive influences 

I'm sure when you lived in Australia for quite a few years, that's had an impact on what you go for now. It has and when I was there I would say I went for different things because of the impact of environment but you take those moments back with you Travel and mementos and things like that bring emotion. They bring a joy. 

or they can bring a sadness but that sadness in its way is a remembrance. But when you're bringing things back from holiday think about your home, not what it's like in the actual beautiful market or wherever you are. Think about how you can take things back with you that work with 

your schemes, work with your interiors. without standing out like a sore thumb. Well, it could be that you see something that's so 

jaw dropping that you want to take that and make it the centre of your new scheme. That's also an amazing moment to have because you just fall in love with something. When I was an air stewardess, I found this massive artwork on Venice beach and it was about 1.2 metres by a metre and it was very light, I had to get it packaged up and brought back to London it was 

ginormous but there's no way I was leaving it there because I was cabin crew I was able to buy the baggage handlers a beer and it was all fine obviously when they're off duty Something like that can happen and hopefully it'll be a smaller object than that but it's got to make you go my god I can't live without that and then if you want to start a scheme around it that's something to think about 

Actually you're completely right like fabrics. Fabrics are a fabulous thing because you can bring them back, have them made into things I think you're right if you find something that you are lost a bit but you find that moment yeah happy days perfect happy days love that. 

Another great thing to do is find a signature colour palette. Now that doesn't say everything in your house has to be that colour, 

it doesn't have to be followed slavishly in every single room but you know that that has meaning for you. We're going to talk about 

the psychology of common colours And we're going to dive into colour theory in much more detail on forthcoming episodes. But we'll just have a quick round up to help you if you're floundering and you're a little bit lost. 

Well this is it, colour, I love this quote, colour is the power which directly influences your soul. It does, completely. And it so does. but if you experience the right colour, you get that moment, don't you? 

I think you were going to talk about red, which is one of those ones that definitely hits you, Well, we know it's 

got energy and passion and pizzazz, but can be a little bit overstimulating. you don't want to use that in too bigger quantities in a room where you need to chill out a bit. But it's great for social spaces, dining rooms. 

places that you want to get people talking or want a bit of sort of fun going on but think about red as maybe an accent piece rather than an overall all-consuming colour Whereas like blue is kind of the opposite, it's calming, we think of blue waters, we think of calming skies 

soothing isn't it? Yeah, relaxed and was seeing things about how it lowers heart rate. It's interesting how colour can actually take you physically somewhere. And then blue can be quite intense as well because you go deep but it's still got that calming element so if you did want to go for deeper colours blue is one where it can just bring everything to a calm state. And it is the world's favourite colour apparently. Is it? Which I'm not surprised about. did not know that. Yeah that's amazing. It is, thank you. 

So yellow obviously is a cheerful colour, uplifting, again, it's the whole range of colours going from a soft buttery yellow through to a almost neon there's a massive range of colours to choose from, but it's generally meant to make you feel happy. 

like little bunch of daffodils, isn't it? You just feel great. You feel uplifted straight away and it's great for communication and mental clarity. I love green. Green is my go-to colour in every kind of shape or form. It's just 

stunning and it is it's a natural colour it's nature it's that balanced and harmonising feel you get from green isn't it? i think it's one of those colours that can be used practically anywhere i think everywhere and it can create the right environment in kitchens, bathrooms it's stunning but also studies have shown anxiety and fatigue can be helped with green so i think it's a bit of a hero colour and it does 

a lot of other colours as well. Because people go, I have to go for a neutral. Green is almost like a neutral in the right hue. These things can easily go with lots of other colours and actually calm them down and bring them to a kind of more rested state. And also on the other side of that, if you put a shot of like a a limey green. 

Oh my goodness me, that just completely energises the scheme. But you might want most of it to be really calm, but you just don't want it to become a little bit boring. So just get a little shot of something in there. Gorgeous. And green's a really good one for doing that. Without being too attacking. without kind of being, oh, that's a bit jarring. You know, like you were saying about pink, intense pink. So if you put an intense shot of pink or orange or blue in, 

they're not so natural as a green, like a lime green. Do you think it's because it's got that kind of coolness to it, the undertones whereas it's like hot, other colours are hot. I know what mean. definitely. I think it stops being so relaxing if it's not a green in that way, 

Purple, we don't see that much purple in design. I actually had a lilac coloured bedroom when I grew up, don't know what that means. Do think, I think it comes and goes purple. Purple's one of those kind of fashion colours isn't it? I love the regal magician purple, but there's so many, there's lilacs through to indigos, 

it's great for creative spaces, art studios, meditation spaces. It is a spiritual colour. It can be very strong, but it works beautifully with reds and oranges as well. putting the whole thing together, what you're drawn to. But if you're going with a purple in there, that's quite an interesting colour to work from. I think you're right. if I think of anything that's got purple in it, probably just a 

little tempting taste of that deep colour to anchor down maybe the greens which again is beautiful combination. purple and green love that it's like your lounge. Biased yeah but again it's about how much you put in everything isn't it because otherwise it can be too heavy so I was going to talk about orange. love orange. It's vibrant it's friendly it's sociable. true. 

I think it's got that kind of coming together feeling it's kind of energising. I think it's happy and fun. It's like a smile, isn't it? And orange colours are optimistic But again, too much of it might be a bit more, too much of a slap in the face. 

maybe a feature wall, definitely great on accent pieces or just a lovely orange velvet chair. Gorgeous. And it can be like a deep orange or a burnt orange. we don't get to see the sun very often, so maybe that's why we lust after the orange. Gorgeous. 

you know, the real sort of sophisticated oranges that can be injected into a scheme and just elevate it. They're not, they're not as dark as a brown, but they're just into that orangey tone. They're gorgeous. And then pink. Not my favorite colour, but then there are some beautiful shell pinks that are gorgeous and that's okay Sue, is it? 

Yeah, because that's what we're talking about. What's your favourite? But pink obviously is seen as a very feminine colour. I've heard that years ago pink was for boys and blue was for girls and it got switched around. It was actually a masculine colour. And I don't know how or what happened along the way, but it suddenly became a gender thing. 

actually pink on men, it looks lovely. It works really well. Yeah. And pink and blue together look really nice But in designs, perfect for bedrooms, nurseries, relaxation areas works really well with green again. 

I think it's the intensity of it. They've had studies where pink has been used and it's come across as a very calming influence. Again, it's up to you whether that works for you because sometimes it can energise you or zap you. But generally, it's seen as calming, obviously not in the cerise pink end of the spectrum. 

And then white, obviously pure and fresh, but white's great for rescuing schemes Quite often if we're putting lots of fabrics together and there's a lot going on with pattern and texture and saturated colours, just need something with a little bit of white on, just goes, can breathe again. And it's the same with anything in your home. Obviously it's not an easy colour to live with if you've got animals and children depending on. 

what materials it's going on but obviously it's got its space every room should have some white and every room should have some black in it so they're good anchors and they're good breathing spaces for other colour schemes and obviously yeah okay if you're in Barbados and you've got a beach hut and you've got white billowing voiles everywhere that works beautifully with the sand and the sea I've just gone on a little journey Did you just want to go on holiday? I think she just wants to go on holiday. 

That's white, that's beautiful. But that's their emotional response isn't it? Yeah. and I think white is a brilliant way to contain colour I remember we had our houses in Sydney it very sort of beachy we had all the architrave and everything in a solid white and it just contained the kind of roughness of everything else 

White, it freshens and even if you have dull colours, it just makes it a deliberate action. To have that accent of white come in. definitely. And then black, 

Obviously it's dramatic, it's sophisticated. It adds a lot of depth and richness to schemes. Too much of it can be a bit draining, but it depends on the situation, depends on the light coming into the room, 

Great to have a little bit of black as said anchors a scheme and just if something's looking a little bit too pretty a bit too fluffy adding a bit of black to it gives it a bit of seriousness I think yeah it's an anchor colour isn't it really you don't want to end up with a drama studio worth of black in your home 

I think, we've found, haven't we, in schemes where it's just, wow, that just suddenly brings it down. 

And then grey, I think grey was done to death so much about 10 years ago. And I very, very rarely use grey and a lot of people still love it. And I have clients who have homes that they've done themselves that have got so much grey in and they say, please come and help me get away from the grey. Obviously I've got to work the scheme into what's already there. So I might try and tip it over from grey into a grey beige, greige 

as we call that. And they'll still go back to the greys and you're like, no, please It seems a bit cold to me in this, in our climate, I think it's, it's nice to get a bit of warmth in there, but grey is a very sophisticated colour. Again, the charcoal is beautiful because it's not a black, so it's not as hard. So you can have a little bit of grey brown, or you can go all the way through to the light dove greys. So it's a very versatile colour, but I just don't like. 

grey colour schemes because they depress me. I think you've got to be careful where you sit in the grey scale because there's some draining greys out there and that's what happened and it was very easy because it is a good coordinate for a lot of colours that everybody jumped on that bandwagon but please go the kind of warmer end, of French grey, because like you said it's been done so much 

Let's just go away from it. Yeah, let's enjoy colour. Let's just get into colour. was seen as like a professional colour. was the office colour. Battleship Grey. Oh, that's what you think of. And but then it got adopted quite, largely into homes. And I think, too much. Well, in my opinion, no, in our opinion, it just needs, it needs a few friends in colour, doesn't it? Grey needs friends. 

Moving on from that, the next thing to define in your search really is your style of furniture that you like. Now that doesn't have to be stuck in one era or be modern, it can be a fusion 

But again, finding that thing that sings to you. everyone just used to go out and buy, the three piece suite, the sofa and two armchairs, and that was done. Now it's like, I could have that really gorgeous Eames chair that I've been lusting after for years. And that will sit beautifully side by side against quite contemporary sofa. But I still love that. And I love that mix of those eras. So again, it comes down to... 

getting those images, ticking off the things that you love and crossing through the things that you don't and looking at your colours and then textures. It's about choosing the right pieces and textures and lots of elements can bring things together. 

recovering older pieces and then making them work within your interior. We still love a bit of painting furniture upgrading them to make them work. 

You need whatever you do to have a thread throughout your interiors that you can follow. So it's not slavish But you might have a blue in the hallway that you spot on a vase in the kitchen and it could be on a cushion on the beds. 

There's just ways of saying, I appreciate that colour. I love it. I want it in my life on a daily basis because it's going to make me feel great. Everything doesn't have to cost a fortune either. You might really splash out on that beautiful thing, but can balance that with some lovely finds from the antique shop 

Get your inspiration get those cushions Please go out and get some pattern and put it in but the other thing is go for it don't go half half because it will come out feeling a bit diluted thing I'd say is try and keep this flow of how you approach things the same in all of the house 

That thread of design, it is satisfying. I think it connects with you 

and it will give you that feeling of calm. 

If you start putting your definition of your personal style together you will be able to carry that through into lots and lots of different areas. because if it's what you are all about then it will work in every single room 

Find the DNA of what you love and you can't go wrong because you're being true to yourself. If you try and copy something that you've seen in the magazine, it's not going to be authentic or real. if it's genuine and you love it, then you have achieved your goal. 

So we've got three fantastic makeover memos for you to try this week, all with a bit of a theme towards Easter and Mother's Day. So the first one is? It's something that I've done in the past and I wanted to pass it on. You know, there's lovely little cloches that are everywhere at the moment. You can get them in practically, you know, white company all the way to B&M 

a cloche yes with the little base underneath you can use a wooden base or can get marble so I call it like your mini me museum so you can put little tokens that you remind you of good times or precious moments in them it could be a little book it could be a photo but it can be ever-changing and you can personalise it to the person you're giving it to as a gift that never stops giving 

and they look lovely in the kitchen don't they so even if it's not in use you can put your fairy cakes in it or something. because it is in this contained environment makes it more of a deliberate act and a reason for it to be there but it can be evolving and just make you smile. That's lovely that's really thoughtful. Where's mine? 

I'm not there yet. it's on its way. We're great friends. It's not that great. Number two is I get a little bit excited about going out foraging some beautiful 

sculptural branches, stems even, to make a large scale, elegant. 

floral display with some beautiful twisted willow perhaps or some fascia stems. Obviously don't go around snapping branches of trees, we don't want that, but if you're out and about and you see some beautiful sculptural plants that you can put into a vase and then as it goes towards Easter you can start to hang on little Easter treats or Easter eggs. 

So that's quite sweet. a nice large scale display and it's actually not putting too much in the vase. It's quite nice just to have the sculptural element of the Twisted Willow For example, doing all the work and it's the spaces and the shapes it's creating that's really beautiful. Really nice idea. And you can look at things different colours. 

stems and I've seen some like deep reds and on their own stand out with a little pop of green Really nice. And the third one is something I saw on the white company did a video on it, little hack. So, but it could be any any largest scale glass candle holder that you've had that's sort of 

towards the end it's finished nearly once you've got as many hours of it as you can clear out all the wax with some hot water and then reuse it by planting in spring bulbs so it could be hyacinth it could be daffodils 

covering the top with some gravel or lovely springy green moss. That looks amazing. And it's a long lasting gift for Mother's Day and it can be reused again. So it's great. So it's recycling and it looks beautiful. I think I'd like that. right. Well you do the cloche for me and I'll do that for you. Hint, hint. 

So that's everything for this week. We'll put some images of our makeover memo ideas onto Instagram and Facebook. Get in touch with us at contact at allaboutdesign.online. And thank you so much for joining me again. No, thank you. And again, and again, it's been really interesting to talk about how to define your personal style. 

and all the other bits and pieces Look forward to seeing you in the next episode. Take care!