For the most part, the clients I work with know which room they want to redesign or remodel. Then, there is generally a lot of "I'm not sure" and "I don't know" when I start to question them about their preferences for design style, color scheme, and in general, the base details to build on, so that the room evolves from something ordinary or outdated to something EXTRAORDINARY!
If you know what you want, have poured over hundreds of magazine pages, been dreaming about redoing the same room over and over again, down to the most minute details.....well then, good for you! Get going.
For everyone else, most people need some help or direction. It's really easier than you think....just let go of your fears and dive in.
Case in point:
Years ago when I was pregnant with my first son, I went shopping for wallpaper to decorate the nursery. I perused the aisles of the local wallpaper store for days on end. I looked at each and every display, leafed through the books they had, and yet I kept returning to the same sample, day after day. Had anyone asked me, I would have told them that I didn't particularly care for that pattern, nor the color-baby blue, how ordinary! Finally, I decided that if I kept going back to that sample, there must be some sort of internal instinct guiding me. I decided to take a leap of faith and go for it. Was I surprised. Not only did I absolutely love it once it was installed, it was just right with the adorable crib set that I fell in love with. That room turned out to be the picture perfect nursery for my new baby boy. Had I not followed my instincts, I don't think that I would have been so happy with the results. In fact, I loved it so much, I kept it exactly the same, down to the diaper stacker, when we welcomed our second son almost two years later.
We all know what we like. Consciously or subconsciously. The trick is to bring it into a conscious plan of action.
The first thing I ask my clients to do, is get a manila folder and keep it handy. I ask them to tear out pages that they like from magazines, advertisements, newspapers, etc and put them into that folder. It doesn't matter if they know why they like it, just as long as they connect to it. (The natural instinct.) Once they have collected about 20 pieces, we lay them all out on a table. It's pretty easy to see a pattern. I set aside anything that doesn't immediately fit the pattern. Colors, shapes, or style lines will be repeated throughout the pictures in one form or another. Even the pages that are set aside will usually have one of the congruous elements somewhere.
Now, your turn. Once you have collected your pictures, laid them out, and identified the similar threads throughout the pictures, go to http://www.hgtv.com/decorating/style-glossary/index.html. There you will find a glossary of decorating styles. By reading through the definitions, you will be able to find the elements that are repeated in the pages you have laid out. Now you know your style, and have your starting point.
