What’s Your Style

So you love interior design and interior styling. You love watching TV shows like The Block, House Rules and others and you love shopping both online and in store for those special pieces that you’ve seen used on these shows. But do you know your style and what it really takes to achieve it?

There are numerous interior design styles including Hamptons, Boho, Scandi, Modern and many others. It really helps to define your particular style so that when you are putting your room together you use the correct pieces that will build on the look and style you are aiming for.

I am often asked what my particular style is and because I’ve been decorating and designing for literally hundreds of different clients over the past 30 years, each of whom has their own particular style and likes, I find unless I keep in mind what my style is that I like in my own home, I’ll end up with a cornucopia of different decorative effects.

Personally, I love a number of different styles – it’s difficult to choose just one! Which is possibly why I’ve made interior design my career – I can dabble in all different designs, looks and styles when I’m doing my clients’ homes. However, the ones I probably love the most are the relaxed comfort of the Hamptons coastal look, the luxurious look of Hollywood Glam, and the earthy rawness of the Tribal Fusion look, with its hand crafted artifacts evidenced in textiles and furniture.

Obviously I can’t use all of these in equal quantities otherwise I’ll get a look that just won’t make sense, but I do think you can add the odd Juju hat or white Bameleki stool into a coastal Hamptons styled interior to add that point of difference which will make it more unique.

So what is your Style and how can you achieve it? I want to identify the key factors that make up the most popular interior design styles and will do this over a few blogs.

Firstly, let’s look at the Boho Style. This is a very relaxed, comfortably style that evolved from the Bohemian look of the 1920s and the Hippy style of the 1960s. Here almost anything goes – Indian stools, Turkish rugs, potted plants, bulky knits, patterns and textures on cushions and throws, and leather ottomans make a room decidedly Boho. It has become more contemporary with the use of these textures in light neutral colours. So to get this look a ‘must have’ would be an ivory and black hand knotted Moroccan rug, some hand woven cushions, lots of potted plants, an unusual or ethic themed chair or coffee table and a display of your books or collections.