I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know a whole lot about interior design and what really goes in to decorating a home. Beyond knowing what I like, or trying to replicate what someone else has done, I’m a little bit clueless.
I wish I were here to tell you some tips and tricks about how to decorate your whole house and love every inch of it, but I’m far from figuring that out for myself. However, I do know a thing or two about building a brand from the floor up, so I translated what I know about the branding process into my house. I found the exercise of creating a brand style guide incredibly helpful, and hope that you might find it valuable as well!
If you don’t already know, a brand style guide is a document that combines your hopes, dreams and goals with your aesthetic to ensure your presentation to the world is consistent. It serves as a helpful tool to look back on if you ever feel lost in your branding or decorating process.
Ready to jump in? Follow my step by step guide and see what I did for my home’s style guide!
Step One: What is your mission?
Writing a mission statement can feel like a majorly daunting task, but I’m here to tell you that it can be pretty simple. What really resonates with you when thinking about the core values of your home? It can be a quote, a goal, or anything really! Totally up to you!
My mission is simple. I first heard this William Morris quote almost a decade ago and it has resonated with me ever since. My goal is to surround myself only by things I love and the functional necessities.
Step Two: What is your vision?
The easiest way to do this section is to think of some adjectives for your house. What do you want it to feel like? What styles do you love? My vision for my home is an eclectic mix, with refined style. It contradicts itself, but I don’t want to lean too far in one direction, so it suites me. Think of adjectives you are drawn to, or even how you would describe your own personality!
My vision is contrast! I want there to be that perfect balance of push and pull to create a space that is a little bit of everything and somehow just right.
Step Three: Collect inspiration
This is where I think the fun really begins! I’ve been slowly collecting beautiful images from Pinterest and Instagram for years and made a quick roundup of what I’m really digging right now. I think it’s cool to be able to look back at different the phases we go through and pick out the constants.
This is my most current list of loves (and yes, I included my own dining nook on the list!) By looking at these all together you can get a great idea of what I like. Vintage rugs, geometric patterns, bold textiles, soft blues, warm woods, brass tones…
Step Four: Choose a color palette
This step was challenging for me. I love color and have a hard time picking just a few, but I thought about the things I really love in my house and made swatches for them.
I don’t think I’d want all of these colors in one space at one time, but having a few base colors in every area with small moments of bolder accent colors sounds right up my alley.
Step Five: Put it together
Time for the mood boards! I use this method for all of my room planning. I compile dream pieces of furniture mixed with what I actually have and play with it. I sometimes look at whole rooms and sometimes just small corners to really focus in on the details. This way you can look at several different pages next to each other and see if your brand aesthetic is coming across as a cohesive and custom look you would love to live with.
If our house was actually a brand, we’d have to go through the process of picking out typography, and eventually building out a logo. Fortunately, we can skip those steps and focus on collecting more beautiful inspiration images and finessing color palettes.
Are there any readers out there that are taking a stab at unconventional interior design? Tell me what your process is! I’d love to know!
