Discovering Your Design Style - You May Be In For A Surprise

Have you ever stood in front of a unique flea market find, biting your nail in agonized indecision, wondering if this piece is just the fabulous touch your room needs - or if it will end up collecting dust in the attic? Knowing your design style simplifies your life. It's like deciding to build your wardrobe around black or navy - when you go shopping you know what to look for and what to ignore.

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Most of us have a vague idea of what we want for our homes, and we don't think twice about it. Some of us love red, some of us hate dark wood, some of us would die of boredom if we lived in an all white house. Or so we think.

Several years ago I began subscribing to a couple of interior design magazines. Every now and again I'd turn the page and be faced with an image of heaven. It was a room that took my breath away. We've all had that feeling, when we see a room that makes us want to step inside the picture and live there. I started keeping pictures of those rooms, so that when I had a house I could remember them. And then I started noticing something very strange.....all those rooms were cream and white. And I HATED white. Or so I thought.

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That's when I realized that what I thought I liked and what I actually liked were totally unrelated. It was a terrifying realization.

I would have told you I liked very traditional aesthetic, and rooms saturated with color (preferably red and yellow). The look I actually like is French eclectic hits the seaside, lots of white with accents of color (black, pinks and reds).

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The point of this story is not to undermine your confidence in your taste! You can pinpoint your own design style in a couple of minutes. My friend Leah who writes for Apartmenttherapy put me on to a great style quiz at Sproost. It's wonderful for a quick diagnostic. Even if you're very attuned to your likes and dislikes, you're bound for some fun surprises. And for a really fascinating experiment - if you're married, have your better half take the quiz too. It's intriguing to discover where your tastes overlap, and where they diverge. And it's a wonderful opportunity to start fashioning a house that you both feel at home in.

Photo credits: 1. The White House Daylesford 2. Country Living 3. Miles Redd 4. Coastal Living via Sproost 5. Jed Johnson 6. Tom Scheerer