It’s time to define, deliver on style
Designer Linda Eyles offers 7 ideas to help find what works best for you
Looking at a shelter magazine, Instagram feed or Pinterest board, anyone can pile up photos of rooms and furnishings they love. Making them work in your home is a bit more difficult.
But when Houston interior designer Linda Eyles describes ways to identify your style and translate it into interior design, she makes it sound easy.
Eyles, of Linda Eyles Design, spoke recently on “Defining Your Aesthetic and Bringing It Home” at Access Design, co-hosted by the Houston Chronicle and Houston
Design Center.
“Your style is what speaks to you and makes you feel comfortable and at home. It doesn’t have to have a specific name. I think people get caught up in farmhouse style or midcentury modern,” she said. “But your aesthetic can really be descriptive and what you want to achieve in your interiors.”
Here are seven ideas from Eyles for identifying and implementing your own style.
DEFINE YOUR AESTHETIC:
Don’t worry about labels, ask yourself a series of questions such as: Are you Gucci or Gap? When you travel do you stay at a Ritz-Carlton or an indie boutique
hotel? Which Spice Girl are you? What are your favorite colors? Make a list of your answers or the words that describe your answer and you’ll have a good way to describe your style.
CREATE YOUR OWN STORYBOARD:
Look in magazines or on Pinterest and Instagram and save photos of things you love. All of these images are slices of your style. You’ll see patterns that guide you to consistent favorites and other things that are part of how you layer a room in interesting ways. If you’re not familiar with Instagram, search #interiordesign and you’ll see thousands of images.
SIGNATURE LOOKS:
Everyone knows what a signature look in fashion is: Iris Apfel’s big, round glasses or your best friend’s perfect bright-red matte lipstick. Your style at home has signature elements, too: a collection of foo dogs, a penchant for classic midcentury-modern chairs, or blue-and-white pottery. Collections and signature elements of your style can create a theme that carries through the rooms of your home in both big and small ways.
LAYERING:
This is the heart of interior design, starting with the basics of flooring, lighting, wall finishes and then adding furniture and accessories. Eyles compared layering to getting dressed in the morning: dressing for your day and adding accessories, then editing to add or subtract pieces.
ELEVATE YOUR LOOK:
Layering pieces and accessories elevates everything. Art can be hung gallery style, or a sculpture placed in front of a painting. Another factor here is having your interiors reflect the architecture of the home. Crystal chandeliers, antique mirrors and vintage pieces all say something about what’s on the inside and outside of your home.
FORM AND FUNCTION:
In
addition to having a beautiful home, you should also have one that functions for your life. Eyles said that most people design for how they want to live rather than how they actually live. Living areas should be comfortable and serve purposes.
KEEP ADAPTING:
Remember that your style isn’t static — it changes just as you do. What worked for a family with kids might feel stale when the kids are grown and gone. Transition your home with each new chapter of your life.