My process for designing my own home interior is controversial! Some would say, back to front even.
I learned the ‘traditional’ process to follow when designing interiors for clients while completing my interior design training, but when I applied this in my own home, it did not work for me.
I adapted this design process when designing for myself and it has truly elevated my own home designs and allowed me to create the spaces I dreamed of.
Designing for yourself can be overwhelming, and making a start can feel daunting… By making this first step enjoyable and dreamy will not only get you on your way, but keep you motivated when things get tough. So ‘Go for it’, I say!
Why Designing for Yourself is Different (than Designing for Others)
The traditional school of interior design would say that you must start with ‘The Brief’ - a list of what you want or like. This is great if you are designing for someone else because you don’t know what they want and therefore must start there.
However, if you are designing for yourself, you either already know what you want and like OR you need to discover what you like…
Inlay tiles I came across on a restaurant floor while on holiday recently.
When you design your own home, you are also already familiar with the spaces, the rooms, their limitations, the challenges you face, etc. I find that if I start in the existing space that I want to transform, I struggle to re-imagine it differently or to see past its current state and I soon feel demotivated and uninspired…
This is where someone coming from outside your home has an advantage. They haven’t been living with the current space and can easily re-imagine it differently. But you too can gain back this advantage.
Quick Aside...
You will notice that I don't have adds or pop-ups on my site. This is intentional as I find them rude and annoying. How dare they.
Instead, I've opted for offering useful links to my applicable services throughout my blogs, only where it makes sense to.
I also have other Services and Freebies and I've made the links available again at the end of this blog, so you can browse them at your leisure when you've finished reading this article.
You're welcome!
Give Yourself Permission to Dream
By going to external sources for inspiration, I find that I quickly forget about the limitations of the existing space and start to dream of what it could be!
My husband loves lemon flavour desserts. I used these as inspiration when I decorated the reading nook outside his office.
Our reading nook window, inspired by lemon deserts - Delicious!
Some may say that this approach only sets you up for disappointment, but I believe that you can remain realistic while looking for inspiration and I challenge you to hold the limitation of the existing space lightly in your mind while you search.
Of course, there is no ignoring the budget either and, in most cases, this is our biggest constraint. Still, I find that some of my best ideas were born out of sheer necessity – not having the means to stretch to that designer item but finding a creative way to make it just as special, inside my budget.
Therefore, give yourself permission to dream. That image of your dream space may just provide you with the concept for an idea that makes your design something truly original and very special!
Start with Inspiration
When designing for myself, I start my process with inspiration from other sources. As an interior designer, I am constantly bombarded with lots of sources for interior design inspiration. From suppliers, design shows, printed media, socials, online, etc. BUT majority of these sources all have a common goal: To get you to buy their products. It is not their fault, it is just business.
To be clear, I have nothing against businesses built on selling interior design products – Gosh, I wouldn’t be here without them! AND I have 100’s of great companies’ newsletters and sales e-mails hitting my inbox daily and I haven’t unsubscribed (nor would want to).
My point is that these places are not where I go for interior design inspiration for my own home.
I spotted these lights in various hotels I have visited over the years - they make a lovely collection, don't you think?
Where to find Interior Design Inspiration
Nature is my FAVOURITE place for interior design inspiration! You cannot go wrong with images from nature for inspiration for colours especially, but also textures, shapes, ambiance, etc. So much of what occurs in nature can be (and has been for centuries) inspired interior design.
Textures and patterns in nature have inspired many of the designs we see today.
If you are fortunate to live near, or able to travel to, a beautiful landscape or green space, you can get your inspiration AND benefit from the fresh air, exercise and mental wellness boost that nature provides. Alternatively, you can follow nature photographers on socials, watch travel vlogs on YouTube or visit art galleries that exhibit nature inspired art collections to get your inspiration.
Of course, nature is not the only place to find inspiration. Here are some more less obvious places you may want to consider when looking for interior design inspiration:
Hotels and other accommodation (Surfed the Airbnb site recently?)
Restaurants
Boutique Shops
Movies and TV shows (Period drama set designs anyone?)
Books (Reading how a fictional place is being described, can really make your mind come alive with imagination)
Shop window displays
Fashion and clothing (Look in your own wardrobe for inspo of the colours you like)
Photographs of holidays and family trips
Food (What type of cuisine could inspire your décor, a spicy Moroccan stew or an Ice cream sorbet?)
Remember these images are just for inspiration. You don’t want to copy what you see, but rather take from each image what resonates with you and work it into your scheme for your room design. I’ll give you a little example to demonstrate…
Here is a photo of the Drakensberg that I took while traveling to visiting my family back in South Africa before the pandemic hit.
During the pandemic, I missed my family terribly and wanted to create a sense of what I experienced while I visited them last. I turned to my camera roll and this photo really resonated of a time when nothing else mattered, apart from the fact that I was on my way to see my family.
I used this photo as inspiration for creating a different scheme for our entrance hall that would remind me of our visit each day I pass through it. You can see the scheme I created from this photo in the main image of this blog.
Capture Everything that Inspires, BUT have a Plan…
You will find that once you start, there is inspiration everywhere you look! I mentioned overwhelm before and it is easy for us to get carried away, however that is the point of this stage of the process when designing for yourself.
The FOMO (fear of missing out) or feeling like you may find something better but stopped yourself looking further, will haunt you.
Really go for it for as long as your time and energy allow. Go ahead and capture absolutely everything that your heart desires as it all contributes to the overall view. Once you have exhausted all your sources for inspiration, you can start to narrow it down with careful curation.
All of the images in this blog, for example, are from my personal camera roll on my mobile phone of things that captured my eye. Some of these images are gorgeous to look at, but not something that I would have in my home.
I provide detailed steps in my Mood Board with Confidence Course for the curation part of the design process , that prevents overwhelm and won’t leave you with decision fatigue.
I love delicate white flowers. My camera roll is full of them!
But before you start gathering your interior inspiration, you need to have a plan. Think of how you will organise all your wonderful images.
There is nothing more frustrating than not being able to find something you’ve seen before… Where did I see it again? Is it in my camera roll? Was it an e-mail? Did I see it on Instagram, Pinterest, a Website, YouTube, Facebook, TV, …? Argh!
I recommend organising all your inspiration in one place in such a way that you can easily find it and refer to it.
I personally prefer Pinterest and I share my strategy for keeping all my inspo organised and EASY to find in my Free Pinterest Tutorial.
Need more help on where to start designing your very own personalised room? My Mood Board with Confidence course will guide you through the detailed process that I use to design for myself, help you find your perfect colour palette AND show you how to transform your inspo into a design scheme you can implement in your own home.
Note: The links provided throughout are NOT affiliated and based on my personal research and what I would use. Any products shown are not intended as a recommendation for a specific product, but rather as examples of what is available and to provide ideas and inspiration.