vision :: what do you love?
Monday, February 14, 2011 by {darlene}


love. love. love.

Well, when it comes to interiors: What do you love?

All of us struggle with attempting to define our own personal style.
Should we?
Shouldn’t we?
If so, how?
If not, then what?

I do believe that it is very helpful, and wise, to loosely define who you are, what you want, and what you love and see how that translates into shaping your home. On the other hand, I also believe that it is important to give yourself the freedom to change your mind at any given moment.
But, without some definition, I think that you would waste a lot of time and money following the “latest, greatest thing,” or whichever way the wind blows. And, worst of all, you would risk living in a space that does not reflect any part of who you are.

This week, I will be posting on the ways that I find helpful in defining my own personal style, and that of my clients.

What does ‘personal style’ even mean in reference to interiors?

Well, in my opinion, one thing it does not mean is to define a specific type of interiors’ style. For example, I do not encourage you to try to decide if your style is “eclectic” or “country” or “traditional” or “minimalist” or “coastal” or “modern”… or any number of other standard names given to describe interiors. I find these titles to be way too confining, and, instead of helping us to shape our homes into a reflection of ourselves, I think they end up confusing us when we discover that we love something that does not fit into that box.

In my opinion, finding your personal style is about refining, for your own benefit,

  1. the way you want your home to feel
  2. the look you want your space to embody, and
  3. the purpose you want your home to serve
I am excited to dive into these ideas more deeply with you.
But first, I have a homework assignment for you. I know, I know.
If you already don’t have a massive accordion file {like me. goodness gracious.}, your assignment is to get your favorite home interiors magazine{s} and tear away. Get online, and bookmark, bookmark, bookmark. Because tomorrow, we will be chatting about how to start defining your personal style using magazine and other interior photos.
I will leave you with one of my favorites.
-{darlene}

{diningroom by phoebe howard}

{thank you to everyone who is cheering me on in my dream of Fieldstone Hill Design.Love Fieldstone Hill? thanks. you rock. Would you consider sharing the love by Following {click Follow in the right sidebar}, Liking on Facebook, or linking here from your blog. I just knew you were awesome!}

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Labeled: defining your style, lessons in design, vision

8 Comments

  • Katie @ On the Banks of Squaw Creek
    February 14, 2011 at 7:26 pm

    That is an awesome dining room!

    My personal style doesn't really have a name, but I know that I NEED the public areas of my house to be peaceful, calm and relaxing. That's why I have issues with toys. And too much contrast. And bright colors. Those things just don't calm me like I need.

    Reply

  • Me again. Sitting in bed with a cup of tea and making lists.

    I’m having a terrible time with it, though. The way I want my home to look and feel just aren’t meshing with our home’s true purpose, which is a place to nurture our little boys into fine young men. Please, please address how to make those things work together.

    Reply

    • hmm. yes! That calls for a post. In the meantime, you read my design words above? right? I have boys ages 6 and 4 who are home-schooled {ie home ALL day!}, rambunctious, and very boy. I also think I am able to achieve the goal of having a home that is sophisticated and elegant. Those are not boy words exactly!!! We do have rules of no ball throwing in the livingroom {truth? that is really to protect the TV! ha!!}. But I also NEVER buy breakable things {unless they are cheap, like ball jars}, and choose not to sweat over broken things if they happen. I never spend a fortune on my home, and I think that helps me. I also make sure I have PLENTY of places to “hide the uglies” {look it up here on FHD}. But if I don’t surround myself with beauty, a part of me dies. THAT is NOT good for my kids!
      Hope those thoughts help!

  • I love that you are helping us to try and define what it is we love about certain rooms and in essence, define our styles. I recently, after many, many years determined that I love glamourous and luxe details, and I have been trying to live with a semi-French country, rustic look that really doesn’t speak to me.

    Since my husband and I are now the only ones living here, we could go all out glam. But I’m not sure how well that would work either as we now have nine (yes, 9) grandchildren who sometimes visit, and two rambunctious grandsons that I keep two to three days a week for several hours. We do have one bedroom and closet dedicated to toys and fun things for them. And right now our master bedroom is pretty much the most glam room in the house — so far.

    We are about to embark on a remodel of our house, so I am excited about the possibility of adding more dramatic glam and sparkle and color to the main areas of our home while still incorporating a welcoming casual comfortable feel with beautiful fabrics so people don’t feel that they can’t touch or sit and relax.

    I may need lots of help with incorporating my ideas and help with fabric choices. (Hint! Hint!)

    Enjoy your blog and love your work!

    Victoria in Texas

    Reply

  • […] you? How can your home tell others about God’s grace in you? Darlene at Fieldstone Hill has a great series full of wisdom about this process. You could start […]

    Reply

  • global. natural. beautiful. oasis. Those are my guiding design words.

    Reply

  • Darlene- I love your site! Today, I am starting my Journey to defining my home’s personality. I have never approached decorating from my personal style direction instead I have let the “building” style of my home influence my decorating. I can’t wait to see what is revealed during this discovery. Thank You! This is huge!!

    Reply

  • Darlene – I rarely post any comments on blogs or websites, but I wanted to let you know that even 5 years after your wrote this post that it brought insightful and sage advice for a MAN! I’m in the process of trying to remodel a condo and have struggled to try and explain the “style” of space that suits me. Turns out its because I’m trying to use the traditional “types” of space, and not answers to your (3) insightful questions. This post, and the Style Bootcamp, are in my opinion, two of the best posts I have ever read on the Internet about design/decorating. Thank you for taking the time to freely share what you know.

    Reply

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