Find Your Decorating Style

When designing and decorating your home you want to choose a decorating style that reflects your personality and tastes. There are many different styles of interior design and decoration from traditional to modern and anywhere in between. If you are drawn to clean, simple lines your style might be contemporary or modern. If you like antiques and romantic fabrics your style may be more traditional. Also, the architecture of your home may influence the decorating style you choose.

When choosing a decorating style –remember - you don’t have to be wed to just one style! Many people are drawn to more than one style and some of the most attractive interiors feature a blend of different design elements such as old and new, or antique and modern.

Here is a gallery of some of the most popular design styles that can help you pinpoint your own style.

Traditional Interiors

source: Flickr: Gatsby's List

source: Nathan Egan

source: Nancy Boszhardt

source: Angela Free Interior Design

Traditional interiors feature classic furnishings and fabrics with a mix of soft lines, color and pattern. Traditional interiors can be either informal or formal in feel and typically feature architectural details such as ornamental moldings, wainscoting and paneling.

Modern / Contemporary Interiors

source: Flickr: favaro JR

source: Christina Murphy Interiors

source: Eve Robinson Assoc.

source: Rachel Reider

Modern and contemporary interiors are recognized by clean lines, open spaces and the use of sleek materials such as glass, stainless steel and wood veneers. Typically there is little architectural ornamentation or intricate moldings - instead materials and textures are used to create interest.

Color palettes tend to be fairly neutral with pops of colors added through accent pieces. While modern interiors may be pure and simplistic in its use of color, materials and furnishings, contemporary interiors may use more colors and textures as well as mix in some other designs styles.

Transitional Interiors

source: August Interiors

source: Stephen Sills

source: Rachel Reider

source: Jeffers Design Group

Transitional style interiors are sometimes called updated traditional or traditional with a contemporary twist. Transitional style blends traditional and contemporary elements into one space creating elegant and timeless interiors.

Decorating Style Web Guide

• Design Style Quiz
  This is one of the best design style quizzes I’ve come across. Instead of answering silly questions, you rate actual photos of decorated rooms. At the end Sproost will describe your personal design style as well as suggest furniture and accessories that match your style. The site can be slow to load at times but it’s worth the wait!

• Decorating Gallery
  Check out Better Homes and Gardens decorating gallery for ideas and inspiration for any room in the house. There are hundreds of photos that can be sorted by room, style and even color.

• Houzz
  Houzz is a community of home design enthusiasts from around the world. Design professionals showcase their portfolios, sharing their work with a community dedicated to home and landscape design, and homeowners collect their favorite photos, find design professionals in their areas, upload photos of their homes and gardens, and swap tips and questions with other members.