Finding Your Interior Decorating Style

When designing and decorating your home, you want to create an atmosphere that reflects your personality and taste. There are many different styles of interior design and decoration from traditional to modern and anywhere in between. If you're 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. Consider the architecture of your home when choosing a style for your interiors.

One very important thing to keep in mind – 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's a gallery of some of the most popular design styles that can help you pinpoint your own style.

• Traditional Interiors
  Traditional interiors feature classic furnishings and fabrics with a mix of soft lines, colors and patterns. 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
  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's 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
  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.