How to be inspired, not influenced

You hover your mouse over that glowing white room, awaiting the familiar red “Pin It” to pop up in the corner. It’s lofty paneled ceilings and character features are off set in styling magnificence with a perfectly distressed tan leather sofa, rusty toned kilim rug, artfully placed glossy pot plant with not much else.

With a click’n’slide across the page it glides into your “Our Home” folder, joining the 2594 other images that live there.

The satisfaction of it sitting in easy reach is of little comfort now, as, despite the over fat boards of pinned inspiration, for some reason you still haven’t been able to pull any of this inspiration into your own house.

Quite frankly you feel crippled and unable to begin designing your spaces, weighed down by your options and feeling shaky on commitment.

You had assumed you needed to start with selecting a white paint (a mammoth task in itself) but instead you find yourself stalking furniture sales online to net a replacement sofa. Problem is, you can’t decide on the sofa because you haven’t decided on the new carpet…..

Social Media, magazines, TV, movies and your friends are all legitimate and rich sources of inspiration for decorating your own home. In some ways it can feel a tad self indulgent to spend time agonising over your own spaces, but surely the feathering of your own nest (no matter the size or budget) is one of life’s personal perks.

Your home should both express and envelope you.

Offer you a place, irrespective of size, to be relaxed, protected and reflected in your surroundings.

Your decorating decisions shouldn’t be just an aesthetic response to “style” but just as importantly, the way you live. And while your Pinterest and Instagram folders definitely DO provide a helpful pathway to real ideas for your personal spaces, its important to be able to dissect what attracts you to those images and how best (if it all) these can be interpreted within your OWN day to day existence.

Avoid fixating on that Instagram interior with the thoughts “how can I emulate that look” – focus instead on how you could “interpret” its elements to suit your home, lifestyle and budget.

You want to find YOU not THEM when you open the door!

Let’s break this down.

Just as you can admire someone’s dress sense but know its not suited to “you”, you can equally appreciate the flow and vibe of a well decorated room without it being of your taste. Start pinpointing the elements that get your homebody self excited.

ASSESS YOUR INFORMATION

Firstly, lets get on firm footing around all this wildly gorgeous imagery you collect and hoard.

• Not everything needs to be NOW

• There are hundreds of fabulous ideas that you will see in your lifetime. These don’t have an expiry date, so be okay with the fact that not all will be achievable or suitable for your current home.

• Does it pull on your heart strings?

• It’s a strong skill to be able to identify what you find attractive in an image or space without considering if it fits into a trend you follow. Get used to accepting your own version of what is beautiful and not feel compelled to copy it!

• Filter your favourite features

• By separating the features that you are <em "="">actually attracted to from the decoration of the pictured room will help you:

• a) become familiar with your own aesthetic (Take 30 mins to run through our “Finding the Heartbeat of your Home worksheet!)

• b) avoid the mistake of attempting to emulate the entire scene only to be disappointed when it doesn’t work with your lifestyle and ultimately feels dated in a few years. (See “The Gorgeous" Image filter below)

• Nothing has to be forever!

• If you buy a sofa and it doesn’t work for you, sell it!

• If you paint a room and can’t sleep in it, re-paint it!

• If you see the light shade you’ve been holding out for on sale or the timing is right for your bank account, reward the homemaker in yourself – the existing lightshade will most definitely work elsewhere (because you liked that too remember) OR you could sell/donate it.

DOWNLOAD or us the "Gorgeous Image Filter" below to help you suss out if the look, item or trend you are attracted to will work for you in your home and life. 

This article was proudly written to appear on the nood life blog.

A huge thank you to this NZ grown business for their partnership.