How Do You Want Your Home to Feel?
I had this as part of another blog post, but I decided to break it into 2 posts because I think each one deserves it’s own!
Often we try to define our design style with a name, but the truth is most of us have a mixture of design styles infused into our homes. While knowing what style you gravitate toward can be helpful, I have found that there are additional important questions that will help you create a space and home you love, feels authentic to you, is thoughtful and allows you to live in your home the way that best suits your and your family’s needs. One of those questions is the one we’re talking about in today’s post: How do you want your home to feel? I find the answer to this question to be super informative and it’s a fun question to take time to answer. It encourages you to really think deeply about your home and how you want to live in it and think of it in ways you may not have before. The answer to this question can guide you on how you go on to decorate and design your home.
There’s a free worksheet for you to download at the bottom of this post!
Why does feeling matter in the home?
Have you ever walked into someone’s home (or a store, restaurant, hotel etc.) and just loved the feeling it emitted? It may have instantly made you feel good without really knowing why. The right feeling can make you inspired, relaxed, creative, happy etc. We want to feel good in our own homes! By figuring out the feelings you want your home to have, you can then go on to figure out how to create those feelings through the decorating process. The answer to how we want our home to feel can really guide us in the right direction when decorating.
How can homing in on feeling words help guide me in the decorating process?
Taking the time to come up with 2-3 words that we want our home feeling to encompass can give us great insight into how we want to decorate and live in our homes. Our home feeling words can help us decide on colors, materials, spacing and so much more. For example, if you want your home to feel cozy, you may opt for lots of texture, soft materials and warm lighting. If you want it to feel earthy you may look for items that are made of natural materials, choose earth colors and add lots of plants throughout the home. If you want it to feel soulful you may mix in old and new, vintage finds and personal, collected items.
How do I decide my words?
I find it helpful to just start jotting down words that appeal to you and how you want your home to feel or if you’re not quite sure jot feeling words that you liked about someone else’s home or a place you visited. Then cull them down by first eliminating words that are similar such as “calm” and “peaceful” and choosing just one. Then you can start crossing off ones that aren’t as important or you can number the rest of the words from top priority to least. Take the top 3 from that list and those are your home feeling words! I have attached a worksheet with a list of words to get you started!
What do I do with these words once I decided on what they are?
Now that you have your words, keep them in a note on your phone and/or a notebook or planner. Refer to these words every single time you’re purchasing something for the home, culling your space or putting together a home design board. Ask yourself, “is this item in line with my home feeling words?”. When you’re simplifying and deciding what to get rid of in the home, ask the same thing. If it’s not in line with how you want your home to feel it may be time to let the item go.
Let’s break down the steps.
Jot down a bunch of feelings that are meaningful to you.
Cull down your list by circling the ones you really want to have in your home
Cull it even further by combining or eliminating words that are duplicates or very similar.
Try your best to keep the words as close to 3 as possible. These are your home feeling words!
Keep these words handy in your phone notes or planner and refer to them each time you make a purchase.
I hope this is helpful to you if you’re feeling stuck on how to decorate your home, the direction you want your home to go in or just want a little more exploration into your home style/vibe!