If you’re considering remodeling your home or engaging in a new construction project, with all the options on the market and all the inspiration and marketing buzzwords out there on TV and social media, the process can feel overwhelming. That’s why our team at Speas Interior Design created this previous blog with designer tips for determining your style.
So maybe you created an inspiration board on Houzz or Pinterest, sifted through the pictures and gained inspiration, and pinpointed the specific details you liked and disliked. This certainly helped you fully grasp your preferences so that your interior designer could create a space that resonates with your taste.
As you continue to explore your style, the Speas Interior Design team wants to share more tips on how to define your interior design style by learning more about the elements that excite and indulge your senses. When you trust your intuition and your design team, we can combine different styles to create a unique space you’ll love.
Let’s delve into various aspects of interior design to help you make the best choices for your home.
Wood Elements (Floors and Cabinets)
Your floors are the foundation for your interior design, and over 2/3 of homeowners prefer the look and feel of wood floors over any type of flooring—for good reason. Hardwood floors are remarkably easy to keep clean. They can be swept, steam-cleaned, or vacuumed to remove any accumulated dust or debris. They offer better air quality and are more allergen resistant than carpeting, and many people choose wood floors because they are durable and can be refinished over their long life.
Wood cabinetry is just as easy to clean and care for as wood floors—and just as desirable. With proper care, your wood surfaces can last a lifetime. Unlike other options whose popularity may wax and wane, hardwood maintains its timeless appeal. Along with its elegant aesthetic, wood floors and cabinetry offers the benefits of warmth, natural beauty, and lasting value, which never goes out of style.
These surfaces take up a large amount of the visual blueprint of a space, so taking the time to choose coordinating or complementary wood floors and cabinets can go a long way to making an interior design feel more realized. Starting with these visually large elements in a space helps us as designers see what our clients are drawn to and what colorways stand out to them.
- What species of wood are you drawn to? Compare wood samples with a lot of graining or knots with options that are more subdued and single-colored, like natural hickory versus maple, for example.
- What colors of stains do you like the best? Do you prefer traditional rich warm browns or farmhouse interior design with light white oaks that brighten a space? Maybe you choose a wood stain that falls somewhere in the middle that can marry multiple finishes in a space.
- Do you like when your finishes all match, or do you like a blend of finishes? Monochromatic colors and woods are seen in contemporary stylings, and a mixture of wood stain finishes is more commonly found in Mountain or Transitional interior design styles.
Color (Paint and Wallpaper)
When we are approaching the design of a space, we ask our clients how they feel about color. This isn’t a trick question—there are no right or wrong answers. We want to understand in what capacity color appeals to how you live in your home, whether you feel comfortable in soft, organic colors or energized by bold hues.
If our clients are unsure about committing to specific colors, we ask if they prefer warmer or cooler color palettes to help determine to direction of the finishes in a home. Each paint brand has hundreds of shades of every color in every undertone imaginable—even white—so asking these questions helps us as interior designers find even the best white to match our clients’ needs.
Wallpaper is also a great way to add both color and texture to an interior design. Your modern wall covering can be as timeless or as whimsical as you prefer, from a subtle textural difference on a large entertainment wall to a bold pattern in a powder room. Wallpaper can often add detailed finishes where paint cannot, creating unique and interesting looks that take interior designs to the next level and creating that high end resort look that many clients hope to achieve.
Other Hard Finishes (Tile and Countertops)
Your tiled surfaces, countertops, and other hard finishes give you more opportunity to showcase pattern and color in your interior design. Whether you enjoy bold texture and color or a more subdued and neutral look, at Speas Interior Design, we take into account your likes and dislikes when it comes to hard surfaces.
For countertops, you want to find that perfect match between great looks and usability. Tiled surfaces, like fireplace surrounds or bathroom tiles, offer an opportunity to experiment with color and shape.
- A white marble-look tile or countertop can be paired with other finishes to create a Traditional or Modern interior design.
- A concrete-looking tile can also be paired with softer finishes to tie into other Transitional or Farmhouse features.
Metal Fixtures and Finishes
Your metal fixtures and finishes can make a big impact on a space. Your light fixtures and plumbing fixtures serve an important dedicated function in the home, but they also bring a metal stylistic element. The shapes of your lighting and plumbing fixtures can be sharp and angular or soft and flowy, bringing a different sense of drama or added focus to a space.
The colors chosen for the light fixtures and plumbing can also change the look of a space. Some clients like when all the metal finishes match and give a sense of continuity throughout the home. Other clients enjoy a different look in every room, or mixing metals to bring both bold and soft elements together in a home.
- Bold black fixtures draw the eye to your fixtures.
- A soft polished nickel blends in and lets the other finishes in the space shine.
Contact Us to Schedule Your Design Consultation
All of these small decisions are some of the details we as designers make to with our homeowners to help them figure out how to tie together individual elements to create their own unique style. Sometimes a certain interior design style matches all the finishes you enjoy. Think Modern Farmhouse, Transitional, Contemporary, Mountain style, etc.
But our goal as designers is to avoid putting a label on your home—instead, we want to empower you and aid your decisions to create a home that is truly yours and brings you comfort and peace when you are in it.
Check out our portfolio to get some ideas from some of the spaces we’ve helped to create.
At Speas Interior Design, we take your family needs into account in every design. We make full use of your home to create timeless and innovative spaces that will make your life better with bespoke custom solutions.
Contact us online today for your consultation or give us a call at (719) 685-0144. We look forward to hearing from you and helping you find the perfect interior design for your family.