GUEST BLOG: The only design guideline you need

Dear friends: Please enjoy this guest blog post from South Seattle-based interior designer Michele Bayle, who owns Bayle & Co. and is one of the many local contractors that can help make your house a home. Find her at michele@bayleandco.com or www.bayledesignstudio.com. Enjoy!

by Michele Bayle

You’ve got a million ideas. Your head is already spinning and a new Pinterest board entices you to keep looking, pinning and planning. With so many choices, beautiful options and creative ideas for redecorating or designing your home, it’s easy to overlook the question that supersedes any design element.

The most important question is, how do you want to feel when you enter your space for the first time?

Do you want your home to feel warm and cozy? Contemporary and clean? Full of life?

These are all different ways of designing based on color, texture, and lighting. For example, if I’m designing a kitchen and a client wants it to feel rustic, used and worn, then I know contemporary is definitely not the direction we’re going.

Being able to describe the feeling of your space helps you organize and prioritize your redecorating ideas. There’s lots of great ideas and stunning designs, but they’re not all going to suit your space, or your stuff, or more importantly reflect who you are.

South Seattle based Interior designer Michele Bayle with Bayle & Co.

Redecorating could utilize pieces that you already own, keeping only the items that make you happy.

Walk through the house and identify pieces you wouldn’t get rid of. For example, identify what furniture you would like to keep, paintings you love, even something as small as a throw blanket or a favorite pattern on a pillow. These are elements I would design around. In addition the item doesn’t have to go back into the same room you originally had it in. I love to move pieces to different rooms to give both the item and the room a fresh new look. You can do the same thing, after you determine which pieces make you happy and contribute to the overall feel you were going for.

While you’re compiling design ideas, pause occasionally to process how you’re feeling about a specific image, color or piece of furniture you’re looking at. Does the sofa make you smile and think of cuddling up in front of the fire on a chilly evening, or do you get anxious at the thought of having a white couch? Does a bedroom design conjure up images of being at a spa, or do the straight clean lines make your pulse race and put you in work mode?

The only perfect style, or right style, is the one you pick, and you don’t have to worry about naming it. Just know what makes your heart go pitter-patter and I can help you take care of the rest.