How to Find Inspiration for Decorating a Home That You Love

I got asked the other day where I get my inspiration for what I do in my house, and how I make it work for my family. I’d like to tell you I find inspiration in the laughter of my children, the trees outside, and the quiet hum of the washing machine while I meditate… but that’s some BS.

I find it on Pinterest.

The Inspiration Process

To start, you do have to have some idea of the style or look you’re going for. If you don’t know the style, you should at least know the vibe. Using descriptive words like cozy, moody, bright, modern, colorful, dark, etc. before typing in the space you’re looking for is usually a good start. For example, if you’re looking for inspiration for your living room you would type, “cozy living room.” Or, if you know the style you like, “modern farmhouse living room.”

This next part is the most important part of the process. When the pins appear, scroll, scroll and scroll some more. If something stops you mid-scroll, pin it without dissecting the room and figuring out why you like it. Just pin it! Just keep scrolling, just keep scrolling.

After continuously scrolling different descriptive words for the same space (modern living room, bright living room, cozy living room), examine the spaces you pinned! Look closely at each of your pins. What is a common theme you see in each photo you pinned? Do all of your pins have a dark, moody vibe? Do all of the spaces have clean lines? Are there natural elements like wood? Maybe each photo you pinned has something green in it. Look at textures, colors, and feelings. What do you feel when you see certain photos?

Once you notice some of these things, you’re well on your way to honing in on what direction you want to go in. Write these things down! You may have a list that looks like this based on what you pinned:

Now it’s time to look at your own space. Here's the thing: know yourself. If you have no design sense and aren’t good at decorating (no shame! Everyone isn’t good at everything) - keep searching Pinterest for an entire space you love, then copy it. Straight up copy it. Most pins lead you directly to the source and they have links somewhere to everything in that space. Sis, I am not kidding - find those links and fill your cart, and put those pillows in the exact same position as the pillows in that photo. Do what you have to do.

If you do have a little design gene in ya, and you don’t need to replicate something exactly, take this time to now look at your space. Where can you incorporate the aspects that stood out to you, in your own living room? Is there a wall that you could do an accent wall on? What kind of wood will you incorporate– a shelf? Photo frames? A plant stand? Do you have the natural light in your room to do something dark and bold, but not make it feel claustrophobic? An endless list of things to consider!

‘Pinterest perfect’ spaces are only perfect if they fit your family perfectly.

Remember:

A very important part of designing a space for your home is making it beautiful and functional for your family. If you’re in the life stage of crawling babies, a scratchy jute rug may be cute, but is that practical? If you have rambunctious toddlers running around, perhaps keeping the heirloom glassware, though beautiful, on the coffee table isn’t the best. If you have teenagers, maybe the formal dining room that you never use would better serve you as tv/homework/hangout room. Get the picture?

‘Pinterest perfect’ rooms are only perfect if they fit your family perfectly. So let the photos you see on Pinterest inspire you to create a home you love, for the family you love.

I hope this is a helpful start. This is usually the process I go through when I’m looking at making over a space! Typically after I go through all of this I have a good idea of what I want to do, and the spin I want to put on it for my own home!

This article was written by Desirae Barnett from Desirae at Home.

Meet the Author

Desirae is a wife, mom to 3 kids that are homegrown, and a foster mom! She has a passion for making her home a space she wants to be in. Her hope for this internet corner is that it brings you comfort in the ‘me too’ of the good and bad in motherhood, and inspires you to not just be, but do.

Follow along with Desirae on Instagram, Pinterest, and her blog! You won't want to miss out!