"I Know What I Like... But I Don’t Know How to Say It": How to Communicate Your Interior Design Style
Designing your home is personal—deeply so. It’s a reflection of how you live, what you love, and how you want to feel in your space. In many cases, clients often envision different spaces in their home having different moods and energies while still maintaining a cohesive narrative between them. But knowing what you like and knowing how to say it? That’s a whole different story.
It’s not uncommon for early conversations with our clients to begin with, “I have no idea how to describe my style... I just know what I like when I see it.”
Good news: We can work with that. In fact, that honesty opens the door to a truly collaborative, meaningful design process. Here's how we guide clients towards unpacking their instinct into language and ideas into realized interiors.
Start with Feeling, not Furniture
Your home isn’t just a series of rooms—it’s an experience. Instead of starting with labels like “modern,” “transitional,” or “maximalist,” start with how you want to feel.
Ask yourself:
Do you want your home to energize you? Calm you? Inspire you? Do you imagine long, slow dinners or spontaneous dancing in the kitchen? Should certain spaces have their own unique energy that is slightly different or nuanced from the rest of the home?
What are your sensory must-haves—cozy textures, natural light, bold color?
Those emotional cues give us far more to work with than a single style label ever could.
2. Collect then down select
Your aesthetic doesn’t need to fit in one category. We’ve found most clients personal aesthetic is a combination of different styles. You’re allowed to love a little Parisian antique, a little Memphis pop, and a touch of Japanese minimalism. Our job is to find the throughline.
What helps? A simple image bank:
Pin or save anything that catches your eye—homes, fashion, objects, color palettes. Photos you’ve taken. Travel destinations on your bucket list. Don’t overthink it. If you love it, save it.
Then, pick your top 10 favorite images that reflect your desired aesthetic.
Bonus: include a few "definitely nots" to help us rule things out
The images you collect will serve as a jumping off point for your project’s design concept.
3. Share your Whys through Stories
Can’t explain why you love a certain chair or palette? Tell us a story. Maybe it reminds you of your grandmother’s garden in Houston, or that loggia in Milan that made your jaw drop. Maybe you don’t love the tile itself, but the feeling it gave you. We listen to those stories like clues to your unique puzzle.
Interior design isn’t just about stuff. It’s about creating moments and memories through a marriage of form, function and connection between your physical environment and lived experiences.
4. Trust the Process
You don’t have to have all the answers—that’s why you hire a designer. Our role is part interpreter, part editor, part connect-the-dots. You bring the inspiration. We bring the alchemy.
We may push your comfort zone just a little. In fact, that’s usually where the magic happens :)
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At Fruition Interiors, we don’t design for trends or templates. We design for you—your past, your future, and the layered, beautiful life you’re building.
If you’re ready to start the journey (even if you have no idea how to describe your style), we’d love to help.
