Have you ever opened one of your Pinterest boards and thought, “Wait… what is my style, actually?”

You scroll and see a light, airy living room. Then a dark, moody one. Then a cozy cottage kitchen. Then something sleek and modern. You like all of it. And yet somehow, none of it feels like a clear direction.

It can start to feel like you don’t have a style at all. That’s usually not the problem though.

You’re pinning feelings, not floor plans

Most of us don’t pin strategically. We pin emotionally.

You see a room and think, “That feels calm.” Or, “I love that.” Or, “I wish my house felt like that.”

So you save it.

What you’re responding to might not be the furniture layout or the cabinetry style. It might be the natural light. The editing. The lack of clutter. The fact that it’s professionally styled and photographed.

When you put ten of those images together, they all gave you a good feeling in the moment. But they might not share the same bones underneath.

So your board feels cohesive emotionally…and confusing visually.

You’re mixing real life with fantasy life

Pinterest is also where we pin for a dream life…or 7.

You might pin a super minimal living room with one chair and a single branch in a vase. It’s beautiful. It looks peaceful. But would you enjoy keeping it that empty every day?

You might love a romantic English cottage bedroom, and also a modern, high-contrast office. Both can be beautiful. But they don’t usually belong in the same house.

Sometimes your board feels scattered because it’s you’ve pinned both who you are and who you dreamed of being for a few minutes on Tuesday night.

Totally normal! And doesn’t mean you don’t have taste. It just means you haven’t filtered it yet.

So what do you actually do about it?

1. Stop adding to the board for a little while.
   This sounds small, but it changes things. When you stop reacting and start observing, you can see your board more clearly.
2. Go back and pay attention to which images still feel right. Notice which ones feel flat or random now. Time has a way of editing.
3. Start looking for repetition.
   Are most of your favorite spaces lighter or darker? Do they feel layered or simple? Do you see a lot of warm wood? A lot of black accents? More old pieces than new?
   Ignore the one image that is wildly different from everything else. Focus on what shows up again and again. That repetition matters more than any single dramatic photo.
4. Pick some images that you genuinely love and ask yourself what specifically is working. Is it the color palette? The lighting? The symmetry? The softness? The fact that it looks uncluttered?
   You might realize you don’t actually love “modern kitchens.” You love fewer upper cabinets and more breathing room.
   You might not love “cottage style.” You love warm wood and layered bedding.
   When you get specific, your style starts to feel less mysterious.
5. One more thing that helps more than people expect: create a new board. Call it something like “Beautiful But Not For Me”. Move over the rooms you really like but wouldn’t realistically recreate in your own home.
   This helps you separate from what you want for your own home, and still lets you have those random dream lives on Tuesday night.
   Your main boards should represent spaces you would actually try to build and live in.
6. Finally, shrink your board down. This part feels uncomfortable, which is usually a good.
   Try narrowing it to around twenty images that feel most true to you right now. If two photos communicate the same idea, keep the clearer one.
   When you reduce the clutter, patterns jump out.

The real reason boards feel chaotic

Most style confusion isn’t about having too many tastes, it’s about not separating what photographs well, what trends well, and what you actually love (and supports your everyday life).

Once you start filtering your Pinterest boards through that lens, it stops feeling overwhelming and starts feeling useful and inspiring.

If your board feels messy right now, that’s not failure. It just means you’ve gathered information.

Now you get to edit it, and editing is where your style starts to show up.

The post Why Your Pinterest Boards Feel Confusing (and How to Fix That) appeared first on Little Victorian.

Ever stood in your living room thinking, “I guess this is fine?”. Me too.

A lot of us live in houses filled with things we don’t actively dislike… but also don’t really love. Furniture we bought because it was a good deal. Stuff we inherited. Styles we absorbed from trends, rentals, or previous homes. After a while, it can start to feel like our taste, just because we’re used to them.

But being used to something isn’t the same as really liking it.

And you want to really like your home, right? It should totally be a reflection of YOU.

Why this happens so often

Most people don’t choose their home style intentionally. It’s usually just happens.

We work with what was already there (builder-grade stuff, previous owners, etc), what was affordable or available at the time (a great deal on a “nice” sofa), what was popular when you first started decorating, what felt expected in a space because that’s what we grew up with or see in other people’s houses.

None of that’s wrong. It’s practical. But it means your house reflects circumstances, not what you really love.

You get used to it and your brain starts to see it all as neutral, but you don’t realize the feelings you’re missing out on when your home ACTUALLY reflects you.

Used-to vs. like: the key difference

Here’s a simple way to separate the two: What you like either gives you energy or relaxes you. It feels right, even if you can’t explain why. What you’re used to feels invisible. You stop noticing it, not because it’s good, but because your brain has adapted.

If something never registers emotionally anymore (good or bad) it’s often a sign of habit, not love.

Common “used to” traps

Let’s take a look at what you already have and see if it really reflects you.

1. Second-hand furniture you kept because it worked

I love some thrifted furniture, but it can be so easy to “settle” for it, even without realizing we’re settling. Think about this: If one of the pieces broke tomorrow, would you try to replace it with something just like it? And do you like the style or are you just grateful it was affordable?

Think about whether you REALLY like it or if you’re just used to it.

2. The farmhouse hangover

So many houses are still carrying design decisions made during peak farmhouse years: shiplap, barn lights, black hardware, gray floors. (Definitely not the ONLY trend, but the most recent one everybody jumped on board with whether it was their style or not.)

If you jumped on a trend, think about this: If this style wasn’t everywhere for a decade, would I still choose it?

Do I like how this looks now, or do I associate it with a time when it felt aspirational?

Trends usually stick around longer than our actual good feelings for them.

3. Builder-grade defaults

Builder-grade choices are designed to offend no one, which usually means they don’t make anybody happy either.

If your house is filled with those, think about cabinets that are just “okay”, lighting you don’t really like, but you haven’t changed, or paint colors you wouldn’t pick out yourself.

Neutral doesn’t mean intentional.

A simple test: would you choose it again?

This is one of the most useful questions you can ask about anything in your home:

If I were starting from an empty room today, would I pick this?

Not “could I live with it.”
Not “is it fine.”
Not “does it match.”
Not “it was a great deal.”

Would you actively choose it? (Don’t think about money here, we’re just thinking about style.

If the answer is no, that doesn’t mean you need to replace it ASAP. It just means it doesn’t define your style, it’s background noise.

Let’s figure out what you actually like

At this point, you might be realizing something uncomfortable but useful: a lot of what’s in your home isn’t something you chose with intention.

That’s okay. This part isn’t about judging past decisions, it’s about making more informed choices from here on.

Let’s focus on noticing what feels right.

Challenge 1: Notice where your attention naturally goes

When you scroll, browse, or walk through someone else’s home (online or in real life), pay attention to what catches your eye.

Not what you think you should like, but what quietly draws you to it. What kinds of rooms do you keep clicking on? What feels calming or energizing? What looks like it would be easy to live with?

Don’t a Pinterest board yet. Just pay attention to patterns.

Challenge 2: Find repeating themes

After a while, you’ll start seeing repetition in colors, contrast, minimal vs maximal, quiet vs bold, etc.

These threads matter more than any single picture. They’re clues to your underlying taste.

This is how style clarity starts…not with labels, but with consistency gravitating towards things.

What to do once you realize you don’t love most of your stuff

This is the part where you might feel stuck. You’re aware now, but action feels like…a lot.

The goal isn’t to replace everything. It’s just to stop making new choices that don’t fit anymore.

Here’s what actually helps.

Stop “doubling down” on old decisions

If you feel meh about something you already have, avoid buying more things to match it.

Don’t repaint around kitchen cabinets you already know aren’t your style (there are other ways to make it work until/if you can replace them).

Pausing prevents your home from drifting further away from your tastes.

Start with low-commitment changes

Don’t plan a renovation yet, just start small moving in the right direction. Start experimenting with accessories, lighting (the lights themselves AND where they are placed), hardware, paint in small rooms where it won’t clash with what you already have.

These tweaks will show you more about your taste without chaining you down to it.

Keep a short “yes list”

Instead of a long wishlist, keep a short list of things you know feel right. Stuff like fabrics you’re consistently drawn to, colors that are calming, etc.

When you aren’t positive about a purchase, check it against that list. If it doesn’t align, skip it (even if it’s on clearance!).

You don’t have to act on everything right away

This part matters more than it sounds. There is nothing wrong with an in-between space. Just take your time to learn your real preferences before spending more money and energy.

The more you notice, the easier future decisions become.

A home that’s intentionally changing (even if it feels too slow) feels better than one where we just hurried up to finish it.

The subtle shift you’ll start to notice

Once you stop confusing familiarity with preference, buying decisions are easier and your home starts reflecting you, not just your (or other people’s) past.

After a little while, the things you do choose stand out more, because they’re not competing with everything you settled for anymore.

The post Do you really like it, or are you just used to it? How to tell. appeared first on Little Victorian.

This post is updated from 2013 with a lot more details and tips on how to figure out what your decorating style is.

I didn’t want to give you a cutesy quiz (even though those are fun!), because I want this to be REAL for you. Not knowing what your style is when decorating can really be a big frustration, and can lead to a lot of wasted money and guilt…all while sitting in a room you still don’t feel good in.

So sorry, no quiz, because I really want to help you–once and for all–figure out your style when decorating your home, not just play a fun little game.

Here are 4 tips for how to figure out what your decorating style is when you don’t know where to start:

1. Look for clues in your wardrobe

When I originally wrote this post, this was my one and only tip. I was designing a room for someone (a blank canvas–the best kind!), but she didn’t have a clear vision of her own style when it came to decor.

The rest of her house was all over the place–things were purchased because she liked them at the time, but nothing really went together or made sense.

To start pinning down her taste, we looked to her clothing. She has a very definite style when it comes to clothes, so we examined the elements of her wardrobe that helped us define her style.

For her, she had a very classic, classy style. Her clothes were structured and tailored. She loved black and white, and then pops of clear, bright colors like teal and red.

Have you ever looked in your closet for decor inspiration?  It can be pretty enlightening!

2. Start a Pinterest board

But be careful!

Most Pinterest accounts I see are as all-over-the-place as you can get, with ultra modern and luxurious homes saved as “Dream Home” next to pictures of burlap sack craft ideas. Those don’t go together.

Start yourself a new board, and fill it up with rooms you love. Really fill it.

Then leave it alone for a week or so.

Then come back to it and ruthlessly edit it. Picture yourself living in the rooms. Do you still really love it? If not, delete it. Delete everything that’s just “nice” and only keep what you’re crazy about.

You should start to see some pretty good threads of your current style taking shape.

Here’s an example of a board with a very clear style coming through:

3. Think about your favorite activities

If you have a totally free evening at home, what would you do with it? (?? TV and internet are not options on the table here.) Read a book in a cozy corner? Build a blanket fort with kids?

Would you rather spend a vacation laying on the beach, exploring Manhattan, adventure traveling in South America, etc?

Be careful with this step too. You don’t want a “theme” house, you want a style.

If travel makes your heart sing, don’t put up artwork of the Eiffel Tower, take a couple days looking into Parisian interior design. You’ll start to see the big difference between kitsch and cutesy “themes”, and actual style.

4. Photograph your home as it is right now

I’ve written before about how this gives you a totally new perspective on your space.

Go through a couple rooms in your house and photograph them from several angles. (Waist-height actually gives you the best perspective for interior photos.) Open up the pictures on your computer, not just on your phone.

Pinpoint what you don’t like, AND what you do like.

Do you notice the painting over the sofa MAKES the living room, but the rug totally clashes with it? Do your curtains make your windows look small? (Hint: hang them higher and wider!)

Also, is your house way more cluttered than you thought it was now that you’re seeing it in pictures? ? Doesn’t seeing it through photos put everything in a whole new light?!

The answer to most of these questions really gets to who you are and how you are happiest and most comfortable as a person.

Helpful? Yay! Pin it to come back.

Hover over the image –> and click the PIN button.

The post How to figure out what your decorating style is appeared first on Little Victorian.

Happy Monday!  I’m sharing a tip today that I’ve been using for years: a decorating file.

Whether you’re currently decorating your house or not, it’s very helpful to have.  All of your paint colors and fabric swatches can be kept together in one little folder.  It’s my favorite way to keep track of paint chips (and you have the color on-hand if you need to go buy more).

It’s also small enough to fit into your purse, so if you’re out shopping for new pillows or curtains, or even something big like a sofa, you’ll have pieces of your room with you to make sure the new item will work.

Mine is a coupon organizer from an office supply store (the closest thing I could find online is this).

When I get a gallon of paint, I always grab an extra color card to add to the file.  If you’ve ordered your furniture or linens online, you can often get fabric swatches from the retailer mailed to you for free.

Other good things to keep in the folder are dimensions of rooms or pieces of furniture, for example, if you’re shopping for a new media cabinet, it would be helpful to have the size of the TV handy.  Adding an inspiration photo or two would help keep you on track to if you use the file while you’re out shopping.

This little organizer only took a few minutes to put together and cost $6, and has saved me a ton of time and guessing if something will work.

The post Decorating file appeared first on Little Victorian.

You know how the difference between seeing yourself in the mirror and seeing yourself in a photograph can be huge sometimes? Our rooms can be the same way.

Sometimes we need a fresh perspective of our rooms, whether they’ve been arranged the same way for years or we just re-decorated yesterday. And sometimes, all we need to do to get that new view of our space is to take a photograph or two of it.

Pictures of your room will give you a whole new perspective

It’s amazing how things jump out at you in a picture that you’ve never noticed in person. Sometimes there’s a lot of clutter that you have gotten so used to, you never even noticed it. It could be little things like electrical cords that you didn’t realize were visible to something big like the sofa not complimenting the room at all.

So it’s not just clutter that a some pictures will reveal, it can be whether the room is actually reflecting your style, or even whether the whole floorplan makes sense. Once you see a photo, you could notice that you actually don’t like the end tables you thought you loved, or that the headboard you thought wasn’t working is actually perfect and just needs to be played up or tied in more.

One personal example was my doggy gate. I already knew I didn’t like it, but I had no idea just how unflattering it was to the room. As always, you don’t have to make expensive changes to fix things…that doggy gate? I replaced it for $4.

So when you’re feeling stuck, or just want to refresh your room, taking a few pictures of it is the PERFECT place to start. It’s free and takes about 5 minutes.

What to look for in the photos

Now that you know you need to get the pictures, here’s what to look for:

1. Where do your eyes go first? Do you like it? Is that where you want the focal point to be?
2. Anything feel “heavier” or “louder” than you expected?
3. Anything look dated or out-of-place?
4. What looks good to you?
5. Any weird paths or bottlenecks in the flow of the floorplan you didn’t realize you were dealing with every day?

Tips for taking pictures of your room

I’m a borderline-terrible photographer not very good at photography yet.  But there are three things that have started making a big difference in the photos around here:

1. Use natural light whenever possible (and don’t mix any other light with natural light–it will make everything look muddy).
2. Take photographs from hip-height (or waist-height if you’re short like me).
3. Face your subject straight-on.

I always photographed our rooms at an angle (from the corner) so I could fit the whole room in one picture. And that’s another reason my photographs were never pretty. It’s just not flattering, and it really is okay to not get the whole room in one photo. So try facing the wall squarely when taking pictures.

The tips can seem strange and unnatural, but they really make a difference, try it both ways and see!

What to do next

You don’t need to go tearing apart the whole room (but if you’re ADHD like me, you’ll probably be tempted).

Here are some options after you think about what the biggest issues are (if there are any!):

If it’s clutter:

• Put a timer on for 15 minutes and see what you can get rid of.
• Consider putting an official drop zone in if you see an area where you tend to drop stuff.
• If it’s cords/electronics, look into some easy solutions to hide them.
• Sometimes things are put down/stored in certain places just because they don’t have an official home. Think about giving them one somewhere it makes sense.

If it’s the flow of the room:

• Research some good furniture layouts for your unique room. For example, if your front door opens into the corner of your living room, maybe you need to create a hallway there with furniture placement.
• Play with my free Floorplan Planner to map out your space.

If it’s the style of the room:

• Think about which pieces are working and which ones aren’t. Are there ways you can play up the good parts and downplay the not-so-good ones?
• Think about whether you’ve really defined your style yet
• Is there anything that doesn’t fit your style that you aren’t using/don’t need? This could be decorative items, lamps, or even furniture you never use. Consider selling it! Trust me, it won’t feel to bare without it, it will give you some breathing room.

So take a few minutes right now and get some pics! Feel free to share them in the comments if you want to brainstorm together, or even share your progress.

The post A fun way to get a fresh perspective of your room appeared first on Little Victorian.