This is the month of the shamrock: the 3 leaf clover that symbolizes faith, hope, and love.

As a child, hours would be spent on a lazy summer afternoon looking for that special 4 leaf clover that would bring us that extra dose of luck we so desperately wanted. We smile about that now, but have you stood and gazed around your home and sighed….wishing you had a magic wand or a lucky clover…to solve your designing problems for you? 

Is pleasing design, luck or skill?

Is it inherently given to some and not others? Is it a skill that can be learned or is it a passion that is honed? These are terrific questions to explore and answer! 

At this point, we have all heard of Joanne Gaines. She never attended design school and has built an empire centered around design. We could also list phenomenal designers who spent years in design school learning their trade. I also know those who never went to design school, think they know design and do NOT! Equally, there are some who have attended design school for years and lack the ability to pull off superb design. The pedigree of formal education is a choice, but doesn’t necessarily mean if you are a competent designer or not. 

It would be my perspective, then, that satisfactory design is a mixture of good luck…or rather, natural talent…and beneficial skills – formal education or not. If we love design and believe we are naturally gifted with an eye for creativity and beauty, then what skill set should we then build upon to be the best we can be? 

Flexibility

A needed skill in design is flexibility. We all have personal preferences and design we love or hate. However, when you are seeking to work with others, you must be flexible in your own tastes and preferences to hear theirs. The greatest designers know how to take the tastes of their clients and incorporate that into the design scheme. It is no longer about what the designer wants. It is about designing what the client wants in a creative way that works for both you and them.

Functionality

Understanding that design is not just about how something looks, but also how a space functions is vital to good design. A space must work for us visually, but it also must work for us practically. Having a gorgeous sofa that is “hard as a rock”, is not going to be practical if I can’t even enjoy relaxing on it. Educating yourself on the function of a space and choices for those spaces is a practical skill that will come back to reward you.

Fashion

Last but not least, make yourself an expert on architecture, culture and the time period styles you will encounter. Understand the different markers that help define these styles. For example, knowing that a Craftsman-style uses straight lines in furniture legs instead of a Queen Anne style leg may seem like a small thing, but it matters for your design choices to demonstrate you know what you are doing or not.  Stay current with all the latest trends, colors, and styles so that you are familiar with all your options.

To have a competent eye in design is truly a gift that you are lucky to possess.

However, we would be short-changing ourselves to not take that gift and invest into it by increasing our skill sets. If design is not something you are interested in doing yourself, that is totally okay! Not everyone can be everything! We all love beautiful things and that is why we are here. We want to help you get the beauty you desire in your space! If you do it yourself, wonderful! If you want us to do it for you, we would love to help! In the end, we will all feel like we live in the luckiest spaces!

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Interiors Revitalized is a full-service home staging, model home merchandising, and interior design firm located in Jacksonville Florida.  In addition to Jacksonville, we serve the  St. Johns, St. Augustine, Orange Park, Fleming Island, and Fernandina Beach areas. Contact us today at 904.625.2214 to discuss your home staging or interior design project.  We’ll make that first offer your best offer!

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