Working in the design field, inspiration is something that we designers need on an almost hourly bases.

This is the simplistic creative process I use. Hopefully you can use the same concepts and discover your personal big city style.

Question?
How do we ensure that all the design elements we use will translate into an interior that reflects your personality & style and look still fabulous?

A:

We need inspiration!.... And a plan…..

To find your inspiration piece ask yourself the following questions:

What inspires you?
What gets you excited?
What gives you a feeling of emotion.. Good or bad, after all we need to know what we dislike, to know what we like.

Right now that you have identified an item that you love, you may ask, "how does this help us?"...

We can then use this image or item and transform the visual elements along with the emotion into an interior.

The trick is to identify one object and use that as your "inspiration piece"

We will then use this items, colour, graphic elements and sculptural properties to help us put our scheme together

A few ideas on where to find inspiration

On a personal note I look for inspiration in everything that is around me.. I love film, fashion.. and books and nature and Art.. and of course the City.

My list is endless but the question is how do you take that inspiration and turn this into a design or an environment? The trick is to identify one object and use that as your "inspiration piece"

Its all about what you love!

Always keep your camera handy, and take photos of any interesting items you may find. Thank goodness for camera cell phones!!

And then... the plan...

The Mood board

Once you have identified your inspiration piece. You will need to get yourself some A1 mount board, or cardboard. Always use black or white as your base colour. You can find mount board at any local stationary store. Now place your image slightly off center on your page, and secure it with some masking tape.

The search begins!
Look through magazines. Search the internet and take photos in any design or furniture store that you think may work with your inspiration piece.

Consider the colour's, textures, and style of your furniture items, fabrics and accessories that you find. Place them on your board, and refer back to your inspiration piece.

Be vigilant! If the item you have found does not reflect the same mood as your inspiration piece. Get rid of it. You will slowly begin to see your design plan come to life.

Your mood board is an integral part of your room makeover, and will ensure you don't make any unnecessary costly purchases!

Below is a list of items you should include in your mood board:

• Your inspiration image
• Photos of the room you are redesigning
• Furniture style
• Colour palette
• Wallpaper or technique options
• Flooring and rug options
• Fabric samples and paint samples
• And of course last but not least your accessories

I often get asked the question, what is your personal style. I usually answer something along the lines of.. well I consider myself to be vintage, modern contemporary with an eclectic twist and a touch of beach house. This will often cause a rather puzzled look.. where I try to further explain myself by saying, "think along the lines of Coco Channel, meets Vivienne Westwood and a touch of Alexander McQueen and Ralf Lauren and you are there!.. Even more confusion.. Now try mix that up into an interior :)