Posted By: Lisa Wielgus
Popular interior design styles range from traditional to contemporary, and each features distinct, eye-catching qualities. Which one aligns with your tastes? More importantly, which style can guide your interior design choices?
Think about what makes a house feel like home to you. When home interiors perfectly represent your tastes, your abode feels personalized and catered to your unique needs. But crafting the interior design scheme of your dreams may require a little inspiration.
Take this quiz to define your preferred interior design style, guide your home shopping list, and even inspire your future design choices. See your results below.
1. What kind of sofa stands out to you?
A | A big, soft, comfortable one
B | A well-made sofa with crisp lines and a beautiful silhouette
C | Who needs a sofa when you could have a daybed?
D | An antique sofa with a pattern and carved wooden legs
2. Which of these is the best color for kitchen cabinets?
A | A natural wood tone
B | Sophisticated matte black
C | A bright, unexpected color like green
D | A deep wood like walnut with a glossy finish
3. Where do you look for design inspiration?
A | Friends and loved ones
B | High-end design publications
C | Social media
D | Historic buildings and hotels
4. Which would you hang above your fireplace?
A | Family photos
B | A print by a well-known contemporary artist
C | Woven baskets from India
D | An old-fashioned, framed oil painting
5. Which home would you most want to live in?
A | A peaceful cabin on a lake
B | A penthouse high atop a major metropolis
C | A townhouse steps away from popular entertainment
D | A historic English estate
6. How do you usually spend a weekend morning?
A | Cooking a big meal for the family
B | Catching up on your TV watch list
C | Doing arts and crafts
D | Reading the news
7. Finally, which style of architecture do you love most?
A | Rustic cottage
B | Simple contemporary
C | Mediterranean
D | French provincial
Tally up your responses to all of the questions. Which letters did you select? Here is the interior design style that best aligns with your responses.
Mostly As: Rustic
Mostly Bs: Contemporary
Mostly Cs: Bohemian
Mostly Ds: Traditional
Mostly Bs and Ds: Transitional
Fairly split across the board: Eclectic
Rustic
As a fan of country living, a warm soul who likes to add a touch of natural country charm to urban living, rustic design has your heart. Characterized by natural materials, a range of color shades, pastoral decor, and generally being a little rough around the edges, rustic interiors perfectly balance elegance with unassuming comfort.
Notable pieces of rustic decor include farmhouse sinks and breakfast tables, unfinished wood, metal nailhead trim, floral fabrics, leather, and references to western aesthetics like a coatrack full of cowboy hats.
Contemporary
You crave the cutting edge of design and refuse to settle for anything less than what’s hot and current in the interior design world, so contemporary design may speak to you the most. This approach centers on furniture and decor that leading names and design outlets choose to spotlight.
For these reasons, there aren’t necessarily universal, defining factors of contemporary design. Rather, look for what contemporary design doesn’t do. It doesn’t stick to a single time period for inspiration, nor does it sacrifice class for comfort. Contemporary design will always be formal, prioritize fine art and materials above clutter, and look curated to impress.
Contemporary design was once synonymous with minimalism, but today the most fashionable homes wouldn’t dare reduce to stark white palettes or open-air designs. Current design trends include furniture in a variety of neutral colors, shapely pieces with sculpted silhouettes, and statement art.
Bohemian
Like other fans of bohemian living, you don’t follow the rules or conventions of home decor, nor do you feel that western traditions represent the pinnacle of design. While the term “bohemian” once referred to artistic social outsiders who ignored ordinary social cues, the interior design version is much milder. Bohemian homes reference multicultural motifs like African print pillows, East Asian pottery, and South American rugs.
To embrace bohemian design, consider implementing decor from your foreign travels or antiques from your unique cultural history. Focus on natural, earthy materials like bamboo, woven alpaca wool, and teak. Surround yourself with statement objects that have their own story and legacy.
Traditional
Why reinvent the wheel when you can look to the great design elements of the past for elegance and refined character? Aficionados of the antique, inherited, or acquired, unite: you’re a proponent of traditional design.
Traditional homes, in a sense, stick to the expected—a formal den, a library or reading nook, an austere dining room, and a restrained foyer. Essentials include detailed wooden furniture, upholstery like velvet and chenille, and pristinely framed artwork. Traditional design does lean toward dark colors, so if you’re an Anglophile or Francophile, use colors like light blue and fresh, colorful plants as accents.
Transitional
If you have trouble picking between any of those previous styles, you may be a transitionalist. This interior design style takes the best of history’s timeless design pieces and refreshes them with innovation and modernity. Like eclectic and bohemian designs, transitional is all about the homeowner’s personal tastes and inspiration rather than what’s trending, and yet it feels harmonious and upscale.
Transitional rooms may feature a midcentury-modern credenza topped with antique lamps and a contemporary framed mirror. You may find a variety of materials ranging from wood to metal to even glass. However, a simple color palette takes this love of variety and makes it feel cohesive and calm. The result is an elegant, comfortable home that never goes out of style.
Eclectic
Who needs rules when you could create your own paradise? Like bohemian folks, eclectic design lovers enjoy taking inspiration from different sources. However, eclectic design adores color, energy, and surprising elements of unexpected decor: think lilac furniture, conversation-starting coffee table books, or even curiosity-inducing artwork.
Your tastes may go beyond ordinary rules of design restraint or order and may instead feel fun, bombastic, and lively. Stiff-upper-lip types may have their opinions of eclectic design, but you don’t live for their approval; you live in an environment full of design elements that motivate you and make you happy.
Now that you’ve identified your preferred interior design style, you can look to similar homes for inspiration. Afterward, shop for furnishings and decor in the design scheme that makes you feel right at home.