Suzann recently wrote in discussing her biggest decorating challenge. She will be redoing her kitchen but is torn . . . should she do stained or painted cabinets, painted trim or stained? What about wall color? What to do, what to do? Suzann wants to create a classic, timeless look. So, what’s the right choice?
Doing a kitchen remodel is a big job; you want to make sure you get it as right as you can (truth is you just have to create a kitchen that’s “right” for you.) So, how do you do that?
THE STYLE FILE: For any major project I suggest to my clients that they browse magazines and online resources for pictures of rooms that inspire them. The Style File is a collection of pictures that will help you “visualize” your perfect room (in Suzann’s case, the kitchen). It helps you start to funnel your ideas about the perfect kitchen into a plan.
A Style File helps my clients “see” their projects before they ever get started. To find the answer to Suzann’s quandry between stained or painted cabinets, she should create a Style File. The kitchen styles she finds herself drawn to over and over again will help her answer the question. We are creatures of comfort and are naturally drawn to what makes us feel comfortable and good.
Another reason I like using a Style File is because the design/decorating business is a visual one – magazine pics help you communicate your idea of traditional, country or contemporary (because it might be something very different to your designer, contractor, spouse, etc.). It helps everyone on the project get on the same page of the playbook, so to speak.
As you collect pages for your file, you will see “trends” start to develop. (The picture to the left shows a few pages from my own Kitchen Style File). In my case, magazine clippings of kitchens I loved were a variation on the same theme – white cabinets, Carerra marble, planked ceilings with beams, wood floors, etc. Once Suzann collects magazine clippings, I guarantee she will start to see a theme develop.
Another great benefit to creating a Style File is that it will help you remember all the things you want to do during your makeover. There are so many choices you have to make during a major remodel that having many of the answers at your fingertips in your Style File will make your life much easier during the process!
Just curious, have you ever created a Style File to help you redo a room in your house? Let us know what you thought!
Next time we’ll talk about how to use your Style File to create your perfect kitchen!
I’m obviously hooked on Style Files! To see what others are hooked on these days, visit Julia’s blog at Hooked On Homes.
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Yes! We did a kitchen remodel/add on last year and I did use a “style file”… I did it in ignorance… had never heard of one before, but found it to be incredibly helpful. Even once I made the initial decisions about cabinet color (yep, we went with painted cabinets~ love the cottage look!) and wall color, I kept referring to my pictures for further help in decision making… there were lights and hardware to choose. It seemed that I would never get to the end of the choices! We ended up super-happy with the results. I highly recommend taking the time to collect lots of pictures for inspiration. Thanks for a helpful post!
I have several binders full of inspiration pages I have found over the years.
I find it very helpful as well.
I love your blog and all the great tips and ideas. Thanks!
I started creating a style file at 12 years old. I got my hands on a stack of old home design magazines and couldn’t bear to see them thrown out without pulling out my favorite pictures. It’s been interesting to see my style change and at the same time, stay the same, as the years have gone on. Now I have a digital file of pics I find on blogs and elsewhere, just things that make me go “oooh…pretty.” It’s much faster than clipping…
I’ve used a style file to help put together my main living/dining area. We are renters and students (again!) so we are on a very tight budget AND mostly starting over with furnishings. I’ve had to do things here and there as I found things that would work or that could be transformed. My style file kept me confident that all the little things I was doing at different times would all pull together in a uniformed look. And boy is it a Looker!
Ohhh yes. I created a style file. But at the eleventh hour, I didn’t follow it. I lost faith in my cabinet makers as they couldn’t provide a sample, and when they finally did, they wouldn’t leave it with me for an adequate amount of time for me to come to a conclusion. I learned a big lesson! PAY for a sample and then just keep it while you shop could have been the ticket!
I was leaning to antique white cupboards. I ended up going with a medium alder shaker panel. It looks gorgeous! But know what? Now I’m wanting to create that antique white something or other because I still yearn for what my heart spoke for!
I’m going to try and make some antique white elements lighten up the woodsy area I have now and somehow blend the two.
Kicking myself kicking myself kicking myself…
Donna
Working on a style file for a MASTER bedroom!! One day I am going to have my famous designer sister ” De De” come help me redesign it in my new house!! LOL!! Love the idea and am looking forward to my new home and all the rooms in it in which I can use this idea. Thanks for all your inspiration!!
I have lots of photos of rooms I’ve loved in a file. I didn’t realize I was creating a style file, I was trying to save room by having less magazines. For years I have wanted the same look, but I always seem to lean towards the same thing I’ve always done. In my file, I too have white/cream cabinets, carerra marble/cream speckled counters, wide planked hardwood floors, … I think that perhaps I’ve answered my own questions without even knowing it. Awesome idea! I’m going to really take a good look at these photos again.
Suzann,
I’m so glad we could help! The collection you have created is your “roadmap” as I like to call it. And you’re exactly right – the next step is to start pouring over the pictures and pulling out the ones that make your heart sing. Start anaylzing those – what is it about the picture that you like? How can you “translate” the picture into reality in your home. Part II will give more details to help you pull it all together but you’re on the right road. Oh, and look at Donna’s comment here – it’s a cautionary tale. She does have a beautiful kithcen but she writes that “she still yearns for what my heart spoke for.”
The key to creating the master bedroom is the bedding. A Style File will help as it will give us the general direction but the bedding is key. It can be really hard to find bedding you love. Keep you eye out for bedding – Kohls is a great place but even TJ Maxx has great sets. Keep an eye out on Pottery Barn online, their sale prices are great. And of course, there’s Bed, Bath & Beyond. Their 20% coupons help take the bite off their pricey sets. Buy the “bed in a bag” (BIAB) if you find one you like but don’t buy the curtains – makes the BIAB too matchy, matchy (which is OUT – mix and match is IN)! ;o)
Donna,
Thanks for sharing your lessons learned! Your kitchen is beautiful, you did a wonderful job but I think it’s such an important lesson for us all. We can’t let the pressues of “time” or a schedule or even a contractor/cabinet maker press us into making decisions that are not going to make us happy in the long run – and a kitchen is definitely a long-term commitment.
As I wrote, the Style File is so important because it let’s us “see” the finished product before we ever start. We can ask ourselves when looking at the photos “Could I see myself living with this every day of my life???” Let me tell you, I could not do that if I had stained cabinets – so many factors come into play: We live in an area that is plunged in the cold and gray of winter for nearly six months of the year. I NEED to have my spaces light, bright and airy because I’m the kind of person who gets depressed in the winter with the sun on his 6-month vacation! (I’m not kidding – we have NO sun in the forecast here for more than a week!) Suzann noted that her house is dark – my kitchen has a screened porch off it (which I ADORE) however, it does prevent the sun from shining on in. So all those factors I had to take into consideration when designing the kithchen. Lots of aspects to juggle when remodeling your kitchen, that’s for sure!
Good luck on adding those antique white elements to lighten up your woodsy kitchen. Let us know how it goes!