Hello – and welcome to my interior styling gang! You’re here reading this post because you’re dying to find out if you were born to be an interior stylist. And as an interior stylist with over 25 years in the industry, I can help you.
I’m Maxine Brady, and I have been styling homes since the 90s. In this special post, I’m sharing with you my checklist of 10 qualities you need to make it in the interior styling world. How many of these 10 styling skills you have do you have? Let’s find out.
10 Signs You Were Born To Be An Interior Stylist
Do you love spending styling things in your own home?
1. You sweat the small stuff
Do you stress over picking EXACTLY the right colour for your walls? Not too dark…not too light…just right?
Have a think – do you style your dining table when entertaining guests? Do you spend hours on-line tracking down the perfect lamp for your living room? Can you not leave the house if your sofa cushions don’t co-ordinate (or clash depending on your mood)? Do you spend hours looking for a quirky accessory to finish off your shelves so they feel just-so?
If the answer is a big fat YES! Then this is obvious proof that you have an keen interior stylist’s eye.
Professional interior stylists are know for spending days hunting down to find perfect props for sets, searching far and wide to find the perfect items to make their home styling stand out. We will not stop until we have tracked down every perfect item to make our styling look amazing. If you sweat the small stuff, then you’ll make it as an interior stylist.
READ: 6 TOP TIPS ON HOW TO GET INTO INTERIOR STYLING
2. Your home changes constantly
Have a think back to your home three years ago – does it look completely different today? Has your home changed and evolved over the years? If you love nothing more than spending bank holidays and weekends painting, sourcing new furniture or updating a room. Then you pass the test.
Then that is a clear sign that you share an interior stylist’s love for styling and tweaking a space.
Is every room in your home is instagram-ready?
3. You spend hours on Instagram
I bet you sit down with a cup of tea to have a ‘quick look’ on instagram and before you know it, your tea is cold and you have lost several hours commenting and liking on someone sofa.
And I imagine your instagram feed is filled with images of beautiful homes too. Am I right? Then you’ve passed again. You’ve shown a love of interiors that goes above and beyond your own home which makes you a rare breed. You have potential to have a career in interior styling.
READ: HOW TO GET INTO INTERIOR STYLING: ADVICE FROM THREE HOME DECOR ASSISTANTS
Are you Pinterest looking for nifty styling ideas – like a coffee sack headboard?
4. You think outside the box
Interior stylist are essentially problem solvers. We come up with solutions to tricky rooms, ideas for darks spaces and advice on how to vamp up an existing scheme – to name just a few fixes. We love up-cycling, revamping, making and fixing things in our home.
Does that sound like you?
Is your home spotless with an carefully curated coffee table going on?
5. You’re a neat freak
Magazines interior shoots are always perfect. You’ll never see ugly wires and cables, toys scattered over the floor and the beds are always made! Have you ever seen a messy room set? No! And this is because interior styling is about being on the ball when it comes to clutter.
If you take pride in your home – and get stressed if things are out of place – then this is an essential skill that stylist need.
Do you own an impressive collection of candles?
6. Your friends always buy you scented candles
Are you given armfuls of scented candles for birthdays and at Christmas? That’s because your friends know how much you love your home but would NEVER DARE buy you a cushion or vase in case it didn’t fit into your current interior scheme.
That is why you have impressive scented candle collection – as that is the gift they know you love and adore. This shows you have a creative flair.
Do you treat your home as an art gallery?
7. You’ve got at least one gallery wall
And when I say one – I mean three. You have a collection of kooky art, a wall filled with vintage plates and then another wall filled with postcards from Paris.
In fact, I bet you’re running out of wall space in your home. If you love art and filling your walls then you are going to make it as a stylist.
Is your bedroom styled to look magazine-worthy?
8. You love fairy lights all year round
Fact! Fairy lights are the stylists’ best friend. Strung over a bedhead, around the fireplace or even in dotted into your twisted fig leaf potted plant. Fairy lights are your go-to for ambient lighting.
Oh and pom poms, faux plants, tassels, vases… these items are all on your wish list.
READ: How to get your home in a magazine
Are you in love with stylish stationery?
9. You adore stationary
Your home office is filled with wasabi tape, stationary, notepads and cards. Is it impossible to walk past Paperchase without hurting your credit card? Stationary is your not-so-secret love and you have an impressive collection. You’ll need all these props for your interior styling.
Personally, I’m very guilty of this – I have a box of cards that I stash away for that perfect shot.
Did you love interior trends before everyone else? Image LifeStyle Floors
10. You spot the interior trends before they become trends
Blush pinks, pineapple prints, indoor plants – you know all the trends before they become trends. Spotting them a mile off before they hit the high street. Why? Because you’ve seen what is up and coming through instagram, interior magazines and from your own sense of what is going to be hot (and what is not).
Stylist love knowing all trends and embrace each one with their own twist. I bet that is you.
10 Signs You’re Meant to Be An Interior Stylist
There you go – there are the your 10 signs you were born to be an interior stylist. How many did you tick off? Bet it was lots.
You can see my professional portfolio here.
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About Maxine