Creating Beautiful Interiors: Designing Spaces That Feel Like You
Why Designing Your Space Feels So Overwhelming
Many women long to create a home that feels beautiful and nurturing, but the process can feel intimidating. With endless images on Pinterest, design shows on television, and well-meaning advice from others, it’s easy to doubt your choices before you even begin.
You may find yourself asking:
What if I choose the wrong colors?
What if it doesn’t look good together?
What if I spend money and still don’t love it?
This pressure often leads to paralysis. But here’s the truth: creating beautiful interiors doesn’t begin with perfect design knowledge. It begins with something deeper — your feelings.
Begin With How You Want to Feel
The most powerful starting point in any design journey is to ask yourself:
How do I want to feel when I’m in this space?
Do you want to feel serene and restful in your bedroom?
Do you want to feel warm and inspired in your kitchen?
Do you want to feel grounded and calm in your office?
When you anchor your choices in how you want to feel, design becomes less about following rules and all about honoring your heart. Feelings create the foundation. The colors, patterns, and items you choose will then flow naturally from that foundation.
Please note that this is not the same as asking, how do I want this space to feel? A space can be designed to feel a certain way and that may not match how YOU want to feel while you’re in that space, or how you need your spaces to support aspects of your life.
Confused?
Here’s the difference: when I ask “how do I want to feel in this space?” I am focusing on what I want this room to do for me — and that may be multiple things. I may want to feel held, relaxed, nurtured, at ease, and also alive, inspired, happy — all in my bedroom. When I focus on how I want to feel, I will naturally make design choices that pull in elements that do all those things.
If I focus on how I want the room to feel, I make design choices that create an ambiance, but not feelings within me. I cannot make a room feel held, at ease, alive, happy — I need the room to make ME feel those things. The difference may seem subtle, but it’s important.
Focus on how YOU want to feel in the space.
Why Feeling Matters More Than Rules
Traditional design advice often begins with structure — paint colors, furniture layouts, styles, and trends. While these can be helpful, they can also lead you away from what’s true for you.
Starting with how you want to feel in a space shifts everything:
It removes perfection pressure. You’re not aiming to impress; you’re creating resonance.
It personalizes your space. No one else can tell you how you want to feel in your home.
It builds trust. When you follow your own feelings, you learn to trust your inner guidance.
This approach transforms decorating from a chore into a form of self-expression and it turns the spaces you inhabit into places that support your energy, your vision, and your intentions.
An Example from My Design Experience
When I was designing the interior remodel on the home I bought after my divorce, I knew I wanted it to support my creativity. I wanted to feel alive, energized, spacious, grounded, full of possibility, open.
The house needed a mix of modern with rustic, grounded in wood but with black and gold accents, a blend of openness that focused on the gorgeous views of the forest and ridge across the lake. It needed to be light, airy, centered, and have a way for energy to flow that would support my work as a creative, a writer, and the new life I was stepping into.
By contrast, when I designed our guesthouse, I wanted guests to feel a deep calm, be wrapped in quiet, for it to evoke rest, sleep, a desire to sink down into the comfy sofa and stare at the fireplace for hours on end. A place for reading, for study, for quiet conversations, for gentle community (incidentally, this is the Pine Haven Guesthouse that we use for our retreats with Heart Tru Living).
The Guesthouse is warm and layered, anchored with antiques and “at the cabin” touches — and it does exactly what I designed it to do. But the flip side is, I could never work there. It does not support my creativity, or newness, or the energy I need to do what I do. It’s a space for reflection, contemplating, and receiving inspiration. It’s not a place for doing.
When I design a space, I always focus on how I want the people who will spend time there to feel. Everything flows from that.
Bringing Feelings Into Form
Once you know how you want to feel, you can begin translating those feelings into tangible design choices.
Colors: Colors carry energy. Soft blues and greens may bring calm, while vibrant yellows or reds spark energy.
Textures: A chunky knit blanket feels cozy, while sleek metal surfaces feel modern and energizing.
Patterns: Gentle florals may feel nurturing, while bold geometrics can inspire creativity.
Objects: Surround yourself with items that bring you joy — artwork, photographs, plants, or heirlooms.
Ask yourself with each decision: Does this support how I want to feel in this space? If yes, it belongs.
Overcoming the Fear of “Getting It Wrong”
The fear of making a mistake often keeps women from ever beginning. But here’s the truth: the goal is to create a space that supports you in how you want to feel in your life.
Your space doesn’t have to look like a showroom or follow the latest trend. What matters is that it feels aligned with you. But to temper anxiety over making design choices, you can think in terms of taking the greatest risks with the aspects that are easiest to change.
For example:
Anything that is fixed within the space requires more effort and cost to change. Cabinets, vanities, countertops, trim, flooring. I make choices here that I know will endure and that will not “go out of style” quickly. For my own spaces, I also choose what I love. For spaces that others will inhabit, I lean toward what will last.
You have the most room to play, with the least risk, on things that are not fixed and can be relatively easily changed. Lighting, doors, some flooring, rugs, appliances, mirrors, furniture, bedding, window treatments, faucets, etc.
Paint is the most changeable aspect of your home and the one that has the biggest and quickest impact. Don’t be afraid to paint a wall a color, hate it, and repaint it. (I’ve done it.) Paint it until you feel the way you want to feel in that space.
Your home doesn’t have to be finished all at once. It can evolve with you, just like your becoming. You can go as quickly or as slowly as you wish. And, you can change it up when you need your space to support you in feeling something new.
The Joy of Creating Space That Reflects You
When you design based on feeling, your home begins to feel like an extension of you. That’s what you want. It becomes a place where you are supported, nourished, and inspired.
A living room where laughter feels natural.
A bedroom where your body relaxes into rest.
A workspace where your ideas flow easily.
This is the real beauty of interiors — not matching styles or perfect layouts, but spaces that honor who you are and how you want to feel in your life.
Simple Practices to Begin Today
If you’re ready to create sacred, beautiful spaces but don’t know where to start, try these steps:
Choose one space. Don’t try to tackle the whole house at once. Start with the room you use most or long to love more.
Write down your feeling words. Three to five words that capture how you want to feel in this space (calm, joyful, grounded, creative, restful).
Gather inspiration. Instead of random scrolling, look for colors, textures, and objects that connect with your words.
Make one change. Add a plant, light a candle, rearrange furniture — something simple that reflects the feeling you want.
Notice the shift. Spend time in your space. See how it feels. Let that guide your next step.
Reflection & Journaling Prompts
When I walk into my home right now, how do I feel?
How do I want to feel in the space I spend the most time in?
What colors, textures, or objects naturally make me feel that way?
What old stories keep me from trusting my design choices?
What small step can I take today to align my space with my heart?
Final word…
Creating beautiful interiors isn’t about following rigid rules or copying someone else’s style. It’s about reconnecting with your heart and letting your feelings guide the way. When you trust how you want to feel, your choices naturally align.
Your home becomes more than a collection of rooms — it becomes a reflection of you.
You don’t have to have all the answers. You just need the courage to begin with feeling, and the trust that beauty will unfold from there.
