Home Design Hurdles Part 1: What To Do When Creativity Fails? (And How To Start Again!)
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As I have been working on client designs and reviewing our recent 2023 content questionnaire responses (thank you to everyone who filled it out!), I have gotten numerous questions about tricky design situations. How should you create a timeless design? What to do when creativity fails? How to design for challenging spaces? How to make something antique or sentimental feel refreshed? How to create a fabulous space on a budget? How to bring a room all together? Whether big or small, I am thrilled that you all asked, as many of these questions I have struggled through as well whether in client interior design projects or DIYs around my own home. Seeing this, I want to help start the conversation to answering these questions, so I am beginning a three part series called “Home Design Hurdles”. In each of my posts over the next three weeks, I will look to dissect a question (or sum of questions) I received and bring about some tangible options to move past the hurdle. So, without further ado, let’s dive into our first question: what to do when creativity fails and how to start again!
Experiencing A Creativity Slump
While I have always had a passion for creating, it never fails that every so often I hit a creativity slump. A project failed; an idea that never took off; or life got busy. Whatever the reason, I am flung off course and into the ditches where my creativity died. A slump in which I look at everything around me and ask myself, “where was I going with this? – I feel entirely uninspired”. Does this sound familiar? Even when I have scrolled for hours to saturate my life with inspiration through Pinterest or Instagram, sometimes it just falls flat. And you know what? That’s ok.
Whether you are a professional creative, hobby creative or won’t even call yourself “a creative” but you enjoy creative activities, experiencing a creativity slump is very common. Feeling uninspired or not knowing the direction to go with a project happens to the best of us! But in that, it’s not as important to prevent a creativity slump from happening, but more that you know how to pull yourself out of one. How do you jump back in refueled with better ideas than before? How do you take what you started and redirect its purpose to something better?
Those are the key steps to know: how to deal with the situation at hand and start again. So, for all my creative friends out there in a creativity slump – here are my favorite ways to jump this home design hurdle.
Take A Step Back
If you are feeling entirely uninspired on a project and are searching for direction, it seems counterintuitive to remove yourself from it. But sometimes, the best first step to take, is away from the situation. Being too familiar with a project or space, with all of its flaws and failings, can make it hard to focus on a vision to move forward towards. Step back. Take some time away that is not focused on coming up with a solution. Close the door to the room that is haunting you and give yourself time to see it with fresh eyes. This time might vary for each individual depending on the situation, but give it a minimum of overnight, and even better, a couple of days or even a week or two. Regardless of the timeframe, give yourself a little space to breathe and time to be refreshed without punishing yourself for not knowing a solution right away.
Think About Your Favorite Things (And Why You Love Them)
While stepping away from your design problem, think about your favorite things. Do you love a sweater that flatters your figure and is in your favorite color? Does getting out in nature simply rejuvenate your spirits or do you have a passion for flowers? Or perhaps you have an art piece or vintage ring that was gifted to you on your birthday that absolutely makes your heart sing.
Whatever they are, write down your favorite things and then beside that list, write what you love about each item. Is it the color or the style or the way it makes you feel? While writing, look for commonalities in your pieces. Do you realize as you write that you love animal print, soft textures and circular forms but really dislike angular geometric pieces or pastel colors? Knowing what you are drawn to can help to inspire further works and designs.
If you are experiencing a creativity slump when it comes to designing your home or creating a product (such as an art piece), this exercise can help you to gain inspiration from something that might feel totally unrelated but that you know you already love. Creating a list of your favorite things (or asking your client for their list) can help come from a different angle to give a fresh perspective. It might be the filigree pattern in a vintage ring detail that inspires the abstract lines across your painting. Or perhaps this list might spark an idea for using a specific pillow fabric that has the same soft jewel tones and velvet texture as your favorite sweater. By stepping away from a project and independently analyzing what you are drawn to, you can become inspired by small details that, once implemented, will make you fall in love with your final design.
Imagine Your Perfect Day
Much like the favorite things exercise above, this activity can help you to come with a fresh perspective. To do this, sit back and imagine a perfect day within your space. Are you struggling with designing your living room? What would a perfect day in your living room look like? Would it be a place to gather and play games with your family, host game day watch parties or allow you to have cozy evenings winding down with a good book? Make a list for the functions you would want it to be able to serve, the atmosphere it would have and the people it would hold.
This exercise helps to create what we call in the design “the programming phase”, where you establish your needs, wants and desires before coming up with a solution. Too frequently, we can find ourselves trying to solve the aesthetics of a space before determining the function it needs to have.
To take this exercise a step further – combine it with the favorite things exercise above. For example, if you determine that you want your living space to be a cozy, welcoming area for family and friends to gather for game day watch parties, think through what would make you feel cozy? Is it moody lighting, loungey seating or soft fabric textures? Then on the flip side, what would make it welcoming? Is it comfortable seating, low maintenance furnishings or easy indoor outdoor flow? By digging a little deeper, you can start to put together the pieces of your design that you will need to make it a space you love.
Create A Vision Mood Board
Finally, once you have completed a couple of the items above, create a vision mood board to give your dream wings. Whether in the studio or in the home, creating a vision board helps you to see your or your clients needs, wants and dreams all together. It is here that you can search Pinterest or Instagram for a little creative nudge to pair with your own ideas. Sure, you may not be taking on a huge renovation to change the structure of your home (or maybe you are!), but by collecting a vision board of your favorite things and imaginative spaces, you can start to create a vision to shoot for in the final result.
Establish A Plan
For many people, establishing a plan is where the steps above break down. I was reminded in my German intercultural training today that “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. While this saying is not applicable in all situations, it most certainly does have some truth with design! Creating a design plan based on your vision does truly give you something to aim for so that you don’t drift off course! You most likely will make adjustments along the way, but hopefully this vision will help you to avoid the impromptu creativity slump.
Now, creating a plan does NOT mean start from scratch and scrap everything to buy new. There are many pieces in my home that I have been passed down or given or made, so certainly I would not want to throw those out, (and stay tuned, I will address this hurdle next week!) so having a vision from your mood board does help to create a plan for what to do with them. Assess what you already have (throughout your whole house, not just the space! It might be time to switch some things around), what your needs for the space are, what your vision is and if there is a discrepancy to address between the three.
Final Thoughts
I hope that these five steps might help encourage you to not only recover from failed creativity but to come back even better than before. Designing a home takes time and diligence and certainly does not come together overnight, but truly can be made into a dream space just for you, so give yourself a LOT of grace along the way! If you have realized that you now have so many ideas but need help with a plan to bring them together, I am happy to help! Just check out our design consultation offerings or past blog posts and stay tuned for the next two weeks of our Home Design Hurdles series.
Finally, thank you all to those who filled out the blog content questionnaire to give me feedback for what you would like to see here at Porch & Peony! If you missed that post or would like to submit ideas to get responses on, you can find that questionnaire HERE. In the meantime, please comment, like or share this post with someone you know might need a little encouragement out of a creativity slump!
Happy creating!
