Know Thyself: It’s Time to Take the Style Cure Interview

Welcome! We’re at the very start of our step-by-step group decorating project. Over the course of 22 assignments, we’ll work together to makeover a room in each of our homes. We’re on a timetable that will give whichever room you choose a fresh, up-to-date, clean, organized and renewed look for you to show off and enjoy over the holidays – we’ll be done a week before Thanksgiving. So, now’s the perfect time to make this happen. Let’s do this!

To begin this whole Cure on the right foot, let’s start this assignment in a mellow mindset. Just sit down, relax and enjoy this! There are NO wrong answers here. The big picture behind this fun starter task is to take some time to reflect on the things that you connect with, the people and places that help to define your personality and style, as well as your perception of what your home is like now, and how it can evolve in the next month.

Getting comfortable with selecting favorites is very helpful as we start the Style Cure process to help encourage a mindset where you will confidently identify and select the colors, textures, patterns and items for your “new” room.

This should take under 30 minutes. Set aside time and focus your attention with as few outside distractions as possible. While not all of the questions are specifically about your home, the process of answering them honestly and completely will inform your design, because they are all about you and your goal is to create a room you’ll love to spend time in. Dive in and answer as many of them as you can, skip those that don’t feel apply to you and feel free to list up to three answers for each question in the favorites section.

The interview can be found right here as a PDF – go, print it out if you’d like, and have fun working through it.

Go over your answers and make some connections to reflect upon.

Questions 1 and 2 work together to help form a picture of your style – do the choices feel connected and consistent or varied and eclectic? Which of the words that you chose for question 2 could also be used to describe the majority of your favorites in question 1? What are the outliers? Example: Are you into the classics or searching for what’s next? Do the offbeat notes or items in a space make the room for you or simply make you uncomfortable?

Questions 3 and 5 are different ways of connecting with what you find pleasing, comfortable and beautiful. You’ve tapped into your preferences in both a memory-based emotional way and in a practical, observational way to form a picture of a room you will enjoy spending time in. Example: Bright, simple and sparsely decorated sunlight-filled space or moody, happily cluttered, knick-knack embracing rooms lit by candlelight?

Questions 4 and 6 are both about your aspirations and therefore can help to form a direction and goals for your Cure in terms of what you want your room makeover to provide to your homelife. Example: You’d like your friend to say “everything works so well together!” can be translated into a goal of “putting more thought into coordinating pieces”. Think about the ways your aspirations can lead you – will they translate into going for better overall organization or finally embracing a more fearless use of color?

Introduce yourself to the group or share your thoughts on the interview exercise in the comments – we’ll all be working together this month, so don’t be shy. Welcome to the Cure!

Follow along with a group of Apartment Therapy contributors who will be working along with you this month, and sharing glimpses into their Cure process. Check out their Style Cure interviews and get to know them:

• Kim’s Interview: Beautiful Classics with an Edge
• Tamara’s Interview: Sophisticated Yet Casual
• Lauren’s Interview: Keep it Simple or Go All-Out?
• Marie-Lyne’s Interview: Bright & Creative
• Rebecca & Pearl’s Interview: A Clash of Styles

Questions? Comments? Pictures? Email us at: stylecure@apartmenttherapy.com

Share your progress on Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter! We’ll have an eye out for your updates and photo and would love to see how you are doing and share it with the group. Be sure to tag with #stylecure so we can find you.