Home renovations: designer Hollie Bowden on how to work out your interiors identity

I often get clients showing me the exact same images that they’ve spotted on social media and think they want for their homes. It’s a surefire way to end up living in a time capsule of 2022 Insta trends.

Here’s how to identify your true taste and create a home you will love for the long haul.

People think they have to go for this specific layered, colourful, very British look that’s been done to death. Instead, seek out homes of a similar period to yours that have things done differently and visit in person to see how others have imagined that space.

One of my favourites is Erno Goldfinger’s 2 Willow Road in Hampstead. It’s a Thirties house, but it has a rubber floor and early mid-century details that really work.

To see a completely different approach from a similar era visit the Bloomsbury Group’s country home at Charleston for hand-painted, visual overload.

I like to push boundaries but there are colours and textures that I keep coming back to because I know they make me feel calm.

Your wardrobe will give you a brilliant insight into what you feel comfortable with. Is it eclectic, with plenty of pattern and colour, or are you drawn to neutrals and natural materials?

Consider the space you grew up in and how that has shaped your idea of home. Most of us will have bits and bobs from our parents, grandparents or friends, and an eclectic mix of furniture and accessories always feels far more organic.

Whenever and wherever you travel take plenty of snaps of anything that catches your eye. Think back to all your holidays and where you’ve felt at home, then figure out how you might recreate the mood of that place. I love Mexico City, so for my own house renovation I’ve chosen a piece from EWE Studio.

I also visited Carmen when I was in Amsterdam recently and came across Pien Studios beaded coasters, which remind me of old-fashioned car-seat covers, and they had to come home with me. All the pieces collected from my travels help create a more interesting and varied space.

My go-to design galleries are Spazio Leone, M Kardana and Open by Appointment, which are all in east London. The V & A is an incredible free resource. Let your eye be drawn as you wander rather than arrive with a preconceived idea of what you like. There’s an entire geography and history to get inspired by there.

Many of us will have our own artworks, whether it’s a graphic print or an old painting given to you by your grandmother. There’s a reason they appealed to you, so work out what that is.

Rip out pages from old interiors magazines — my favourites are World of Interiors and Architectural Digest. Add fabric samples and paint colour charts. You could even include pieces of jewellery or other 3D bits.

Often once you choose a few things, you’ll find that you get into the flow. We chose a pale terrazzo floor and steel kitchen for a recent project in Tel Aviv, and everything just fell into place.

Decide what’s most important to you in your existing collection, and make sure there’s a place for it. It might guide a layout, or even help define a colour scheme.

Think about what room or feature you’re most drawn to when you visit other peoples’ homes — it’ll give you a hint as to where to start.

It’s really common to have a sudden change of heart halfway through a project.

You paint the wall and go, “Oh God, it’s really cream” – but give it a chance. When everything else is layered in, it’ll probably make sense again.

There’s a real balance to be found between believing in your instinct, but knowing you can repaint or rearrange if you’ve got it wrong. Always live with things for a while first.

If you’re feeling totally muddled, get an interior designer in. It comes at a cost, but we can advise you how to spend your money really wisely.