Fancypants, I am building a house. I agree that i have some variety in my style. I think one good thing is to look through magazines and pull out those things that appeal to you. That might help you...

I love antiques. But I didn't want a space that looked my grandmother's house or a museum. I wanted a space that is open, warm, friendly yet slightly contemporary and modern....but also includes the antiques I love. I have only moved in one antique so far, but it looks wonderful. My floorplan is very open. The high vaulted ceilings give me the slightly more modern look I wanted. Whatever theme or style goes for one room has to work for all rooms...kitchen, living room and dining room. Since the antiques will be present, I decided a classy yet open and functional kitchen was a must. I love the result! Now I just need to fill the house up!

Fancypants, I am like you in that I like a lot of different styles. My inspiration photo was more modern than what we ended up doing (I like to match modern with antique and like things a little bit eclectic...), but I live in an older home and ended up matching more to the style of the house than to what was in my vision. Also, the company we ordered the cabinets from doesn't really do modern, but we really wanted to go with them because of great things we'd heard of them so we adapted here and there to allow for quality and budget issues. There was also a timing issue. I was very under the gun to make lots of snap decisions. I am happy with the way things turned out and really love my kitchen, BUT I see lots and lots of kitchens on here in a very different style than mine that I would be thrilled to live with as well.

This probably isn't much help, but in summary, I can just say that our process evolved mostly because of timing and budget first and style second (probably not typical and probably not what you really should do if it can be helped).

I have the same exact problem. I love antiques, traditional, french country, french provincial, shabby and cottagy. I finally came to the conclusion to stop trying to define my style beacuse I would always second guess or limit myself from buying the peices I truly loved, thinking "oh that is not French so I cant buy it". I think that if you step back and take a good look at each individual piece that catches your eye chances are there will be a cohesiveness to all of it. I think, for me, there are sometimes too many choices out there and it makes it harder. I wish someone would give me a choice of three and I would have to pick one!

Or, say to heck with it all and define your style as "eclectic" ; )

I had some of the same problem. You have to narrow down the choices, because deep in your heart, there are probably a couple that speak to your heart and feel like 'home' to you. If one doesn't rise clearly to the top, then you just might have to choose one and decide to stick with it, because you can't really move on until you do.

After choosing the style of the house, it narrowed down some of the other style choices. I did as others suggested, and found and saved photos of kitchens I loved until I could see what things repeatedly appealed to me. Then you add in the realities of budget and layout and things evolve to create or become 'your style.'

Did you try the Sweeby Test? Have you thought about the feel and atmosphere you're after?

You know, I heard Nate Berkus speak last year, and he said that anyone who feels the need to have a nameable style (mid-century modern, Country French, etc.) is just a marketing victim, that you should just get stuff that *you* like and that *you* think goes together, and not buy into all that. I thought that was surprisingly sound and honest advice from someone in his position.

I agree with the above posters. My style has been defined as "French Country", "English Country", "Gothic (??)", and "Southern" by friends and family. I'm not sure what it is but I just go with what I like and I like the way it has evolved without really being conscious of what it is I'm going after.

I've always wondered how folks building new houses come to those tough decisions -- so far I've pretty much let the style of the house determine that question for me.

That said, I think it's about finding a common thread in all the objects and colors you find most appealing. Ferinstance, most of my furniture is Danish Modern (lots of curved teak) but I bought a Craftsman-style bungalow that's very square in design. After a lot of worrying about how to combine the two, I realized that the common elements for me were the presence of handcrafted stained wood and rich earth-toned colors.

It might be helpful to make a wall (real or digital) of all the clippings and photos you've collected and see whether there is some common thread in your taste, too? Then let that be the guide for your build.

If you are comfortable with a few different styles, I don't think there is any harm in letting trends guide your decisions, particularly when the trend enhances function. Specifically, there is a trend away from fussy elements in kitchens (ornate doors and carvings) that I personally embraced, given that a kitchen is for cooking, and ease of cleaning was high on my list of desirables. Actually, ease of upkeep pushed me away from white kitchens as well, though that was the look I originally wanted-- and still love to see. Another worthy trend is "green" in kitchens.

In addition to looking at magazines, I would think about what spaces you have personally been in that you love. Sometimes spaces that look dramatic in mags feel cold in person, and not on a human scale. Big sweeping marble entryways, or super-high coffered ceilings come to mind. One book that I think is great for anybody building a house is called The Not-So-Big House, by Sarah Susanka. Even if you are building a mansion, it will give you ideas on how to have the house connect to your soul.

Oh I'm envious of all the posters here. I've never really known how to define the style of the kitchen we're rebuilding. We chose the wood to match the furniture we already have (the home is 480 square feet) and the design based on maximizing what little space we have (the kitchen is 36 sf). So I don't know how to define it. Wish I had seen The Not So Big House sooner as another poster mentioned.
Anyway, here's a link to our undefined as of now kitchen..

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Kitchen

We have a slighly different problem-I grew up with a very forward thinking modernist german sculptor dad and my tastes reflect that whereas my husband grew up in an old english country home and as aresult his tastes are much more traditional than mine.We each know what we like and our struggle was to combine the modern with the traditional and create something we both loved. We both agree that we have been successful. My husband hated the word compromise but as far as our kitchen is concerned it has worked beautifully. Yes I would love to have a sleek minimilist modern kitchen but I love what we have created together and don't give a hoot what the trends are. Evryone said you can't put modern concrete counters on our more traditional door stylye but that's what we did and the effect is beautiful. Add in modern hardware etc and we have the best of both worlds. "makingthishome"...your user name says it all, that's what it's about

Given that I have chickens, crocodile tile, moose atler pulls and monkey's on the wall, I'd have to say I'm firmly "eclectic". Eclectic can't be just a hodge podge of things put together (that's just messy LOL) but instead uses definations other than style related to related different objects...for instance, My croc works because it's basically brown tile. I tie that with marble in ivory and travertine in taupe plus white fixtures. Then the decoration, while terribly varied (midevil documents, an 18th century newspaper, ivory carved bears, and tusk carved birds as well as sea shells) they're all in the tones of the room in general, or complimentary tones to the hues I love.

It's a fancy room so I used fancy cabinets :) where as my kitchen is not a fancy room, so I used less fancy cabinets.

Keeping tones complimentary, and textures varied, as well as not mixing rediculous styles (high style victorian is tough with danish modern for instance) and only purchasing items you love, is the key really. Don't define a style....that's no fun :) Live the eclectic lifestyle :oP

If the phrase "my style is" gives you hives, try on "I tend to like" or "I have a lot of" or "I can't stop looking at pictures of X right now. I'm not even sure I like it, but I can't stop, so I must be attracted to it, right?"

You need to see all kinds of things, look at magazines and books and art and movies and even things that don't seem related. Know your tastes in other things, and that may help.

For me, I don't have a single favorite color. Or a single favorite food. Or a single favorite movie. So how could I have a single "style"?

My house, and the things in it, are a reflection of me, my life, my journey, all my cumulative tastes and experiences. It is NOT "well edited". It is NOT all in perfect taste, but because weird things often sit on or next to beautiful things, they look kind of cool.

Eclectic is a great word.

I think this has many advantages. I used to move around a lot, so nothing matched, so I never have to worry about furniture or frames or anything being the "odd man out".

I think the best thing you can do for so many reasons is to delay buying anything for as long as possible. Then buy only what you need, one item at a time. Buy only what really knocks your socks off. Buy only really good-quality items -- or the best that it is reasonable for you to afford. There are well made items at all price points, it just takes a little time to find them.

Don't be too eager to fill up your house. Borrow furniture if you need to rather than spend on cheap intermediate furniture, rugs etc. that still cost money and clutter your head and house.

It also takes the pressure off, thinking you have to have a unified design theory worked out by next week. You don't. And surely whatever you choose will need updating at some point. Everyone's tastes change.

So relax and take your time.

biner-would love to see pics of your kitchen if you have any. Thanks

makingthishome, Katie - I love your space! Little spaces really can be better. I'll be following your progress eagerly.

I find that I like a few different styles, and as the above posters mentioned - that's OK! I too did the magazine trick. For many years I have been cutting pictures out of magazines and pasting them in a large binder. After a while I really got a picture of what styles I loved the most, and I have a great resource for solutions to design questions. For example, I just moved into a house with an UGLY rock fireplace. I looked thru my binder and found 3 pictures of rock fireplaces I liked better. I analyzed what I liked about them, and now have a cheap plan to paint and add mouldings.

I tend to get 2-3 home magazine subscriptions every year - just go to your local bookstore and browse the magazine rack to find which ones you like, then sign up online for a better deal usually. You can also find great inspiration photos from free retail catalogs, so sign up for the ones that appeal to you (I like pottery barn, ikea, west elm, restoration hardware... and I'm sure there are other great ones out there).

Since you are building soon, I would suggest speeding up the process by quickly buying several magazines that really speak to you, and then analyze the architectural details.

Two books I would recommend: Good House Parts, and Patterns of Home. Both of the books are written by architects and talk about the parts/patterns of houses that make them special and comfortable.

WOW!!!!!! Thank you to everyone who posted a response. I appreciate all of the advice.

Having worked with contemporary art for many years one of the refrains that I hear most is: "I don't know anything about art but I know what I like". A fairly meaningless statement unless you can figure out why you like one thing and not another. In my opinion it is the same with decorating, concentrate on why you like things and it will likely make it easier to identify what you really like in a variety of contexts. Of course we all have irrational moments when we are taken with something we normally wouldn't be but getting a vase on a whim and getting a couch are very different things.