Why I Started Calling It a Point of View Instead of a Style

Every designer gets asked the same question within five minutes of meeting a new client. What is your style?

And I get it. It feels like the right question. Like if you can put a label on it you will know whether we are a match. Modern. Traditional. Coastal. Transitional. Pick one and let's go.

But here is the thing. Style is a category. Point of view is a conviction. And those are two very different things when you are letting someone into your home.

I do not work in categories. I work in stories. I want to know how you actually live. Not how you think you are supposed to live, not what you have been pinning for three years, but what your real life looks like and what your home needs to do for you. Because that answer is different for everyone and it changes everything about how I approach a project.

The client who says she wants something clean and minimal is almost never asking for minimal. She is exhausted and she wants to feel calm the second she walks through her door. Those are two completely different design briefs and they lead to two completely different results. Getting that wrong is expensive and it is very hard to undo.

That is what a point of view actually is. It is knowing the difference. It is walking into a room and understanding what it needs before anyone finishes explaining it. It is having enough conviction in your aesthetic and your process that you can push a client past what they came in with and toward something better. Something that actually feels like them, not just something that looks good in a photo.

My aesthetic is modern eclectic. I mix old with new. I work with different shapes, different textures, collected art and objects that look like they came from a life actually lived. I am not interested in rooms that look like a showroom. I am interested in rooms that feel like someone specific made real choices in them.

And I have been doing this long enough to trust that instinct completely.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a design style and a design point of view? A style is a category. A point of view is a conviction. Style tells you what something looks like. Point of view tells you why every decision was made and what story the room is telling.

What is modern eclectic interior design? Modern eclectic design mixes old with new, different shapes, textures, and collected objects that feel like they came from a life actually lived. It is not a formula. It is intentional contrast that creates rooms that feel specific to the person in them.

How do I know if a designer is right for my home? Ask them what they would do differently than what you came in wanting. A designer with a real point of view will have an answer. One without one will just ask you more questions about your Pinterest board.

If you have been looking for a designer who will actually lead, who will bring something to the table you did not know you were missing, that is what we do. You can start with a House Call, a 45-minute virtual consultation, or reach out directly about a full project.

Either way, now you know what you would actually be hiring.

xoxo Christina