Kelly Wearstler’s 8 Tips for Finding Design Inspiration

1. 1. Take and edit photos. Kelly likes to photograph things on her phone and then experiment with different crops, lighting, and filters. While you’re still in the process of discovering your voice, start taking photos of things that inspire you, and fiddle with them in the same way Kelly does. See how much you can transform the photo while still allowing it to fit into your personal aesthetic or a certain color palette.
2. 2. Seek out the work of fellow designers. Other interior designers are a great source of inspiration and creative ideas. A few of Kelly’s favorites include Josef Hoffmann, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Pierre Cardin, and Ettore Sottsass. These designers may not be your personal design heroes, but the takeaway here is that Kelly knows why they’re important to her own creative journey. Find trailblazing designers whom you can look up to in the same way.
3. 3. Create “vibe trays.” When it comes to selecting materials for her projects, one of Kelly’s most important processes is creating vibe trays, or physical manifestations of mood boards or vision boards. When she’s building a vibe tray for a particular room, Kelly will add materials, fabrics, and other objects that inspire her vision and decorating ideas for the space. Every room gets a vibe tray, no matter how many rooms a project might have—and no vibe tray is set in stone. “I like to keep it loose because the projects are always evolving,” Kelly says. Vibe trays provide a tangible representation of the space that’s being created.
4. 4. Educate your eye. Interior designers often talk about the “eye,” or the way they pay attention to and interpret different designs—for instance, seeing a particular painting and recognizing how it affects mood through color, subject matter, or style. You can educate your eye at any age, whether you’re just entering design school or coming to interior design later in life. The most important thing for developing a keen design sensibility is being intimately aware of your surroundings: pay attention to graphic design, clothing, architecture, and landscape design. Everything has meaning and emotion. Bookstores, museums, art and furniture galleries, vintage markets, and clothing shops are great sources of inspiration to start developing strong ideas about what kinds of design—playful, classic, mid-century modern, luxe, futuristic—you’re naturally drawn to.
5. 5. Travel. If you’re feeling stuck in a rut day in and day out and need to break out of your daily routine or comfort zone, consider taking a trip. Kelly loves to travel to different places to find inspiration in everything from art, architecture, food, crafts, music, house tours, and even just the fresh air. A few of her favorites are Spain for its “reverence for the past and a strong feeling for the future,” Indonesia for its “handcrafted arts and genuine hospitality,” Paris for its “passion for life,” and Kyoto for the way “everything is so thoughtfully considered and minimal.” She also uses her travel to visit different flea markets—such as Paul Bert Serpette (France), the Original Round Top Antiques Fair (Texas), and Brimfield Antique Flea Market (Massachusetts)—and bookstores—such as Tsutaya Books (Tokyo), Owl Bureau (Los Angeles), The Last Bookstore (Los Angeles), Hennessey + Ingalls (Los Angeles), and Strand Bookstore (New York).
6. 6. Research online. Kelly keeps a list of her favorite decor websites, which she likes to browse for beautiful and interesting pieces, which can inspire new possibilities, unique styling tips, and fresh room ideas. A few of her favorites include 1st Dibs, Artsy, and Sight Unseen.
7. 7. Limit yourself. Deliberately limiting yourself in specific ways—for instance, capping your budget—will force you to get creative and think outside the box. Go to local stores and flea markets in your area. (Pro tip: Get there early in the morning for the best selection.) Then design a room around items you see that inspire you. Ask each vendor questions about the pieces you love to deepen your understanding and appreciation of them. Take photos of each piece, and begin assembling the images on a mood board for future design inspiration.
8. 8. Remember that design is everywhere. Design is everywhere around you—you just have to know where to look. Get lost. Look at the ground (and the sky). Find objects that elicit an emotional response from you and begin collecting them. Hold on to things—you never know when you might use them as inspiration down the line.

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