Over the years, I have interviewed hundreds of designers, and have often asked them this same question: What makes you cringe when you walk into someone’s home? While I expect them to say something like bad taste, too much clutter, no sense of proportion, universally, their answer is this: Lack of personality.
Whether we like it or not, our homes say a lot about us. Even those cringeworthy homes void of personality send a message. They say the dwellers are too timid, too busy, too boring, don’t care, or all the above.
Surely that’s not you or you wouldn’t be reading a home design column. Ideally, the goal is for our homes to reflect not just us, but the best version of us. What do our homes home say about us? I had a chance to find out.
A pitch from a publicist promised that her client interior designer Margarita Bravo could reveal “What the aesthetics of someone's home reveal about their values and identity.” I was intrigued.
In 20 years of writing this column, I’ve never seen a pitch for a design psychic. I thought I would put Bravo to the test.
Although she later conceded this wasn’t her idea, Bravo, who is based in Denver, and also has offices in Montecito, California, and Miami, Florida, was game.
Because there is nothing I wouldn’t do for you, I invited Bravo to visit my home virtually and give me a design reading to find out what my home said about me. Yikes.
We met on FaceTime. I tooled her around my house, while she made notes. Before she gave me her take, she asked, “How long have you lived there?”
“Five years,” I said. “Why? Does it look like 50?”
“No, because it looks very finished and well put together. Many homes are in the process. But your home is done.”
“Don’t tell my husband that,” I said. “I still have plans.”
Then she rattled off a few other impressions:
From the outside it’s a traditional home, and the orange front door is a focal point that reveals you are not afraid of color, and that shows throughout the house.
(She thinks I’m gaudy.)
You have traditional furniture and furniture that is transitional and eclectic items, but overall, a clean look.
(My disdain for boundaries is showing.)
I love that in your office, you put a cowhide rug under a traditional carved desk. It’s not expected but it works. Also, there’s a bit of glam, chandeliers with crystals and champagne finishes, and then a rustic hutch, which feels relaxed.
(Ditto.)
It looks like a curated home that shows its personality in pieces inherited from family, and very expressive art. I saw artwork on metal as well as oils on canvas, which shows that art is a very important part of your and your husband’s life.