Have you ever noticed that when you are with a certain group of people for a long period of time, your tastes and styles begin to align?

I think this is more accurate for women than men but if you look around at the five people closest to you, you notice some consistencies. In fact, you may be the exact middle ground of your friends in terms of income, education level and style of dress. You will enjoy similar restaurants and entertainment choices and you may find yourself designing your home like your friend just did, yet you would vehemently deny it if asked!

When clients seek me out, it is often on the heels of a friend’s renovation or their sister’s new build and our conversation is usually filled with ‘she has this colour’ or ‘my neighbour put in this flooring.’

It is a common phenomenon we all participate in when we see items or lifestyle choices our friends are making. The simplest item such as a new shade of lipstick that looks amazing on your girlfriend may not look as fetching on you. If your co-worker smells delicious in a new fragrance, your chemistry may not mix as well with that scent.

You may want to decorate your home just like your friends yet your house style as well as your personal style may not work.

The simple thing is, we see something that someone has and we want it. We have been like this ever since we were kids and now that we are grown up when we see something we desire, we either go out and buy it or try to emulate it. We either see the success or hear the wonderful stories and our natural reaction is to want that in our lives.

Hopefully if you find yourself in this situation you are still working to make elements your own and not an exact copy of anyone else.

If you are building or renovating, take notes of what people close to you are doing or have done in their homes. It is perfectly okay to take elements that you love and add them to your overall theme as long as you are staying true to what you love and still incorporating elements that speak of who you are.

I went to a friend’s house and secretly drooled over her pure white furniture with vibrant pops of yellow blended with grey.

Her whole house is so glam and I walked around taking mental notes for my next project which was my basement. When I got into the project I realized that my tastes move to richer deeper tones and more Tuscan inspired items – glam rooms are not me.

I did glitz up the bathroom a tad but still laid a vinyl replicating old wide plank hardwood as juxtaposition to the polish white and chrome. Her house is hers and even though I think her style is fabulous, it isn’t my house.

So take a look at the five closest people around you and glean a little insight from each of them regarding personal style, money management and most importantly of all designing your home!

You can learn from the success of your inner circle as you plan to go forward with your own home project and make it wonderfully your own.

Kim Meckler is an interior designer in Red Deer with Carpet Colour Centre.