Chances are you’ve stumbled across one of Studio McGee’s gorgeous designs while scrolling Pinterest or Instagram. Shae, the owner and lead designer, is so talented and everything she touches is gold. She is definitely one of my favorite designers.

Today, I thought it’d be fun to do a new kind of a blog post that I have never done before. I will be analyzing a project designed by Studio McGee and break down the decorating style that she designed with. Essentially, I will be sharing the style profile of the client that she designed the project for!

Over the last few years, through my own experience decorating our home and in helping other women decorate their homes, I’ve seen just how important it is to actually know your decorating style.

And you guys seem to have questions around it as well because I often get emails saying you are unsure of your style or you don’t know how to incorporate a little color in your home which is totally normal. It’s scary making those big decisions! So, I’ve made it my mission to help you find your style and make sense of the whole decorating thing because it’s truly not as complicated as it needs to be!

It’s completely normal if you aren’t clear on what your style is or how to achieve a certain look in your home. In fact, most people never truly figure out what their style is and that’s why they end up feeling “blah” about their home and not really satisfied. If you don’t know your style first, it’s really hard to pick out a couch or a rug, a paint color etc. because you don’t have a set style guide or anything to lead you in the right direction.

Not sure what your style is and how to decorate your home? Click here to see how we can work together to uncover your signature decorating style.

Studio McGee Style Breakdown: Classic Modern Rustic

Let’s look at the Red Ledges Project designed by Studio McGee. All photos below are from this project.

This is a beautiful home in the mountains of Utah, so there is a touch of rustic incorporated throughout the home to stay true to its nature and location.

First room up in the home is the entryway.

When you look at the entryway the first things you see are the large dark metal doors in the back that lead to the office, the rustic cowhide rug, and dramatic traditional meets modern chandelier.

These 3 pieces also are the largest items in the room that make them really stand out. Obviously, the bigger the item the more of a statement it makes.

Some words I would use to describe the entryway are grand, modern with a rustic element, and neutral. I feel a sense of calmness when I look at it. Everything is very light and airy and except for the black doors that are the only real big contrast in the space, but it’s not too overbearing.

Moving on to the living room, you’ll see the same light colored walls and warm oak hardwood floors as the entryway. You can certainly feel the light, airy vibe continuing. i can just picture myself plopped down on the sofa with a good book, which is exactly what the client was going for.

In looking at the living room details, I notice the wooden beams incorporate the same rustic wood and even the same triangle design as the coffee table legs. Repeating the same design creates cohesiveness and ties the space together so it all flows.

To keep the space still feeling modern, there’s a modern style black lamp in the back of the living room and the wicker chairs have a modern feel with thin black legs. The room is all neutral except for the pillows and art which add some pops of blues, creamy light terra cotta, and greens along with subtle patterns so it’s the perfect balance of neutral without being completely boring. It just takes a few pillows and some art to liven up a neutral space. Don’t feel like you have to add tons of color if you prefer neutrals. Just a few items in smaller doses go a long ways. The rug ties everything together with it’s muted color and pattern so it doesn’t feel too jarring and blends in perfectly. You can imagine a dark navy rug instead would make the living room feel too heavy if a light, airy home is your goal.

Can you pick out the rustic elements in the kitchen below? I spot them in the island base with rustic wood cabinets and of course the range hood. The rest of the cabinets are a shade of white to again, keep the overall space light and airy, but contrasted with black countertops.

Another rustic element is the large farmhouse style table in the dining room. They paired it with black modern chairs so it feels current and fits in with the rest of the modern touches.

You should definitely notice the recurring elements I mentioned again and again throughout the home. I think I said modern and rustic at least 10 times and light and airy was definitely a common thread which they nailed.

Studio McGee did a great job combining modern elements with rustic so it never felt too farmhousey or too stark and modern, it was a good combination of bot. Overall the color palette throughout the home included the same neutral hues: lots of greys, beiges, black and white with a few pops of blues and light terracotta reds. Patterns were minimal and subtle with the rug and throw pillows.

Creating the Style Guide

Now that I analyzed the entire Red Ledges Project designed by Studio McGee, let’s break down the style of the homeowner.

The way I do this is my taking alllllll the elements I just combed through while studying each room, and putting them together to create a personalized style guide.

Once you have this style guide, you can pick out a sofa, or rug, or paint colors, and even decor for your shelf because you have something to work off of that will help you make the best decisions.

Here’s the style guide I created below for this project. It includes the color palette, patterns, materials, wood finish, and other accents that all combine to create their signature decorating style. As you can see, these are all the elements that I pointed out when I analyzed each room. During the design process, Studio McGee intentionally chose pieces with these elements to make the home flow from room to room and feel cohesive.

In the picture above with all the colored circles, you can see where all the style guide elements live in that particular living room. I used different colored circles to identify all the different elements so you can visually see it.

• The coral circles are the thin, black metal lines element.

• The pink circle is the subtle geometric print of the rug.

• The green circles are the leather accents

• The dark blue circles are the wicker elements

• And the red circles are the striped patterns on the pillows.

Hopefully you can see how each room in the house has the same elements as the style guide I created. That’s exactly how it should be and what makes a room feel finished and put-together and cohesive!

What did you think, was this blog post helpful? Was it interesting to see the style guide with all the different elements?

Did you know this is a sampling of what you get when we work together in a personality style session? Yep! We do a deep dive of your style using Pinterest and a fun get-to-know-you questionnaire and then I create a style  guide like this with all of your elements that make your own unique signature decorating style. You’ll even get a Pinterest board full of pins and ideas that are custom to YOU. For more info on how you can get your very own style guide, click here.