“What you seek is seeking you.” — Rumi

Once you’ve created a clearing—once you’ve gotten clear on what’s not working, it’s time to shift gears.

This is where we stop analyzing… and start dreaming.

Because you cannot think your way into a soulful home. You have to feel your way there. And one of the best ways to get into that creative dreaming space, and into your heart, is to get visual. This is something I do at the start of every project and every Soulful Home workshop, because it works—every single time. I call it the Magazine Exercise. There are four parts to this exercise: 1: Exploring the images, without any judgement or agenda, and gathering the ones that speak to you. 2. Assembling them in a way that speaks to you – the start of your Soul Style Vision Board 3. Mapping out what these images are saying about your own personal Soul Style. 4. If you place the board somewhere where you can see it, you will find that over time, the things that are represented within it which really matter, they will present themselves as opportunities in your life, and you will begin “manifesting” these things. Here is a little snapshot of one of my own:

I wrote “This fireplace” over top of a simple plaster fireplace in an earthy, elegantly casual living room. I was working with my husband on a house addition, and had long dreamed of having a fireplace in the sitting room. I completely forgot about this image, and then later this happened:

After the addition happened, I rediscovered the image in the vision board. I realized that what I’d wanted in a fireplace, and it had come to life. The vision board had also quietly kept me focused on what’s important to me. There are a myriad of things that can get in the way of building a dream house addition when you are in the middle of raising a family, building a business, with all the sideways interruptions. But I held fast to my dream fireplace! /p>

So, back to the steps it takes to make your own Soul Style Vision Board. The first step is to engage in what I call The Magazine Exercise. Gather a stack of design magazines, lifestyle magazines, even travel magazines. A few of my favorites are:

Elle Decor
Elle Décoration (UK)
Luxe Magazine
Travel & Leisure
Dwell Magazine
House and Garden (UK)
Architectural Digest

And anything else that appeals to you at the magazine stand. You can do a similar exercise with Pinterest, Houzz, or any other online source. But try to challenge yourself to get physical with it: print them out as big as you can, and be ready to tear out your favorites. Getting physical with the images helps you get into that creative, heartfelt space with your personal home.

Sit down somewhere quiet, and give yourself 15–20 uninterrupted minutes. Then start flipping—and tear out any image that speaks to you.

Don’t overthink it.
Don’t try to be practical.
Don’t ask if it “fits” your house.

Just notice what pulls you in.

It might be a room, a color, a chair, a landscape, a feeling. It might not even relate directly to your home at all—and that’s fine too. In fact, that’s often where the magic begins.

Because you’re stepping out of your logical, problem-solving mind—and into a more intuitive, emotional space. The part of you that responds to beauty, to atmosphere, to possibility.

And that’s where your Soul Style lives.

As you gather images, begin to ask yourself a different kind of question:
What is it about this that I love?

Not what is this style called?
Not how would I recreate this?

But—what am I responding to here?

Is it the calm?
The richness?
The light?
The sense of order—or the sense of freedom?

There may be no literal connection between what you collect and what your home ultimately becomes. But that’s not the point. These images are simply a doorway—into your own preferences, your own desires, your own way of living.

You are beginning to uncover your style language.

From here, we start to bring structure to what you’re seeing.

In my work, I’ve found that most people’s preferences fall into four core Soul Styles: Modern, Traditional, Practical, and Sensual. Each person has a primary style (Modern or Traditional) and a secondary style (Practical or Sensual). When combined, they create your unique Soul Style combination—your personal “true north” for design decisions.

You don’t have to figure that out yet.

Right now, your only job is to collect, to notice, and to begin to feel what resonates.

Because once you can see what you love—clearly and without overthinking—the answers to all those earlier questions begin to shift.

What’s worth keeping.
What’s worth investing in.
What direction to go.

It starts to come into focus.

But first—you have to give yourself permission to dream.

As you begin to gather your images, you may start to notice patterns—certain moods, materials, or ways of living that repeat themselves.

To help bring clarity to that, I’ve created what I call the Soul Style Compass—a simple framework that organizes your preferences into four core styles. (You can download the Soul Style Compass infographic to follow along.)

There are two Primary Soul Styles:

• Modern – values freedom, openness, simplicity, and often a connection to light and nature
  
• Traditional – values roots, history, comfort, and a sense of home and belonging

And two Secondary Soul Styles:

• Practical – focused on function, purpose, organization, and how a space works
• Sensual – tuned into atmosphere, texture, beauty, and how a space feels

Everyone has one of each.

When you combine them, you begin to see your unique Soul Style take shape:

• Traditional–Practical
• Traditional–Sensual
• Modern–Practical
• Modern–Sensual

Think of this as your personal design compass—your “true north” when making decisions in your home.

So how do you begin to identify your own?

Start by looking at the images you’ve collected.

Lay them all out in front of you and ask:

• Do these lean more Modern or Traditional?
• Am I drawn more to how things function—or how they feel?

Don’t overthink it. Go with your first instinct.

If an image feels calm, open, minimal, and light-filled—it likely leans Modern.
If it feels layered, warm, storied, or rooted—it likely leans Traditional.

If what you love is how a space works—how it supports life, organization, ease—it leans Practical.
If what you love is the mood, the richness, the textures, the experience—it leans Sensual.

You may find that you’re clearly one… or a blend. That’s exactly the point.

Because your Soul Style isn’t about fitting into a category—it’s about understanding your combination.

And once you begin to see that combination emerge, something shifts.

You stop chasing trends.
You stop second-guessing your instincts.
You start making choices that feel aligned—because they are.

This is where the process becomes not just creative, but clarifying.

And from here, we can begin to translate your Soul Style into something tangible—building a timeless and classic base, and layering in the elements that bring your home fully to life.

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