Secrets From a Stylist: Introducing My First How-To Styling Series (On Skillshare)

Today is very exciting as I’m finally releasing my styling class on Skillshare. When they first approached me to do this, I reacted like I have historically to teaching styling workshops—intimidated by the prospect of trying to boil down how to find your style and execute it in your home, in digestible steps. But I’ve wanted to do it forever, and heck, I wrote a whole book about it. Besides, I love Skillshare as a creative platform for learning and sharing and once I got over the initial fear, I got so excited. So with the help of my team (led by Velinda), and the very lovely and thorough Skillshare Originals production team, we came up with and shot 11 lessons for my first styling class. I typically hate watching myself on screen, strangely (watching Design Star was painful) but as I reviewed these, even I was like, I LOVE THIS. Let’s break it all down:

True to what we stand for here on the EHD team, the class is called Style Your Space: Creative Tips & Techniques for Interior Design (and if you want to jump right to it, head here to sign up for a special offer of 2 free months of Skillshare Premium, and then you’ll be taken straight to the class!) (P.S. Once you’re a member, you can watch it all, every lesson, right away, right now!)

The goal of this class is for people, anyone (not just designers) to learn the basics of styling their home to look like them. It breaks down styling versus interior design, how to find your style, what styles are really out there and then how to execute it in your space. It’s approachable, fast and the way they shot and produced it was so casual and fun. I was scared it was going to be this scripted lecture or that I would have to have a billion props, but it’s really more me just having a conversation with you, which made it so fun and easy for me to shoot.

We shot up at the mountain house a few months ago, right after it was done (did you know that you can rent it out for shoots? Yep, it’s basically the best set house with amazing light; more details here). My team worked really closely with senior content producer Rebecca Cloyd to hone in on what people really want and frankly can learn from a styling class. We broke it down into eight lessons:

Lesson 1: Introduction. If you’ve been reading this blog, you might technically know some of this information but don’t think I’ve ever actually told you in person how I got to where I am. This is basically my life story condensed into 2 minutes. Please enjoy. (Bonus! Anyone can view this intro without having to log in or create an account, so check it out here.)

Lesson 2: What is Styling? The line between styling and interior design is often blurred, but there are some major differences, folks…as I’ve learned (sometimes) the hard way. It’s kind of like the difference between cooking and baking. One is suggestive…play around with spices until it feels/tastes right; the other is a total fail if you forget the baking powder or get the proportions wrong. I’m going to get down to the nitty-gritty of what I actually do every day and how it differs from the term “interior design.”

Lesson 3: Quiz: Find Your Style. This is huge you guys. It’s an all-new updated version of my style quiz (remember that? I mean, it’s kind of what put me on the map…style diagnostics)! This was everyone in the office’s favorite part of the entire class (and most of them already know their styles…). Have fun with this. And for those of you who took it in Styled (the book) and got “Zen” throwing you into a style identity crisis, that’s because the first printing of the book had it wrong. This one from Skillshare is actually accurate and is a totally different format. Here’s your chance to set your design life back on track, former “Zen” people.

Lesson 4: Identify Your Style. There are 12 DIFFERENT STYLES you could potentially be. So to help with your quiz results, I literally explain what each style is (with visuals) so you can learn each one and assess which one (or ones) best fits your personality based on your answers.

Lesson 5: Develop Your Style Confidence. You might have more than one style, heck, you might have three to four styles. I get it, I like to say I’m “Footloose meets Marie Antoinette” so I can empathize. This lesson is basically to help you refine your style a little and gives you tips and tricks to home in on the perfect style for your personality.

Lesson 6: Stock to a Color Palette. HERE I TEACH YOU THE NUMBER ONE TIP OF LIFE. I can’t tell you what it is though. You need to check out the course. Obviously.

Lesson 7: Mix Your Favorite Styles. Now, you may have found one style you’re really leaning toward or you might feel torn between two or three. Here, I teach you how to find elements you like from your top styles and combine them all together in a tasteful way so they don’t look like a thrift shop (no offense to thrift shops—they’re great).

Lesson 8: Use Trends Wisely. Trends can help, or trends can hurt. BUT learning what to do with them is a great first step. This sounds like a commercial for some new prescription drug or something, but really I just teach you about tastefully using trends so you don’t hate how you decorated your home in a year.

Lesson 9: Source Items You’ll Love. Okay, guys. Now you have all of this great information but what are you supposed to do with it? How do you find interesting items that don’t make your home seem generic? What should you splurge on? I know the questions will continue to flow. But they’ll be answered in this lesson.

Lesson 10: Shop for Vintage Finds. Everyone here probably already knows I’m a fiend for vintage finds. But I know better than anyone how tough it can be to actually choose pieces at flea markets, antique malls or on Craigslist that are really beautiful and are ACTUALLY worth the price. So, to help, I walk you through, step by step, how I go about choosing vintage and antique pieces on sites like Craigslist so you can start confidently shopping the second you finish this course. The buyer’s remorse ends here.

Lesson 11: Style a Space With Emily. I take you with me as I restyle the mountain house living room. I show you my messy but effective process and share all of my thoughts that go through my head while I style a room.

I really really want you guys to watch it. It’s a format I haven’t done before with new information and presented in a conversational way. It’s neither a lecture nor a ton of me throwing pillows around, it’s like we are hanging out and you learn along the way what it’s like to do what I do…and maybe figure out how to do it for yourself (whether for your home or for clients).

Plus, the best part? The reason I chose to bring this class to life with Skillshare is because they have THOUSANDS of creative classes that you can explore alongside mine. Interior design, photography, illustration, design, journaling…this platform is the perfect way to get that creativity spinning and find the perfect pathway for you. Once you’ve joined me in styling your home, there are so many more classes to help you photograph it, sketch it, and share it on Instagram. If you want to take that step forward in creating your own brand (or even if you just want to learn new things for fun), seriously, there’s so much to explore and dig into over on Skillshare.

So…you’re into it. Great! Click here to join my class and sign up for 2 FREE months of Skillshare. The link will take you to a checkout page to redeem the special offer, and then straight to my class so you can start styling like a pro right away (once you start playing around at home or for a client, I’d love it if you could share your images at #ShowEmYourStyled…because we all want to see the fruits of your creative labor).

See you there!