INTJ Decorating for the Mastermind

Hello, and welcome to the Decorating for your Personality series. This post is all about INTJ’s, decorating for the Mastermind.  This is one post in a sixteen part series looking at how your Myers Briggs personality profile affects your decorating choices.  Most recently we looked at ENFP (Inspirer) and principles they should be considering in their home decor. In this series, it’s important to remember that everyone has different tastes when it comes to home decor, but each of us have preferences that can often be traced back to our personality profile and how we perceive and react to the world.  By better understanding our personality profile, we can make informed decorating decisions that can lead to more peaceful living and well-rounded lives.

In this guide, I will not attempt to tell you whether country cottage fits you better, or if you are more the modern eclectic type.  We all are drawn to different styles, and similar personalities will not necessarily have similar decorating tastes.  But, they will have similar ways of making decisions, evaluating choices, and experiencing the decor in their homes.  Which is why, in this series, I will be focusing on broader concepts and decision making  in your home decor versus specific design styles.

The INTJ Mastermind is also known as the Scientist, but personally I like mastermind better.  I feel like ‘scientist’ just puts the INTJ in a box which is unfair.  INTJ’s are dynamic personalities who live in a world of ideas and strategic planning.  They look at life as similar to a chess game, always calculating their next move and what the outcome will be.  Few and far between, this type makes up only 2% of the population with women at 0.8%.  Katniss Everdeen, the beloved heroine of the Hunger Games, is a great example of the Mastermind personality, along with Dr. House and Gandalf.

INTJ’s are supreme strategists who value knowledge, intelligence, and competency.  They are extremely insightful and observant of the world around them, and they use this insight to generate ideas.  Unlike the INTP, though, who delves deeper and deeper into the ideas, INTJ’s prefer to apply ideas in useful ways.  They can sometimes find it difficult to express their ideas and conclusions to others.  Overall, INTJ’s are self-confident, ambitious, long-term thinkers, who bring process improvements and structure to our world.

 INTJ the Mastermind | Decorating for your Personality | Mrs. Fancee


INTJ Decorating

  • Curate a Library.  INTJ’s have a beautiful thirst for knowledge.  They value intelligence and competence.  Books spread and share the wealth of knowledge to everyone.  Is there a more beautiful or practical way to display what is important to you than curating your own library?

INTJ the Mastermind | Decorating for your Personality | Mrs. Fancee

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  • Preserve a Thinking Space. The mastermind spends a significant amount of time in his or her own thoughts weighing out decisions, planning ahead, and coming up with practical applications.  It is important that your home has a space where you feel comfortable getting lost in your thoughts and are able to think clearly and be inspired.

INTJ the Mastermind | Decorating for your Personality | Mrs. Fancee

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  • Strategize Your Space.  You are a supreme strategist.  No one can come up with the optimal traffic flow, seating arrangement, or kitchen layout for your own home than you can.  INTJ’s observe their environment and generate new ideas and systems.  They are objective and adaptable, allowing for unique and inventive solutions.  Put those super skills to work in making your house a functional and well-oiled machine that works for you!

INTJ the Mastermind | Decorating for your Personality | Mrs. Fancee

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  • Use Patterns.  The mastermind has been known to view life as a giant chessboard.  Calculating each move carefully and deliberately, and attempting to anticipate the outcomes.  They analyze systems, and pick up on patterns around them.  Celebrate this skill and decorate your home in patterns and rhythms that make sense to you.

  INTJ the Mastermind | Decorating for your Personality | Mrs. Fancee

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  • Shop Alone.   Often times INTJ’s have fabulous and well-thought out ideas, but they have a difficult time articulating them to others.  This can result in frustration on your part when others fail to understand the logic behind your idea.  When you shop for your house, leave the Feeling types at home and go by yourself.  Once you have everything put together they will be able to see the idea behind the purchase and no one gets frustrated in the process 🙂

INTJ the Mastermind | Decorating for your Personality | Mrs. Fancee

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  • Throw Tradition to the Wind.  While INTJ’s are all for systems and processes, they are never bound by the ways of the past.  Continually seeking improvement and new, creative solutions, they ask the question, “could it work better?”  And quite often the answer is yes!  So forget never mixing metals… does every window need a dressing? …is open concept truly the answer?  Throw rules out the window and figure out for yourself what really functions.

INTJ the Mastermind | Decorating for your Personality | Mrs. Fancee

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  • Organize to Improve Efficiency. We talked early about the flow and functions of your home, now let’s talk about the organization and efficiency.  Messiness and inefficiency drive Masterminds batty.  Employ organizing systems and decorating tactics to combat these elements and make your home more peaceful.  Think about the best cupboard organization.  Do you have accessible toy bins with lids for easy toy cleanup?  Are you cleaning supplies hidden but very accessible?  Creating organization and efficiency will help you focus your thoughts and creative energy while in your home.

INTJ the Mastermind | Decorating for your Personality | Mrs. Fancee

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Good News for the Mastermind

1.  You are deliberate and ambitious.  Your self-confidence propels you into projects head first and they are often well-thought out in advance making them very likely to succeed.  As an INTJ, you are a long-term thinker, so your projects won’t fail from shortsightedness.  Make sure to balance your feeling and sensing side, so you are considerate of others through the process and don’t miss important details.

INTJ the Mastermind | Decorating for your Personality | Mrs. Fancee

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2. You’re rationally unorthodox.  You are unfettered by the way things have always been done.  Your objectivity allows you to see the way things could be better.  Weigh out all the strategies, and decide in the end what is most functional for you and your home.

INTJ the Mastermind | Decorating for your Personality | Mrs. Fancee

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INTJ’s represent such an interesting paradigm: they are the most starry-eyed idealists and yet the bitterest of cynics.  While they see an endless amount of possibilities and generally believe nothing is impossible, they doubt the motivation and selflessness of people to accomplish these dreams.  Nevertheless, this doesn’t stop them from doing what they can to improve the world and their own household.  How have you improved or rethought something in your own life?  I truly admire the strategic mind of the INTJ!!

 

Decorating for your Personality:

Introduction
INTP Decorating for the Thinker
ESTJ Decorating for the Guardian
INFP Decorating for the Idealist
ENFJ Decorating for the Giver
INFJ Decorating for the Protector
ENTP Decorating for the Visionary
ESFJ Decorating for the Caregiver
ISFP Decorating for the Artist
ISFJ Decorating for the Nurturer
ESFP Decorating for the Performer
ENFP Decorating for the Inspirer
INTJ Decorating for the Mastermind
ENTJ Decorating for the Executive
ISTP Decorating for the Artisan
ESTP Decorating for the Promoter
ISTJ Decorating for the Duty Fulfiller 

]

 

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47 thoughts on “INTJ Decorating for the Mastermind”

  1. Steve Jobs, probably an INTJ, took years to decide what furniture to choose for his home. Everything, of course, had to be perfect.
    As an INTJ, I value space most of all, and efficient storage systems make that possible. Our Florida room is given over entirely to storage, with each cabinet drawer labeled and the contents of two dozen, large, long-term storage plastic boxes recorded. Closets and their shelves also have a lot of boxed storage. Four tall bookcases line one wall of the living room with ceramics along their tops, few in number and pure in form, mostly pottery in classic shapes, some Japanese pieces with wabi-sabi. Art work on the walls exude nature and harmony. The rooms and furnishings have minimal color and froufrou. It seems like each day, as I wander through the rooms, I spot something else that is little used and can be stored away out of sight, furthering a spiritually driven quest to declutter, open up spaces between things, and have more open space in general. I’ve found that I have a native talent for the above tasks, in a quest for a home with quietude and purity of space, an environment that unloads my senses and facilitates a flow state and my opening a gateway to inward creative musings.

  2. This is one of my favorite bits of INTJ information/description I have EVER come across! It is absolutely correct, and starting with curating a library is the way to an INTJ’s hidden heart! Thank you so much for taking the time on each MBTI type!

  3. I thought – decorating for the INTJ, here we go – sparse, futuristic and cold (typical stereotypes of INTJs) I was VERY pleasantly surprised to see that the first suggestion is cultivating a library. I am a minimalist and like natural light , wood and clean open spaces, but have always had (and will always have) space with floor to ceiling bookcases and books. I also loved the thinking space – clean, light, utilitarian nook (private space – does not invite company), although I wouldn’t pick polka dots and I’d probably have a more comfortable chair. Sorry to say I agree with the comments about the knicknacky rooms, but like the cacti. Some comments are unreasonably critical, people have personality types but are not all the same, sometimes its your OCD and not your MBTI type. Good article -Thanks!

  4. As a female INTJ, I hate clutter, glass counter tops, pastels, closed in space and objects that do not serve a purpose or do not have a designated place.

    As for color…
    I would not say that dark colors are my favorite, as too dark can feel confining, more appropriately would be saturated colors. Pastel colors give a sense of lofty or flighty instead of sense of grounded-ness and presence that I prefer. I do not like white walls (boring); however white cabinets/ furniture with saturated colored walls is fantastic to create openness.

    As for books…
    I am an avid reader. Although I prefer reading from a hard copy book, online books are just more practical, especially for the clutter issue. I reserve hard copy books to books I know I will read over and over. not just for reference. Since my mind gets bored if not learning something new, it keeps those numbers of books to few.

    Mild OCD is appropriate for my home, but may be considered a climb to moderate OCD for my actual work area.

    As for material preference….
    These may be personal preferences as the author indicated, but I love earthy, warm material and nature. The use of woods, bricks, fireplaces, plants and open spaces seem to create a calming affect to help the constant planning going on inside an INTJ head. Metal, glass, clutter and closed spaces have the opposite affect. Patterns on the wall also have a chaotic affect that I do not prefer, so I do not agree with the author on that instance. However creating a perfectly lined up pattern with items, like the shelving boxes, is soothing as long as they serve a purpose. But I agree and love the idea of a separate space to get away and think. For me a wide, comfy window seat next to a huge window would be ideal. I do love things from the past and changing it to fit a modern function.

    I would like to know if the following is a INTJ or just a personal issue: I get bored of decor (sick of seeing) and desire change often. I have tried changing decor with the season, but by the time the same season comes around I am tired of seeing what I used for the same season prior. Which equals EXPENSIVE and WASTEFUL! I make sure the constants in the room are things I love with an old fashion character, comfortable and serves a purpose.

  5. Well, I don’t have a lot to add to the previous comments except to say that I agree with most of them. I was going to say these rooms might appeal to female INTJ’s, but apparently they don’t. The bookcase picture was what brought me here. The rest I didn’t much care for. Without trying to speak for ALL INTJ’s, I prefer wood-panelled walls, darker colors, reflected or shaded light, less clutter, more room (that thinking area is much too narrow, as is that chair; nice desk, though), wood furniture (NEVER would I have a glass tabletop ANYTHING), and everything must match and go together (think mild OCD when thinking of INTJ’s). The one picture of the shelves was almost good, but the boxes and pictures at the top don’t match and the one box at the bottom is turned the wrong way. I hate white walls, but if I had white walls, you can be sure nothing on the shelves in front of them was also white. The boxes on the bathroom wall are an interesting idea, but they should have all been lined up in perfect marching order. Better still would be doors to close to hide all that stuff, since it never looks like it came straight from the store anyway. And for me personally, I would never have a cactus anywhere near where I’m going to be naked. That’s just an accident waiting to happen right there.

  6. Little Miss Mastermind is very accurate in what she is saying about INTJ decorating!!! This is stuff my sister in law (who is an INTJ) would LOVE!

  7. Your INTJ series is more like what an INFJ would do in regards to decorating.

    INTJs are into dark cast iron, with glass table tops, and bulky pine pieces.

    ^I know and have observed this in several of them.

    I am an INFJ myself. My favorite one so far in the series was for INTJ! 😛 🙂

    I do like the idea of the post though!!!!

  8. How fun to see your post. I found it on pinterest as I’m an MBTI expert as well as a designer and color expert. Of course you will get many INTJs posting comments because of who we are! Because I have moved frequently and I have lived in many smaller spaces, I have boiled down the “essence” of my own design into this: clean, useful, efficient, simple, uncluttered, beautiful. I have embraced the KonMari method and basically gotten rid of all my books (THE HORROR!) but realistically it frees me up in so many ways!!! With the internet and a public library I really don’t need books. We need tools to build our many “worlds” whether it’s cooking or other special interests, jobs or hobbies, but these need to be very well organized so that our spaces can be used without visual distraction. I agree with the comments about the mismatched chairs (AUGHH!) and the patterned walls (NO!!). Best to keep a clean palette of repetitive colors. I prefer lots of white with some blues and greens, but any colors that relate well together will work. I recently bought these cabinets to keep many supplies contained and hidden (http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/cameron-toddler-wall-system/?pkey=bstorage-wall-systems&&bstorage-wall-systems) but with all cabinet doors. Thank you so much and you have a wonderful blog! I really enjoyed it! By the way, INTJs should find it much easier to part with things than ENTPs and INTPs, because we can make decisions easier than they can!

  9. The only picture that I could live with in my home was the library pic. All of the mixed patterns and excess items in the other photos made me uncomfortable.

  10. I’m an INTJ and I give zero shits about how it’s always been done or how everyone else does it. I don’t like knick-knacks or clutter. At all.

  11. Avatar
    Little Miss Mastermind

    I, too, am an INTJ female and I could not agree more with some of the above comments. The chairs made my skin crawl. Same design different colors would have been more appropriate. And the bare bulbs were not functional at all. Bare bulbs provide lighting that is far too harsh and would heat the room up too much.

    I loved that you started your list off with a library though. Every place I have ever lived has had an evolving library in it though the library growth has waned in recent years due to my investment in an e-reader. Even still, my library continues to slowly grow. The “thinking room” was brilliant but poorly represented. A larger room with a large comfy chair and perhaps a fireplace would be better—maybe also a window with a view and, obviously, shelving for books would be a much better concept. Honestly, the library and thinking room could well be the same room. Many of my ideas come to me while reading so a small desk where I could write them down without having the distraction of a computer would be much better…

    The patterns picture was totally off. I could not find the reason or logic behind it. There’s no chance it would ever find its way into my home. Similarly, the living room was far too cluttered. Candlesticks out without a burning candle in them? Never! Lol.

    Since I think in images, visualizing the potential decor for an empty room is simple for me. I can imagine very quickly whether or not furniture pieces will or will not work in a given room in my home. I prefer heavy, wooden furniture to serve as the base for the room and that provides me with a solid starting point for my decor. It is more functional because I can swap out curtains, throws, pillows, artwork, etc without having to purchase new basic furniture items or invest the time and money in refinishing/painting/reupholstering the ones I have.

    I despise knick-knacks and clutter. I prefer flat surfaces to be completely clear of clutter, mail, and unnecessary decorations. A bowl on an entryway table that is meant to collect keys is acceptable just as a vase with flowers in it is appropriate. Baskets and other receptacles just tend to accumulate trash, junk mail, etc and so are unwelcome in my home decor.

    Please don’t feel bad that we have been critical of this article. We simply want you to understand where your post went wrong. More than anything INTJs really do wish to be understood. There aren’t many people out there that are like ourselves so we spend a good deal of time trying to explain our reasoning and logic and hoping that the other personality types eventually understand.

    1. Avatar
      Little Miss Mastermind

      Actually, if you’d like some ideas for how an INTJ might decorate please feel free to check out my “For the Home” board on Pinterest. Ignore the gamer stuff (it’s for my husband). You’ll probably notice a few things—simple color schemes are prominent, clean and uncluttered surfaces, but most importantly is that it is not devoid of texture. Rather than contrasting textures they all flow or pose a function of sorts (such as intricately carved doors and columns or stained glass windows where art and function go hand in hand). There are patterns throughout the rooms also but, again, they flow rather than contrast. When baskets or boxes are used for organization they are uniform in size and color and contents rarely (if ever) protrude from them. Flowers and accent pieces are generally out of the way rather than placed as focal points of the room because they are not functional. More often chairs and couches are arranged around fireplaces or entertainment centers as these focal points also serve a function.

      Please let me know if any of these ideas help you better understand how an INTJ might decorate!

      https://www.pinterest.com/janettapearl/for-the-home/

  12. The mismatched chairs are a visual anathema. If they were the same style, different colours it would be more apt to please the INTJ. And yes, they are too close together. Right now those chairs look like dumpster dives warmed over by a too bright paint job, which make me think of my immediate desire to put them back into the rubbish bin of their provenance.

    The “Patterns” was such a bad literal interpretation – INTJ’s are not literal we are conceptual. I’m rather surprised an interior designer would get that so wrong. INTJ’s see patterns – as in we see the connectivity/progressive trend between data and events, which is why we have such strong predictive capabilities. So if you want to represent that in interior design, you take SMALL repetitions in patterns. Like sticking several objets d’art around the room or house of a similar design/pattern or colour, something imperceptibly repetitive. You don’t slap a ginormous graphic pattern on the wall as an ode to our insight capabilities. The bowl of cacti and ceiling medallions were actually a briliant way to demonstrate it – it demonstrates the pattern of type, and the concept of grouping.

    The crates as bathroom junk holder are not a good representation, first off, my thought is it looks rickety and fussy. It also fails, “everything in it’s place motto” – because half the stuff is lingering oddly around it. Which falls under “does it work” and functionally in the long run – no. So I would never put that up in the first place. They might work well as horizontal shelving in an open shelving arrangement in a guest bathroom though. Also, I would not, and I suspect most other INTJ females would not have three loofahs. I have one of everything I need in the shower, in a container in the shower, and what I need at the washbasin, by it, etc.

    INTJ’s are very organized, sytematic, efficient. None of the design indicates that. The cramped “thinking room” was a joke? I couldn’t think in that room, unless it was to think about taking out one of the walls so it didn’t feel like a polka dotted room in a mental institution.

    Overall, I’d say that either the designer has a very poor sense of design, or their MBTI blog series ran out of steam. Great concept, but poor execution, probably based on a very literal interpretation of someone else’s description text blocks on INTJs. Most of the examples on here make me want to rewrite this article. On the upside I’m pleasantly surprised it wasn’t a series of a bunch of industrial or stainless steel futuristic looks, that are complete creativity killers.

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  14. I’m an INTJ and I was wondering, do you think an ENFP and I could be roomies and find a harmony in decor as well as other things? She’s my best friend and I love her and she lovingly throws up rainbows on me, but I don’t want to ruin things as they are right now. Just asking, what do think?

  15. I’m an INTJ female who loves to decorate with form and function in mind. I’m pretty open to everything, and my design style is eclectic, but none of these pics appealed to me. I found some flaws in the designs. I am a minimalist, as that is the ultimate functional design style. Black, white, green with some gold, are my favorite colors to use, but I have a pale blue in my living room now after it was a green-gray. Kitchen is white with Gray cabinets with a splash of yellow. I would say most INTJ’s prefer very simple and plain rooms to offset our busy minds. Think black, white, and gray.

    1. I have to agree. I found it too messy, much of it too literal an interpretation of someone else’s descriptions of what INTJ’s are. Most of it looked way too hippie dippie and Goodwill for me. I have a preference for buying good stuff once, then adding little things to have fun.

      I’d say examples of good design looks for an INTJ, I would way pretty much any room Baker does. I also like Thomas O’Brien for Hickory Chair and Century.

  16. I’m not and INTJ, I’m an INTP. I like this style more than the one that was meant for INTPs lol. I have a lot of book shelves in my house hah.

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  19. Hi there.. I am a female INTJ who has a *definite* idea on how my future home will look like… Open and with space, sparsely but comfortably furnished, a “sanctum office”, and a pool table! I have learned that a nearly empty room is an ongoing work of art, subject to a set of ideas. I also love the clean lines of contemporary and modern furniture.. There is something appealing. I love the pattern ideas that were presented in this article!

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  21. This series is a great idea! I’m an INTJ and I can identify with your statements about INTJs not needing to stick with tradition. In a family atmosphere, I value having a secluded quiet space available when I need it for reading, thinking, writing or simply recharging my batteries. I suppose the opposite, a space in which other members of the family could contain their noise, would be just as effective.

    If I designed a home it would have a second floor of small private bedroom spaces that would have no need for closet or dresser space. All clothing would be kept in one well-organized room right next to the washer and dryer, containing two small changing stalls, a sewing machine, an ironing board, folding table, and all out-of-season clothing or anything being stored between-sizes for kids. It would simplify life tremendously. All loud activities would be kept on the first floor; the second floor would be quiet space.

    I could also use a whole-house built-in speaker system so that I could listen to mind-stimulating lectures or audio books while moving room to room doing monotonous housework (as opposed to headphones that might make me too oblivious to world around me).

    I dislike useless clutter on shelves or countertops, but nice artwork hung on the wall is pleasing to my mind, doesn’t get in the way and doesn’t require much maintenance. I’ve read that most INTJs are not collectors of “things”. We do love our books though.

    I’d like to fuse together a library and greenhouse, with care given to contain the wet and muddy elements so that the books are not damaged. I also loved your suggestion of using patterns in decorating. I gravitate to fabrics that are intricate and symmetrically balanced without leaving a cluttered or “too busy” feeling in the room.

    A workbench for tinkering would be a bonus, though that might belong in the garage, not the house.

    Thanks for the post!

  22. As a male INTJ who is buying my first house (closing in 8 days!), I have been going crazy looking at how I plan to decorate every room down the drawing plans for building furniture for my daughters room, the master bedroom (roman columns with wall paintings and drapes around the bed on a stepped platform!), etc. I was wondering why more people did not do this! Now I know haha. Great article. I would like to see your comments as to the extra tables, book spaces, and stuff from above as well.

    1. Congratulations on the house! How exciting 🙂 Sounds like you have some awesome plans for your daughter, she is very lucky girl. Thanks so much for stopping by!

  23. I love this series! As an INTJ I could relate to so many things you listed here. I never thought about using info from my personality to figure out my design style or interests.

  24. Your article is a very interesting and original concept! Your twist on decorating that includes the personality types is a great idea, in my humble opinion,

    As one of those elusive and rare female INTJs (that’s been married to the exact opposite, an ESFP for 33+ years…go me!), I’ve found that I also see every room of our home as a “thinking” room, as Leslie mentioned. Each room absolutely contains books and charger chords but…I also have my own area for writing, research, etc. where I’ve created a floor to ceiling, 4 foot wide section of a wall into an information board for sticky notes, charts, maps, etc necessary for my projects. This is where my PC and other paraphernalia (‘Mamas Com Center’ as my children call it – lmbo) is located. I like my space best when everything has a place, and is preferably behind doors and in drawers.

    The chair thing? I was itching as well…a lot. The benches are something our family utilizes, especially with large family gatherings. They’re flexible seating as for number at the table, and definitely keep the internal peace for INTJs.

    As Julie mentioned re: kitchen clutter, I’m definitely thrown entirely off if my husband was the one cooking last…need I say more? I believe someone with my personality type would prefer item-free counters with clean lines and everything neatly in it’s place behind cupboard doors.

    Otherwise, I loved your ideas! I definitely drooled when I saw your first pic of the floor to ceiling bookcase. As an avid outdoor person of many flavors, I very much liked the idea of bringing nature inside (the cactus dish garden), not just for the aesthetic value, but also for the beauty and information-gathering, “up close and personal” aspects I put in place originally for our children as well as myself, and now my first grandchild.

    Good Job!

    1. How great to hear from an intj! And many congratulations on 30 years, what a wonderful accomplishment 🙂 I just love that you made every room of the house comfortable for you! It’s always so good to hear thoughts from each type on how they decorate, very insightful. Thanks so much for stopping by!

  25. I don’t love decorating. I am a female INTJ. But a Southern one. 😉 I have a friend who, while in my home one day, asked when I was going to move in and really make it mine, decorate it, she said. I just smiled. I told her this was me decorating! I may not like to decorate the way most folks do, but I do love creating our home. Reading this totally made me smile. It is a strategy. The motivation is not to decorate, it’s recognizing a need. Maybe it’s that the room is too loud and needs more soft and absorbing materials to soften acoustics. Perhaps the room is too hot and needs curtains. I remember when my home office wasn’t working and it simply had to be addressed! My “decorating” starts with thinking about what I need or what needs to happen for given area. I will walk the house and play with ideas. I may look online or think of places or things that provide what I’m after to get ideas. Then, the hunt is on. My ideas of what I need change and adapt during the hunt. I even see giving our daughters the freedom to “decorate” their own rooms, with minimal influence from me, as a learning tool for them to express themselves and organize their lives and belongings. I suppose my “style” is utilitarian. And, maybe because of my unorthodox ideas, that’s why the items inside my home are as often old industrial items as they are beautiful leather and hard wood. Of course, sometimes that wood came from an old stripped down barn and turned into a coffee table. I have a gorgeous old cedar barn chest. It’s amazing, and serves as perfect storage in my living room. We access it’s contents at least weekly. My other friend, cause I have like 3, suggested I put two table lamps on it and it blend better as a table top. My response was something like. …”um, yeh, No.” Utilitarian. I love that word as much as Industrial. Has a function and functions well, even if it’s function for my purposes was not it’s intended use. Good read, I certainly emphasize the hunt, the strategy behind it. I didn’t buy throw pillows for my couch until it had about 9 years to break in enough to require the use of throw pillows when I sat on it!

    1. This is so insightful, thank you for sharing! I can totally see how the hunt would be an integral part is the decorating process for an INTJ. And you are so candid and aware of how and why you decorate, what an inspiration to us all 🙂

    2. Oh my goodness Jennifer, your comment describes me exactly. Function, Strategy, Research, Hunt, Improvise.. Yes, two lamps would be too much and why, what would be the purpose because it would not be efficient or balanced?
      I am not much for decorating; I see friends’ homes who decorate in such a way that it is so comfy, inviting, and warm but I can’t figure out how to pull that off without the space looking cluttered in my opinion. This disability comes off in the same sense of not being able to make my home ‘mine’.

      I don’t like coffee tables because I don’t see the point, it’s takes up unnecessary space, and I always run into them so it becomes a safety hazard haha.
      I am always on a mission to organize better to reduce the constant clutter.
      I can’t start cooking if the kitchen is left in disarray because when I prep for meals, I need the counter space and essential tools to start.
      I think a “thinking room” could be too much but more like a “thinking space” would be sufficient. I’m always thinking but I like to sit in one comfortable place that is all mine, like an oversized chair.

  26. LOLing at the example photos. The mismatched chairs are making me itch. They are also way too close together. I use a bench so you can sit far away from the next person. Or close to them, if you’re into that kind of thing. And 10+ lightbulbs in one room? What a waste of electricity. It would also get incredibly hot. The bathroom set up looks dingy. I also do not care for knick-knacks. INTJs don’t need a “thinking room”. Every room is a thinking room. We also have bookshelves every where. I even have one above my bathtub.

  27. I wish that my INTJ would get out of video games and card games and use his awesomeness in real life. I read this and could not imagine him caring lol

    1. Hi there, that’s true that many personality types are not very interested in decorating! This post is written on the premise that one is interested in furnishing or arranging their home in a beneficial or beautiful way. 🙂 Which not everyone is! I’m sure your INTJ appreciates you taking charge of that department 😉

  28. As a female INTJ decorating is not something I enjoy doing, or am good at. But as a mother I want to make my home a comfortable place for my family. As a scientist wife of an engineer with two inventor/bookworm daughters; I wanted to make a few comments hoping for your suggestions. I know what I require in function, so I’m interested to see how you can work your magic to make this something I can implement in my own home.

    Although we have a library at home, we are all avid readers and books trickle into nearly every room in the house including the kitchen. Confining books/puzzles to one room is not feasible for our family. Small but sturdy shelving throughout would be great.

    Marble runs, thousand-piece jigsaw puzzles, ongoing scrabble and chess games… we tend to make clutter that stays for several days or sometimes weeks. How do you suggest incorporating more small tables etc, for these semi-long-term projects?

    And mostly, storage ideas. Large maps, globes, schematics etc are awkward in size and shape and not easily stored. These types of things are priceless to us and not something we are willing to dispose of.

    Thanks so much for your site!

  29. As a woman intj, I love to decorate. I agree that I change things around a lot just to find the most efficient way to make our small house work for us. And I have a wonderful husband who is super talented and makes me lots of stuff for the house when I keep coming up with new ideas. Always thinking outside the box I guess.

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