Visual imagination

I always know exactly what I want. Colour, style, shape, everything. However it is not always easy to get.

I don’t have much vision.

When I was still working and bought ‘work’ clothes, I liked going into M&S, seeing a mannequin wearing a skirt, top, cardigan, whatever, and buying that ‘look’.

This was back in the day when Marks was good for clothes. Don’t suppose it would be the same nowadays.

BBbevan

I always know exactly what I want. Colour, style, shape, everything. However it is not always easy to get.

Yes, I'm the same.
I always have 'a plan'.
And as soon as I see something I know that it's right. I never faff about when I'm shopping.
I don't go by fashions either, and I never 'go off' things.

I have no vision whatsoever. If I choose paint it's all guess work on my part. DH draws sketches of things he intends to build and I just nod and trust that he knows what he's talking about

It's a great question Maw. I'm an artist and people often assume I have a vision for things in my imagination, but not at all. I always get inspired by something I see; in a book, on the shop mannequins, in nature. And when I paint I have no idea what I'm going to produce until the blank canvas is literally in front of me. It's quite a nice way to live because ideas can pop up out of anywhere, any time! But I often get the feeling that I disappoint those who think my head must be full of wonderful ideas ha ha!

FannyCornforth

BBbevan

I always know exactly what I want. Colour, style, shape, everything. However it is not always easy to get.

Yes, I'm the same.
I always have 'a plan'.
And as soon as I see something I know that it's right. I never faff about when I'm shopping.
I don't go by fashions either, and I never 'go off' things.

this absolutely and when i see what i want, if I can afford it I buy multiples

I absolutely know what I like but struggle to put it together, I too have to see the finished thing whether a room in a magazine or an outfit on a mannequin.
When it comes to art, I am definitely not an artist but do have a little studio with canvases and lots of paint and brushes. I love to throw paint around and experiment with different techniques, sometimes I finish up with something which really pleases me. The Japanese call it wabi sabi, a happy accident. The same applies to decor or an outfit.

Oops just looked up wabi sabi, seems I am misinformed. More about embracing and appreciating imperfection.
I’ll stick to ‘happy accident’ as the thing that happens to me when I make something look good.

Regarding art:
I'm exactly the opposite to you, Laura and Alizarin
I always have a strong mental image of what I want to create; and the finished result rarely fails to disappoint
As a child I was very talented at drawing, but always hated what I'd done. I used to sit at my Nan's dining table, drawing for hours; and then, to the adults horror, it would all go in the fire.
I really wish that I could have a more positive attitude to it!

Is “wabi sabi”, that concept of making a visual virtue of an imperfection, eg a mended pot?

If it's any consolation FannyCornforth my brother was also an artist and his wife used to despair because he would burn the paintings that didn't work out, in the garden! I wish I lived near you and could encourage you, because I have this belief that everyone can produce art but need some hand-holding for the process.

LauraNorder

Oops just looked up wabi sabi, seems I am misinformed. More about embracing and appreciating imperfection.
I’ll stick to ‘happy accident’ as the thing that happens to me when I make something look good.

You might possibly like these three words.

www.lexico.com/definition/serendipity

www.lexico.com/definition/serendipitous

www.lexico.com/definition/serendipitously

I have definite images of what I do not want when it comes to colours for the home or clothes.

I know immediately when I see an item of clothing, shoes, bag or curtain fabric if they are the one .

For example I have had a list of items which I desperately needed (ok wanted) have mooched around pre-lockdown and looked on-line with no joy. I went out Thursday with DH trailing behind as a redundant bag carrier (wasn’t expecting to find anything I liked) and managed to get all but one of the items on my list in under an hour and a half involving three shops.

I'm able to "see in my mind's eye", what I want a room to look like and what the end result will be. I've got a reasonably good eye for colour and what will "go" in a room and, once bought, I rarely change my mind. unless they've been delivered in the wrong colour, thank you OFL

Exactly Fanny

Pretty good, our whole kitchen refurb was ordered online with no shop visits, ditto living room and greenhouse. The garden was redesigned with online research then the gardener and I sourced plants with a list. Both MrJ and I are happy with the results and have received complements from others.
As for proper art, I haven’t really tried any, it doesn’t interest me, but I like and buy others. Clothing is jeans, t shirts, jumpers when it’s cool, swop for shorts when it’s hot. Boots or Skechers, flip flops in summer. I do possess the odd floaty frock for real heat!

ElderlyPerson

LauraNorder

Oops just looked up wabi sabi, seems I am misinformed. More about embracing and appreciating imperfection.
I’ll stick to ‘happy accident’ as the thing that happens to me when I make something look good.

You might possibly like these three words.

www.lexico.com/definition/serendipity

www.lexico.com/definition/serendipitous

www.lexico.com/definition/serendipitously

No “serendipity” is something else altogether.

I can visualise what I want decor wise but find the reality very hard to achieve. I see beautiful ideas in magazines which make me envious.

My budget never stretches to my idea so I need to see lots and lots of samples of everything. I need to put them in daylight, dark corners, next to other things I'm definitely wanting to include...
I'm pretty fussy about colour so have been known to try up to seven tester pots in nearly-the-same shade and paint them in different areas of the room to see how they react to the changing light. When I couldn't get mixed a good-enough copy of a yellow I loved (but couldn't afford), I settled on wallpaper with the exact shade quite prominent, instead

If money were no object I'd be so much quicker deciding!

I've had no curtains in my dining room since Christmas as the fabric I like is way too expensive at over £100 a metre - and it's a huge window. I'm waiting till a certain discount fabric shop is open again and I may get something lovely at a bargain price! We shall see...

I am not sure, because I am very interested in design and I am always looking and evaluating things I see, shop dispays, magazines, other peoples houses, how they dress. I have a folder of pictures and clippings in my top desk drawer, so by the time I go out to buy stuff for the house, I know what I want and can see the finished room in my mnd's eye.

We are having a kitchen refit and extension built at the moment. This has been mulled over for nearly 5 years, so by the time we went out to order units and think about furniture, I had got it all clear exactly what I wanted.

With clothes, it is slightly different, I only buy clothes when I perceive a need to replace something and I will work out how it will fit in with the rest of my wardrobe before deciding the colour and style of garment I want - and then going out to look for it.

I'm hopeless at envisaging things. If I was looking at a house to buy I would find it difficult to see past the existing layout or decor.

I know what I like and know what suits me but have great difficulty sometimes finding items.

I know how I want a room to look, get all the basics right, then spot bargains for the accessories and the design ends up somewhat diluted from my original vision.

There's a word for this: aphantasia.

I have no trouble visualising things but it's often difficult to describe it to others. I can't draw at all, but I can envisage a room or an item of clothing very clearly in my mind.

I love the fact that I can get a computer to realise my imaginations for me and I enjoy expressing my visualisations in photo books or illustrated letters to the DGC.