There’s a chance you’ve heard about Enneagrams from a class you took, a friend, or perhaps an article you’ve read on the internet. The Enneagram is a system comprised of nine different personality types that describes how each type manages their emotions and perceives the world. There are many ways to apply Enneagrams in your life – one of them being in your home’s design. By understanding your Enneagram type, you can figure out how to achieve a look and feel that best suits your personality and interests.
To help you get started, we reached out to Enneagram experts across North America, from Roseville, CA to Kingston, ON, for their best tips on how to design your home based on your Enneagram. From creating a gallery wall for type 2s to using multipurpose furniture for type 7s, keep reading to see what they had to say.
General Enneagram tips to help you get started
Understand how Enneagrams can reveal strengths and weaknesses
Your home is simply a functional expression of your inner aesthetic. Learning about your Enneagram type can not only show you your own strengths and weaknesses but can also show you how to make your environment thrive and function for you. Customizing and designing your home intentionally, keeping the key concepts of the Enneagram in mind, can lead to an overly satisfying body, mind, and soul. – Sunny Design Co.
Figure out what group you are a part of
We want our homes to be a refuge, so it makes sense to design a home’s living space around the harmonic groups of those who live there. For instance, the positive outlook group (Enneagram types 7, 9, and 2) will enjoy whimsical, uplifting, and cheeky objets d’art while the competency group (Enneagram types 1, 3, and 5) will value spaces designed to be sensible and efficient and decor that honors their expertise and accomplishments. The reactive group (Enneagram types 4, 6, and 8) is fearful of abandonment, so incorporating photos of loved ones and objects that represent the support available to them offers comfort. – Anne Shoemaker
Source products and colors that match your values
A unique way that you could decorate your home in tandem with your Enneagram number is to find products and colors that pair well with your personality’s values. Whether that be goodness, love, influence, authenticity, empowerment, belonging, enthusiasm, protectiveness, or peacefulness – spend time creating a mood board of the rooms that make you feel most connected to your values. – Christina S. Wilcox
Find a balance between different Enneagram types
If you share your space, be sure to discuss the hopes for the space through the lens of the Enneagram. As an 8 married to a 1, I am great at seeing the big picture and motivating us to get there while my husband carries all of the details in his head and makes sure we don’t miss anything. Instead of our different personalities being a point of tension, we have used them to create beautiful spaces where both of our personalities shine. – Katherine Jeffery
Enneagram Type 1 – The Reformer
Enneagram Type 1s are rational, principled, and possess self control. They hold high standards for themselves and are perfectionists.
When it comes to designing your home, it helps to consider the personality type of the person living in it. For example, a Type 1 who is motivated by right and wrong might feel more at home in a house that has clear functional areas, appreciating clean lines and proper storage so everything is stored where they should be. – Tetz Agustin, internationally-certified Enneagram Coach
Enneagram Type 2 – The Helper
Enneagram Type 2s are caring, people-pleasing, and generous. They are often friendly and seek to be close to others.
Take a look at the basic desire of your Enneagram type, and consider how you might foster that feeling where you dwell – or in your ideal labor/birth space. If you’re a Type 2 whose desire is to feel loved, create a gallery wall featuring your favorite people and curate vignettes with sentimental items. – Shay Gabriel, Interior Designer at Shay Gabriel Interior Design and Content Director at Sprout and Blossom Birth
Enneagram Type 2s love to host and welcome people into their homes. Look for the comfiest couches and chairs. Test out the seating arrangement to make sure each seat has a place for people to get comfortable, set down their drinks, and stay a while. – Cloverleaf
Enneagram Type 3 – The Achiever
Enneagram Type 3s are success-oriented, driven, and adaptable. They are driven towards high achievement and can oftentimes be competitive.
Modern, clean lines and sleek spaces work well for Type 3s, especially if it allows for efficiency and great use of space. This can show success without being over the top. Decorative pieces that inspire and motivate on a daily basis can help Type 3s keep their eyes on the prize. – Hayden Lee MCC, Master Certified Executive Coach & Enneagram Specialist
The Type 3s office space is their hub for all their hard work. It should be trendy, modern, and spacious for all their ongoing projects. Good lighting and a mirror need to always be within reach for a quick IG story, Tik-Tok, or live broadcast, as well as some sort of bulletin board for inspiration and visualization of their goals. Visually appealing, accessible and easy-to-use organizational accessories are also a must. – Hillarie Kay, Enneagram Coach and Speaker
Enneagram Type 4 – The Individualist
Enneagram Type 4s are sensitive, expressive, and dramatic. They often shield themselves from others due to feelings of vulnerability.
After months of deliberating, you finally decide to move in with your significant other. Decorating your own home is going to be fun, or so you believe. That’s when your Enneagram types can emerge, and not always in the best of ways. Type 4s, for example, may be seeking uncluttered, beautiful spaces with tasteful and unique art objects, but their partner’s focus could be on practicalities rather than aesthetics. – Ann Gadd of Enneagrams 9 Paths
Enneagram Type 5 – The Investigator
Enneagram Type 5s are intense, innovative, and perceptive. They are able to develop complex skills and ideas and see the world in a new way.
You are an innovator who likes your own space and privacy. You don’t want to spend a lot of time deciding on your home décor. You want a place that is approachable and simplistic, without a lot of effort. You will need a space where you can peacefully reflect, someplace that feels comfortable for you. – Enya of Best Enneagram Test
Each Enneagram Type finds joy in different things. For example, Enneagram 5’s love developing new skills and sometimes prefer to be alone; provide a study or bookshelf that allows them to explore ideas. Create space for your type’s unique interests and passions. – Enneagram Gifts
Enneagram Type 6 – The Loyalist
Enneagram Type 6s are committed, engaging, and anxious. They value cooperation and can foresee problems. They are internally stable and champions of themselves and others.
Type 6s are the loyalists of the Enneagram and their homes are typically full of portraits, memorabilia, and symbols that represent their teams, causes, or beliefs. When it comes to design, you will likely want to get the entire household on board in the decision-making process. Plan a shopping day with the family (or your roommates) where everyone has a chance to pick out pieces that are meaningful to them. – Truity
Enneagram Type 7 – The Enthusiast
Enneagram Type 7s are busy, versatile, and spontaneous. They are high-spirited and have many talents while focusing on their goals and showing appreciation.
Enneagram Type 7s are all about people and fun. If you’re a Type 7, when designing your home make sure to look for spaces that are open and lend themselves to having guests over. Using multipurpose furniture such as coffee tables that convert to stools, furniture poofs and large sofas that convert to beds are a great way to allow for additional seating and people to stay in your home. If an area isn’t feeling cheery enough, add some greenery with plants (I love pothos plants and succulents because they’re easy) and twinkle lights to liven up the space. – Lisa Winbolt, YEC Enneagram Coach
Enneagram Type 8 – The Challenger
Enneagram Type 8s are powerful, willful, and confrontational. They feel the need to control their environment while using their strengths to improve others’ lives.
All Enneagram Type 8s want to express themselves in an individualist and bold manner. However, a Type 8 that has the cool coloring of a winter, refined features, and is the priest archetype will like more refined and decorative furnishings like the Art Deco period whereas a self-preservation Type 8 that has the warm coloring of an autumn, rugged features, and is the warrior archetype will prefer more substantial furnishings with less decoration like the early American period. – Katherine Fauvre Consulting
Type 8s would love a fully equipped exercise room, spacious living quarters, no homeowners association so they can make changes as they see fit, and a beautiful outdoors surrounding as well. – ReKindle Coach
Enneagram Type 9 – The Peacemaker
Enneagram Type 9s are receptive, agreeable, and easy-going. They go with the flow to keep the peace and want everything to run smoothly without conflict.
Enneagram Type 9s should avoid their habitual tendency to think of things and themselves – and their home’s design – as “not really that important”. Instead, they’ll be wise to use this opportunity to invest in themselves, their well-being, and celebrate creating a home that they will love living in. After all, deep inside, they actually do care and have preferences about how their home will look and feel that they want to bring to life. So their task would be to see it as important enough, rather than falling into the habitual ‘whatever,’ ‘less is more,’ ‘I don’t really care’ and ‘I’ll just go with the flow.’ – Eldad Ben-Moshe, Better Life Awareness Center & E-School Enneagram School
As a Type 9 that seeks out comfort and calm wherever possible, I tend to gravitate toward natural and neutral colors. Any punctuation of bright color is usually few and far between and always something specific I am passionate about (for example, a painting that deeply connects or my love of all things Disney) I love subtle elements that pull in my love of nature and Space. (My favorite and most calming piece in my home is a large realistic moon pendant light, “Luna” by Acorn Studios) – Ryan O’Neal, Sleeping At Last
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