The One Place Joanna Gaines Goes To Get Design Inspo When Feeling Stuck

Even Joanna Gaines has moments where she struggles to grow her design ideas. Though the shiplap-laden timeless farmhouse aesthetic has helped countless fans elevate their decor, "There's a lot of times I feel stuck and I'm like, 'Ugh, I don't have that inspiration,'" Gaines acknowledged in a March 22 Instagram video, posted to the MasterClass feed. And so when the design doyenne — who has delivered dream homes to countless clients both on her slate of Magnolia Network shows and off-screen — is looking to plant some creativity, she knows just where to go. At the sprawling 40-acre Texas farm she shares with husband Chip Gaines and their five kids, "I just go out into the garden," she detailed, "and sometimes I'll stare at one flower."

And as she takes in the flora outside her home, Gaines usually feels her imagination start to bloom. As the "Fixer Upper" star put it, "There is no lack of creativity when your eyes are open and you're looking. You'll start processing out of that stuck mode, finding creative inspiration."

For Gaines, creating her clients' dream space involves one question she always asks before renovating a home. "Three words: How do you want your house to feel?" she posed. And should homeowners struggle to come up with those descriptors, "That's when I say, 'Okay, you're not ready. Let's take a week.'" Because it's when you rush the process that you tend to be the most indecisive. As Gaines explained, "Design is all about continuously grounding yourself so that what we build off of will stand the test of time."

Her process involves reaching for the watercolor supplies she has stashed in her garden shed, noting in a February entry on her Magnolia blog that they've "become a lifeline." Working to create a masterpiece helps her dream up another. "It's as though this break in pace, in routine, gave my mind the rest it needed to roam," she wrote, "the permission to wander."

Though she acknowledges that it's different strokes for different folks. The key is to just carve out time for yourself to let things happen. "Maybe it looks like quiet solitude," she wrote. "Or your happiest playlist. It might mean journaling or speaking your thoughts out loud into the space around you." There are countless ideas to decorate with floral prints in home decor — with the pattern feeling fresh everywhere from wallpaper to throw pillows. And there are ways florals can feel even more groundbreaking. A garden setting might nudge you to pick a flowering shape for a chandelier, a dreamy blush and green color palette, or spark ideas on how to incorporate delicate textures like silk or velvet.