5 Pieces of Advice from Interior Designers that We All Need to Hear
It’s great to be able to turn to the experts for decorating advice, but they happen to think there’s somebody else more qualified to design your home: You. Here are five interior designers who, by all accounts, know their shit. They make full-time work of putting together the most beautiful homes on the planet, and their best advice for all of us boils down to just the thing we all need to hear: You do you.
On authenticity:
“A happy home is one where you feel good. It’s a home that works. It’s a place where people can gather—it’s about real life. There’s nothing better than being at home with family and friends, and I like my work to encourage that.”
– Victoria Hagan, in an interview with Elle Decor
On making the most of every room:
“I think we all have this misconception about our living rooms. We somehow get it into our heads that they need to be spare and formal, while the family room is the place that’s relaxed and playful and filled with our stuff. But […] I believe people should be able to do some living in their living rooms.”
– Nate Berkus, in his book The Things that Matter
On the (real) home necessities:
“I think every home needs to have at least a really comfortable bed. It might sound weird if it’s out of context, but it’s because I’ve lived in so many compromising living situations in New York, where somebody might have a roommate or somebody might have four people in a two-bedroom apartment. Sometimes a bed is all you have.”
– Jon Call, in an interview with Complex
On finding your own style:
“Decide how you want your space to feel, not just look. Knowing how you want it to feel and putting words to those feelings will help guide you through the whole process. If you want it to feel calm, quiet and serene then that is a pretty different direction from energetic, sophisticated and fun. So think about walking in your door and the emotions or adjectives that you want the space to evoke in you.”
– Emily Henderson, for Darling magazine
On the so-called rules of design:
“I didn’t know there were any! I think you can do anything you want. Design is not that serious.”
– Samuel Amoia, to Lonny
Re-edited from a post originally published 12.20.15-NT