The Latest: 2021

It’s easy to get so inspired by incredible designers and magazine-worthy rooms that you forget about your home’s ultimate style expert: you. We love to borrow from the creativity around us, but for the final say on your space’s look, nothing beats your own instincts. After all, how you live reflects who you are!With her cheerful color palette, quirky furnishings, and houseplant jungle, home decor blogger and DIYer Wendy Lau marches to the beat of her own design drum every day.

If we may quote Paula Abdul — and can’t we always? — opposites attract. In design, a little tension sparks interest and energy. Fall in love with a mid-century modern lamp that doesn’t match your boho aesthetic? Bring it to the party anyway. Think those two colors you like don’t go together? Think again! A space that’s too matchy-matchy can feel airless, but a dash of contrast is like a shot of espresso.

Life is rarely tranquil, so it’s wonderful when our spaces can be. Not every room can be a spa-level sanctuary, but it can have balance: a sense of design harmony that makes you feel calm and settled instead of chaotic and off-kilter. (Our schedules do a good enough job of that, thankyouverymuch.

We know it when we see it: that visual signature that makes a space stand apart from the pack. Be it bold color themes or iconic accents, if an interior is unforgettable, chances are the person behind it wasn’t afraid to leave their style mark. Distinctive is instinctive — and it’s easier than you might think to wake up your design instincts to create a space that’s unmistakably yours.Designer, artist, and photographer Dabito is about as distinctive as they come.