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You’ve Heard of Naming Your Home, but How About Naming Each Room?

Sarah Everett
Sarah EverettAssistant Editor of Home Projects at Apartment Therapy
I’m from Columbia, Missouri, a journalism town (okay, technically a college town with a big journalism school). It’s also home to one of my favorite things: True/False Film Fest, an international documentary festival. So I’ve been inspired by journalism/journalists/nonfiction storytelling for, I think, forever? I have an MA and BA in journalism from the University of Missouri and Belmont University, respectively. While in school, I worked for city magazines (and also started working part-time for AT!). I learned to love clever, voicey content that’s helpful, whether it’s recommending something to watch or read, helping you get involved in your community, or helping you decorate your home. As Assistant Editor of Home Projects, I cover DIY and design, and I organize the Before & After series. (If you’ve done a cool project, please send it to me!) Outside of work, I love doing the crossword, chatting with friends, drinking iced lattes, and going on little walks and sometimes longer runs. If there were a job that combined those things, I would do that. But for now, I'll do the next-best thing, where I pretty much do chat with friends, read, drink lattes, and go on little walks — with lots of writing, editing, and looking at cool homes mixed in.
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published Jul 28, 2024
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Credit: Erin Derby

Perhaps you’ve vacationed in a house (or have a home of your own) that has its own moniker. There are some famous homes with names, of course: the Biltmore in Asheville, North Carolina; the Spite House in Alexandria, Virginia; even good-old 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., aka The White House … ever heard of it?

Whether your home has sprawling square footage and a pristinely mown lawn — the kind with crisp lines in it — or you share a shoebox with roommates, you can give your home a name. And AT editors have plenty of suggestions for doing just that!

But you don’t have to stop there. In this Instagram reel, Jade Jordan-James takes things one step further and names each individual room. On Instagram, she calls it “one of the most controversial additions,” to her home. “It got lots of love but also a lot of hate, too,” she says. 

“There were loads of reasons,” Jordan-James elaborates in the comments — some people felt it was a bit excessive and others “love to hate” — but still others loved the hand-crafted detail, including Jordan-James. “It’s just a bit of paint but brings me so much joy,” she says in the comments.   

The rooms in Jordan-James’ homes are very estate-ly — “Galloway,” “Cambrian,” “Plover,” “Hotton” — but you could go any naming route you choose, and any method you choose for labeling them. Jordan-James’ labels are beautifully sketched with a pencil and hand-painted, but this could also be an easy DIY stencil project.  

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Credit: Lauren Kolyn

If you choose to go the stencil route, heed these DIY tips for the perfect stenciling job.

  • Choose a font that suits you and your home. 
  • Use a level to make sure your design is perfectly straight.
  • Use painter’s tape to affix your stencil to the door; other types of tape could damage the paint.
  • Like the painter in Jordan-James’ video, you can steady your hand against another object for smooth application. 
  • Don’t want to paint directly on your door? Try adding the room name to a hanging or wall-mounted sign outside the room.
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Credit: Abe Martinez

“I definitely think you can do this in any size home, as long as you have doors or spaces used for varying things,” Jordan-James says. “It’s a bit of fun and a nice way to add some personality to your home — a lovely narrative for the people who live there. And it doesn’t just need to be confined to inside, either.”

Want to do your own naming? For naming your whole home, you might try something using words like Cottage, Oasis, or Lodge. For individual rooms, maybe try naming after the color you painted the walls, or something you’re able to view out the window (think: “Pine Tree Lounge”). Let us know in the comments where you might try this project — and if so, what names you’re thinking of using!

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