Why Transitional Design Is the Future, According to Shea McGee from Netflix’s “Dream Home Makeover”

If there’s one thing that Shea McGee can recommend, it’s blending two styles together. The designer co-hosts Netflix’s “Dream Home Makeover” alongside her husband, Syd McGee, and tries to infuse all of her work with an element of transitional design, which she describes as the blending of a modern home with vintage pieces. The effect can foster a cozy, classic, and truly timeless feel to a home.

“It allows me to be flexible, because I like so many different things, and so I want to incorporate what I love and not feel so pinned down to one specific style,” Shea said during an interview with Apartment Therapy. “That is how I approach design. I’ve always approached it with a perspective of mixing and matching styles, and I love that push and pull.”

While the style is especially visible in certain episodes of “Dream Home Makeover,” it’s most obvious in this season 3’s “granny chic” episode, which remodeled a home for an elderly mother and her middle-aged son. The McGees updated the home for the son, while still incorporating some classic looks for the mother.

“I love a traditional piece paired with a more modern light fixture, or vice versa,” Shea said. “I think it just feels more collected and it allows you to have your home evolve over time.”

Shea has also noticed an uptick in traditional design interest and thinks that it will continue to make a return in 2023. “I think that we’re seeing traditional design come back in a really big way,” she said. “But I also think that it’s done in a new way. It’s very layered, it’s pattern-heavy, it’s a bit preppy.” More than anything, she’s noticed that people are experimenting with traditional design.

“I think that’s a good place to be in design,” she added. “People are actually really just listening to their gut instead of only following one style trend.”

“Dream Home Makeover” is available to stream on Netflix.