Insider Secrets From a Top Interior Designer

Layer your lighting

Lighting plans are often designed with the idea that all spaces need to be brightly illuminated. While this is nice when you are trying to find something or need to clean, for everyday living you want far less lighting, and areas of light and dark. Good lighting is about contrast. You want layers — lamps, task lighting and relatively minimal overhead lighting — so some areas are brighter and others fall into shadow. That’s what creates depth and mood.

If you look at restaurants or hotels that feel great, they’re not super bright. They’re intentionally using light and dark to guide your eye and create atmosphere. Your home should work the same way. I buy 25- and 40-watt incandescent bulbs for most of our fixtures on Amazon and Lumens, and we use dimmers on almost everything. If we have to use LEDs, I use these. I think 2700K is right for most situations and generally looks much better than lights that are brighter and whiter.

With art, go bigger than what feels comfortable

Most people play it safe with art, and that’s exactly why their walls feel unfinished. If something feels slightly too big, it’s probably the right size. Large-scale pieces anchor a room and make it feel more complete. They also make the space feel bigger by drawing the eye outward. And “art” doesn’t have to mean something expensive. A vintage map, a textile, a quilt or even framed wallpaper can have the same effect if the scale is right. I prominently feature a Japanese folding screen in my own kitchen, which I found on Facebook Marketplace years ago. Also, mirrors and wall shelving can serve as large art and be quite practical. Check out estate sales for surprising pieces at affordable prices.

Treat plants like structural elements

Plants aren’t just decoration; they become part of the architecture of a room. Most homes have plenty of small plants, but they’re often missing larger ones that actually shape the space. A tall plant can help define a seating area, soften a corner or add height where it’s needed. They also bring in something no manufactured material can replicate: organic texture and variation.

In a home filled with drywall, metal and glass, that contrast matters. And they don’t have to be high-maintenance. In fact, many plants do better when you leave them alone. Overwatering is usually the problem, not neglect. If you travel a lot or don’t want to deal with live plants, choose fake ones that look realistic. If a room feels sterile, adding one large plant can make an immediate difference. The right way to think about a plant is as a living sculpture that makes a statement.

Choose a rug that’s bigger than you think you need

Undersized rugs are one of the most common mistakes I see. People choose a rug that’s too small for their furniture, and it makes the entire room feel disconnected. As a rule, your rug should extend beyond your sofa and seating area. Ideally, at least the front legs of all major furniture should sit on it. Think of the rug as the foundation of the room: It should contain everything, not float beneath it. If you’re deciding between two sizes, go bigger. It almost always looks better.

Add darker elements to ground the room

A lot of rooms lean heavily into soft, neutral tones, which can look nice but also a little flat. What’s often missing is contrast. One of my go-to fixes is introducing a darker element to anchor the space. In many homes, there’s very little black or deep color, so even something small can make a big impact. For example, I’ve used black velvet throw pillows in rooms that didn’t have any dark tones. That addition adds a sense of weight and seriousness that balances out everything else. You don’t need to overhaul the room. It could be a lamp base, a side table or even a piece of art with strong contrast. The goal is to give the eye somewhere to land instead of feeling like everything blends together.

Use wood in unexpected ways — on ceilings, door frames, trim or larger architectural details — to add warmth, texture and variation.

Amber Day

Use wood to warm up modern spaces

As homes have become more minimal and manufactured, wood has become more important. It adds warmth, texture and a sense of natural variation that you don’t get from painted drywall or metal finishes. You can introduce it in unexpected ways: ceilings, door frames, trim or larger architectural details. We have a dresser, bed and cabinet in our house that are all acorn oak with a rich, warm amber color.

Even small additions — like kitchen stools that are the same wood finish as the kitchen door, or a picture frame in the same wood finish as the bookshelf it sits on — can break up a flat, uniform space. Repeating a material is a great way to make it more cohesive in your space. The goal isn’t to make your home feel rustic; it’s to balance out all the clean, artificial surfaces with something that feels more organic. I keep seeing more and more walnut, and I think that in general, darker woods are coming back into vogue after the total dominance of light oaks for the last decade.

You can mix metals, but keep it controlled

Matching every metal finish in a home might feel safe, but it often ends up looking flat and overly coordinated. However, in a place like a bathroom, it can feel really tight and cohesive. I prefer using two metals: one dominant, and one secondary accent to complement it. The ratio is never 50-50, though, and that creates contrast without making the space feel chaotic. For example, you might use one finish for most hardware, like stainless steel, and introduce another, such as polished brass or antiqued brass, in smaller moments: lighting, fixtures or accessories.

If you introduce a secondary metal, use it at least twice in that room. Once you go beyond two or three, it starts to feel less intentional and more random. In my home we have stainless steel, polished brass and antiqued brass, and I think those three pair really nicely in a way that’s both diverse and cohesive.

Use fewer throw pillows

There was a time when a lot of pillows felt like better design. I think we’re moving away from that. You don’t need four or five pillows on a sofa. Two well-chosen ones will usually look better and make the space more comfortable to use. Focus on contrast. If your sofa is light, introduce a darker pillow to ground it, or a floral or patterned lumbar pillow for both posture and a contrasting pop. That kind of visual weight adds depth and makes the room feel more balanced. The goal isn’t to fill space, it’s to add impact.

Inexpensive tile can look high-end if you use it correctly

You don’t need expensive materials to create a beautiful bathroom. In fact, I’ve used very inexpensive mosaic tile from Bedrosians, Floor & Decor and Home Depot that cost $1-$3 a square foot and gotten great results by focusing on how it’s applied. Look up tile layout pattern ideas: horizontal, vertical, stacked, staggered or herringbone, for example. 

When you use a smaller tile consistently across a space — like both floors and walls — and pair it with the right grout, it creates a cohesive, intentional look that feels elevated. I once did a whole bathroom in affordable penny tile, including the walls, floors and shower, and it looked incredible. It’s less about the price of the material and more about how you use it.

Curate your coffee table by dividing it into three zones: stacked books, an artistic object and something personal.

Amber Day

Style your coffee table as three mini rooms

A coffee table shouldn’t feel like a random collection of objects — it should feel curated. One of the easiest ways to do that is to divide it into three small zones. In one area, you might stack books and add a small object. In another, you might add an object or stack that contrasts in height or shape. In the third, something personal (like puzzles or books you actually use) or sculptural. Making sure that you have a combination of practicality, story and things that are beautiful to look at is the right way to design.

If you take a trip somewhere and buy a nice little basket, you could put it on the coffee table and keep your remote in there.  Then you’d have all three: practicality, story, beauty. It makes me sad when a coffee table is pure decor and doesn’t look like something that actually gets used. On my coffee table we have this beautiful antique silver bowl with a lid, and my son keeps his Ninja Turtle action figures in there. I think it’s the perfect combo of high-low!

Decor should be no smaller than a cantaloupe

One of the quickest ways to make a space feel cluttered is by filling it with too many small objects. A good rule of thumb: If a piece of decor is smaller than a cantaloupe, it’s probably not doing much for the room. Why? Small items, like random tchotchkes and souvenirs, tend to create visual noise. They don’t have enough presence to stand on their own, so they end up looking like clutter instead of intentional design. Instead, focus on fewer, larger pieces that actually make an impact. A single substantial object will always look more elevated than a collection of tiny ones. If you do want to use smaller items, group them together so they read as one larger visual moment. Don’t get me wrong, we have plenty of small stuff in our house, but we often put it in a larger container to keep things looking less cluttered and more intentional.

The last 5 percent of a remodel matters the most

When people remodel, they focus on the big changes — layouts, walls, major upgrades. But what actually makes a space feel finished is the last 5 percent. Things like door hardware, light switches, cabinet pulls and fixtures are what you interact with every day. They may seem small, but they have an outsized impact on how a home feels. We think of these objects as function-only objects, but if you rewind 100 years ago, they were ornately and meticulously designed.

Finding a doorknob that’s just not a commodity item in every other home can be such a strong design choice. Rushing those decisions at the end can undo a lot of the work that came before. If you want a space to feel high-end, slow down and be intentional with the details. We did a project a little while back where we used solid brass egg-shaped doorknobs for room doors, and black-and-white porcelain knobs for closet doors, and it looked amazing. Not anything radical, just a little different.