20 Simple Design-y Things I Can't Do Without

Ever since this post, I've been itching to do a post about one of my loves, interior design. When people find out that I'm an interior design major, they always want me to come and give them ideas. In truth, I'm primarily interested in promoting health, safety, and welfare in public spaces, so houses don't interest me that much. That said, here are 20 things I think are always worth doing:
1. Attractive concealed storage

One of the things I hear people saying is that they don't want their homes to look like a showhome or a musuem, because then it isn't personal or their own. At the same time, though, people only spend money and energy doing the parts of their homes that other people see first. Ever notice that the master bedroom gets done last and the kitchen and living area are first? If people are to really enjoy their homes as their own, I think that the things that only they see should have just as much design quality as the public spaces in their homes. So, things like drawer organizers, closets, and drawer liner paper are some things worth selecting carefully.

2. Subway Tile

I love it applied on the floor or vertically, in a kitchen, bathroom, foyer... It is so classy.

3. Collections of Art, Tightly Clustered in Stairwells

I love this. Stairwells are such wasted space if you don't do something with them. You can interject an incredible amount of design quality into what is otherwise a meaningless space by hanging a bunch of artwork, photographs, etc. Obviously, something has to be unifying about the arrangement, or it will look amatuer. Go for all black frames in several styles, use all square frames, use all black and white photographs, for example.

4. Apothocary Jars

I'm a huge fan of these to replace the blah canister set on the kitchen counter or in the bathroom to hold bath salts, sea sponges, or cotton balls.

5. Coral

Coral is one of those cliche design things that I just can't get over. I love it on the bottom shelf of a night stand, clustered with books on a bookshelf, or combined with several other coral species in a rough hewn wooden bowl. Of course, use faux (cheaper and eco-friendly).

6. Lamps (in Bathrooms and on Bookshelves)

I love small lamps in unexpected places, like on bookshelves and on bathroom vanities.

7. Glass Lamps

Something about a glass lamp just gets me every time. It is such a nice texture, does great things with the light, and looks classy. My favorites are the stacked glass ball lamps.

8. Wallpaper in Closets

Yes, please. As a general rule of thumb, I don't think that wallpaper is very practical or attractive in large amounts. But, in a small space, like a closet, it's a show-stopper.

9. Euro Shams

These are large, square pillows for a bed. I like them because they pack a lot of punch so you don't have to inundate your bed with throw pillows (so impractical!). I like three on a queen and four on a king.

10. Juxtaposition

I love old with new, like putting antiques with more contemporary pieces. I also love juxtaposition of textures, like linen with velvet. Beautiful.

11. Famous Designer Pieces

Maybe it is just because I've memorized so many chairs, their designers, and the movements they represent in design school, but I love a famous piece here and there. Not practical for most people, probably, but I love it. I'm a big fan of the womb chair and think it'd be cute in a nursery in place of a rocker.

12. Bold Pops of Color on Small Casepieces

If you can use small splashes of color on things like nightstands, small consoles or demilunes, it can look really nice amidst traditional wood or neutral paint finishes.

13. Drum Shades

14. Beautiful Bathroom Mirrors

The architectural standard rectangle hanging in the bathroom has got to go. Get a beautiful framed mirror and hang it in it's place.

15. Patterned Sheets

I think patterned sheets are adorable, and even think you can do cute things with mismatched fitted and flat patterned sheets if you have some unifying element (color, for example).

16. Mismatched Chairs Around a Dining Table


This is fun and practical. You can get new dining chairs on the cheap that are the last in a set or you can antique or junk for them. Be careful, they need to be all about the same scale and have some unifying element (heard that three times now?!).

17. Rounding Dining Tables

They're practical and they look really nice. Round dining tables make conversation happen more naturally and you can squeeze more people in if you need to add seats. They look great with chairs around them or without if you need to set up a buffet on your table. A round dining table looks great draped with a table cloth or naked.

18. Sideboards in Dining Rooms

This is kind of a lost piece of furniture in a lot of homes. People get too large of dining tables for their dining rooms and then can't fit a low, wide console storage piece called a sideboard. They are great because you can store your china, flatware, and your linens in the closed storage and dress up the top with attractive accessories. When you have people over, everything is in the room you need it and you can arrange platters and serving dishes on it and serve food buffet style off of it.

19. Children's Art Work, Hung Gallery Style

There is no better way to inspire a young artist than to give it the respect it deserves. You can make the art more easily replaced by forgoing the glass of the frames and putting in cork. Just tack up the artwork and the cork can serve as an attractive mat that easily adjusts to the size of the art.

20. Proper Lightbulbs and Lighting

I'm a huge fan of CFCs for their longevity and their eco-friendliness, but I much prefer the look of soft white incandescants. In bathrooms or above mirrors, I love pink bulbs. I think as many lights as possible should be on 3-way switches or dimmers. People look most attractive when they are uplighted instead of downlighted, so for a table, I love candles only. For the most part, I could do without overhead fixtures in favor of lots and lots of task lighting.