Is There a Right Way and a Wrong Way to Design Your Home?

Short answer: no. Longer answer: Also, no, but let me explain why I still get asked this every single week.

I'll admit something that might sound strange coming from someone who's spent over a decade building a career on "good design." There is no universal rulebook. Not really. What exists instead is a pile of guidelines — some genuinely useful, some outdated, and some that just got repeated so often they started sounding like law.

I had a vision for this space: a dining room with a butler's pantry leading into it was already the footprint. But it was stale and cold. What better way to warm it up and make it unique by adding a wood border and a tile inlay? Adding a custom-sized square dining table paired with a unique lighting fixture makes this space feel warm and inviting, a gathering space for all to enjoy.

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Where the "rules" actually come from

Most design rules were never handed down from some higher authority. They came from someone noticing a pattern that worked in one context, writing it down, and then, a few thousand blog posts later, it's treated like gospel. Things like "don't mix metals," "everything must match," "keep walls neutral so you don't date the space." These aren't wrong exactly — they're just incomplete. They worked for certain homes, certain lighting, certain lifestyles. They were never meant to be applied blindly to every room in every house forever.

I mix metals constantly. Warm brass next to matte black next to a little bit of chrome from a lamp nobody planned on keeping — and somehow it works, because the room has a point of view. The "rule" was to solve a problem (visual chaos), not to mandate a specific outcome (all one finish).

Mixing metals is my love language - satin antique brass for the vanity pairs beautifully with the warmth of the oak vanity, while the satin nickel body spray shower fixture (quickly becoming a staple for all of my bathroom remodel projects, cuz, duh, it's amazing) pairs perfectly with the cool tones from the veining in the marble tiles.

Together in the same space creates a curated atmosphere that isn't sterile or boring.

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The trends that need to go away, or at least sit down for a minute

I love a good trend when it's actually rooted in something — better materials, smarter functionality, an honest reflection of how people are living now. But a lot of what gets marketed as "the it thing this year" is just... marketing. A color palette was invented so a paint company can sell more paint. A furniture silhouette everyone suddenly needs because an algorithm decided it was aesthetic.

Here's my actual controversial opinion: matching your furniture set isn't sophistication; it's a showroom. A home that looks like it was assembled in one Saturday afternoon from one catalog often reads as less put-together than one built slowly, with pieces that don't perfectly coordinate but clearly belong to the same person.

I'd also gently suggest that "resale value" thinking (I honestly loathe it) when it's the only filter you're designing through, tends to produce homes that feel like nobody actually lives in them. Beautiful, sure. Also strangely empty of personality.

Before -> After. That front room that no one ever uses has a purpose now - a grand library complete with a custom bookshelf and ladder, of course. The fireplace got the biggest makeover - using a cardboard box as a template, I drew out the new opening to reflect a standout design. Layered area rugs and decor complete the space,

making it a one-of-a-kind.

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So what actually matters?

Scale. Function. Light. How a space feels when you're the only one in it at 7 am with coffee, not how it photographs for fifteen seconds on someone's feed. Those things aren't trend-dependent. They don't go out of style because they were never "in style" to begin with — they're just how good rooms work.

Beyond that? Break whatever rule doesn't serve the room. If the "rule" is that a small room needs light colors to feel bigger, but you want it dark and cozy and cave-like because that's the vibe you're actually after — do that. A well-designed small dark room will always beat a poorly-conceived light one.

Some of these spaces are from the same project, but it's not easy to pinpoint them. That's because it's my #1 priority to collaborate with my clients to deliver exactly the vision they're looking for with the added whimsy and charm that sets their home apart from everyone else's.

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The real answer

There's no wrong way to design your home, as long as the choices are intentional and the space still functions for the people living in it. There is a wrong way to design someone else's home — which is to hand them a formula instead of listening to how they actually want to live.

That's the whole job, honestly. Not enforcing rules. Listening past them.

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Ready to design a home that actually feels like yours — rules be damned?

If you're tired of Pinterest boards telling you what your living room is "supposed" to look like, let's talk. I help Chicago-area homeowners build spaces that function beautifully and look like them — not a showroom, not a trend cycle. [Book a Discovery Consultation] and let's figure out what your home actually needs.