18 top home design tips from the experts: Real-world applications

The best design advice I’ve ever received is to make sure each space tells a story you actually live in. I used to decorate by trend: neutral colors, organized in an orderly fashion, nothing out of place, and it always felt like someone pretending to be my home.

Once I began creating around meaning and not looks, everything became different. I papered my studio with old chess boards from students around the world, some pieces of art that didn’t match but meant a lot to me, and warm, layered lighting that made late-night sessions feel cozy and focused. It’s a space that was less curated and more alive.

The implications were largely emotional. I was more productive, felt more inspired, and was grounded in a room that spoke to my real journey, not someone else’s ideal.

The best design advice I ever received was to create a house that feels lived in, not staged. In real estate, I walk through countless homes that are beautiful on the surface but lack warmth or function. A house should welcome you in every season of life, not just impress visitors. That idea shifted how I think about design, both in the homes I sell and in my own.

When I applied that advice at home, I focused on timeless materials, balanced lighting, and spaces that flow naturally. Every detail, from how furniture guides conversation to how sunlight lands in the morning, was chosen for comfort and connection. I wanted a house that supported how I live, not one that needed constant upkeep or reinvention.

The impact has been lasting. My home feels like a retreat, a place that grounds me before another busy day in real estate. It reminds me that design is not about perfection; it is about purpose. When I help clients choose houses, I encourage them to picture real life unfolding there, not a photo-ready scene. That is where lasting satisfaction begins.

The best design advice I’ve received is to prioritize comfort and functionality over sleek aesthetics or trendy technology. When redesigning my home last year, I focused on creating warm lighting throughout and established a comfortable relaxation nook instead of filling spaces with visually impressive but less functional pieces. This approach transformed how my family uses our living spaces, creating areas where people naturally gather and feel at ease rather than rooms that look impressive but remain largely unused.

The best design advice I’ve received is that thoughtful lighting choices can transform how spacious a room feels. In my own home office, I’ve implemented this principle by using a combination of small desk lamps and flush recessed lighting while avoiding pendant fixtures that visually crowd the space. This strategic approach to lighting has significantly impacted how I experience my workspace, making a relatively small area feel much more open and functional without sacrificing the illumination needed for productivity.

The best design advice I’ve ever received was to decorate for peace, not perfection. I want my home to be comfortable for whoever’s visiting. More importantly, for my family, there’s nothing higher in my priorities than fostering a nurturing and warm environment. Homes are meant to be lived in; they shouldn’t be so rigid or cold that a child would feel out of place.

With that in mind, I don’t equate how expensive something is with its decorative impact. Instead, I prioritize visual appeal with function. I love warm, natural textures like wood and linens.

This overall shift in my thought process made our home calmer and easier to maintain, especially with kids running around. I suppose that’s the proof, isn’t it? Our kids have a blast within the walls of our home, and I don’t feel stressed out that they’re going to break something. Peace is our new perfection, and we love it.

The most important design advice I’ve ever received was that your home should be a storybook filled with things that matter. It comes from Nate Berkus, and it’s about how instead of just picking all the furniture from one style, you mix modern with vintage and family and travel and the like.

When my husband and I moved into our current house, I could easily have gone the Pinterest route, adding stuff to carts. But instead, I took a sort of museum approach: putting our sleek modern sofa next to my grandma’s antique pine blanket chest, a giant 1970s print of a building that I bought at a flea market in Madrid above my desk, and silver jewelry trays in every room, because I own so many silver jewelry trays.

Where did I get these silver jewelry trays, you ask? Well, I have three of them. One we bought during a road trip when we stopped in New Mexico. One we bought at a flea market. And one we inherited from the bottom of my mom’s jewelry pile.

And what’s neat is that when we have people over, literally no one comments on the furniture. Everyone comments instead on the details, the faded ceramic bowl overrun with friendship bracelets, and the mismatched photo frames slapped onto the wall running up our stairs. Bringing in old stuff that matters makes your house a conversation starter and a warm place to be. It elevates my mood every day to see in my home evidence of a messy, imperfectly layered life.

If you want to try this, the way I recommend doing it is not to try to do a whole room at once, but to start with one surface or shelf, and add one piece of old next to one piece of new. Gradually, you’ll get a look that’s not only beautiful but truly yours in a way you can’t buy.

I am a fan of HGTV because it provides me with great ideas for mixing aesthetics with living practically. The best design advice that I ever received from them was to always design for the flow of human movement and never obstruct sightlines. This tip is simple yet incredibly effective as people get frustrated easily when their natural path is blocked or their view is blocked.

I applied this tip to my West Palm Beach apartment and changed the placement of furniture in my living room. Specifically, I pushed the large seven-foot couch away from the door by 2 1/2 feet so it was no longer required to go around the end of it. The effect was immediate and tangible as it was effortless to walk through the room and the space felt significantly larger and more inviting. The living area and the adjoining balcony view remained completely unobstructed, making the whole apartment feel more optimized and less cluttered. It proves that minor changes on the level of spatial awareness make a huge difference to comfort in daily life.

Let natural light lead the way. A home can have the best layout or the newest fixtures, but if it feels dark and closed in, it loses its warmth. When my wife and I remodeled our home, we focused on opening things up: larger windows, lighter paint, and clear sight lines from room to room. It completely changed how the house feels.

Now, mornings start with sunlight streaming into the kitchen, and it sets the tone for the day. It’s amazing how much brighter spaces affect mood and energy. As someone who’s in homes every day, I notice instantly when a property has that inviting, light-filled quality. Buyers may not always know why they love it, but they feel it.

That experience reminded me that design is about how a space makes you feel. In my own home, that created a place that feels open, calm, and alive.

Instead of recreating a Pinterest photo, build on the realities of your own space.

As a specific example: we would have loved a large ensuite bathroom, but accomplishing this meant tearing down multiple walls. Instead of trying to replicate all of those beautiful, oversized ensuites we saw on Instagram and Pinterest, we decided to lean into the coziness of our ensuite and get creative with the layout by putting the bathtub in the bedroom itself rather than in the ensuite.

In real estate, I’ve seen so many styles come and go. What feels new and exciting today can look dated just a few years later. Homes with clean lines, simple color palettes, and natural textures always seem to stand the test of time. They feel comfortable and inviting, no matter what’s trending.

At home, I follow that same approach. I like spaces that are easy to live in and easy to update. Neutral tones make it simple to change up furniture or artwork without starting from scratch. I’ve found that when the foundation of a space is calm and cohesive, it brings a sense of peace that lasts.

That perspective carries into my work every day. When I walk through a home with a client, I often point out the design choices that will still look good years down the road. A timeless home doesn’t need constant updates or big renovations to stay appealing. It’s built on quality, simplicity, and comfort.

Design trends will always shift, but a home that feels genuine never goes out of style. That kind of design not only holds value but also creates a sense of belonging that people connect with instantly.

I think the best design advice I have received is to pick one overarching aesthetic for my home and then think of how each room can contribute to it. This ultimately comes down to taste, but I do prefer to have my home feel like a single harmonious space, with design elements that are consistent from room to room. So, coming up with a “theme” for the entire home, and then exploring that aesthetic in every room, has been both a good way to have that harmonious aesthetic while still having the freedom to decorate each room individually.