'Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be beautiful or believe to be useful' - William Morris I’ve been following this golden rule for the home since I learned it in 1992. Eventually I took it to a new level- make sure your useful things are also beautiful (or at least aesthetically pleasing.) No visible branding allowed and keep useful things stored in beautiful containers. Following these simple rules keeps everything looking considered, intentional & “expensive” in Nick’s terms.
I’ve had people in my life who’ve rolled their eyes and sort of imply that I’m shallow since the design of my space matters so much to me. And I’ve always let them know that, then, I guess the cave-people who scratched images of woolly mammoths and sabre tooth tigers on the walls of their caves were shallow too. Design does indeed matter!
@@meridabowes3796 That made me smile so why don't they design hospitals differently so people can heal in a nurturing space? They could add colour to walls, use artwork with serene nature scenes, hang up bed curtains that aren't white... It's been so many decades since I went inside a hospital that maybe they don't have these any more... Plants are considered 'health and safety' and I believe flowers are no longer allowed for the same reason. As an ex-nurse (from the 70's), we did take time out refreshing the water, removing dead flowers etc but they added colour and scent to the space...
Oh, Nick. Three years after having my sense of smell nuked by COVID your words about scents and our sense of smell made me cry. Yes! scents do connect directly to our emotions and memories. I remember once walking in an unfamiliar neighborhood and stopping dead in my tracks because a house I was passing was giving off the EXACT scent profile of my grandmother's house: lavender, coffee, bacon, pound cake, Ivory soap, oil paints, and something salty reminiscent of the back bay of Biloxi circa 1966. BOOM I was transported back forty years. It was uncanny. Those of you who can still enjoy the magic of scents, indulge yourselves. It's precious and much missed by those of us who lost it or had it severely damaged during this cursed pandemic.
I lost a lot of my sense of smell when I got covid too. It’s been rough. I can smell things generally now but that nuance, like the individual notes that make a smell special is gone. I really hope it comes back someday, it’s like a whole layer of life has been dulled.
My mom lost her sense of smell 15 years ago after surviving stage 4 sinus cancer through a combo of good medicine, faith, and extraordinary luck. I feel for anyone who has lost their sense of smell and have seen how isolating it can be. We cherish those rare, bizarre moments where it flickers back (citrus will do this for her, maybe once a year).
This is so true! I don’t have a ‘rich’ neighborhood in my town, but I have started to stop at some when visiting other parts of the state and when I have space in the car. Some really nice clothes too 😊
@@robertglover8819 We live in rural Kentucky and it’s hard to find good stuff cheap. So, when we visit family in Chicago, we go thrift store shopping and consignment stores up there. Have found some spectacular things thru the years 😊👍🏻
it makes me so happy that you rip on the tom ford book every chance you get! also love you constantly trying to teach naysayers the concept of "as applicable - common sense" ✨♥️✨
When it comes to large scale art, you can also make your own out of: 1. wallpaper (find some nice prints or "mural" type wallpapers and glue them to the frame board, then attach the frame), 2. fabric (same as wallpaper - just cut it to size and attach to the frame), 3. small collectibles (arrange and attach multiple items of the same theme / color scheme to a shadow box type picture frame and you'll have a unique, large piece of visual interest on your wall).
Don’t point mirrors at each other to avoid the funhouse look as well as to avoid creating a portal for ghosts and demons. Those things will bring back dead decor, like boob lights and ‘Live, Laugh, Love’ signs.
I’m a private person (I know, shocker, right?), the one thing I do which I think also helps eliminate a cluttered looking house (hence a more expensive look), is that I never decorate with framed family photos in public places. To me, those candid shots are private and I don’t necessarily want to share them with the dishwasher repair man or the noisy neighbors. I find that to be TMI for guests who may not be in your inner circle. Thus I keep all family photos on the bedroom level of the house and not the main level or the entertainment spaces, which also includes the foyer, hallways, staircases and powder room. If you want to display a formal family portrait in the living room only, that’s reasonable but limit it to just one and preferably one of considerable size which lends itself to being wall mounted (freeing up valuable surface space).
It has taken me at least 5 years to design my home so that I feel proud and comfortable at the same time. I couldn't have done it without you, Nick. I actually worked at a jail for a short time, and yes, design does matter 😄 You made me laugh out loud with that one.
Living rooms should look cosy not expensive. I’m one of those people who would rather entertain in a large kitchen/dining room and keep the living room for reading, knitting and watching TH-cam videos with my pets.
Museum shops often have awesome prints and posters to frame. I bought a poster at the Vatican museum more than 25 years ago and I still love it. Another favorite is a poster of an ancient Egyptian cat statuette, purchased at Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek here in Copenhagen❤
My husband is an avid reader.... and likes to leave his books everywhere. SO, beside his favorite chair, I put a basket (slightly hidden underneath the side table) where all his reading material goes. Even if I have to put them away! One "rule" I do break is I have a lot of family pictures displayed. Having five grandchildren who I love SO MUCH means I want to have pics of them!!
Rogues galleries are the best. I love seeing them at people's homes. Sometimes they can be a bit too curated which is boring but looking at the kids jumping through the sprinkler and then their kids at the playground, that's cool.
I love intentional clutter. My motto is if you love it you can make it work in your space. If you can ask yourself for every piece in your home do you actually love it or are you trying to fit the style of the home/fit someone else’s style.
For a home fragrance, I like using a diffuser (distilled water only!) and a few drops of an essential oil or essential oil blend. The fragrance is very, very light and pretty unassuming, but you get a "feel" more than a big aroma. Even my sensitive friends don't mind and aren't affected by it.
hi Nick, another topic suggestion: when adding color to walls, how do you figure out what walls to paint? you've mentioned before you don't like accent walls, and neither do i. but then do you paint ALL the walls the same color? what do you do in an open space concept? can you choose 2-3 colors (including ceiling) or just the whole box goes the same color? i have a hard time with this and haven't found anyone talking about it!
I like to use accent corners. To me one wall painted in an accent colour looks like an after thought, so I choose a corner and paint the two walls leading into it. If there is a door in the way, sometimes that gets painted the same colour too.
People often comment that my house smells like a spa. When people walked into my prior home that I designed and built, they went nuts over all the big windows, tons of wood, and the forest views. The beach house we’re in now is no architects fantasy by any means. We do have harbor and ocean views but what people notice when they walk into this house is that it’s flooded with light. It doesn’t seem to matter what else is going on in my house. All of the natural light elevates this space. Natural light makes people feel uplifted. Even if you don’t have natural light, there are so many ways to incorporate that feeling into your home. I’ve walked into beautiful homes that are dark and that’s what I remember. Another beautiful sweater Nick!
I don’t know that I care about my home looking expensive, but I do want it to look intentional and like me. I especially like the idea of putting in unique-to-you decor. We have things from our travels and framed photos I’ve taken. But even things from big box stores can be unique. I was at Target once and on the clearance rack in the kitchen section found two chargers -one made of crushed eggshells and the other strips of bamboo. I have them hanging on the wall in my kitchen and I get compliments on them all the time.
Hi Nick! Thanks for another awesome video. Can you cover vignettes sometime and just describe where they make sense, how to make them look good, etc? I've seen other channels do critiques of viewers' homes and how to improve them, and no one seems to say "here's where a vignette makes sense," much less how to make it both intentional and fit with the rest of the space
May I add wel fitted window treatments. We recently put ceiling to floor curtains and it made a huge difference. It covers ugly heating pipes and wall outlets, which makes the walls look less busy overall.
I have hyperosmia also known as extreme heightened sense of smell. Because of this it can cause migraines for me but even I can find a scent that works. I can do 2 drops of spearmint in a diffuser with a lot of water to make my home smell fresh. The thing with scents is not to overdo especially with essential oils. If you walk out of your home and you smell like your home you are overdoing it.
We just inherited some neat vintages objects from my husband’s family. I instinctively grouped them together and created a vignette! Thanks for naming this design technique-so helpful and it really works!
I feel validated about my unique end tables! My uncle made them for my grandfather many years ago, and I inherited them. They are truly one of a kind, and I love getting to share their story when people come to visit.
I'd love to watch a video about proper scale. Like actual charts and diagrams of how big my art pieces should be and how much space should be between the couch and the coffee table
You can look up the measurements online. I believe couch to coffee table is 18 inches so people can comfortably reach the coffee table. 3 feet minimum to walk between furniture pieces and walls.
Craft shows too! I'm fortunate to have a few needlepoint pieces my grandmother made for me and framed, and I have one in my living room because it matches my colour scheme, and adds something personal, a way to remember her and visiting the beach together (since it's of a kid picking shells off the beach, and she used to take me to the beach). I've seen some neat custom designs at art shows, some needlepoint, some wall quilts and tapestries, and some cool 3D wooden pieces that can be hung on walls. There's usually something that will remind you of something you like, or a good memory.
Totally agree! Things in my house probably don't look like they would work but they DO work because they're all offshoots of what I love. And really, it's taking time (or making it LOOK like you took the time!) to be thoughtful about your home and what you're putting in it. You're absolutely right - it looks currated or custom made for you. And those tricks of using lighting to feel warm and welcoming just add the perfect layer.
All so doable. Neat and tidy rings most true to me. My place looks great on its own, but there's nothing like crap everywhere to make a nice room look cheap and uncomfortable.
I looooove a good vignette! The little moments as you walk through your home are SO pleasant! I have a few of them in my house. They are so much fun to put together too!
I really am becoming a fan of your channel. You have really given me some good advice. I love that you are honest and kind but also that you promote us to showing pieces that reflect us, but be modest with them. I have learnt alot. Thanks.
I love my walls. They hold up the roof very nicely and I totally agree they can be so much more. Books perched on the coffee table and not beside the reading light open with your glasses on top instantly tells me these people never read and when they do crack open a book it is large, heavy and has mostly pictures in it. I love scents, but not usually ones I buy in a store. I have a garden with lots of scented roses, flowers, herbs, flowering shrubs etc. and I do snip and use those when in season, especially a bundle of herbs cut and placed in the kitchen or bathrooms. Lots of great ideas today Nick.
I have moved more than 20 times and always had an apple pie baking in the oven. If I had a lot of showings in one day, I pulled it out when no one was there and put it back just before the next showing. No cookie crumbs to clean. My second thing is going to estate auctions. I have a lot of beautiful original art. It takes time and you have to sift through a lot of “stuff” but it is a way to get expensive items for much less. Pay attention to the neighborhood.
Hi Nick. I hear you on the “scent sensitivity” thing. My husband is like that. Me - I need a little something. So I’ve found our solution is + potted herbs in the kitchen - things like basil, thyme, mint. They add a subtle fragrance and soften the kitchen. Also great the grab a handful in cooking. + rosemary stems here and there. I have a couple to dry with my wooden spatulas that stand up on my counter + natural fragranced candles that I don’t burn in the bathroom. Some candles are so strong smelling that they smell delicious even just with the lid removed - so that’s what I do - and I leave them in the bathroom to combat the bathroom smells + bowls of lemons, limes and fruit. When they are in season, they have a slight aroma that’s just enough. And they look good. If they don’t smell, they trick your brain a little I think anyhow. + fragranced oils - a few drops inside the toilet roll in the bathroom. You don’t even know they are there but they make the bathroom smell a hell of a lot better. I like citrus or lemongrass. + greenery in vases. They don’t spread pollen like flowers and they look beautiful and natural. + dried flowers - not like Nanna used to do. We live in Australia so there are some great big natives that dry really well like Waratahs. + coffee. Nothing beats fresh coffee and the coffee grounds left discretely in the kitchen smell great
I seem to be similar to your husband. Natural essential oils of herbs (sage) and citrus fruits are for me. Also arabian incense and tonka. I love grapefruit with sage for energy.
I just replaced 3 small pieces (original and beautiful) with two larger pieces (original oil). I have a small space, but these are tall thin paintings in solid frames. Man, they improved my room! $3 each at a garage sale. They are abstracted trees, perfect for me. I live in a forest and it brings that indoors. It adds up to 4'x4' of design wall. I agree with you about moldings, so I just decided to add simple molding in my living room, then keep going. I enlarged my entry hall but left a wall cabinet up... looks horrible, but the simple style would be lovely as a thin cabinet with mid-century modern legs. I am gonna rip that off the wall and hang art there above that cabinet. Instead of a 12 foot hallway, functional spaces! Creating a square entry hall upgraded my bitty home more than the square footage would suggest, the hall closet is not missed.
When your mentioned scents, you immediately reminded me of something i always tried to incorporate in my restaurant: any space needs to appeal to all five senses.... Sight, sound, taste, touch and smell. Applying this to interior design, you should have interesting visual arrangement and views, pleasing auditory or background sounds (music or, say, a breeze or a brook or even the "sounds of the city"), taste? Obviously in a restaurant or home this refers to quality food, touch refers to enticing and pleasurable textures, and smell brings us to pleasurable and not off-putting aromas in the immediate vicinity. Feel free to do a video on applying the five senses to spacial design!
You're the 1st designer I've heard say you can have more than 3 colors. Most say 2, and a primary neutral. And I want color (and a lot of black) in my life. It made me so happy😂
LR/DR apple green, pale yellow, coral plus cream and white, dark hardwood. Kitchen lilac, green, white, some pale yellow. Family room - pale turquoise, deep teal, pale apple green and yellow plus white…l live colour..l screw rules
We remodeled a 50s ranch a few years ago (BEFORE we moved in!). One thing I noticed is the living room had NO lighting. I’d forgotten that houses used to be built that way. We had to bring in construction lights while we worked because it was so dark. We had to add wiring to put in some lighting (and yes, everything has dimmers). I personalized the room by putting out things from around the world - coasters that my sister brought back from Paris 40 years ago, singing bowls that my daughter brought back from Nepal, a three panel wood carving from Indonesia, beaded art from Ukraine, Kilim pillows from Turkey. My coffee table books are: one about an artist/sculptor who is a relative of my husband, and our daughter’s three novels and one book of short stories. Definitely personal!
I grew up in houses like that. Ceilings were only 8 ft throughout the house. Our living room had a floor lamp in one corner and tables with table lamps as needed provided plenty of light for reading, etc.
Most of my unique pieces are really just family heirlooms. It's sentimental, free, and automatically feels like home (i.e. grandma's perfume bottles, the decorative plates from aunt, or grandpa's poker game). Creates new memories with them ❤
Same, how have you displayed your Grandma's perfume bottles? Looking for ideas for mine. I am a family treasure keeper too and I like to live among them.
I have the trunk my mother’s family brought all their worldly goods over from Europe in the 1750s. My mother ripped the moldy horsehair off of it, painted it black and 😊stenciled Dutch girls and tulips. The inside is bright yellow. She did this in 1942. She always stored her out of season clothes in it. It’s not big enough for my shoes and boots. But it is my favorite piece in my living room. That and my great grandmother’s wicker rocker (which my grandmother told me she’d haunt me if I ever painted it) which I was sitting in when I heard The Beatles new single: A Hard Days Night. So there are memories.
@TiffyStrangeBird Brown Sorry to disappoint, those were random examples. But I could imagine perfume bottles as decor in the main bath or bedroom, on the counter or possibly using picture wall shelves! ❤
The danger with fragrances and flowers: I started with a few oncidium and cattleya type orchids in the living room bay window for the pretty blooms and fragrances - chocolate, vanilla, tangerine and mango/pineapple, oh my!! But then ninety plus orchids in two years later, I've become one of those plant people that you've talked about in earlier vidoes. Sigh, it happens.
I did that! When we had an open house, I totally made cookies! I put them on a pretty plate. I hand made a little card. The house smelled like cookies. I was more excited than I should have been, honestly. I was pretty sad that not one cookie was gone from that plate. Not one! I guess people are a lot more health conscious, and a lot more worried about being poisoned by strangers these days lol.
Cheers, this video finally reminded me and the husband to switch the color temp on our living room LED strips. They weren't intensive but they were cold. I mostly use them during the evening and it's finally warm.
Regarding scents...there are so many options for creating lovely scents with herbs, fruits, etc. I love to dry orange slices in the over, slice lemons and put them in a bowl or create the traditional holiday spice simmer on the stove. Clean also smells really lovely! 😸
I was looking for a hall entry light for my house and got something I liked, on sale, at Lowe's (yes, Lowe's). It has a big drum shade that's painted gold inside and is like a dark bronze on the outside. But I decided to zhuzh it up so I bought some modpodge and a little package of gold leaf at a hobby store. I brushed the inside of the shade and added the gold leaf and voila, now it's a unique fixture that no one else has.
Haphazard. That's how I feel about my living room. Thank you for this video! I'm already getting some ideas and I'm only 5 minutes in! Can you please do a video about ceilings?
I can't believe it! This is the first time in ANY decorating video that I've seen something I actually own -- the Bombay Company marble solitaire game at 6:01. Some of my favorite items to keep on the coffee table or other display areas are games and instruments. I try to acquire one or the other when I go on vacation. I have a gorgeous didgeridoo hand carved by an Indigenous Australian artist, a rainstick from Argentina, and I plan to purchase the prettiest djembe I can afford on my upcoming trip to Mali. I love to have things in my home that are "hands-on" -- that encourage people to touch them and play with them. Some people get a kick out of the Hawaiian poi balls, and almost everyone enjoys playing the marble solitaire -- and with it being made of solid mahogany and real marble multi-colored marbles, it's gorgeous. Many have tried but no one can play the didgeridoo LOL. I think these things are so much more interesting and unique than a coffee table book for someone to thumb through. And if you don't travel, you can find pretty much anything on Etsy, including authentic items from the native countries.
Our town home was built with coffered ceilings. That was the selling point for me. Gorgeous and expensive looking. We love them. Love your style and gentle snark, Nick. ❤
This is exactly what I've been doing throughout the years to achieve a cohesive look that I love. It's especially hard as in my country there is very little choice of nice, high quality and good looking things, so some things have been bought abroad but I'm absolutely pleased with the result. In these circumstances it's also important to have a good eye to fish out the really great things from the loads of rubbish that's being sold. Also, things don't have to be expensive to look expensive.
Nick, these photos you've chosen are absolutely wonderful. That's something consistently love about your channel, you pick excellent photographic examples.
Thank you, Nick! I have learned and keep learning so much thanks to you! I am renting but I have tried my best to follow your tips to make my apartment homier and cohesive 🙏🏻🙌🏻❤
This was such a good video :) I also liked that the examples you’ve shown are a great mixture between real grand spaces and more lived in looking ones. Appreciated ♥️
I liked that too. Even spotted that some of the pictures are from actual lived-in homes - for example, at 8:02, the picture on the right was the paris apartment of Damon Dominique, I recognized it from the video th-cam.com/video/LqmKRgYA2-o/w-d-xo.html
I love using same-day blueprint printing, you can get a 36x48" paper print for like $12. There are limitations with how colorful or how much ink the print can be though. I love how huge it is and how often I change it up if I want.
While I love the look of a good vignette, I think a lot of people tend to go overboard with how many of them imo. A few is fine, but a lot is just not practical for cleaning. Plus my cats like to knock things over; I imagine people with kids have to deal with that too.
I love the room by room treatment and advice. Obviously, we agree on 98% because, why would I follow you otherwise. Focal points. Glad to validation that the tv is NOT a focal point. Scent is really important. Scent can have a great impact on your mood. I plan scents around my house to the seasons and my husband and son’s sensitivity to florals. In the UK estate agents as they are called here suggest fresh coffee, baked bread and fresh cut tomatoes and basil to sell a home. I love all those scents but they would not make me buy a house I have to say.
SO much great stuff in this video, Nick! Design Matters!!!! 2700k lighting all over my home (except for the light in the hood-vent). Large art 100%!!! Even the right rug/tapestry hung as art, behind a sofa, can be stunning! I also try to keep fresh flowers around. I absolutely depend on Pinterest for design. A board for each room. I start populating it with everything I like, then go back in every week or so to edit out the stuff I don't like so much or what isn't cohesive to the room (or home). I keep adding more and editing out what doesn't work. I put in images of rooms with color palettes and styles I like. I add in furniture options, lighting, wall treatments (or not), art, rugs, lighting, window treatments, what wood & metal finishes I want in the room, fabric options, did I mention lighting? I take my time with this. It's much cheaper to do this exercise in a Pinterest board than buying stuff that just doesn't work together. It's the modern day mood board, right?
I think the #1 problem in my house is functionality. I agree with hiding the unsightly things you're stuck with but aside from the everyday flotsam and jetsam I have things like that oversized AC that can only be put in a specific spot which means it not only looks ugly but limits where I can put other things to make the room work better. Very frustrating. It was bad enough arranging things for my kids when they were little and then my dog when she needed accommodating but being dictated to by a machine is really past insulting.
Just a suggestion, but could you put a table around it, so that the vents are open flow, but there's something ontop where you could place some decorative things?
I can relate. We are in a rental home where in the living room there is a mantle with no fireplace underneath it. Lol but a huge wall air conditioner above it. It is such an eyesore so in the months we don’t need air conditioning I bought a beautiful large canvas painted with beautiful plants on it from big lots to sit on the mantle and cover that air conditioner I styled on either side of the painting, some little baskets and plants and I hung beads and tassels from the mantle, and it actually looks like it was meant to be
Nick, thanks again for a great video. I'm decluttering my LR this weekend. Cleared my calendar next week so I can deep clean, get the decisions made and put out my nice pieces. Looking forward to the next one in the series which is a fantastic idea. 😊
Well, I'm fine on "Unique" since I have a great-aunt's cowhorn-trimmed settee and a concert harp. "Large-scale art" - got that too: a sentimental watercolor of swans on a canal, with plaster rosebuds on the frame (it was grandma's). And I recently hung coordinating Japanese ukiyo-e prints flanking the door. The colors all fit with an art deco wallpaper frieze at the ceiling.
I put gorgeous moldings and baseboards throughout my moms house. We found that the end to dust them outweighed our enjoyment of how gorgeous they looked,
Thanks, Nick! Would love to see recommendations on filling big rooms. We have a two story living room. In particular we need to fill big walls, especially a big wall that isn't symmetric. We need help lol
This is absolutely what I believe in. Every single point is straight out of my mind. Now I can send to my flatmate my thoughts in an eloquent form. Thanks much
This is a really smart time for this video, because with the end of summer comes the start of a new college year and people moving into apartments for the first time
11:35 I fell in love with these art deco magpie sconces, some sites asked $100's but TEMU had them for just $40 each. I'm gaga over them and maybe later I'll buy a matching chandelier but really my little place doesn't need it. The pair I have, the one bird and two bird sconces are elegant. They look expensive.
This one is perfect. You’re giving serious substance, and I’m chuckling the whole way there. Idk if it’s my ADD or you’re just on one and matching my energy tonight, but I’m here for it. The vignette is the moment; therefore I am the moment. It’s expensive to be me.
For my decoration and throw pillows I chose some colors which can be differently combined. I love to change my decor items every season. for spring I use mint green and yellow, summer is dark teal, mint and yellow, fall is a rusty orange and yellow and winter is dark teal and rusty orange. I also want to include my rugs into it, but didn’t find yet what I’m looking for. I love to change the atmosphere of my home according to the seasons
making vignettes is one of my favourite things to do for some reason. like I'll be up late at night just rearranging a shelf and looking at it lmao also i'd like to second the sentiment that DESIGN MATTERS. This was something I learned first hand when I was in military training. after being surrounded by nothing but beige lifeless army base buildings for months at a time, I remember feeling a noticeable moment of relief when I saw a small display set up in the building where our uniforms were getting tailored. it wasn't even decor that I liked, but just seeing that the ladies there had put up some fake flowers and a little country crafty styled "god bless america" sign was really nice. If you spend too much time without art or design, I think your mind just becomes desperate for it.
I love the idea of wall paper or other wall treatments, but our Florida home came with textured walls. Can you give any ideas about what to do with textured walls? I would love to hear you opinions! Alas, I fear it might be expensive to get rid of the texture on all the walls thought the house.
Intentional pieces out vs storage really speaks to me. I swapped out my coffee table and built one with a drawer - sounds so simple but an absolute game changer to hide tv controls and coasters within arms reach when i need them. Made it so much easier to keep the room looking tidy and welcoming. Lighting too - a cheap usb smart plug with ikea usb puck lights has added a calming evening feature.
Not only does my husband not understand/appreciate lighting options, he puts different types of bulbs in the same overhead feature. Not just two, three completely different lighting intensity/temperatures in the same feature 😳
Absolutely agree with putting stuff away. You need to have thing like phone chargers and remotes and pens and notepads, but you leave all that scattered across your coffee table and it just looks messy. Dump it all in nice decorative box and arrange that on top of a pretty tray with a vase of flowers and a pretty tchochke or 2 and you have a beautiful vingette that looks designed and expensive.
I love going to thrift stores and antique shops. I recently found a gorgeous carved wood frame mirror at an antique store for only $20 which was an amazing price. You can't find quality like that at a home store.
Where I live, estate sales and resale stores are exploding with great, real artwork and beautiful furniture. So many amazing things for very little. Just picked up a large, signed, Norwegian oil painting at a small estate sale for $15. Got a large metalwork piece of plants and birds for .25 cents at Salvation Army. So, now even the little guys can afford luxury items. : )
I love all your suggestions and I have been following you for a long time. Because of you, there is nothing in my rental apartment ( old and renovated) that I don’t love. My lovely things coordinated against a basic background with some major quirks. Another tenant saw my apartment for the first time and said, “What did you do to my apartment?!” ; -) Thank you for all the great suggestions. Oh, I better clean up and put some things away.
This was a GREAT video and really underscores a lot of our design style - we're ignorant but apparently have made some solid design decisions! Nick, my FAV quote has to be when you said, "...I've run out of scents"!!!! Ahem. I kindly spelled it as you meant it but I can't help that "sense" would have been pretty funny!
thanks for all these great videos. I'm going to renovate my small one bedroom condo (768 sq feet) and it's pretty over overwhelming. I'm trying to figure out how to get more closed storage built into the place. I have high ceilings in my main room... I'm hesitant to have too many open shelves/bookcase because I am trying to avoid clutter. I'm always impressed by interior designers... I just don't have that skill!
I consider myself a minimalist, yet enjoy so much of what you do, and I find ways of incorporating your suggestions and bringing in warmth and personality. Thanks, Nick.
Bought an expensive Rituals scent for our living room. Soooo worth the money, I didn’t realise it would have such an effect! It lifts my mood any time I enter the room.
I love the unique items piece, to the point that I wish when people utilized designers they would leave people to complete the last step. Nothing IMO will make your home look more generic than pulling all your accessories from the same store in the same season. I don't think items have to be expensive or even uncommon, they just have to reflect you.
My younger self picked a beautiful original painting, and drew my colors from that. My older self does it more intuitively, but when I design a quilt, I often end up with colors from a painting in my home.
I do agree about color temperatures, buuuut i do like having a bright white light over my kitchen with another warm white light over the breakfast nook, just to balance it out a little. I do wonder if it looks like i was just being lazy even though it was very intentional. Now I feel like I should get over it and just change one of them :/
![[TH] 2024 PMGC League | Survival Stage วันที่ 1 | PUBG MOBILE Global Championship](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/FVFT-PFwU80/mqdefault.jpg)
“Go live in a hospital for a few weeks, and tell me design doesn’t matter.” Such a stark, impactful statement and pithiest argument ever! ❤️
'Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be beautiful or believe to be useful' - William Morris
I’ve been following this golden rule for the home since I learned it in 1992. Eventually I took it to a new level- make sure your useful things are also beautiful (or at least aesthetically pleasing.) No visible branding allowed and keep useful things stored in beautiful containers. Following these simple rules keeps everything looking considered, intentional & “expensive” in Nick’s terms.
No kids in those homes?
Even in my shower, I turn all the bottles backwards. I'd rather see small print than logos and brand names. 😄
Agree with you. Make the "necessary" beautiful.
I've been moving towards the philosophy for some years now. If I have to use something everyday then I want it to look beautiful as well.
Same here, I have been gradually switching out my useful items, with good quality & (to me) aesthetically pleasing items for a few years now.
I’ve had people in my life who’ve rolled their eyes and sort of imply that I’m shallow since the design of my space matters so much to me. And I’ve always let them know that, then, I guess the cave-people who scratched images of woolly mammoths and sabre tooth tigers on the walls of their caves were shallow too. Design does indeed matter!
Oh Nick, I adore you. Not only do you provide us with excellent information but you deliver it with the perfect amount of lighthearted snark. ❤
Loved the comment about living in a hospital for a week😂
Awww thanks!
You nailed it!
Yes love his snark.❤
@@meridabowes3796 That made me smile so why don't they design hospitals differently so people can heal in a nurturing space? They could add colour to walls, use artwork with serene nature scenes, hang up bed curtains that aren't white... It's been so many decades since I went inside a hospital that maybe they don't have these any more... Plants are considered 'health and safety' and I believe flowers are no longer allowed for the same reason. As an ex-nurse (from the 70's), we did take time out refreshing the water, removing dead flowers etc but they added colour and scent to the space...
Sleeping in on a Saturday to wake up to coffee and a new Nick Lewis video = perfection.
Oh, Nick. Three years after having my sense of smell nuked by COVID your words about scents and our sense of smell made me cry. Yes! scents do connect directly to our emotions and memories. I remember once walking in an unfamiliar neighborhood and stopping dead in my tracks because a house I was passing was giving off the EXACT scent profile of my grandmother's house: lavender, coffee, bacon, pound cake, Ivory soap, oil paints, and something salty reminiscent of the back bay of Biloxi circa 1966. BOOM I was transported back forty years. It was uncanny. Those of you who can still enjoy the magic of scents, indulge yourselves. It's precious and much missed by those of us who lost it or had it severely damaged during this cursed pandemic.
I lost a lot of my sense of smell when I got covid too. It’s been rough. I can smell things generally now but that nuance, like the individual notes that make a smell special is gone. I really hope it comes back someday, it’s like a whole layer of life has been dulled.
My mom lost her sense of smell 15 years ago after surviving stage 4 sinus cancer through a combo of good medicine, faith, and extraordinary luck. I feel for anyone who has lost their sense of smell and have seen how isolating it can be. We cherish those rare, bizarre moments where it flickers back (citrus will do this for her, maybe once a year).
Best kept design secret? Thrift stores in rich neighborhoods. That’s all.
This is so true! I don’t have a ‘rich’ neighborhood in my town, but I have started to stop at some when visiting other parts of the state and when I have space in the car. Some really nice clothes too 😊
Yes, been outfitting my 6 kids with brand names @ below k mart store prices. Neighbors think we are really rich!
The night before garbage pick up in rich neighborhoods too. I’ve gotten some nice outdoor furniture and end tables this way 😉
Consignment stores as well and estate sales.
@@robertglover8819
We live in rural Kentucky and it’s hard to find good stuff cheap. So, when we visit family in Chicago, we go thrift store shopping and consignment stores up there. Have found some spectacular things thru the years 😊👍🏻
it makes me so happy that you rip on the tom ford book every chance you get!
also love you constantly trying to teach naysayers the concept of "as applicable - common sense"
✨♥️✨
When it comes to large scale art, you can also make your own out of: 1. wallpaper (find some nice prints or "mural" type wallpapers and glue them to the frame board, then attach the frame), 2. fabric (same as wallpaper - just cut it to size and attach to the frame), 3. small collectibles (arrange and attach multiple items of the same theme / color scheme to a shadow box type picture frame and you'll have a unique, large piece of visual interest on your wall).
Don’t point mirrors at each other to avoid the funhouse look as well as to avoid creating a portal for ghosts and demons. Those things will bring back dead decor, like boob lights and ‘Live, Laugh, Love’ signs.
I’m a private person (I know, shocker, right?), the one thing I do which I think also helps eliminate a cluttered looking house (hence a more expensive look), is that I never decorate with framed family photos in public places. To me, those candid shots are private and I don’t necessarily want to share them with the dishwasher repair man or the noisy neighbors. I find that to be TMI for guests who may not be in your inner circle. Thus I keep all family photos on the bedroom level of the house and not the main level or the entertainment spaces, which also includes the foyer, hallways, staircases and powder room. If you want to display a formal family portrait in the living room only, that’s reasonable but limit it to just one and preferably one of considerable size which lends itself to being wall mounted (freeing up valuable surface space).
Everytime that Nick says "uh-gaynst the wall", an angel gets their wings. 🥰
It has taken me at least 5 years to design my home so that I feel proud and comfortable at the same time. I couldn't have done it without you, Nick. I actually worked at a jail for a short time, and yes, design does matter 😄 You made me laugh out loud with that one.
Literally remodeling our living room TODAY. This video is perfect timing! ❤
When my favourite youtubers comments on one of my favourite interior design youtubers 💛 i want to be friends with you both 😄
Living rooms should look cosy not expensive. I’m one of those people who would rather entertain in a large kitchen/dining room and keep the living room for reading, knitting and watching TH-cam videos with my pets.
You are a treasure. Always learning and your quite humorous.
Museum shops often have awesome prints and posters to frame. I bought a poster at the Vatican museum more than 25 years ago and I still love it. Another favorite is a poster of an ancient Egyptian cat statuette, purchased at Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek here in Copenhagen❤
My husband is an avid reader.... and likes to leave his books everywhere. SO, beside his favorite chair, I put a basket (slightly hidden underneath the side table) where all his reading material goes. Even if I have to put them away!
One "rule" I do break is I have a lot of family pictures displayed. Having five grandchildren who I love SO MUCH means I want to have pics of them!!
Rogues galleries are the best. I love seeing them at people's homes. Sometimes they can be a bit too curated which is boring but looking at the kids jumping through the sprinkler and then their kids at the playground, that's cool.
I need this… my furniture is all Wayfair & Target so I could use some ideas to class the place up! (Without going to Homegoods, obbbbviously!😂)
I’m dying - I made this comment before watching and the first minute in: “probably from HomeSense” 😂😂😂
Those places can have items that are classy. Prolly not everything they sell but they have gems!
I love intentional clutter. My motto is if you love it you can make it work in your space. If you can ask yourself for every piece in your home do you actually love it or are you trying to fit the style of the home/fit someone else’s style.
For a home fragrance, I like using a diffuser (distilled water only!) and a few drops of an essential oil or essential oil blend. The fragrance is very, very light and pretty unassuming, but you get a "feel" more than a big aroma. Even my sensitive friends don't mind and aren't affected by it.
hi Nick, another topic suggestion: when adding color to walls, how do you figure out what walls to paint? you've mentioned before you don't like accent walls, and neither do i. but then do you paint ALL the walls the same color? what do you do in an open space concept? can you choose 2-3 colors (including ceiling) or just the whole box goes the same color? i have a hard time with this and haven't found anyone talking about it!
I like to use accent corners. To me one wall painted in an accent colour looks like an after thought, so I choose a corner and paint the two walls leading into it. If there is a door in the way, sometimes that gets painted the same colour too.
People often comment that my house smells like a spa. When people walked into my prior home that I designed and built, they went nuts over all the big windows, tons of wood, and the forest views. The beach house we’re in now is no architects fantasy by any means. We do have harbor and ocean views but what people notice when they walk into this house is that it’s flooded with light. It doesn’t seem to matter what else is going on in my house. All of the natural light elevates this space. Natural light makes people feel uplifted. Even if you don’t have natural light, there are so many ways to incorporate that feeling into your home. I’ve walked into beautiful homes that are dark and that’s what I remember. Another beautiful sweater Nick!
I’m not a fan of dark houses. The more sunlight the better.
I don’t know that I care about my home looking expensive, but I do want it to look intentional and like me. I especially like the idea of putting in unique-to-you decor. We have things from our travels and framed photos I’ve taken. But even things from big box stores can be unique. I was at Target once and on the clearance rack in the kitchen section found two chargers -one made of crushed eggshells and the other strips of bamboo. I have them hanging on the wall in my kitchen and I get compliments on them all the time.
Hi Nick! Thanks for another awesome video.
Can you cover vignettes sometime and just describe where they make sense, how to make them look good, etc?
I've seen other channels do critiques of viewers' homes and how to improve them, and no one seems to say "here's where a vignette makes sense," much less how to make it both intentional and fit with the rest of the space
Design absolutely does matter! Truth matters too…so I must disclose, Nick, that you are positively adorable!
May I add wel fitted window treatments. We recently put ceiling to floor curtains and it made a huge difference. It covers ugly heating pipes and wall outlets, which makes the walls look less busy overall.
I have hyperosmia also known as extreme heightened sense of smell. Because of this it can cause migraines for me but even I can find a scent that works. I can do 2 drops of spearmint in a diffuser with a lot of water to make my home smell fresh. The thing with scents is not to overdo especially with essential oils. If you walk out of your home and you smell like your home you are overdoing it.
We just inherited some neat vintages objects from my husband’s family. I instinctively grouped them together and created a vignette! Thanks for naming this design technique-so helpful and it really works!
I feel validated about my unique end tables! My uncle made them for my grandfather many years ago, and I inherited them. They are truly one of a kind, and I love getting to share their story when people come to visit.
I'd love to watch a video about proper scale. Like actual charts and diagrams of how big my art pieces should be and how much space should be between the couch and the coffee table
He has one about scale! It's called Measurement or Measuring Mistakes. About 2 years ago.
You can look up the measurements online. I believe couch to coffee table is 18 inches so people can comfortably reach the coffee table. 3 feet minimum to walk between furniture pieces and walls.
Thrift stores are full of art at reasonable prices!
Craft shows too! I'm fortunate to have a few needlepoint pieces my grandmother made for me and framed, and I have one in my living room because it matches my colour scheme, and adds something personal, a way to remember her and visiting the beach together (since it's of a kid picking shells off the beach, and she used to take me to the beach). I've seen some neat custom designs at art shows, some needlepoint, some wall quilts and tapestries, and some cool 3D wooden pieces that can be hung on walls. There's usually something that will remind you of something you like, or a good memory.
Totally agree! Things in my house probably don't look like they would work but they DO work because they're all offshoots of what I love. And really, it's taking time (or making it LOOK like you took the time!) to be thoughtful about your home and what you're putting in it. You're absolutely right - it looks currated or custom made for you. And those tricks of using lighting to feel warm and welcoming just add the perfect layer.
All so doable. Neat and tidy rings most true to me. My place looks great on its own, but there's nothing like crap everywhere to make a nice room look cheap and uncomfortable.
White space is a real thing g. The eye must rest.
I looooove a good vignette! The little moments as you walk through your home are SO pleasant! I have a few of them in my house. They are so much fun to put together too!
Philips Hue and Lutron switches are a game changer. My sister is an interior designer and professional decorator and for once, she thanked me 😂👯♀️
I really am becoming a fan of your channel. You have really given me some good advice. I love that you are honest and kind but also that you promote us to showing pieces that reflect us, but be modest with them. I have learnt alot. Thanks.
I love my walls. They hold up the roof very nicely and I totally agree they can be so much more. Books perched on the coffee table and not beside the reading light open with your glasses on top instantly tells me these people never read and when they do crack open a book it is large, heavy and has mostly pictures in it. I love scents, but not usually ones I buy in a store. I have a garden with lots of scented roses, flowers, herbs, flowering shrubs etc. and I do snip and use those when in season, especially a bundle of herbs cut and placed in the kitchen or bathrooms.
Lots of great ideas today Nick.
I have moved more than 20 times and always had an apple pie baking in the oven. If I had a lot of showings in one day, I pulled it out when no one was there and put it back just before the next showing. No cookie crumbs to clean.
My second thing is going to estate auctions. I have a lot of beautiful original art. It takes time and you have to sift through a lot of “stuff” but it is a way to get expensive items for much less. Pay attention to the neighborhood.
Hi Nick. I hear you on the “scent sensitivity” thing. My husband is like that. Me - I need a little something. So I’ve found our solution is
+ potted herbs in the kitchen - things like basil, thyme, mint. They add a subtle fragrance and soften the kitchen. Also great the grab a handful in cooking.
+ rosemary stems here and there. I have a couple to dry with my wooden spatulas that stand up on my counter
+ natural fragranced candles that I don’t burn in the bathroom. Some candles are so strong smelling that they smell delicious even just with the lid removed - so that’s what I do - and I leave them in the bathroom to combat the bathroom smells
+ bowls of lemons, limes and fruit. When they are in season, they have a slight aroma that’s just enough. And they look good. If they don’t smell, they trick your brain a little I think anyhow.
+ fragranced oils - a few drops inside the toilet roll in the bathroom. You don’t even know they are there but they make the bathroom smell a hell of a lot better. I like citrus or lemongrass.
+ greenery in vases. They don’t spread pollen like flowers and they look beautiful and natural.
+ dried flowers - not like Nanna used to do. We live in Australia so there are some great big natives that dry really well like Waratahs.
+ coffee. Nothing beats fresh coffee and the coffee grounds left discretely in the kitchen smell great
I seem to be similar to your husband. Natural essential oils of herbs (sage) and citrus fruits are for me. Also arabian incense and tonka. I love grapefruit with sage for energy.
I just replaced 3 small pieces (original and beautiful) with two larger pieces (original oil). I have a small space, but these are tall thin paintings in solid frames. Man, they improved my room! $3 each at a garage sale. They are abstracted trees, perfect for me. I live in a forest and it brings that indoors. It adds up to 4'x4' of design wall.
I agree with you about moldings, so I just decided to add simple molding in my living room, then keep going.
I enlarged my entry hall but left a wall cabinet up... looks horrible, but the simple style would be lovely as a thin cabinet with mid-century modern legs. I am gonna rip that off the wall and hang art there above that cabinet. Instead of a 12 foot hallway, functional spaces! Creating a square entry hall upgraded my bitty home more than the square footage would suggest, the hall closet is not missed.
When your mentioned scents, you immediately reminded me of something i always tried to incorporate in my restaurant: any space needs to appeal to all five senses.... Sight, sound, taste, touch and smell. Applying this to interior design, you should have interesting visual arrangement and views, pleasing auditory or background sounds (music or, say, a breeze or a brook or even the "sounds of the city"), taste? Obviously in a restaurant or home this refers to quality food, touch refers to enticing and pleasurable textures, and smell brings us to pleasurable and not off-putting aromas in the immediate vicinity. Feel free to do a video on applying the five senses to spacial design!
You're the 1st designer I've heard say you can have more than 3 colors. Most say 2, and a primary neutral. And I want color (and a lot of black) in my life. It made me so happy😂
LR/DR apple green, pale yellow, coral plus cream and white, dark hardwood. Kitchen lilac, green, white, some pale yellow. Family room - pale turquoise, deep teal, pale apple green and yellow plus white…l live colour..l screw rules
We remodeled a 50s ranch a few years ago (BEFORE we moved in!). One thing I noticed is the living room had NO lighting. I’d forgotten that houses used to be built that way. We had to bring in construction lights while we worked because it was so dark. We had to add wiring to put in some lighting (and yes, everything has dimmers). I personalized the room by putting out things from around the world - coasters that my sister brought back from Paris 40 years ago, singing bowls that my daughter brought back from Nepal, a three panel wood carving from Indonesia, beaded art from Ukraine, Kilim pillows from Turkey. My coffee table books are: one about an artist/sculptor who is a relative of my husband, and our daughter’s three novels and one book of short stories. Definitely personal!
This sound GORGEOUS! I love the personal international accents! And those houses built with outlets but no installed lighting are ghastly.
I grew up in houses like that. Ceilings were only 8 ft throughout the house. Our living room had a floor lamp in one corner and tables with table lamps as needed provided plenty of light for reading, etc.
Most of my unique pieces are really just family heirlooms. It's sentimental, free, and automatically feels like home (i.e. grandma's perfume bottles, the decorative plates from aunt, or grandpa's poker game). Creates new memories with them ❤
Same, how have you displayed your Grandma's perfume bottles? Looking for ideas for mine. I am a family treasure keeper too and I like to live among them.
I have the trunk my mother’s family brought all their worldly goods over from Europe in the 1750s. My mother ripped the moldy horsehair off of it, painted it black and 😊stenciled Dutch girls and tulips. The inside is bright yellow. She did this in 1942. She always stored her out of season clothes in it. It’s not big enough for my shoes and boots. But it is my favorite piece in my living room. That and my great grandmother’s wicker rocker (which my grandmother told me she’d haunt me if I ever painted it) which I was sitting in when I heard The Beatles new single: A Hard Days Night. So there are memories.
@TiffyStrangeBird Brown Sorry to disappoint, those were random examples. But I could imagine perfume bottles as decor in the main bath or bedroom, on the counter or possibly using picture wall shelves! ❤
The danger with fragrances and flowers: I started with a few oncidium and cattleya type orchids in the living room bay window for the pretty blooms and fragrances - chocolate, vanilla, tangerine and mango/pineapple, oh my!! But then ninety plus orchids in two years later, I've become one of those plant people that you've talked about in earlier vidoes. Sigh, it happens.
So you went from decor to passion!
I did that! When we had an open house, I totally made cookies! I put them on a pretty plate. I hand made a little card. The house smelled like cookies. I was more excited than I should have been, honestly. I was pretty sad that not one cookie was gone from that plate. Not one! I guess people are a lot more health conscious, and a lot more worried about being poisoned by strangers these days lol.
Cheers, this video finally reminded me and the husband to switch the color temp on our living room LED strips. They weren't intensive but they were cold. I mostly use them during the evening and it's finally warm.
Regarding scents...there are so many options for creating lovely scents with herbs, fruits, etc. I love to dry orange slices in the over, slice lemons and put them in a bowl or create the traditional holiday spice simmer on the stove. Clean also smells really lovely! 😸
I was looking for a hall entry light for my house and got something I liked, on sale, at Lowe's (yes, Lowe's). It has a big drum shade that's painted gold inside and is like a dark bronze on the outside. But I decided to zhuzh it up so I bought some modpodge and a little package of gold leaf at a hobby store. I brushed the inside of the shade and added the gold leaf and voila, now it's a unique fixture that no one else has.
Haphazard.
That's how I feel about my living room. Thank you for this video! I'm already getting some ideas and I'm only 5 minutes in!
Can you please do a video about ceilings?
I can't believe it! This is the first time in ANY decorating video that I've seen something I actually own -- the Bombay Company marble solitaire game at 6:01. Some of my favorite items to keep on the coffee table or other display areas are games and instruments. I try to acquire one or the other when I go on vacation. I have a gorgeous didgeridoo hand carved by an Indigenous Australian artist, a rainstick from Argentina, and I plan to purchase the prettiest djembe I can afford on my upcoming trip to Mali. I love to have things in my home that are "hands-on" -- that encourage people to touch them and play with them. Some people get a kick out of the Hawaiian poi balls, and almost everyone enjoys playing the marble solitaire -- and with it being made of solid mahogany and real marble multi-colored marbles, it's gorgeous. Many have tried but no one can play the didgeridoo LOL. I think these things are so much more interesting and unique than a coffee table book for someone to thumb through. And if you don't travel, you can find pretty much anything on Etsy, including authentic items from the native countries.
Our town home was built with coffered ceilings. That was the selling point for me. Gorgeous and expensive looking. We love them. Love your style and gentle snark, Nick. ❤
This is exactly what I've been doing throughout the years to achieve a cohesive look that I love. It's especially hard as in my country there is very little choice of nice, high quality and good looking things, so some things have been bought abroad but I'm absolutely pleased with the result. In these circumstances it's also important to have a good eye to fish out the really great things from the loads of rubbish that's being sold. Also, things don't have to be expensive to look expensive.
I just had a electrician in yesterday to replace all my boob lights, what a difference and I didn’t spend a fortune on them 😁
Nick, these photos you've chosen are absolutely wonderful. That's something consistently love about your channel, you pick excellent photographic examples.
Thank you, Nick! I have learned and keep learning so much thanks to you! I am renting but I have tried my best to follow your tips to make my apartment homier and cohesive 🙏🏻🙌🏻❤
I'm so glad!
This was such a good video :) I also liked that the examples you’ve shown are a great mixture between real grand spaces and more lived in looking ones. Appreciated ♥️
I liked that too. Even spotted that some of the pictures are from actual lived-in homes - for example, at 8:02, the picture on the right was the paris apartment of Damon Dominique, I recognized it from the video th-cam.com/video/LqmKRgYA2-o/w-d-xo.html
I had to laugh when I clicked on your link for the candle and the first picture that popped up showed the candle displayed on the Tom Ford book. 🤣🤣🤣
I wallpaper all of my rooms with $100 bills, every wall, floor to ceiling. Looks expensive, and yet feels cozy somehow.
This made me laugh - thanks!
LOL!!!
I love using same-day blueprint printing, you can get a 36x48" paper print for like $12. There are limitations with how colorful or how much ink the print can be though. I love how huge it is and how often I change it up if I want.
While I love the look of a good vignette, I think a lot of people tend to go overboard with how many of them imo. A few is fine, but a lot is just not practical for cleaning. Plus my cats like to knock things over; I imagine people with kids have to deal with that too.
I love the room by room treatment and advice. Obviously, we agree on 98% because, why would I follow you otherwise. Focal points. Glad to validation that the tv is NOT a focal point.
Scent is really important. Scent can have a great impact on your mood. I plan scents around my house to the seasons and my husband and son’s sensitivity to florals.
In the UK estate agents as they are called here suggest fresh coffee, baked bread and fresh cut tomatoes and basil to sell a home. I love all those scents but they would not make me buy a house I have to say.
Your videos are soo uplifting and fun. I always enjoy your sense of humour along with good tips. Love xx 😘
SO much great stuff in this video, Nick! Design Matters!!!! 2700k lighting all over my home (except for the light in the hood-vent). Large art 100%!!! Even the right rug/tapestry hung as art, behind a sofa, can be stunning! I also try to keep fresh flowers around.
I absolutely depend on Pinterest for design. A board for each room. I start populating it with everything I like, then go back in every week or so to edit out the stuff I don't like so much or what isn't cohesive to the room (or home). I keep adding more and editing out what doesn't work. I put in images of rooms with color palettes and styles I like. I add in furniture options, lighting, wall treatments (or not), art, rugs, lighting, window treatments, what wood & metal finishes I want in the room, fabric options, did I mention lighting? I take my time with this. It's much cheaper to do this exercise in a Pinterest board than buying stuff that just doesn't work together. It's the modern day mood board, right?
I'm working on decluttering my house and making things custom right now. Good ideas here.
I think the #1 problem in my house is functionality. I agree with hiding the unsightly things you're stuck with but aside from the everyday flotsam and jetsam I have things like that oversized AC that can only be put in a specific spot which means it not only looks ugly but limits where I can put other things to make the room work better. Very frustrating. It was bad enough arranging things for my kids when they were little and then my dog when she needed accommodating but being dictated to by a machine is really past insulting.
Just a suggestion, but could you put a table around it, so that the vents are open flow, but there's something ontop where you could place some decorative things?
I can relate. We are in a rental home where in the living room there is a mantle with no fireplace underneath it. Lol but a huge wall air conditioner above it. It is such an eyesore so in the months we don’t need air conditioning I bought a beautiful large canvas painted with beautiful plants on it from big lots to sit on the mantle and cover that air conditioner I styled on either side of the painting, some little baskets and plants and I hung beads and tassels from the mantle, and it actually looks like it was meant to be
Nick, thanks again for a great video. I'm decluttering my LR this weekend. Cleared my calendar next week so I can deep clean, get the decisions made and put out my nice pieces. Looking forward to the next one in the series which is a fantastic idea. 😊
We just finished our house renovation, this video is perfect timing!
Well, I'm fine on "Unique" since I have a great-aunt's cowhorn-trimmed settee and a concert harp. "Large-scale art" - got that too: a sentimental watercolor of swans on a canal, with plaster rosebuds on the frame (it was grandma's). And I recently hung coordinating Japanese ukiyo-e prints flanking the door. The colors all fit with an art deco wallpaper frieze at the ceiling.
I put gorgeous moldings and baseboards throughout my moms house. We found that the end to dust them outweighed our enjoyment of how gorgeous they looked,
Nick, your advice is spot on and your delivery is hilarious! Happy I found you.
Thanks, Nick! Would love to see recommendations on filling big rooms. We have a two story living room. In particular we need to fill big walls, especially a big wall that isn't symmetric. We need help lol
This is absolutely what I believe in. Every single point is straight out of my mind. Now I can send to my flatmate my thoughts in an eloquent form. Thanks much
This is a really smart time for this video, because with the end of summer comes the start of a new college year and people moving into apartments for the first time
11:35 I fell in love with these art deco magpie sconces, some sites asked $100's but TEMU had them for just $40 each. I'm gaga over them and maybe later I'll buy a matching chandelier but really my little place doesn't need it. The pair I have, the one bird and two bird sconces are elegant. They look expensive.
This one is perfect. You’re giving serious substance, and I’m chuckling the whole way there. Idk if it’s my ADD or you’re just on one and matching my energy tonight, but I’m here for it. The vignette is the moment; therefore I am the moment. It’s expensive to be me.
😂 love the way you explained about lightning …. Warm and cool does not mix…. Im going to change my lightning now after watching this. Thank you.
For my decoration and throw pillows I chose some colors which can be differently combined. I love to change my decor items every season. for spring I use mint green and yellow, summer is dark teal, mint and yellow, fall is a rusty orange and yellow and winter is dark teal and rusty orange. I also want to include my rugs into it, but didn’t find yet what I’m looking for. I love to change the atmosphere of my home according to the seasons
DESIGN MATTERS 👏🏻
making vignettes is one of my favourite things to do for some reason. like I'll be up late at night just rearranging a shelf and looking at it lmao
also i'd like to second the sentiment that DESIGN MATTERS. This was something I learned first hand when I was in military training. after being surrounded by nothing but beige lifeless army base buildings for months at a time, I remember feeling a noticeable moment of relief when I saw a small display set up in the building where our uniforms were getting tailored. it wasn't even decor that I liked, but just seeing that the ladies there had put up some fake flowers and a little country crafty styled "god bless america" sign was really nice. If you spend too much time without art or design, I think your mind just becomes desperate for it.
I love the idea of wall paper or other wall treatments, but our Florida home came with textured walls. Can you give any ideas about what to do with textured walls? I would love to hear you opinions! Alas, I fear it might be expensive to get rid of the texture on all the walls thought the house.
Intentional pieces out vs storage really speaks to me. I swapped out my coffee table and built one with a drawer - sounds so simple but an absolute game changer to hide tv controls and coasters within arms reach when i need them. Made it so much easier to keep the room looking tidy and welcoming.
Lighting too - a cheap usb smart plug with ikea usb puck lights has added a calming evening feature.
I always wanted to have a big monstera, and I bought one 😊 This plant takes the whole corner but it changed the room so nicely!
Not only does my husband not understand/appreciate lighting options, he puts different types of bulbs in the same overhead feature. Not just two, three completely different lighting intensity/temperatures in the same feature 😳
Why? Why why why??? He doesn’t care? He doesn’t know? Passive aggressive, maybe?
I’d walk around in the dark before I’d turn those lights on.
Ughh, mine too
I would die! Thank the lord my husband is a cinematographer who rose up through the lighting dept ranks and gets lighting.
Grounds for divorce 😆
Absolutely agree with putting stuff away. You need to have thing like phone chargers and remotes and pens and notepads, but you leave all that scattered across your coffee table and it just looks messy. Dump it all in nice decorative box and arrange that on top of a pretty tray with a vase of flowers and a pretty tchochke or 2 and you have a beautiful vingette that looks designed and expensive.
I love going to thrift stores and antique shops. I recently found a gorgeous carved wood frame mirror at an antique store for only $20 which was an amazing price. You can't find quality like that at a home store.
Where I live, estate sales and resale stores are exploding with great, real artwork and beautiful furniture. So many amazing things for very little. Just picked up a large, signed, Norwegian oil painting at a small estate sale for $15. Got a large metalwork piece of plants and birds for .25 cents at Salvation Army. So, now even the little guys can afford luxury items. : )
I love all your suggestions and I have been following you for a long time. Because of you, there is nothing in my rental apartment ( old and renovated) that I don’t love. My lovely things coordinated against a basic background with some major quirks. Another tenant saw my apartment for the first time and said, “What did you do to my apartment?!” ; -) Thank you for all the great suggestions. Oh, I better clean up and put some things away.
This was a GREAT video and really underscores a lot of our design style - we're ignorant but apparently have made some solid design decisions! Nick, my FAV quote has to be when you said, "...I've run out of scents"!!!! Ahem. I kindly spelled it as you meant it but I can't help that "sense" would have been pretty funny!
Been going to previously owned for 50 years ... the best 👌
thanks for all these great videos. I'm going to renovate my small one bedroom condo (768 sq feet) and it's pretty over overwhelming. I'm trying to figure out how to get more closed storage built into the place. I have high ceilings in my main room... I'm hesitant to have too many open shelves/bookcase because I am trying to avoid clutter. I'm always impressed by interior designers... I just don't have that skill!
I consider myself a minimalist, yet enjoy so much of what you do, and I find ways of incorporating your suggestions and bringing in warmth and personality. Thanks, Nick.
Hi Nick! I just noticed you swapped the previous gray couch for this cream looking one! Looks great!
Bought an expensive Rituals scent for our living room. Soooo worth the money, I didn’t realise it would have such an effect! It lifts my mood any time I enter the room.
I love how much you talk about wall moulding. I think your money goes way further on mouldings than in furnishings!
You’re so good! I love how you’re thoughtful on respecting people’s preferences and constraints! Just found your videos and they’re very inspiring
I love the unique items piece, to the point that I wish when people utilized designers they would leave people to complete the last step. Nothing IMO will make your home look more generic than pulling all your accessories from the same store in the same season. I don't think items have to be expensive or even uncommon, they just have to reflect you.
My younger self picked a beautiful original painting, and drew my colors from that. My older self does it more intuitively, but when I design a quilt, I often end up with colors from a painting in my home.
Could you please give some advice on choosing the size of the art and placement within picture frame moulding.
I do agree about color temperatures, buuuut i do like having a bright white light over my kitchen with another warm white light over the breakfast nook, just to balance it out a little. I do wonder if it looks like i was just being lazy even though it was very intentional. Now I feel like I should get over it and just change one of them :/