You’ve signed the papers, picked up the keys, and crossed the threshold into your new home. But something still feels… off. You know it’s yours, but it doesn’t feel like it. Not yet.

It’s not the couch. It’s not the backsplash. It’s not even the perfect light fixture that took three weeks to arrive. What really makes a house feel like home?

So, how do you decorate a home with someone else… and still feel like you in the space? That’s a question I hear all the time from couples.

Let me tell you a secret that most designers know, but not everyone says out loud: Not everything you see on Pinterest will work in your home. And that’s okay.

Have you ever stopped yourself from decorating your space because someone told you, “You shouldn’t do that,” or “That won’t look right”? Well, guess what? A lot of those “rules” in interior design aren’t true at all.

As an interior designer, one of my favorite challenges is this: How can we make one room feel brand new—without tearing anything down or spending a fortune?

Have you ever walked into someone’s home and thought, “This feels like them”? Maybe it was full of bright colors and wild patterns, or maybe it was calm, soft, and cozy. That’s not just good decorating—that’s personality in design.

When people walk into a beautifully designed room, they often notice the big things first—the soft colors, the comfy couch, the way the sunlight hits the wall just right. But what they don’t see is where the real magic lives.