Interior Design Tips: Small Rules That Make a Big Difference

I love a big, emotional design idea… but I’m also obsessed with practical shortcuts.

The kind of rules that instantly make a room feel calmer, more intentional, more “handled.” Not because you followed trends — because you made a few choices that work.

Here are four I come back to constantly:

01) Keep your light color consistent

A home feels more cohesive when the tone of the lighting matches from space to space.

If one room is bright-white, the next is warm, and the bathroom is cool-blue, your eye feels that shift — even if you can’t explain it.

Pick a warm light tone you like and stick with it. Then use dimmers to create mood, not mismatched bulbs.

02) Use the two-thirds shortcut for proportions

When something looks “off,” it’s often just scale.

Two-thirds is my favorite cheat:

A coffee table that’s roughly two-thirds the width of the sofa usually looks right.

Same with art above a bed or sofa — around two-thirds reads intentional, not skimpy.

It’s not about being exact. It’s about avoiding the common mistake: going too small.

03) Bring seating into the same “visual level”

If your seating lives in the same height neighborhood, the room feels like one conversation.

When one piece sits dramatically higher or lower, it can break the flow and the room starts to feel less cohesive.

I think of it like this: you’re designing a hangout. Make the hangout feel unified.

04) Bigger, fewer, better

If a room feels messy, it’s rarely because you need more styling — it’s usually because you have too many little things.

Try removing the tiny decor and keeping only pieces with real visual weight (or real meaning).

Fewer, more substantial objects always reads calmer and more elevated.

The best part about rules is you don’t follow them forever — you just keep them in your back pocket. They’re not the point. They’re the tool.

And once you know the tools, you get to decide when to use them… and when to break them on purpose.

Interior Design Checklist: What to Do When a Room Feels Off

There’s a moment in every project where a room is technically “done”… and still doesn’t feel right.

Not bad. Just not there. Like it’s missing a pulse.

When that happens, don’t stress — it’s part of the process. Run a quick checklist. These are little rules I’ve collected from years of staring at rooms, taking photos, moving furniture three inches, and realizing the problem is almost never “more stuff.”

Because what I’m always chasing is the same thing: polish + patina — the tension that makes a space feel real.

LIGHT (mood + glow)

I’m writing this from Maui, where the natural light is gorgeous — and it makes good lighting choices really obvious.

Layer the light. If your lighting is only overhead, the room will feel flat at night. Add lamps. Add a sconce. Create pockets of glow. Better yet, make overhead lighting “backup only.” (My husband would never agree… but a girl can dream, right?)

Create one pool of light per zone. A reading chair, a dining table, a bedside — each should have its own warm little stage.

Warmth wins after sunset. If it feels cozy at night, you’ll actually use the room. (And used rooms always look better.)

SCALE (shape + proportion)

Give the room a hero. One big, confident element (a rug, art, sofa, dining table). If everything is medium, the room reads like background noise.

Make sure the soft things are doing enough work. Curtains, rugs, pillows, upholstered pieces. If a room feels echo-y or harsh, it usually needs softness before it needs more decor.

Protect the breathing room. Negative space isn’t empty — it’s how your eye rests. If every surface is styled, the room can start to feel anxious.

SOUL (story + texture)

Repeat one finish three times. A room gets instantly calmer when you repeat one finish (aged brass, black, warm wood) in at least three places. That’s polish.

Add something imperfect on purpose. Handmade, vintage, worn, weathered — that’s the patina that keeps a space from feeling like a catalog.

Check for contrast. Not necessarily black-and-white — even smooth vs nubby counts. Without contrast, everything blends and the room loses energy.

Include one weird thing. The piece that makes someone say, “Where did you get that?” That’s usually the thing that makes the room feel like you.

I like rules because they’re a starting point — not a cage. The goal isn’t perfection. It’s personality: that blend of polish and patina that makes a home feel lived-in and loved.

Want help with any of this? Let’s talk!