The tip about the ceiling colour just makes so much sense, I’ve never thought of it! That’s exactly why I watch your videos! Brilliant 🤩 you’re amazing!
From being an architecture student to a professional architect, I learned that space planning never ends. It evolves from time onwards and so forth. I praise interior designers for their own rights. Julie demonstrates her professionalism and understanding of design space. Unlike other bloggers with the same content, I like her channel very much because of its good vibes. It's Free hustle and friendly to watch.
Thank you for reminding us, your followers of the importance of “ I can do better” so many times we settle and regret. Also, I shudder when I see beautiful spaces with area rugs that are too small- ugh. Ps , you always make me smile. Cheers!
Your rules are so classic. You can incorporate them no matter what style one is decorating with and it will still look good. And it is better to plan and measure what you plan to use or buy before getting it delivered. Buyer's remorse can really mess up a good design.
When I moved into my previous apartment in 2015, which was advertised as 500 square feet efficiency, consider I had for furniture: A queen-sized bed on a futon frame. 1 42” by 84” dining room table my Dad built with the little help I could as a kid, that I inherited. An 88” long stuffed leather couch (still have it, but it’s worn, and has been deprecated in exchange for a larger top grain leather instead of bonded leather, which I didn’t know was a thing when I bought the other couch) A 30” by 72” desk surface. 3 antique end tables. A rolling office chair. 2 mismatched antique wooden chairs. A couple mismatched antique wood book cases, about the total width of the bed between the two of them. I measured it out for the large area in detail with a tape measure before committing to a lease. I had a design rule that I needed at least 2 feet walking space where I could walk between things. Sadly, I never had a viable opportunity to make full use of it by inviting enough people over to make proper use of the bed and couch as seating for the sides of the table, which I could have taken the one side off the wall. Two of the end tables were used to support the desk surface, which is from Skandia modular shelving stuff from The Container store. I bought a 40” 4k tv I also had double as an external computer monitor for the 27” iMac and laptop as needed. It wasn’t theoretically ideal, but I needed to remain flexible for living location for work commutes combined with lowering the rent somewhat (Seattle area) as I was working short-term contracts. I could watch TV from almost every location in the apartment that wasn’t the bathroom and the apartment entry door, so I could watch it while cooking or doing dishes. Kitchen counter space was a little shorter than desired, but as much as I’m a single guy, I have a rather large pots and pans collection and many other dishes because I cook and bake, and I had leftover cabinet space. But, back to the recommendation: shop with a tape measure! And decide on design rules before you ever get too committed, because if you don’t have clear design rules, something is going to suffer in a meaningful way, and you’re stuck needing to live with it, unless you’re made of money.
For the first time in my life I am designing, decorating our renovated place. It's an arduous and overwhelming process, especially on a limited budget and builder grade contractors. Your tips are always so helpful and so well delivered. Thank you!
Thank you for watching Esther! You’ll get the hang of it, I promise! It’s really about prioritizing the rooms you use most and taking your time with the remaining areas. Your style may evolve, new finishes become available and your budget will be replenished 👍🏻☺️
That was so good, Julie, thank you, yet again! The painting the whole room dark to make it look bigger surprised me, I've always heard it said the other way around. We are still in need of full interior paint, all white now. The wall and ceiling tip was excellent and will take a look at those swatches again. ;) You ROCK!
I’ve posted this before, I have a tiny Georgian cottage and ice colour blocked the areas of the interior. The Lounge is Deep Space Blue on all 4 walls and ceiling. Hall/landing/annex is Nancy’s Blushes again on all 5 walls. Accent in brushed brass, polished walnut, copper to add interest and break up the wealth of block colour. Also use lighting to focus areas again to create depth. When I bought it the entire interior was white, it now looks much larger inside.
Thank you for watching Geri! If you lack a lot of light in the space, contrast dark walls with light furniture to make the walls recede. If you have plenty of light, tonal or high contrast would work beautifully 👍🏻☺️
I was just about to say the same thing about dark walls making rooms smaller and white walls make rooms look bigger...! My mind is blown right now!! 🤯 So great to watch and learn with you! Thank you!
I had a room painted dark and it drove me totally bonkers, it was so beautiful but not for me. Every tip and information you have was so intelligent and well thought out, thank you!
You are so insightful. And your mantra truly sums up the way our houses should reflect us: “Who you are/ Where you’ve been/ Where you want to go”. After too many videos of apartments that look alike, this is a breath of fresh air. Thank you!
Your tips are always the best, even for people with limited budgets like myself. I’d love to hear your advice for maintaining a beautiful home with small children. I’m about to have my second child, and my living room & dining room look like a daycare most of the time. 😂 Part of me knows this is just a season of life, but I’d still like my house to look a little more presentable & high-end, if possible. I know you can probably relate & would have lots of great ideas for us parents!
That’s currently the situation I’m living in 🙋🏻♀️I’ll share a living room tour to show you what I’ve created, but I’m sure it’s very much like yours Alexandria 😂
Thank you for this, it's very good advice. The 7-cm-off-the-wall and ceiling paint rules are particularly useful to me. I'm not sure I agree about the area rug though, I think it's one of those things that fall under cultural differences. This rule strikes me as down to American design aesthetic tbh. You'll notice that the pictures where you crossed the rugs all came from Swedish homes, most of them from the Swedish real estate agent Historiska Hem. Up North we like smaller area rugs or no rugs at all, bigger area rugs just feel a bit excessive. I also really love your Feng Shui videos and have been learning a lot from them. Looking forward to the next ones!
Precisely why I love this community Isamoa! It’s so eye opening to know what people are doing all over the world! Thank you for watching and sharing your thoughts 🙏🏻☺️
you are absolutely right about the lighting: when we bought our new house last year I was thinking about all and everything, but not lighting. Eventually we found (more by accident) a beautiful pendulum for our master bedroom and it made such a difference. Now we have in all rooms special lighting and it's one of the first things visitors commenting on. I also like the tip with the couch against the wall. We have a small living room, but bringing the couch just away from the wall changes the whole outlook and the rooms seem to be bigger and more aerie.
Yes Katrin! Many of us fear that bringing furniture away from the ways and into our space will crowd it, but the opposite is true. Seeing is believing 🙌🏻
We fell in love with Costa Esmeralda granite when we were designing our kitchen. Dark wood cabinets, a stone/glass tile backsplash w/blue/green/tan tiles, and walls painted Benjamin Moore Beach Glass. (Don’t ask me about the flooring, as I still hate it years later-not my choice.) We still love the kitchen eight years later.
My favorite one-liner besides “you can do better” is, “You are better than basic, my friends!” (when you were talking about countertops) Dying laughing here. Love all your many words of wisdom!!!
@@JulieKhuu no, thank YOU! I know sometimes the best doesn’t always get the most recognition and views but you are easily the best design channel on RU-vid cuz you give real advice and not just insert their personal opinions like an influencer. My home is becoming elevated so much by following your ideas and they immediately make a lot of sense and demystify a lot the art of design
This video really inspired me Julie! I'm knee-deep into renovating my home and it's difficult figuring out what to keep and what to dump and what goes where. I really needed some guidance and you gave some really good advice I'm going to be trying out for sure.
Julie, I love when you do changes to your own home is very inspiring because it relates to my house that is not a mansion but it is not that small ether.
Thanks so much Julie, I’ve watch so many of your videos and love so much! I still find there are so many tips and ideas I can learn from no matter how many times I watched for the same video. ❤
I LOVE YOUR VIDEOS!!!! Sorry for yelling 🤭 but really, your hard work deserves high praise & pennies (my mom’s fun saying). Helpful breakdowns & aesthetically pleasing graphics. My home is evolving beautifully, thanks to you Julie.
Your tip about keeping a list of measurements with you as well as a measuring tape is spot on. I found that I had to do this when we lived in Michigan and built a new house in Florida. I was amazed that all of my old and new furniture fit and was proportionally correct when we were finally moved in. I was over a thousand miles away and it all worked out! My husband even said, hmmm. It looks like you knew what you were doing! I have no formal design training but I kind of fell into the measurements mode out of necessity. I couldn’t see the house. It didn’t exist yet. I only had blueprints. Oh, and the area rug measurements worked perfectly. The rugs must be big enough for the room! This is a great summary of design rules! Thanks for your classic advice!
Julie, I have been watching so many of your videos over the past few weeks and I have to say I think this is my favorite so far. Thank you for sharing your advice with us. I have learned so much and you have inspired me to view decorating our retirement home in a whole new light as we make this transition. I had been feeling a bit of burnout after staging our last house for resale (that sold in 36 hrs after listing!), but you brought the joy back into designing our new downsized spaces, by sparking my creative spirit again. You are a blessing and these videos are gems!
Aw I love that Michelle! Thank you for sharing your story. When design feels like work, it’s hardly gratifying until you see the end goal. But when we design for ourselves, every step along the journey can be joyful if we allow it to feed our souls 💖
Hi Julie - If you don't mind, could you either tape a video, or advise which curtain material is best for which room? Would velvet be ideal for a bedroom, only, or also ideal for the loungeroom and family room? Would linen be best for the living areas? That type of thing. Thank you.
That’s a personal preference Suzi. Depends on the fabrics you love. I would not say one is better or worse in a particular room, just depends on the mood you are going for. Linen is more casual, velvet is more traditional/ formal/ glam. Think about your aesthetic and let that guide your design direction. Hope that helps! 👍🏻☺️
Thank you again for another great video!🎉 We paint questions for a tray ceiling in our 17’ x 14’ master bedroom, 10 ft ceilings (11 ft tray). Our tray has a large return vent which ended our hopes of wallpapering or adding other design options, etc. So we are considering the darkest tone of the midrange plum-brown color going on the walls (cream to taupe furniture) to paint on the ceiling, camouflaging the vents. Will that create a larger receded room effect? And should we continue that color on the general ceiling, the rise of the tray & the tray ceiling as you mentioned in another video? If we painted the mid-range tone on the moldings in the tray, would that break up the effect? Then should we also paint the doors & moldings the wall color if everything else is medium to dark? TIA, if you have time to answer all these questions!❤
Hi Michelle! Here’s what I would do for maximum impact: paint doors, casings and molding same color as the walls. Paint ceiling, rise of tray, tray, crown molding and any general trim above the crown the same color. So you essentially only have 2 colors going on: a. Everything below the crown b. Everything above the crown You have enough height in there to apply the darker shade to the ceiling. It’s going to be FAB!!! 😍
My beautiful 81-year-old mom taught me years ago to never put the sofa all the way against the wall. If. .! the sofa tends to get pushed back, use good old-fashioned rubber door stops under the back legs (the kind that are wedge shaped.)
This video was fantastic, it covered so many design aspects and references to your videos that can provide more detail. Like many of your followers I look forward to your videos, they so representative of a true and knowledgeable professional interior designer. I am building my favorites into my decorating library. Thanks again 💯
for if you cannot change the position of stove and sink, add a plant close by or a movable wooden drawer or something wood in between the space. Water favors wood, and wood favors fire. That's how you solve the Feng shui problem.
Thanks! I'm gonna ditch the dining area rug in my open - concept smaller space. I'll just keep the large rug under the living room furniture as in your photo options
I know how you feel , I just moved to a different city, and I’m trying to decide what stile should go for, one thing I’m sure I don’t like antique or contemporary I’m more transicional mix with eclectic because I don’t want to get rid of things that I love and have for years but I’m getting new pieces of furniture.
Definitely check out my Dream Space series C and Elizabeth! 9 episodes designed for those starting from scratch. It will really help guide your decision making and break down all the steps so you don’t feel overwhelmed 👍🏻
Aloha! Found your channel and using you as initial plunge into understanding the basics of ID. I enjoy the analytical and methodical approach. Thank you so much for the awesome videos. I understand this is a “rules” video but I que in on your “ absolute” statements. Rules are made to be broken and I would challenge you or any other designers to find exceptions to every “always” and “never” statements made. It would be a fun and “next level” ID video. Look forward to next week’s video!
Hi Julie, Thank you for all the information you give, you have spoke about the no mirrors in the bedroom, but what would you do about the mirrored furniture in the bedroom?
One solution would be to frost it or apply temporary wallpaper. Of course, it’s up to you what you’re willing to do Mrs. Barker. Watch my video on Feng Shui cures for more tips!
I love the idea of painting all the walls dark to make it appear larger. I've seen rooms that are painted dark with the baseboards, woodwork around windows, plus doors painted dark as well. When would you do this or not do this? I love your shows!!
Great video! Loved the tips . Designing a space is personal. You are right , one should design for the life we desire. On point applies to with other important things in life.
Loved this video. Good to know about the mirrors in the bedroom, I need to work on replacing those closet doors. Loved the tips on cabinet hardware too. And yes, we can do better learning from you! Thank you❤️
This is a wonderful video! I've learned so much today!! I have a 55 yr old dining room table n matching heavy chairs. I'm going to look for smaller fabric chairs so table and area won't look so "old fashion!" It needs an update. Any ideas???
Yes! Love this direction Estrella! Linen is beautiful, so is velvet - check for performance fabrics so it’s easy to clean. Watch my video on how to source furniture online for more shopping tips and resources 👍🏻
I have an open floor plan and my art frames are gold and all my hardware is gold with white kitchen cabinets. What color appliances should I buy? Walls are BM Ballet white. Love your videos! Thank you.
