Ten Easy Interior Design Ideas to Update Your Home

Elissa Morgante, AIA

Elissa Morgante, AIA
Founding Partner at Award Winning Chicago Architects, Morgante Wilson

Oct 6, 2021 - 5 min read

Ten Easy Interior Design Ideas to Update Your Home

Like most of us, you’re probably spending more time in your home these days than ever before. That’s a good thing in a lot of ways. But there can be a downside, too. Maybe you’ve become accustomed to that peeling wallpaper. Perhaps you’ve stopped noticing your scuffed hardwood floors. Or maybe you’ve just gotten so comfortable you haven’t noticed your décor is looking a bit tired – or worse, outdated. The interior design pros at Morgante Wilson can help you fix that with ten easy ideas to freshen your home:

Swap accessories

Adding furry throws and velvet pillows cozies this mountain retreat for cold weather. Come summer, they can be easily traded for lighter fabrics with leafy designs.

Add color

Cobalt blue cabinetry is a highlight of this lower-level media room and gives it loads of personality. Imagine how different it would have looked with plain white paint instead!

Embellish a ceiling

We love treating ceilings – the “fifth wall” in every room – with paint, wallcovering, or in this historic living room, silver leaf. It demonstrates an attention to detail that says a lot about thoughtful design and adds plenty of subtle glamour.

Style your shelves

Most of us have open shelves in at least one room in our house – but a lot of us have difficulty making them look really great. Our favorite tricks are to combine books with objects, and to place them in various ways. For instance, books can stand upright and also stack flat. Objects can be settled atop or alongside. When you vary the placement of your things you create pleasing rhythm and dynamic visual interest.

Layer

Nothing warms a room, or makes it seem more “decorated,” than layering. Toss a pretty throw over the back of a sofa or the arm of a chair. Lay a patterned rug over wall-to-wall carpet, or a hardwood floor, to define a seating area. Group your oils and vinegars onto a tray on your kitchen counter. These are small and simple tricks that make a big difference to the feel of a room.

Style your dining table

A vase of fresh flowers will always brighten a room – and your mood! Flowers are a quick, easy, inexpensive way to bring a touch of luxury into your home. But after just a few days, they often need to be replaced. That’s why we love styling dining tables with things other than flowers: a big bowl of lemons and limes, a pile of fat pinecones, and clove-studded oranges are just a few ideas you can borrow. They’re as mood-enhancing as flowers but are more creative – and unexpected.

Add a backsplash

Pattern, color, texture, character – adding a backsplash can transform your kitchen into a far more exciting space. (If you’re renting or don’t want to commit to tile, consider one of the many new peel and stick products on the market that mimic the look of real tile.)

Dress a window

Gorgeous windows make a statement all their own. But as with so many things, a thoughtful addition of fabric layers textural interest. If you love natural light and privacy isn’t an issue, consider adding gauzy roman shades to soften a window while letting the sunshine in.

Buy white towels

Towels are one instance when color – or rather, the lack of color – can really make a difference. It may sound trivial but replacing faded old bath towels with a stack of fluffy, pure white replacements is one of the simplest ways we know to freshen the look of a bathroom. (Not to mention it simplifies laundry day when all your towels are the same color!)

Display collections

One of our favorite ways to live with collections is to mass them together. Spend a Saturday gathering oil paintings from around your house to create a gallery wall in one room. Assemble your antique paperweights together on a single tabletop. Grouping items together creates much greater impact than scattering them throughout the house.

Any of these easy, low-cost ideas can alter a room. For more inspiration, follow us on Instagram or Facebook and visit our website.

Morgante Wilson Architects provides architectural and interior design services in Chicago, Deerfield, Evanston, Glencoe, Glenview, Highland Park, Kenilworth, Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Northbrook, Northfield, Ravinia, Wilmette, and Winnetka – along with Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Utah, Wisconsin and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Elissa Morgante, AIA

Elissa Morgante, AIA

Founding Partner at Award Winning Chicago Architects, Morgante Wilson