We combed through both new and old projects from the pages of ELLE DECOR to bring you 60 practical and fun ideas to make your dream home from whatever you have. Whether it be a small space with little room for grand gestures or a spacious house with more room than you know what to do with, we have the answers.

1

GO BIG WITH ART IN SMALL SPACES

a living room with a couch and chairs
Haris Kenjar

In a historic house in Los Angeles’s Hancock Park neighborhood, interior designer Ashley Lavonne Walker leaned into the client’s considerable art collection to enliven her design scheme. In the snug family room, a large scale painting by Tiffany Alfonseca overlooks the room, vibing the room’s vibrant textiles and upholstery, as well as offering a place for the eye to land.

2

MAKE THE MOST OF AN ALCOVE

a living room with a couch and a coffee table
Björn Wallander

In this Manhattan studio, interior designer Robert Rowe had no choice but to maximize the space at hand. Into a windowed alcove he slid in the apartment’s only bed, using the rest of the room as a living area.

3

FOLLOW THE CURVES

a living room with a fireplace
Stephan Juillard

In the sitting room of this Paris apartment, interior designer Sarah Dray let circles lead the way. From the vintage de Sede sofa to the Beije Avenue cocktail tables to the custom ceiling lights, one simple shape pulls the room together.

4

FURNITURE CAN DOUBLE AS ART

a dining room with a table and chairs
Ethan Herrington

In this Brooklyn dining room by Studio Dorion, two Tony Blahd floor lamps flank the window, operating like decorative columns while providing a necessary function to the room.

5

USE MIRRORS TO DEEPEN A SPACE

a living room with a couch and chairs
William Jess Laird

In this Hollywood Hills home, interior designer Mike Moser and architect Tyler Thomas hung a mirror in their bedroom to expand the space. Now, instead of looking into a sleeping area from the living room, guests are given the impression of an expanding enfilade just past the bed.

a bedroom has cork wallcovering and a cork headboard and nightstand, a sconce with an accordion arm and pleated shade, brown bedcover and curtain, a light shag rug, and a painting over bed
Chris Mottalini
6

CLAD YOUR WALLS IN CORK

Cork is all the rage as of late, and it’s not hard to see why. The material is multiuse and adds just the proper texture and dimension in the right room. It’s perfect for damp environs like Miami (where this cork-covered bedroom by Charlap Hyman and Herrero lives).

house tour
William Jess Laird
7

PAINT YOUR FLOORS

What would otherwise be a simple, pared-back dining room in this 19th-century Connecticut home becomes a lively space due to a coat of green floor paint. Interior designer Jenna Chused coated the floor instead of the walls with the bright color, adding surprise and anchoring the neutral woods of the table, chairs, and ceiling light that dominate the rest of the room.

8

INSTALL CURTAINS BEHIND YOUR HEADBOARD

walls, bed curtains and headboard are in a fabric with a green floral pattern on a light yellow background, sconces are attached to headboard, side tables with lamps, and bed is flanked by bookshelves
Simon Watson

Veere Grenney is known for his good taste and sense of grandeur. In this London townhouse of his design, the feeling of grandiosity extends to this bedroom via curtains hung behind the headboard, all in Michael S Smith fabrics.

kitchen with old brick flooring, dutch door open at top, pegboard covering one wall with pots hanging from top to bottom, wood table with wood chairs and fabric seat cushions, window with light yellow half curtain
Roger Davies
9

ELEVATE EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS

Pegboard is one of those materials so ubiquitous you forget how fabulous it can be. It calls to mind the quaint old general stores of times past but does double time when it comes to function. In the kitchen of their Ojai ranch, Eric Hughes and Nathan Turner use it to splendid effect.

julie polidoro elle decor
Helenio Barbetta
10

PAINT A PORTION OF YOUR WALLS

The classic chair rail is sometimes thought traditional, but in Julie Polidoro’s Roman abode, it reads as starkly contemporary. For some easy visual interest and a rooting influence, try painting a portion of the bottom of your walls (or the top!) with a sharp clean edge and no additional adornments.

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