Megan McCarty

Home is where the heart is—and where all my favorite decor items are, too. Being a design writer means I take creating a comfortable, stylish home seriously. I’m well aware of the transformative power a cozy-as-can-be throw blanket or brilliant organizational item has.  In case you are in the market for decor that balances fun with functionality, I recently took stock of my favorite home items, ones with my forever stamp of approval. Some are investments, some are steals, and all make my house feel a little homier.  Scroll on for 12 of my must-have home products. 

Even seasoned interior designers started their careers somewhere—and that somewhere may not have included all the decorating tips and tricks they keep up their sleeves now. That's why we asked several interior designers which decorating secrets they now incorporate into every space. Their secrets are out. Spare yourself the trial and error of decor woes, and read on for eight decorating musts designers wish they knew about sooner.

We aren’t all blessed with magazine-worthy kitchen layouts. Maybe your kitchen is cluttered with appliances because you lack counter space, or maybe a closed-off footprint makes entertaining tricky. Unless you’ve renovated your kitchen exactly to your liking, kitchen layouts can be luck of the draw, and some are better than others.

Dated cabinets, dingy backsplashes, and forgettable generic light fixtures, oh my—designing any room on a budget is a challenge, but that’s especially the case with a kitchen. Every element in a kitchen, from appliances to tiles to cabinets, can becostly to replace. Still, there are easy and wallet-friendly ways to create a classic kitchen that looks expensive—without maxing out your credit card.  For insiders’ knowledge, we asked interior designers how to make a kitchen look expensive, even if it’s not. Your secret’s safe with us—no one has to know.

When it comes to a kitchen’s design, one dingy appliance can distract from the coolest of cabinets and most eye-catching countertops. A yellowed refrigerator or scratched dishwasher can create a serious sore spot in your kitchen.

If you’re constantly tripping over wayward shoes in your entryway, battling piles of paperwork on your kitchen island, or stepping on LEGOs (ouch!), it’s easy to fall into the frustration a cluttered space can cause.

Though it's a new year, you might still feel bogged down by the clutter of yesteryear. Between overflowing dresser drawers, entryways with mounds of muddy, left shoes (where did the right ones go?), and the nightmare that is your junk drawer, it’s easy for any home to become overwhelmed with clutter.  Disorganized, no more! 2024 can be your year to get organized for good. With a few easy-to-implement organizing habits, a cleaner, clutter-free home is within reach.

If you’ve been scrolling through your TikTok feed, ooh-ing and ahh-ing over charmingly layered decor styles, you’re not alone.

Hello, new year, hello, newly organized home. The start of a fresh year is the ideal time to revamp your organizing ways, creating a clutter-free home that feels like you. Where should you start, though? We asked three professional organizers what organizing trends they see on the 2024 horizon. From what materials to use to areas to declutter to technologies to take advantage of, they were full of practical home organizing advice. Read on for their seven recommendations.

Close all of your open tabs and stop your search for a plumber. Even if you're a beginner DIYer, you can likely handle many basic home issues yourself, no handyperson necessary. 

Broken ornaments, tangled lights, dusty stockings—sometimes, pulling your holiday decor out of storage isn’t as enchanting as you intend it to be.

Believe it or not, 2024 is almost here. With a new year comes fresh home design trends. We had to ask: what’s in and what’s out? We turned to a few interior designers and architects for their 2024 home trends predictions. After all, they’re the closest thing to a Magic 8 ball of design.

There's something magical about discovering the perfect thrift store find. It's partially luck, partially strategy, and partially dedication to the hunt. As we roll into 2024, we wondered: what are the thrifting trends for the new year? What secondhand home decor items should thrifting enthusiasts be nabbing before everyone else does? To get the inside scoop, we turned to two professional treasure hunters: interior designers Jason Saft and Alex Bass. Read on for their suggestions on what to thrift in 2024.

Deck the halls with boughs of holly—or don’t. Decorating for the holidays the traditional way, with lights, wreaths, and a tree full of ornaments, isn’t for everyone.  If you want to bring the seasonal spirit into your home without dragging boxes of holiday knick-knacks out of storage, you’re in luck. There are plenty of ways to get your home feeling festive, and not a single bough of holly is necessary.  To learn how to execute a holiday-inspired home design—one without Santas or stockings—we tapped designer Gideon Mendelson for his expert advice.

A new year is just a couple of calendar flips away (2023, where did you go?) So, we have our attention on what’s new and exciting in the world of home decor in 2024. One trend in particular is emerging as clear as the sky is blue. Each fall, paint brands unveil their colors of the year, and for 2024, many of them declared shades of blue as the color to consider.

Whether you’re considering a full kitchen renovation—so long, rickety cabinets and outdated backsplash—or simply need to stock up on a few essential kitchen tools, there’s no getting around it: kitchens are expensive.  Not every aspect of your kitchen needs to blow your budget, though. We tapped two interior designers, both with extensive kitchen experience, to spill the kitchen items they say aren’t worth the splurge.  “There are so many choices when it comes to outfitting a kitchen, with just as many price points to choose from,” according to interior designer Kristina Phillips. “Most would agree that countertops and appliances are worth spending money on, but there are a few items that don't need splurging to be effective.” Read on for their recommendations, both big and small—your budget will thank you. 

When it comes to prime real estate inside your home, it doesn’t get more valuable than kitchen countertops. No matter how much (or how little) space you have, it rarely feels like enough.

'Tis the season to be grateful—and to decorate your home accordingly, too. With Thanksgiving just a few weeks away, we rounded up 15 pieces of seasonal decor that you can display now until it's time to break out the Christmas decorations.

Chicago-based interior designer Julie Mitchiner of JAM Interior Design is full of opinions. As she should be; Mitchiner has been reimagining and refining interiors for 13 years.

Interior design trends come and go—two-toned kitchen cabinets? As of now, out. Incorporating natural elements? As always, in. But, there's one decorating movement that’s ridden the trend wave for years (and years) now, and we want an answer to its ultimate trendiness: farmhouse design.  After a decade of shiplap walls and barn doors saturating the interior design world, the question remains: is farmhouse still in style? Or, should you set down the distressed wood and try another trend? We asked two design experts for their thoughts. 

It doesn’t matter how spotless your kitchen is. If you have a counter full of appliances and a whatever, wherever tactic for food storage, your kitchen will inevitably look cluttered.  We tapped two organizational experts—Danielle Dorn, design director of mDesign, and Morgan Ovens, founder of Haven Home Wellness—for their top tips for reducing kitchen clutter. Read on for six quick and easy tasks you can complete today. Clean, clutter-free kitchen, here you come. 

“Swedish death cleaning” may sound morbid, but the concept is less doom and gloom and more existential and sweet. Think of the decluttering style this way: if the KonMari Method and hygge had a baby, it’d be Swedish death cleaning.  The idea is simple, yet astounding. Swedish death cleaning is a Scandinavian method of organizing that focuses on decluttering your home before you pass on in an effort to lessen the burden on your grieving loved ones. Author Margareta Magnusson coined the phrase in her 2017 book The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, and the concept has been gaining traction ever since. 

There’s no understating the importance of a kitchen backsplash. Not only is a backsplash practical—sparing your bare walls from spaghetti sauce splatters—but it sets the tone for your kitchen’s personality. Think of it as an opportunity to flex your design skills, whether that means including a jolt of color, choosing an unconventional material, or sticking to a classic-as-can-be style.   There’s a caveat, though: if you veer too trendy or too conventional, a backsplash can quickly look outdated. To spare yourself from inevitable regret, we asked three interior designers for their honest take on backsplashes they’re sick of seeing. Warning: controversial opinions ahead. Read on to learn which popular backsplashes they think need to retire, so you can invest in a conversation piece (not a controversy) that you’ll love for years to come.  

Rug shopping can be thrilling—between materials, patterns, and colors, you can fine-tune a rug’s design to the needs of your space. Take one look at the price tag, though, and you may question if you even need a rug.

Somehow, back-to-school season is upon us, and you know what that means: shopping and shopping some more. Between school supplies, dorm must-haves, and fresh outfits, getting your kids back in the classroom can put serious pressure on your budget.  That’s why we turned to Dina Sweeney, director of merchandising for Kidpik, who knows everything about school shopping season and how to save. Luckily for us, Sweeney has been around the back-to-school block many times with her two college-age kids and is full of wallet-friendly advice. Read on for Sweeney’s top five tips for sticking to a back-to-school budget without sacrificing style.

You’re not the only one who dreams of a Clueless-inspired bedroom closet. To create an oasis of organized outfits though, you have to clear out the dusty boxes full of childhood photos, bridesmaid dresses you cringe at the sight of, and that stack of shirts you intended to return. Here’s the hard truth: your closet is finite, and if you keep unnecessary items in there, it can quickly turn into a chaotic abyss.  To make Cher Horowitz proud, we tapped three organizational experts—who have all seen their fair share of cluttered closets—to reveal eight things you shouldn’t keep in your closet. Read on for their advice.