Designing a Herbaceous border

When it comes to interior design, there are certain topics that people get passionate—and even polarized—about: maximalism versus minimalism, carpet versus hardwood floors, and of course, open-concept versus closed-concept layouts.

Springtime is just around the corner, and if you're curious as to what design trends will be majorly trending in the home interior world throughout the coming season, we're here to give you the scoop.

When we talk about foliage superstars, coleus has to be at the top of the list. The breadth of options is vast and colorful. Depending on the garden center you’re at, you can choose from a rainbow of leaf patterns, colors, and shapes, as well as plant sizes.

When major sales roll around, designers know what kinds of items are worth scooping up and always make it a priority to invest in certain essentials for the bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and more.

If the latest whirlwind of social media-fueled interior design trends has you feeling a bit dizzy, you’re not alone. These fresh and splashy trends can be fun to try out in your own space, but if you plan on selling your home in the next several years there are some trends you may want to avoid.

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.

Bookworms rejoice—one of 2024’s most popular design trends involves a new kind of bookish aesthetic.

Spring is the start of it all—the time when everything you have dreamed about since last year becomes possible. These possibilities come alive with your first plant picks of the season. Reliable, hardy foliage, rather than delicate, fickle flowers, has always been my first choice when creating a container arrangement. Another factor I consider when choosing plants is finding the right ones for the right situations; no plant will thrive in unsatisfactory conditions. 

With TikTok and Instagram churning out new micro-aesthetics fast enough to give you whiplash, the number of new design trends that popped up in our social media feeds throughout 2023 was seemingly endless. Unsurprisingly, not all of these trends were a hit among the professionals.  

When it comes to bathroom design, striking the perfect balance between functionality and aesthetics can be a big challenge. Everyone wants their space to look beautiful, but as one of the smallest and most frequently used rooms in the home, practicality plays a huge role too.

I was painfully shy as a child, often taking refuge in the forested greenbelt adjacent to our suburban backyard. It was the early 1970s, before children were kept on a short tether, and I was allowed to wander so long as I was home before dark. I would explore paths and climb trees, collecting nature and memories as I went. The forest of my youth was mostly conifers, where an occasional mother tree would establish her dominance, reaching out with a great protective canopy underneath which little could grow. I would adopt the ground beneath and “park it out.” This meant remov­ing debris and creating a garden of collected flowers and plants (sometimes with roots still intact), along with laying small circles of stones. I would sit in the mossy solitude on the forest floor with my back against the trunk, feeling safe in the dappled light. It was an idyllic refuge of my own creation, all done on a five-year-old’s salary.

If you've ever wondered what kinds of steps professional interior designers take prior to selecting wallpaper for their client's homes or have any burning design questions, we're here to give you a behind-the-scenes look.