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Emily A. Clark

easy interior decorating ideas

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How to Translate High End Design for Real Life

November 9, 2017

I don’t know about you but I have let most of my more high end design magazine subscriptions run out. I would usually thumb through them quickly, thinking that nothing I saw really applied to me and toss them in the recycle bin. But what if one of those (sometimes over-the-top) rooms catches your eye? How do you get the look in your own home without a million-dollar budget and still make it work in real life? I thought it would be fun to take a room designed by a world-famous designer and think about how one might take certain elements from it and insert them into a room that feels really “livable.”

How to translate high end design into real life decorating

 

This living room by Miles Redd has a really nice color scheme that could easily be brought in to the most neutral of rooms. I think the key to translating any high end design into real life is to scale down some of the bigger elements. In this case, you could reign the wallpaper in by framing a couple of lookalike panels as art. The golds and greens could be duplicated with pillows and smaller accent furniture.

 

 

Do you have a designer room in mind you’d like to see translated for real life? Send me a pic.

 

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Filed Under: accessories, design tips, designers, Simple Design Ideas Tagged With: decorating, interior design

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Melissa says

    November 9, 2017 at 8:41 am

    I feel the same way when I look at those magazines. I would love to see more “get the look” posts like this.

    Reply
  2. Monica says

    November 9, 2017 at 9:06 am

    I love what you have done here Emily – great job!

    Reply
  3. Jody says

    November 9, 2017 at 9:25 am

    I love this so so much! I love design magazines and I drool over them and then set them aside as unattainable. You just flipped that on its ear! I love Mark D. Sikes (a classic american style) and Nate Berkus (his mix of eras, neutral colors and global focus are amazing).

    Reply
    • Emily Clark says

      November 9, 2017 at 4:54 pm

      Would love to take a stab at one of Mark’s rooms. He’s one of my all-time favorites.

      Reply
  4. Caitlin says

    November 9, 2017 at 10:25 am

    Thank you for posting this! I love the way you’ve used this high end room as inspiration for a normal home, I could definitely see this working in a home that’s not just for print. I usually ignore high end things with the thought that it’s inaccessible but this makes me think I shouldn’t.

    Reply
  5. Sharon says

    November 9, 2017 at 10:27 am

    I love this! I agree about the magazine subscriptions…the rooms just aren’t realistic for us, especially with three boys and two dogs. I hadn’t really thought about breaking the rooms down the way you described. Brilliant!

    Reply
  6. Melanie says

    November 9, 2017 at 11:15 am

    This is a really fun, creative idea! Love what you came up with; very clever.

    Reply
  7. Nashae says

    November 9, 2017 at 12:56 pm

    Love this series* (I’m hoping it’s a series!) So realistic and helpful.

    Reply
  8. Leah says

    November 9, 2017 at 1:09 pm

    I think this is a great idea for a regular blog post! I, too, admire those beautifully decorated, high end rooms so much, but with three kids and a dog and a real life budget, I could never recreate them. Thanks for the ideas!

    Reply
  9. Taryn says

    November 9, 2017 at 3:36 pm

    I love this! Please do more!

    Reply
  10. Karen L. says

    November 9, 2017 at 3:44 pm

    Enjoyed this approach to breaking down design for us “simpler” folk. Good ideas and sources all.

    Reply
  11. Shsuntelle says

    November 9, 2017 at 6:27 pm

    Hi, I purchased the low end rug you posted about last week for my home office. I got it today from overstock and I love it!! Thank you for the great find!!

    Reply
    • Emily Clark says

      November 9, 2017 at 9:05 pm

      Good to hear! Would love to see a pic of it in your space.

      Reply
  12. Julia Anderson says

    November 9, 2017 at 6:52 pm

    Yes, please do more !

    Reply
  13. Mary says

    November 9, 2017 at 7:50 pm

    Emily, do you lay awake at night, staring at your ceiling to come up with these genius ideas?
    This would be a great series!

    Reply
    • Emily Clark says

      November 9, 2017 at 9:05 pm

      Mary, I can promise you than if my head is on my pillow, I’m unconscious :)

      Reply
  14. Caroline says

    November 9, 2017 at 7:50 pm

    I also LOVE this idea! My taste is becoming more refined over time, without the budget to match it, unfortunately. :)

    Reply
  15. Cheryl says

    November 9, 2017 at 9:42 pm

    You nailed it!!! I think I would like YOUR room even more!!! I hope you will continue with additional “High End Designs for Real Life”…so much fun!!! — Clrbham

    Reply
  16. Marty says

    November 9, 2017 at 9:44 pm

    I loved this post. Please do more like this. You are so talented and have wonderful taste. Thank you!!

    Reply
  17. Angela N says

    November 10, 2017 at 2:08 pm

    Love this idea!! Thanks for always having great posts!

    Reply
  18. Robbie Zeller says

    November 10, 2017 at 3:07 pm

    Emily, I love that you think like real people!

    Reply
  19. Arin says

    November 11, 2017 at 9:03 am

    Love this post! Please do more.

    Reply
  20. Amy says

    November 11, 2017 at 11:00 am

    This is a great post! I let my House Beautiful subscription lapse for the same reason. I found that the rooms and pages I saved were ones with color schemes I liked and could duplicate in my own home or pieces that looked similar to ones available at standard retailers.

    Reply
  21. classic • casual • home says

    November 11, 2017 at 8:55 pm

    Such great tips, Emily!

    Reply

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