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.”
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.
I feel the same way when I look at those magazines. I would love to see more “get the look” posts like this.
I love what you have done here Emily – great job!
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).
Would love to take a stab at one of Mark’s rooms. He’s one of my all-time favorites.
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.
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!
This is a really fun, creative idea! Love what you came up with; very clever.
Love this series* (I’m hoping it’s a series!) So realistic and helpful.
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!
I love this! Please do more!
Enjoyed this approach to breaking down design for us “simpler” folk. Good ideas and sources all.
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!!
Good to hear! Would love to see a pic of it in your space.
Yes, please do more !
Emily, do you lay awake at night, staring at your ceiling to come up with these genius ideas?
This would be a great series!
Mary, I can promise you than if my head is on my pillow, I’m unconscious :)
I also LOVE this idea! My taste is becoming more refined over time, without the budget to match it, unfortunately. :)
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
I loved this post. Please do more like this. You are so talented and have wonderful taste. Thank you!!
Love this idea!! Thanks for always having great posts!
Emily, I love that you think like real people!
Love this post! Please do more.
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.
Such great tips, Emily!