The Decorating Rule I Use When I Don't Know What's Missing

You know that feeling where you think you’ve done everything right? The furniture fits, nothing is offensive per say - you’ve added some things, moved them around, added a few more things, and still every time you walk in the room something is just off. It’s not bad but it ain’t not done! And you cannot figure out why.

I have been there so many times. The massive 2500 square foot LA apartment for example had me shuffling rooms like my life depended on it trying to feel the feels. I have a rule I reach for every single time this happens and it works.

Every room needs to be about something.

Nooooo we aren’t talking theme. Not just a vibe. Think of it as a thesis. One material, mood, idea that everything else either supports or pushes against just enough to make things interesting. When a room has a thesis it reads as resolved even when it’s imperfect. When it doesn’t, it feels unfinished no matter how much you’ve put into it, and trust me I know how frustrating that is.

Most of us build rooms by accumulation. Sofa first, then a rug, then some art, then a lamp, then stuff for the shelves - yadda yadda. And at no point do we stop and ask what all of this is actually trying to say. Even if it “matches” or “pairs well”, it doesn’t say anything. It just exists. And that’s the feeling you’re walking into every time.

There are plenty of offenseless rooms with attractive items placed around it on the internet. The difference between a styled room and one that screams taste is a point of view.

So here’s what I do when I hit that wall.