How to Develop Your Eye: 6 Home Designers and Stylists to Learn From

Some interiors stay with you long after you’ve scrolled past them. It might be an unexpected colour, a beautifully worn table beside a modern sofa, or a shelf filled with objects that seem to have stories behind them.

The most interesting rooms rarely follow one formula. They offer clues about how their owners live, what they collect and what they love. And while the work of interior designers can sometimes feel a world away from our own homes, there are ideas hidden in the details that we can all borrow.

Here are six designers and stylists with distinct points of view—and one lesson to take from each.

Joanna Gaines: Let the Building Guide You

Many people know Joanna Gaines for the modern farmhouse look she popularised through Fixer Upper: relaxed rooms, natural materials and a mix of old and new. But looking across her projects reveals a broader approach—one that responds to the character of each building.

The Lake House, for example, takes its cues from a different era. Its interiors bring together natural wood, retro-inspired furniture and a striking fireplace, with views of the lake and surrounding trees playing an important part in how the rooms feel. It’s a departure from the farmhouse look many people associate with her. Explore the Lake House and her other projects.

What to notice:

Rather than forcing the same look onto every property, Gaines lets the setting and architecture help shape the room’s mood. The Lake House feels connected to its wooded surroundings as well as its mid-century influences.

(Images Courtesy of Magnolia Network)

(Image Courtesy of Magnolia Network)

Try it at home:

Look for a detail your home already offers: the colour of a wooden floor, an original fireplace, the shape of a window or the view outside. Let that guide one choice, whether it’s the tone of a curtain, the material of a table or the colour you repeat in a cushion.

(Image Courtesy of Magnolia Network)

Instagram: @joannagaines

Nate Berkus: Decorate With Things That Tell Your Story

Nate Berkus is known for interiors that feel collected rather than assembled in a single afternoon. His work often brings together pieces from different periods, natural materials and objects with personal meaning. The result is polished, but there’s usually a sense that someone actually lives there.

That balance is visible in the New York townhouse he designed with his husband, fellow designer Jeremiah Brent. To bring warmth back into the renovated home, they created a double-height oak bookcase for their books, pottery and framed family photographs. It became both a practical storage solution and a way to make the room feel unmistakably theirs. Tour the townhouse in Architectural Digest.

What to notice:

The bookcase does more than fill a wall. The warm timber adds depth, while the objects on its shelves make a large architectural feature feel personal and interesting.

(Photography by Nicole Franzen)

Try it at home:

Start with one shelf and bring together things you already own: a framed photograph, a favourite book, a bowl or an object from a trip. Vary their heights and leave a little space between them. You’re looking for an arrangement that’s interesting to live with, not a perfectly styled display.

Instagram: @nateberkus

(Photography by Nicole Franzen)

Bea Mombaers: Create Depth With Natural Materials

Belgian stylist and collector Bea Mombaers has an eye for objects that make you pause. Through her shop, Items, her interiors work and her bed and breakfast in Knokke, she has become known for bringing together vintage furniture, art and unusual finds in spaces that feel calm yet full of character.

Her rooms often feel quiet, but a closer look reveals a rich interplay of materials. In her Knokke bed and breakfast, warm wood, woven seating and soft textiles sit against pale, smooth surfaces. Their different textures give the restrained palette depth and make each piece more compelling. In an interview with TLmagazine, Mombaers described her style as minimal in colour, while resisting a simple definition of minimalism. Read the interview.

What to notice:

There’s interest in the contrast between surfaces. A cool, smooth backdrop gives a worn or textured piece more presence; the mix keeps a quiet palette from feeling flat.

(Image Courtesy of Bea Mombaers)

Try it at home:

Look around your room and notice what most surfaces have in common. If everything feels smooth and new, introduce something with a little texture or age: a wooden stool beside a linen sofa, a woven basket under a console, or a handmade ceramic bowl on a coffee table. Start with pieces you already own and see how they look in a new place.

Instagram: @itemsbybea

(Image Courtesy of Bea Mombaers)

Justina Blakeney: Use Colour to Change the Mood

Designer, artist and Jungalow founder Justina Blakeney is known for joyful interiors filled with colour, pattern and plants. Her work makes a compelling case for choosing a room’s atmosphere as carefully as its furniture.

In her California home, different rooms have different personalities. One particularly lovely example is the dining room, where pink walls meet a travertine table and vintage rattan-and-chrome chairs. The combination feels expressive, yet the natural materials give the colour room to breathe. See Blakeney’s home in Architectural Digest.

What to notice:

Painted walls give the dining room its own distinct mood without feeling overpowering. Rather than stopping at a few colourful accessories, Blakeney uses colour across a larger surface, allowing it to become part of the room’s atmosphere.

(Photo: Jenna Peffley for Architectural Digest)

Try it at home:

Think about how you want a room to feel before choosing a colour. If a full room feels like too much, try a painted side table, a lampshade or a cushion first. Place it beside a natural material—wood, linen or woven fibres—and see how the contrast changes the mood.

Instagram: @justinablakeney

(Photo: Jenna Peffley for Architectural Digest)

Brigette Romanek: Add an Unexpected Note

Los Angeles-based Brigette Romanek is known for what she calls livable luxe: interiors that are sophisticated and distinctive, but made to be used and enjoyed. Her rooms often combine pieces from different eras with a sense of playfulness.

In her Los Angeles home, an airy living room includes vintage furniture alongside an electric pink lightbox. It’s the sort of unexpected detail that changes the mood of an otherwise elegant space: a little irreverent, memorable and full of personality. Step inside Romanek’s home.

What to notice:

One surprising piece can give a room its own identity. The pink lightbox stands out because it interrupts the more restrained setting around it.

(Photography by Sam Frost)

Try it at home:

Introduce one element that feels a little less predictable: an unusually shaped lamp, a colourful piece of art or a cushion in a shade you wouldn’t normally choose. Place it somewhere visible and live with it for a while. It doesn’t need to match everything else to feel at home.

Instagram: @brigetteromanek

(Photography by Sam Frost)

(Photography by Sam Frost)

Katharine Pooley: Find Inspiration in Your Surroundings

British designer Katharine Pooley is known for richly detailed interiors, craftsmanship and close attention to materials. Her projects can be grand, but one of the most interesting things about them is the way a place can inform even the smallest choices.

For her London Riverside project, Pooley drew on the apartment’s views of the Thames. Soft blues, silvery tones and reflective finishes echo the water and changing light, while tactile fabrics and bleached timber keep the rooms layered. Explore the Riverside project.

What to notice:

The connection to the river is suggestive rather than literal. Colour and the way surfaces catch the light create a sense of place without relying on an obvious theme.

(Photography: Brooke Murphy)

Try it at home:

Take a photograph of a view or place you love and notice the colours and textures in it. Perhaps it is the silvery green of leaves outside your window, the dark wood of a favourite café or the soft blue of the coast. Bring one or two of those details into your room through art, fabric or a small object.

Instagram: @katharinepooleyltd

(Photography: Brooke Murphy)

(Photography: Brooke Murphy)

Look Closely, Then Make It Your Own

The pleasure of following designers isn’t necessarily in recreating their rooms. It’s in beginning to notice the choices that make a space feel compelling: the contrast between old and new, the pause around a favourite object, or the way one unexpected colour changes everything.

Save the images that draw you in, then ask yourself why. Over time, those small observations can help you make more confident choices—and create a home that feels richer for them.