There's a difference between a room that looks decorated and one that feels like a home.

The spaces I'm most drawn to are layered, personal, and a little unexpected. They don't look like everything arrived on the same delivery truck—or like every piece was chosen simply because it matched.

A collected home tells you something about the people who live there. It evolves over time, mixing old with new, polished with imperfect, and beautiful pieces with things that simply have meaning.

Here are a few ways I approach creating that feeling.

Mix Old and New

One of the easiest ways to give a room character is to add something with a little history.

An antique chest beneath a contemporary piece of art. A vintage side table next to a new sofa. An old wooden chair pulled up to a more modern desk.

You don't need a house full of antiques. In fact, I usually prefer the tension created by mixing periods and styles.

A few older pieces can keep a room full of new furniture from feeling too perfect—or too much like a showroom.

Shop Everywhere

This may be one of my biggest decorating rules.

When the sofa, chairs, coffee table, side tables, lamps, and accessories all come from the same retailer—or even the same collection—the room can quickly feel flat.

Instead, I like to source from everywhere: trade vendors, larger retailers, vintage shops, Etsy, antique stores, local makers, and sometimes pieces the client already owns.

The goal isn't for everything to match. It's for everything to work together.

Keep Something Personal

Not everything in your home needs to have been chosen by a designer.

Family photographs, inherited furniture, art from a trip, your grandmother's silver, a stack of books you've actually read—these are often the things that make a room interesting.

When I'm designing a space, I want to know what a client already owns and loves before deciding what needs to be added.

Sometimes the slightly imperfect piece with a story behind it is exactly what a room needs.