As a Designer, These Are My Top 5 Design Tips and Tricks
Interior designer Emma Kemper is one of Homes & Gardens’ new Editors-At-Large for By Design, sharing her thoughts on decor through her lens of soft light, vintage pieces, and a sepia-tinged palette. See the rest of her articles here.
Not to plug my book again (well, maybe just a little!), but as I mentioned in my last column, I spent much of the past three years writing House Rules: 100 Ways to Feel at Home.
The process was truly eye-opening and completely reshaped how I think about and approach interior design and home decor ideas. Some might say I’m giving the milk away for free, but in the generous spirit of the holidays, I wanted to share a selection of my most-loved and most-revisited rules from the book – the ones that stand on their own, offer practical guidance, and help you steer clear of some of the most common design pitfalls.
1. Use Mood Boards to Define Your Design Concept
The first step in designing any space is defining your design concept. Think of it as the elevator pitch for the look and feel you’re aiming to achieve. A strong concept gives you a framework for every decision, ensuring that your choices work together to create a cohesive, harmonious result.
A common misstep is confusing a design concept with a theme. Your concept should guide you, not dictate every detail. Take it too literally, and a room can drift into ‘theme territory,’ feeling forced rather than thoughtfully curated. For example, if your beach house concept is ‘sun-faded and collected’, focus on items with character – like vintage pieces in soft, weathered tones – and steer clear of anything that feels overly coastal or nautical.
One of the easiest ways to define your concept is by creating mood boards. Start by gathering inspiration – Pinterest is my personal favorite for this – then step back and look for patterns. Notice recurring colors, materials, textures, or shapes, and remove anything that disrupts the overall feeling. Those recurring patterns will naturally reveal your design concept and set the tone for every choice that follows, helping you create a space that feels cohesive, intentional, and effortlessly stylish.
2. Embrace Sense of Place to Avoid Trends
One of the quickest ways a design can fall flat is by ignoring context. The most successful homes feel effortless because they seamlessly weave together architectural details, furnishings, and the environment in which the home exists. Choosing elements that feel native – or at least appropriate – to your home’s setting helps it feel authentic rather than trend-driven.
Color palettes, materials, and textures all play a role in honoring a home’s roots. When something feels forced – like ultra-modern furniture in a traditional Tudor – it immediately reads as disconnected, as if the design is chasing a trend rather than responding to the home itself. The same principle applies to location: a mountain retreat sprinkled with beachy décor, no matter how much you love rattan or tropical motifs, will always feel slightly out of place.
By keeping both architecture and location top of mind, you give your design a natural sense of cohesion. It’s a simple way to ensure your space feels grounded, timeless, and comfortable – a home that truly belongs to its surroundings.
3. Perfect Scheming
(Image credit: Emma Beryl Kemper)
‘Scheming’ is the process of laying out all your furniture, finishes, and materials to make sure they work together to support your design concept. Being able to physically see material samples alongside images of furniture and fixtures removes much of the guesswork. I like to create simple PowerPoint pages of the pieces I’m considering so I can evaluate how everything looks together.
One important tip when selecting furniture is to vary height and scale throughout a space. You want the eye to move naturally around the room, taking everything in.
In my book, I liken it to a skyline – the most interesting skylines are made up of varied profiles rather than uniform heights. Unexpected scale can be a fun element to play with. The only hard-and-fast rule I follow is to use the largest rug a space can hold, as it makes the room feel larger and helps tie all the furniture together. Once you’re happy with your furniture mix, print your PowerPoint and place it alongside your material samples so you can assess everything together.
When choosing patterns and colors, always return to your design concept and the overall ‘vibe’ of each material. If something supports your original idea, it likely belongs – even if it’s an unexpected pairing. Establish a clear color hierarchy in each room: one dominant color, a supporting color, and an accent color repeated throughout. For paint, consider how the room will be used and what time of day you’ll spend in it most often. Paint a large swatch on the wall and revisit it during those hours to see how it truly reads.
For wallpaper, a helpful rule of thumb is to use smaller-scale patterns in smaller rooms and larger-scale patterns in more spacious ones. Order a roll – or borrow one if possible – and hang a large section so you can live with it for a few days before deciding.
Finally, while scheming, don’t look at rooms in isolation. Line everything up together to ensure the entire home feels balanced, cohesive, and intentional.
4. Embrace Patina
Certain materials only improve with age. Think of a well-worn leather club chair or an antique rug, rich with history and character. Unlacquered brass and other living finishes develop a beautiful depth over time, while surfaces designed to stay shiny and ‘perfect’ inevitably age in a way that reads as damaged rather than cherished.
Organic materials like reclaimed wood or natural stone will show wear too, but in a way that feels intentional, authentic, and beautiful. Patina adds instant warmth to a space and helps your home avoid feeling dated. Because these materials carry traces from different eras, it’s impossible to pinpoint exactly when they were installed.
A reclaimed tabletop, with its existing marks and textures, invites you to relax and enjoy everyday life rather than worrying about preserving a flawless surface. The same principle applies to vintage and antique furniture: pieces with a past feel lived-in, timeless, and effortlessly inviting.
5. Design is a Marathon – Honor Your Personal Preferences
(Image credit: Design by Emma Beryl Kemper)
Every design project involves compromise at some point. You might have to choose between something that looks exactly how you want or functions exactly as you imagined. For items you’ll rarely use, prioritise aesthetics – something that feels ‘off’ will bother you every time you see it, whereas functionality matters only in the moment of use. For pieces you’ll use regularly, function should always come first.
Your priorities should reflect your habits and values because, at the end of the day, it’s your home, and it only needs to work for you.
It’s easy to feel pressured to have a space look finished immediately, especially with the endless stream of perfectly polished interiors online. But the truth is, the best designs take time. Whether you’re waiting to come across the perfect piece, an item you love has a long lead time, or your budget is forcing you to slow down, creating a home that truly works for you is a process.
Avoid rushing into choices just to tick boxes on a checklist. Many would argue that a home is ever-evolving and never truly ‘finished’ – and that’s part of the joy. A slow, thoughtful approach ensures a space that is both beautiful and deeply personal.
Buy House Rules: 100 Ways To Feel At Home by Emma Kemper on Amazon here
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