3 Genius Interior Design Ideas That’ll Instantly Transform Your Home

BEFORE: DINING ROOM

The dining room before needed some major love. Here's how Anjelika transformed the space and other spaces in her home with three key elements.

Interior Design Idea #1: Add Accent Wallpaper

Wallpaper can make a powerful impact in a room, even on just an accent wall. For her new dining room, Anjelika covered two walls – this side wall with Hudson Valley sconces and a tall half wall that leads into the kitchen – in this sunny Chasing Paper x Wovn Home Jaipur pattern in Straw.

"I wanted to incorporate color and pattern without ending up with three gallery walls!," she says. "I chose this pattern because it reminded me of the intricate Indian patterns and motifs that surrounded me growing up, and that I’m still drawn to."

Here's her cute family in front of her new Chasing Paper wallpaper, scoring beautiful natural light. Because her new walls are textured, Anjelika used a wallpaper liner before applying traditional wallpaper, which helped them avoid having to smooth out the walls.

"I highly recommend peel-and-stick if you have smooth walls!," she says. Wallpaper install tip: "We also added white wooden trim (similar to baseboard) to the wallpaper wall edges so it won’t end up peeling over time."

For this very tall, triangular wall, the Chasing Paper team was able to produce custom pieces to cover the wall perfectly. The result is a colorful focal point that enhances the overall design of the room.

Interior Design Idea #2: Elevate Your Lighting

To create more ambiance, Anjelika decided to add in a second layer of lighting by installing two Hudson Valley Roshani Sconces on the left wall. "I really love how it all came together," she says. "The sconces with the round mirror in the middle almost read as a visual triptych, they work together so beautifully."

The mirror in the middle works overtime – from one angle, it doubles the outdoor light they get in the daytime, and from another angle, it reflects the art from the gallery wall. Win win!

Black industrial sconces felt really off in terms of Anjelika's overall color palette and aesthetic, so she chose to replace them with something light and whimsical. The Bibi Sconces were the perfect match.

"I fell in love with these Bibi sconces and they just might be my favorite fixtures in the whole house!," she says. "I love how they are so sculptural, that they look like art objects when not in use."

Well-placed lighting can make a space feel larger, cozier, and it can highlight architectural and design elements. To layer lighting in the room and not just rely on the overhead pendant she already had, Anjelika chose the HVL Cort Table Lamps and Indie Floor Lamp to create accent and ambient lighting throughout.

Interior Design Idea #3: Hang Art Everywhere

Anjelika is not afraid to go big on art, which helps really personalize the space. She also has a great knack for putting together the best gallery walls. "The gallery wall in the dining room was an absolute labor of love!," she says. She admits they can be hard to pull off and she has rushed the process in the past.

"For this one, I really took my time curating pieces, reframing ones we’ve had for years, changing out old prints for different ones, and adding a few new pieces into the mix as well," she says.

What a fun space for gathering! For her gallery wall, Anjelika hung a watercolor she made of Tennessee Valley beach near her home; a limited edition print by the artist behind People I’ve Loved; a couple prints from 20x200 (a great resource for limited edition affordable art, she notes); a print by Anastasia Inciardi and a paper cut piece by Molly M; two poster prints from PSTR Studio; and prints of her favorite musicians (hello, Bowie) she found on Etsy.

She also added one-of-a-kind bead art and paintings by her daughters, a special way to include kid art to your decor!

She added more art above the mantel, including another watercolor she created. "Open floor plans can be tough when it comes to art," she says. "I didn’t want the space to feel crowded or messy, especially with a constant rotation of art projects, forts, and toys on the floor."

Above the mantel, she styled what she fondly refers to as an "art clump." "I love how these lean together and create a homey, informal vibe," she says.

As you start to collect art for your home, think beyond the print-frame combo and consider unique textile art to create texture and visual interest. Anjelika's sofa faced a large wall of windows, making it difficult to hang anything that's behind glass because it reflects the light both day and night.

"I’ve been dreaming of a large-scale textile piece, made by me or by a textile artist. For now, my talented friend, artist Meghan Shimek, has given me this gorgeous wool triptych on loan so I can continue to dream up ideas for what might permanently fill the space."

Here's the full effect of the dining room transformation! Thanks Anjelika for sharing your beautiful new home and lovely decor!