Design Hints

Brenda and Mike Kilgore's Orrick, Missouri, home was made for entertaining. "I do family dinners every Sunday for my four kids and grandkids," says Brenda, who espouses the benefits of tough and durable furnishings. "I don't want anybody to ever worry. I want a place my kids can put their feet up, be at home, and not worry about what my grandkids are going to do." She shares a few simple strategies for creating an inviting and open space for entertaining friends and family:

Nothing highlights your decor and sets the tone for your spaces like well-chosen lighting. Elaine and Richard Kunicki share a few of the ways they add authenticity to their Billerica, Massachusetts, home with reproduction lighting:

New England florist Michael Maskery, of The Frugal Flower in Sudbury, Massachusetts, helps Linda and Joe Harris ready their Nottingham, New Hampshire, home for their annual holiday open house. “It gets bigger and better every year,” Michael says. “The people who saw it last year will see something new this year.” Here, he shares some of his favorite techniques for creating Colonial Christmas decor:

Much like vintage vignettes in an antiques mall, Allie and Bill Sosnoski’s charming and cozy home near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is filled with seasonal decorating ideas and displays that draw their year-round charm from a lovely, layered feel. And, while Allie may love the past, she’s definitely a product of the 21st century when it comes to gathering design ideas. She likes to visit online blogs and sites such as Pinterest for decorating inspiration. “I can spend hours online,” she admits. She offers the following simple ways to add layers of ambience in your own home:

Carol Cook, decorating her Ventura, California, home for the Fourth of July is almost as important as decking the halls in December. In fact, her decor celebrates American exuberance all year long. "I love red, white and blue," she enthuses. If you are looking for ways to add broad stripes and bright stars to your home this July, consider these spirited ideas:

From hard-to-find green graniteware to a family heirloom vintage bench with original green paint, it's no coincidence that rooms in Rowann and Hugh Wilkerson's Lilburn, Georgia, home all have at least one or two green accessories. "If an antique is green, it usually comes home with me," Rowann admits. Weaving a verdant pop of a favorite color throughout your interior decor is a personal signature and adds continuity to disparate spaces. Rowann offers the following tips for choosing and working with a signature color.

Erin Boles, a seasoned pro in the art of upcycling, loves finding new uses for old things in her Doylestown, Pennsylvania, home. “I never look at something for what it is or what it’s supposed to be,” she says. “I think of what it could become or how I can use it.” Here are five tips for incorporating salvaged materials into your home:

Walking into Bridgett Swindle's Greenbrier, Tennessee, home is like stepping back in time -- and not just to 2002 when she and her husband finished building their antiques-filled sanctuary. How does she make her 21st-century house feel like a Colonial primitive paradise? Here are five of her best ideas:

Discover ways to coordinate your holiday decor all through the house.

As Melanie Curl of Bolivar, Missouri, has learned, accumulating vintage kitchen utensils and cutlery isn’t the hard part of creating a theme. After all, they tend to be small and relatively inexpensive. But they’re also oddly shaped and often unwieldy, which makes displaying them a challenge. Here are some ideas to spark your imagination: