impactful interior designer tricks you’ve probably never noticed
The difference between a room that feels "fine" and a room that feels professionally designed usually comes down to a handful of subtle moves you'd never spot on your own. As a San Francisco interior designer, these are three tricks I use constantly to fix awkward layouts, save budget, and maximize a room's footprint without anyone noticing they're a "trick" at all.
one | the layered rug
Photo Credit: Quiet Minimal
An oversized 9x12 or 10x14 antique or high-end rug can single-handedly wreck a project budget. The workaround: source a large, affordable natural jute or sisal rug to correctly fill the room's footprint, then layer a smaller, more detailed rug (think: vintage, wool, high-end) directly on top under the main seating area. You get the scale, the texture, and the layered luxury look for a fraction of what a single oversized statement rug would cost.
two | drapes on a blank wall
Photo Credit: Manera Magazine
Asymmetrical rooms with an off-center window can make an entire layout feel visually off-balance. Rather than taking on construction to fix it, I'll install a curtain rod and full-length drapes on a completely blank wall where there's no window at all. It tricks the eye into reading the room as symmetrical and adds soft, luxurious texture in the process. I've never needed to convince a client twice once they see the "after."
three | painted exposed pipes
Photo Credit: CI MA Studio
When a room has exposed plumbing or conduit, the instinct is to build a drywall soffit to hide it but that eats into your ceiling height and living space for no real benefit. Instead, I paint the pipes to exactly match the wall color and finish, so they visually disappear. Or, I take the opposite approach and paint them a bold contrast color, turning them into an intentional architectural feature instead of something to hide. Either way, you keep the square footage a soffit would have stolen.
Want a space that solves its own quirks instead of fighting them? Book a design consultation with Spearman Spaces and let's find the tricks your room actually needs.
