Elevated interiors, tailored for Chicago’s finest
AWARD-WINNING INTERIOR DESIGNER
Meet Anthony Michael
Anthony is regularly named as one of the top interior designers in Chicago and various metropolitan areas such as San Francisco, NYC, Naples, New Buffalo, Scottsdale, Miami, Los Angeles, Belair, Nassau Bahamas and more in addition to numerous other projects in Chicago and the suburbs.
With offices in Chicago and Los Angeles, he works with bicoastal clients. His work has been featured in LUXE as a LUXE Gold Designer, House Beautiful, Traditional Home, The Wall Street Journal, Architectural Digest, Modern Luxury and more.
With over 35 years of experience, Anthony Michael is to interior design what Sir Alec Guinness was to acting— able to handle radically different roles, his talent comfortably manifesting itself behind many faces. While hard to typecast, he dares to cross the lines of convention to try what is visually bold and dramatic , but never jarring.
FEATURED PROJECTS
Buckingham Place
Breathtaking colors of our planet
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Sheffield
Portraits of people from around the globe
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Greenview
Stark beauty of desolate dunes
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FEATURED PRESS
FROM THE BLOG
Picture the dining room in your home right now. Is it hosting weekly dinner parties or a stack of mail, a laundry basket and the treadmill you keep meaning to use? Plenty of homeowners are rethinking this once-essential room and turning it into a space they enjoy every day. With a new approach, your most overlooked room could soon become your favorite one. Why Formal Dining Rooms Are Falling Out of Favor For generations, a formal dining room signaled a well-appointed home. It was the place for holiday feasts, good china and Sunday dinners. Today, many everyday meals happen at the kitchen island, on the couch or at a small table near the stove, so the fancy room down the hall might wait weeks between uses. Among buyers willing to settle for a smaller home, 52% would shrink the dining room to save square footage while keeping the kitchen full-size. That’s a clear signal that people value rooms they use daily over spaces saved for special occasions. Why Buyers Want Rooms with a Clear Purpose The open floor plan had a long run, but working from home changed how many households use their space. Researchers studying post-pandemic homes noted a clear rise in demand for dedicated home offices and quiet corners once remote work took hold. They concluded that giving work its own separate room improves privacy and supports well-being for everyone in the household. Millennial buyers began rethinking open floor plans when the pandemic hit. For many of them, an unused dining room looks more like a future office, guest room or play space for their kids. You can create that sense of separation without rebuilding a single wall. Think of each room as having one main job, then design around it. If you love your open layout but still want some definition, translucent glass block partitions can create distinct zones that still feel spacious. What to Do with Your Dining Room Instead Your dining room already has great bones for a second life. It’s often central, gets decent light and may have doors. Here are a few ideas to try: Home library: Line the walls with bookshelves, then add a comfy armchair and a reading lamp for an instant spot to unwind. Home office: A door you can close makes focusing easier during calls and deadlines. Sitting room or den: Swap the big table for a loveseat, two accent chairs and a coffee table to create a quiet place to chat or read. Playroom or hobby room: Give toys, craft supplies or music gear a dedicated home so the rest of the house stays tidy. With a slim console or drop-leaf table, the room can still host the occasional holiday meal. How to Plan Casual Dining Spaces Letting go of the formal dining room frees you to enjoy meals in more relaxed spots. These two options are easy places to start. Take Dinner Outdoors A patio or porch can quickly become your favorite place to eat when the weather cooperates. Style it the way you’d style an indoor room, with comfortable seating and multifunctional pieces, such as a storage bench that also serves as seating for guests. String lights or lanterns add a warm glow to alfresco dinners with friends. To keep your outdoor dining area comfortable in more seasons , consider enclosing your patio or porch for year-round use. An enclosure also adds privacy from neighbors and keeps bugs away from your plate. Build a Cozy Breakfast Nook A breakfast nook gives you a casual eating spot right next to the kitchen. Built-in bench seating saves floor space and can hide storage underneath, while a round table fits nicely into tight corners. “My breakfast nook quickly became my go-to spot for casual meals and lazy mornings,” says Rose Morrison, managing editor of Renovated , whose family eats there about five to six times a week. Her nook also doubles as a homework station, a workspace and a gift-wrapping spot during the holidays. Making Every Room Work for You Your home should fit the way you live today, not the way dinner parties looked decades ago. Whether your dining room becomes a library, an office or a cozy den, every square foot can earn its keep. Pick one idea to try and enjoy using every room you have.
Stepping out of a neutral comfort zone can feel scary, especially when it comes to your home interior. You don’t have to worry — many 2027 color-of-the-year picks work beautifully in surprising, expressive pairings. Designers are embracing rich, layered combinations that bring warmth, depth and character back into the home. Whether you want to refresh your interior walls, upgrade your furniture or boost your curb appeal, these five unexpected 2027 color pairings can be easily tested in low-commitment ways. Brown and Beige Can Soften Blue in a Living Room California Paints' Quiet Peace, named a top 2027 color of the year , redefines how people approach deep blues. The color was designed primarily as a soothing, grounding neutral rather than a loud accent. As a result, Quiet Peace anchors a room with a serene sense of balance. Try pairing this rich shade with subtle wood tones, such as earthy browns and creamy beiges. The restorative, nature-inspired palette creates a cozy feeling. You can start small and use this color combination through a soft wool throw blanket draped over a tan leather sofa. Another easy application is placing an upholstered accent chair against a beige wall. Green and Brick Red Work Beautifully in a Front Yard When people think about updating exterior brick, their first instinct is often to stick with white trim. Benjamin Moore’s Webster Green offers an unexpected yet striking match for classic red brick exteriors. The color draws out the natural, earthy undertones of fired brick, improving your home’s curb appeal. Use your front yard to test this high-impact combination in small, flexible ways. Incorporating plants in front of your bushes or along your entry walkway can make your home feel more inviting. Repeat the green through details like painted planters, a wreath, updated house numbers or a doormat. These accents let you echo Webster Green against brick without repainting the entire exterior. Pink Can Brighten Gray in a Bedroom Gray bedrooms have dominated interior design for years. However, standard grays can occasionally feel a bit flat or utilitarian on their own. Valspar's 2027 forecast solves this by pairing Moon Shot, a warm-toned gray, with Cottage Door, a grayed-out blue, and a creamy pink such as Apricot Blush. This soft palette creates a balanced mood that feels sophisticated , restful and gently energizing. If your room currently features gray bedding or light gray walls, introduce these colors in tiny, low-risk doses. For example, you can add a pair of textured blush accent pillows or a folded gray-blue throw blanket. Rose and Chocolate Brown Mix Well in a Dining Room For a long time, dining spaces relied on safe, low-contrast wood tones or strict monochrome furniture sets. C2 Paint breaks that mold by pairing Pueblo, a warm, dusty rose hue, with "Death by Chocolate," a deep, luxurious brown. Contrasting rich cocoa tones with soft rose has emerged as a favorite way to add instant elegance and intimacy to gathering spaces. You can easily sample this look at your dining table by reupholstering seat cushions with a warm rose or terracotta fabric. You can also drape a rich chocolate-brown linen runner on a rose-toned table to see how the dark contrast grounds the softer base color. Taupe and a Touch of Green Blend Effortlessly in an Entryway Entryways and hallways serve as the ultimate low-stakes testing grounds for new color ideas. Little Greene’s Marle, an elegant and dynamic taupe, provides a good base for such transitional areas. When paired with a vibrant garden-green accent, taupe transforms into a rich, sophisticated backdrop. Even a small pop of green against a taupe wall creates an inviting, memorable first impression as soon as you step through the front door. To ensure the combination feels intentional rather than overwhelming, apply the 60-30-10 design rule. Let taupe serve as your dominant 60% base color on the walls, balance it with 30% secondary neutral tones on woodwork or flooring and reserve the deep garden green for your 10% accent line. It All Starts with One Small Change These 2027 forecasts celebrate creative expression through simple, low-risk experimentation. By introducing new shades in manageable doses, you can watch how colors interact with your existing decor and lighting. You can use peel-and-stick samples, pillow covers, planters or small decor first to test the color pairings before committing to something bolder. Watch your space transform with these small, delightful color combinations.
Picture a chilly morning, a crackling fireplace and a soft, well-loved quilt draped over your favorite chair. Vintage quilts have quietly slipped out of the linen closet to become fall's most versatile design feature. Here's why they're surging in popularity, what's fueling the trend and how you can use one to make your home wonderfully cozy this season. Quilts Are Stepping Into the Spotlight Not long ago, a vintage quilt lived on a guest bed or in a keepsake box. Now you'll spot them draped over living room sofas, spread across bedrooms and folded by the front door as everyday design statements. House Beautiful points to an ongoing shift toward authenticity in design, where handcrafted one-of-a-kind pieces feel special again. Even the runway has joined in, since designers like Bode have worked antique quilts into modern clothing, with every quilt carrying a real link to the past. Thrifting and Nostalgia Are Fueling This Vintage Quilt Revival Think of a Saturday morning at an estate sale, coffee in hand, flipping through a stack of folded quilts. Plenty of people share that ritual. A 2025 Mercari-commissioned survey by Talker Research found that thrifting is a regular activity for 66% of Americans , with 72% of those specifically aiming to save money. Home decor ranked as the second most popular category for thrift purchases at 45%, behind clothing at 71. However, alongside the money-saving angle, 42% also love hunting for one-of-a-kind finds that a big-box store rarely offers. Chances are you've felt the pull too, away from mass-produced decor and toward pieces that carry history, character and a touch of nostalgia. Vintage Quilts Bring Character New Textiles Cannot Replicate Years of washing and snuggling can mellow a quilt's colors, soften its cotton and relax its seams. That gentle wear can give a vintage quilt a patina you cannot manufacture , even when a reproduction looks lovely. So if your find has a faded patch or a loose stitch, celebrate it. Those little marks read like chapters in the quilt's story, and they add to its charm. Even a damaged quilt can find a second life if you're feeling crafty. Cut the best sections into cushion covers for your sofa. Since every vintage quilt is unique, yours brings its own personality, which is exactly why it adapts well to so many rooms and styles. A Single Quilt Can Transform Nearly Any Room in Your Home One vintage quilt can change jobs as you move from space to space. Try these ideas: Layer it at the foot of your bed or under a duvet for a pop of color and extra warmth on cool nights. Drape it over the back of a sofa or accent chair so it's always within reach for movie night. Hang it on the wall as textile art, especially if the pattern is bold or the story is sentimental. Fold it over a bench, ottoman or window seat to give an entryway or reading nook a soft, lived-in touch. Toss it over a porch rocker so you can sip cider outside on crisp evenings. Want a corner that practically begs you to curl up with a book? Drape your quilt over a reading chair and pair it with warm-toned throw pillows for an extra layer of autumn warmth. Orange, red and yellow shades add easy festive color, and picking one or two hues already hiding in the quilt's pattern keeps everything working together. The Right Fall Color Palette Makes Your Quilt Feel Intentional Once you've chosen a quilt, the colors around it decide whether the room feels pulled together or random. Fall offers many beautiful color schemes, from gold and rust to plum and deep creek green, so you can find or style a quilt that suits the palette you love. If your space leans moody, jewel tones like Bordeaux can create a dramatic corner. If you'd like something sunnier, golden shades such as amber and camel can glow beside a cream sofa, and rust-forward looks warm up against nearly any neutral wall. Smooth Modern Accents Keep a Layered Quilt From Feeling Cluttered Balancing cozy textures with smooth and polished surfaces like glass or metal can help a space look curated, rather than overwhelming. Some easy ideas for achieving this include: Setting a glass vase or lantern nearby for a sleek, light-catching contrast. Swapping in metal picture frames or a polished mirror to balance the quilt's soft texture. Placing a ceramic vase or bowl on a side table for a clean, smooth focal point. Sliding a mirrored or metallic tray under a candle so it reflects light across the room. Standing a lamp with a glossy metal base beside your quilted chair for a warm, glowing finish. Your Home Is Ready for Its Coziest, Most Personal Fall Yet Vintage quilts can bring warmth, history and personality into your home in one soft, stitched-together package. Start small by draping a single quilt over your favorite chair, then watch how quickly the room starts to feel like fall. Grab a coffee, hit a flea market this weekend and get ready to fall head over heels for your coziest season yet.
