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Curated

The Upper Crust of Smart Home Innovations: A 2024 List

From AI fitness mirrors and Josh.ai voice control to wine dispensers calibrated for perfect pours, the smart home innovations worth inviting into a luxury home this year.

Curated

Banquettes: A Lifelong Romance

Everyone wants to sit in the booth. Why banquettes earn their keep in kitchens, entryways, and dining rooms, with cozy continuous seating, hidden storage, and endless custom upholstery options.

Curated

The Allure of Metallic Accents: Adding Shine and Sophistication

Chrome lamps that echo the skyline, metallic mesh cabinets, gold chandeliers that open up tight corners. How reflective accents add glamour and space, and how to balance them so they never tip into gaudy.

Curated

The Homogenization of Interior Design is Breaking My Heart

A dining table built from the old Barnes and Noble front door, a letterpress island, a chair from a 1970 Porsche seat. Why big box sameness erases personality, and why a home should reveal who actually lives there.

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Creating Awesome Playrooms For Everyone’s Sanity

Zoned layouts, built-in storage with plenty of drawers, and durable washable materials turn kid chaos into a playroom that keeps the rest of the house calm, especially when the grandkids visit.

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How to Blend Vintage Pieces Into Your Space

Real marble, solid wood, and stories worth keeping. How to start small, mix vintage finds with modern pieces, and make an antique the focal point without your home feeling like a time capsule.

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From Stress Den Calming Sanctuary: Home Office Design Advice

A surgeon's dated brown office becomes a moody vintage apothecary retreat in Chicago's North Shore. Emily Mackie on choosing a theme, a calming color, and a workspace that soothes instead of stresses.

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5 Dramatic Powder Room Wall Treatments and Why You Should Have One

Powder rooms are small enough to go gloriously bold. Gold botanical wallpaper, art deco geometry, and feathered patterns from our projects show how a tiny room can make your biggest statement.

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7 Exquisite Splurges Every Interior Designer Dreams Of

From a Hastens bed to a Zip Water tap that pours carbonated on demand, Emily Mackie shares the seven splurges that 25 years in luxury design have taught her are truly worth dreaming about.

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7 Creative Ways to Maximize Small Spaces

Paint walls and ceiling the same color, make every piece pull double duty, and edit clutter ruthlessly. Seven designer strategies that make compact rooms feel larger, calmer, and genuinely stylish.

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5 Whimsical Design Ideas to Transform Your Home

Custom bathroom tiles printed with a client's favorite memories, swings, slides, and bars that spark conversation. Five ways whimsical design trades catalog sameness for rooms full of personality.

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Navigating the World of Interior Design: Decorator, Designer, or Architect?

Decorator, designer, or architect? A clear guide to what each professional actually does, plus what the Illinois licensing changes mean before you hire help for your next home project.

Curated

SWINGING BACK TIME: EMBRACING THE LOST ART OF UNWINDING

Emily Mackie reflects on how fast life moves once your oldest leaves for college, and shares her own ways to slow down, from hot yoga and long walks to reading nooks and the dream of a wicker swing.

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The Rally Against Builder Basic: Redefining Home Design

A tour of 1760 Washington in Wilmette, the luxury spec home built to challenge builder basic, from a sweeping curved staircase to spa-like baths, custom cabinetry, and a boldly colored facade.

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10 Unexpected Home Additions That Will Transform Your Living Space

Ten indulgent additions that transform daily life at home, including a water bottle filler in the fitness room, a doggie bedroom tucked under the staircase, and a dedicated relaxation room.

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Inside Our First-Ever Digital Concept Home, The Art of Living at 1760 Washington

When Wilmette denied permits for a physical show house, The Art of Living at 1760 Washington became a digital concept home, an award-winning 3D virtual tour anyone can now explore.

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How to Connect With Neighbors and Build Community Through Design

Inspired by Emily Mackie's mother, who transformed a Texas street by planting sidewalk trees, this guide shows how front porches and thoughtful outdoor design turn neighbors into community.

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Powder Room Surprises: Ideas to Make Your Space Elicit Emotion

A powder room should transport your guests. Emily Mackie shares ideas that stir real emotion, from hand towels embroidered with Cindy Crawford one-liners to gallery walls that teach.

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4 LUXE DESIGN MATERIALS TO KNOW ABOUT IN 2023

The luxury materials worth knowing this year are no fads. Reimagined terrazzo in oversized, vibrant chips leads a list of finishes that bring lasting personality to floors, backsplashes, and countertops.

Curated

HOSTING FOR THE HOLIDAYS: 6 TIPS ON HOW TO PREPARE YOUR HOME FOR GUESTS

Practical ways to ready your guest room for the holidays, from fresh white linens and plump new pillows to travel size toiletries, a spare robe, and the small hotel touches guests remember.

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HOW TO KNOW IF AN INTERIOR DESIGNER IS RIGHT FOR YOU

Choosing an interior designer is a bit like dating. Learn to sort decorators from full service design-build teams, weigh credentials like NCIDQ certification, and find the right match for your project.

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CELEBRATING 19 YEARS OF INSPIRED INTERIORS

CELEBRATING 19 YEARS OF INSPIRED INTERIORSSeptember 27, 2022 At Inspired Interiors, we’ve accomplished so much over the last 19 years. Click to hear from Founder and Principal Designer Emily Mackie…

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5 MUST HAVES FOR A LUXURY CUSTOM HOME

From an AM to PM mixed bar that tucks the espresso setup away at cocktail hour to a value-boosting pool, five indulgent features worth building into a luxury custom home.

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A GUIDE TO MAKING YOUR RELOCATION DREAM A REALITY

Nearly 16 million Americans moved during the pandemic, and remote work has put dream destinations within reach. A practical plan for relocating to the place you have always imagined living.

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IMAGINATIVE INTERIOR DESIGN IDEAS THAT PUSH THE LIMITS

Emily Mackie grew up with a soda fountain in the kitchen and a parrot sanctuary in the dining room. That same whimsy now shapes projects like rooftop sprinkler parks and curlicue slides.

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HOW 3D VIRTUAL TOURS SAVE HOME BUILDERS AND BUYERS TIME AND MONEY

HOW 3D VIRTUAL TOURS SAVE HOME BUILDERS AND BUYERS TIME AND MONEYMay 21, 2021 Imagine, if you will, a world without naysayers. Where any project was possible because someone had a vision and the…

Curated

THE FUTURE OF THE OFFICE

A Chicago real estate branding firm bought a residential building, moved in above the workspace and asked Inspired Interiors to design a flexible office employees genuinely look forward to.

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DESIGN CHALLENGE: AN ABUNDANCE OF BATHROOMS

Ten bathrooms in one home, all designed with a single Porcelanosa collection. How one product line became a creative advantage, from a soaking tub built for two to grandma's walk-in tub.

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HOW INTERIOR DESIGN GUIDES YOU TO #LIVEINSPIRED

Emily Mackie explains what it means to live inspired: spaces designed to prompt feeling and action through all five senses, from an inviting foyer to a productive and purposeful home office.

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5 TOP TIPS FOR PREPARING YOUR PATIO

Five ways to ready your patio for the season, from durable neutral furnishings dressed up with bold accessories to hanging plants, layered textures, and mood lighting that keeps the evening glowing after sunset.