How To Design Your Home Like A Celebrity

One common trend found in celebrity homes is art gallery walls. Unsurprisingly, white walls are the most popular pick when it comes to paint colour andit seems the reason for this is that white or neutral-toned walls provide the perfect canvas for fine art.

Celebrities including Naomi Campbell, Kendall Jenner, Robert Downey Jr., and Will Smith have chosen white or neutral walls for spaces where they display artwork in their homes. The simple backdrop provides minimal distraction and allows art and wall sculptures to stand out in the same way they do in Tate Modern.

Cara Delevigne’s space, for example, boasts artwork from the likes of James Turrell and Chemical X, whilst Naomi Campbell’s Kenyan villa features sculptural works by Italian artist Armando Tanzini.

How to try this trend in your home

Whilst white walls are a great start, natural tones also work well to create a relaxing yet warm environment. Try painting your walls in a nutmeg white when looking to display artwork, record covers, photos or wall sculptures. It’s softer on the eyes and easier to live with day in, day out.

Something seen time and time again in celebrity homes is a mixture of throws, cushions and designer rugs in bold colours such as terracotta and forest green. John Legend and Chrissy Tiegen’s Thai-inspired home features turquoise and burnt orange scatter cushions, complementing their neutral cloud sofa. Musician, Wiz Khalifa, has a cinema room which features polka dot cushions to add a pop of colour. Naomi Campbell uses Kenyan artefacts and textiles adorned in traditional beading to add colour and depth to her space.

And it seems design enthusiasts are fully on board with this shift toward the bolder side of design; search volumes for ‘bold interiors’ have increased by 200% and ‘colourful home accessory’ searches have increased by 57%, since April 2021.

How to try this trend in your home

Adding colour through home accessories allows you to quickly change and experiment with different interior themes. If you’re not a fan of colour, diverse textures can also do a lot for a space. Cosy knitted blankets, linen cushion covers and textural pile rugs will add dimension and depth without making the room look too busy.

Because of their location in Los Angeles, many celebrity homes feature Spanish Revival interior architecture including contemporary wood cornices, door frames, ceilings and floors with dark wood flooring and cornices in walnut, teak and oak reigning supreme. The touch is classic LA and can make a space feel crisp and modern while remaining warm.

Kendall Jenner takes the trend to a new level in her LA-based home by applying it to doors, window frames, and exposed wooden ceiling beams. The Smith’s Calabasas mansion features coffered wood ceilings and exposed wood beams in the kitchen and dining area. Elsewhere—and in a slightly different form—the trend can be seen in Miley Cyrus’ country-style Tennessee house which has floor to ceiling wood panelling and vaulted exposed beams for a rustic feel.

How to try this trend in your home

One way to incorporate dark wood furniture and accents is with flooring. Dark wood flooring is not only practical but it can help to make unfortunate stains not stand out as much. Another great way to begin to introduce rich wooden furniture is to look into investing in antiques. A lot of older pieces have been crafted from deeper oaks and wax finishes tend to mature over time.

A common trend found in celebrity homes is, funnily enough, the curation of a not-so-common furniture and decor collection. It seems that, for the rich and famous, collecting is a bit of an art. Kendall Jenner’s home, for example, features a rare white 1965 Radiofonographo record player and Cara Delevigne’s hallway is home to a highly coveted Chanel surfboard, which is no surprise given that she is one of the luxury French brand’s ambassadors. A Chanel surfboard. Need we say more?

And that’s not to mention larger celebrity collections. Producer DJ Khaled has a huge sneaker closet housing over 500 pairs of collectible shoes and trainers, complete with a rolling library ladder to access them all. And Oprah Winfrey has her own wine mine beneath her ski home in Colorado, which stores 1,600 bottles of rare vintage.

How to try this trend in your home

While a wine mine may not suit all homes (London anyone?), there are still plenty of ways to add unique touches to your home. From vintage finds to rare collectible items, experiment with ways to showcase things that mean the most to you. If it's shoes and handbags, consider working with an artisan to build a bespoke wardrobe to display your items. With a piece of furniture, try to place it in an uninterrupted area, away from other pieces and artwork, so that it becomes a talking point in your home.

A-listers are smart when it comes to bringing in light whilst maintaining privacy so a lot of celebrity homes feature floor-to-ceiling crittall windows (or Crittall, if talking about the originals) framed by long cream or white curtains. The swathes of pale-coloured fabric offer a space privacy without feeling heavy and clumsy, allowing other features to stand out.

How to try this trend in your home

Opt for light, gauzy fabrics when it comes to curtains to balance the harsh lines of crittall.

In case you need an excuse to add more plants to your home, here it is. Personal jungles are taking over the homes of many celebrities with stars adorning their houses in all kinds of fresh foliage. Bougainvillaea, majesty palms, eucalyptus, along with orange and lemon trees, are favourites in celebrity interiors, often used in the hallway or kitchen to add life and colour to less exciting spaces.

How to try this trend in your home

Mix a variety of plants, real or otherwise, with different leaf shapes and heights to fill out a corner of a room (you’ll find Studio Ashby doing just that in our article on how to decorate empty living room corners). If leafy plants aren’t for you, luxurious floral bouquets can effortlessly fill empty spaces and add a pop of colour immediately, without the need to redecorate. Select a unique vase or plant pot and fill it with blooms or greenery of your choice.

A common theme found in the homes of celebrities and multi-millionaires alike is a large statement bed or sofa—the bigger, the better. In fact, Cara Delevigne’s bed puts California king bed to shame at an extraordinary 11 feet wide.

Celebrities vary in their design choices in the living room, but one similarity in almost every living room is multiple or oversized sofas. Pale colours are preferred, with cream and white seen most often and sporting pops of colour in the form of throws and cushions.

How to try this trend in your home

You don’t have to go quite so big with furniture in your home, but an essential feature for an oversized bed is simple white bed linen. The light colour will ensure that the bed doesn’t overpower the rest of the room, despite its size, and will keep the space feeling open and welcoming.

In the living room, play around with furniture placement. Facing sofas towards each other invites conversation and opens the space to add a large coffee table—a perfect focal point where you can display books, ornaments or flowers. A top tip used in Jessica Alba’s home is to fit the TV on a large painting easel so it can be moved to a different room when entertaining.