7 Home Styling Secrets From Studio McGee
Syd & Shea McGee from Studio McGee
The stars of Netflix’s Dream Home Makeover have made a career out of creating amazing home designs. With these secrets, you can transform your own home (or the home of a client)
It all started with a change of heart.
Shea McGee went to college to study Communications. But after graduating and entering that field, she realized that it wasn’t for her. Shea’s passion always lay in design and it was a calling that she could no longer resist.
Her first move was to redesign her home, alongside her husband, Syd. She documented the entire process on Instagram, becoming one of the first home design influencers on the platform. Shea’s unique approach to design led to her attracting several clients who wanted to work with her.
And in 2014, that attraction led to the creation of Studio McGee.
Since then, Shea and Syd have dedicated their lives to making homes more beautiful. They’ve built a seven-figure business, published several books, and they’re the stars of the Netflix series Dream Home Makeover.
What does this mean for you?
The team behind Studio McGee are the perfect people to learn from if you want to create beautiful interior designs. Whether you’re working on your own home or you’re serving clients through your own design business, these secrets from Studio McGee will give you some great ideas for styling a home’s interior.
Secret #1
Use Pinboards to Showcase
Personal Style
The small decorative items we place in our homes do a huge amount to showcase our personal senses of style. They’re little pieces of us that we use to make the space feel more comfortable.
The team at Studio McGee often uses books, sculptures, and vases to showcase personal style. They also decorate homes with framed photos and other mementos designed to spark happy memories whenever the owner looks at them.
But there’s one clever little trick they use to keep these personal aspects of design fresh:
Pinboards
These handy little decorative items allow you to pin any photos or mementos to them quickly and easily. The best thing about them is that they’re not permanent. As life moves on and you create more memories, you can easily update your pinboards with new photos and items.
With pinboards, you’re able to create an evolving sense of personal style without breaking the bank on redesigns every time you want to inject more of yourself into your home.
Secret #2
Get Rid of the Clutter
When talking about her favorite living room design ideas, Shea McGee has this to share:
“When things are scattered everywhere it tends to feel messy. Built-ins or freestanding shelving provide an opportunity to group objects, such as framed family photos or personal travel mementos, in an organized way.”
It’s such a simple tip.
And yet, it’s one that we often miss. Many people just place their mementos and photographs on any clear surface they can find. This creates a cluttered look in the living room in addition to preventing these important items from being points of focus.
Instead, consider grouping these things on a single shelf that can serve as a centerpiece for the room.
Secret #3
Every Room Needs
a Vintage Piece
Vintage furniture and décor have become extremely popular in recent years. However, it’s also possible to overdo the vintage look to the point where the items you buy make your rooms look old.
The McGee’s tip is simple:
Limit yourself to a single vintage item per room.
As Shea puts it:
“They add character and make a home feel unique.”
And best of all…
They can be anything you want!
3D Rendering created by Duke Renders
For example, you may have a vintage rug that acts as the centerpiece of your sitting room. In the bedroom, you may use a vintage pillow to accent the space. Even something like a vintage-style coat rack can lend a cloakroom a little more style.
Leverage vintage items to your advantage.
Just make sure you don’t go so vintage that you end up ruining any sense of modernity that the room has.
McGee’s Living Room
Secret #4
Mix Up Your Seating
It’s easy to buy a furniture set and place it in a room. The challenge is that this can make the room feel drab, as furniture that all comes from the same set offers no variety.
We saw Studio McGee’s answer to this issue in their show, Dream Home Makeover.
In one of the episodes, Shea showcases the living room she designed for herself and her husband. Close examination reveals that she’s used three different types of seating. There’s a lounge couch on one side, with a more classic couch on the other. She also has a pair of deep wooden chairs that offer further differentiation.
The whole package is wrapped up with a pair of decorative textured ottomans.
The result is a dynamic room that stands out as soon as you walk into each. Each type of chair offers a different feeling. And yet, they’re still able to create a cohesive whole thanks to smart color choices.
The point is that the classic furniture set is on the way out. Experiment with mixing and matching different types of furniture to create dynamism and build a unique look in your living room.
Secret #5
Dark Colors Offer Perfect Contrast on a Bright Kitchen
We jump to Shea’s Instagram for this tip.
Anybody who’s seen the pictures Shea shares knows that she has a beautifully bright kitchen. Natural light pours in from every angle. However, this can create some challenges when choosing kitchen colors. Trying to match bright colors against this natural light can lead to a clash that makes the kitchen almost seem too bright.
Shea’s solution?
Use dark colors to create an interesting contrast when a room has a lot of natural brightness.
Her kitchen cabinets have a dark blue finish that does an amazing job of offsetting the natural light pouring into the kitchen. She also uses a brown stain on the kitchen’s central aisle, both to create further contrast and to add depth to the otherwise white color scheme.
Brightness is good in any room.
But too much brightness can become an eyesore.
Using dark colors strategically allows you to offset the brightness without getting rid of it completely.
3D Rendering created by Duke Renders
Secret #6
Combine Masculine and Feminine Details
Again, we come back to the common theme of contrast.
Leathers give a room a more masculine feel, whereas floral patterns on rugs provide a more feminine look. Leaning too far in either direction influences the mood of the room and can make it feel unwelcoming for some people.
By mixing the masculine and feminine, you create a more inclusive space while developing an interesting contrast.
For example, let’s say that you have moody leather furniture. This sets a more masculine tone in the room. To offset that tone, try adding some feminine notes, such as airy linens or wood accent tables.
This is a clever little trick that Studio McGee often uses when designing living rooms. And it’s one that creates an excellent sense of balance.
Secret #7
There is Such a Thing as Too Much Wood
We learned this lesson during the fifth episode of Dream Home Makeovers.
In that episode, Shea was tasked with redesigning the interior of a converted barn. The owners had added a green carpet in an attempt to complement the original wood, which was visible on the ceiling and the beams in the barn.
The effect was that the space felt rather dingy, even with some bits of color elsewhere. The wooden roof, combined with the beams and green carpet, created a dark and unattractive space.
3D Rendering created by Duke Renders
Shea’s solution was simple.
She whitewashed the ceiling to create a fresh look while keeping the original wooden beams the same color to offset the brightness. Of course, she also changed the green carpet for something that had a lighter color.
The lesson learned from this episode is that there is such a thing as too much wood in a room.
Think about how this may apply to the furniture you install. While wooden pieces are attractive on their own, they can often feel overwhelming and dark when they’re the only pieces in the room.
Offset this by replacing some of the pieces or by painting over natural wood with brighter colors. This allows you to keep some natural wood pieces as highlights for the room without making you feel like you’re walking into a forest every time you step through the door.
Simple Style Secrets
The great thing about all of these style secrets from the McGees is that they’re all fairly simple to implement.
None of them require you to completely overhaul a room.
Instead, they rely on clever little touches to transform the mood of a room into one that’s more fitting for your home.
The Studio McGee has built a business out of getting the little things right. And if you follow these tips, you’ll be able to transform your interior spaces without breaking the bank.
And we can help.
At Duke Renders, we provide interior designers with accurate 3D renderings of their creative visions. That means you get to see your ideas in action before you implement them. Plus, our renders provide the perfect demonstration pieces to show to your clients.
Would you like to learn more?
Book a strategy call with our team today and we can talk about how our renders can bring your ideas to life.
