The Francis Files

How I Designed My To Live & Design Dining Room From the Floor Up

Inside the Regency Aviary, my To Live & Design dining vignette: how the whole palette came off a Color Study rug in Silverlake, plus the wallpapered screen I built from... Read more...

Poldina Pro vs. Pro Mini vs. Micro: Which Shades Fit Which Lamp

A two-minute fit guide to the Poldina Pro, Pro Mini, and Micro: dimensions, which shade covers fit which lamp, how slip-on covers work, and how to measure the one you... Read more...

The Best Pleated & Scalloped Lampshades for Every Budget

The cheapest way to make a lamp look expensive is to change its shade. Pleated and scalloped picks for every budget. Read more...

Best Unlacquered Brass Bathroom Sconces Under $400

Most brass under $200 is plated steel. How to tell, and the sconces I would put in a client's bath for under $400. Read more...

The Meadow Collection: Painterly Floral Wallpaper & Throw Pillows

The Meadow Collection with Marigold Furniture: painterly floral wallpaper, down throw pillows and 34-inch lumbars, all made in England. Read more...

Lacquered Walls: A Designer's Guide to High Gloss Rooms

Flat paint sits on the wall. Lacquer pulls you in. What the finish asks of your walls before it rewards you. Read more...

Five Ways to Style an Orange Pleated Lamp Shade

An apricot pleated silk shade warms a room without committing to bright color. Five rooms where I have used it, from a sunroom to a study. Read more...

A Denver Apartment Makeover With Transitional Style

A friend's compact Denver apartment in LoHi, done in transitional pieces she can take to her next home: a sofa bed, a green velvet chair and a maze rug. Read more...

The Best Sculptural Console Tables For Every Space

A console is the one piece an entry cannot do without. Sculptural options for a narrow hall or a grand foyer. Read more...

The Notebook: Diego Giacometti's Bronze Furniture

Diego Giacometti's bronze furniture blurs the line between sculpture and something you use every day. His animal motifs and delicate casting, up close. Read more...

Travel by Design: Condesa DF in Mexico City

A 1920s Art Deco mansion in Mexico City's Condesa, restored by India Mahdavi with its terrazzo floors and ironwork intact and a rooftop built as an urban oasis. Read more...

Designer Tips for Bookshelf Styling: The Complete Guide & Best Products

Styled shelves look collected because they follow a method. My 70-30 rule, the step-by-step order I use, and accessories under $300 that work. Read more...

The Notebook: Billy Baldwin's Bold & Beautiful Interiors

The designer who proved a room can be drop-dead gorgeous and comfortable at the same time, and what I take from him. Read more...

The Best Navy Blue Paint Colors (And How to Use Them)

Navy does not need more navy. It needs something to push against. The blues I specify and what to put beside them. Read more...

The Best Brass Pendant Lights for Kitchen Islands Under $500

Brass over an island warms a kitchen the way chrome never will. The pendants I would hang, all under $500. Read more...

1920s Bungalow Living Room: How to Make Tall Ceilings Feel Welcoming

A 1920s Southwest Atlanta living room with soaring ceilings. How a new layout, a chandelier in place of the fan and curtains hung below the crown made it welcoming. Read more...

Travel by Design: Art Deco Excellence at Sommerro House

Oslo's former electric company headquarters, a 1930s Art Deco building restored by GrecoDeco into Sommerro House, and the Deco details that carry it. Read more...

The Best Blush Pink Paint Colors: Grown-Up, Not Girly

The word pink scares people into greige. The right blush is one of the most flattering colors you can put in a room. Read more...

Art Hearts: Josef Albers' Influential Color Studies

Josef Albers built a career on the square. His Bauhaus color studies, the Homage to the Square series, and how they led to my Color Study rug. Read more...

How to Create a Whimsical Wildflower Table Setting

A wildflower table I set by the fireplace in West Midtown: colored bud vases and tapers, vintage silver, jacquard napkins and plain white china. Read more...

The Notebook: David Hicks' Bold Approach to English Style

David Hicks paired fearless color with geometry and invented the modern tablescape. His South Eaton Place rooms, Vila Verde, and the rules he broke. Read more...

The 21 Best Bouclé Accent Chairs of 2026: A Designer Guide

Bouclé has been around since the 1940s. What to look for in the fabric and frame, and the bouclé accent chairs I would buy at every price point. Read more...

Travel by Design: La Dolce Vita at Casa Monti Hotel

An 18th-century palazzo in Rome's Monti district, turned into a hotel by Laura Gonzalez, where Renaissance grandeur meets a bohemian ease. Read more...

Leopard Print Decor: The Guide to Styling Animal Prints at Home

Leopard is a neutral. How to use it underfoot and in small doses without the room tipping into costume. Read more...

The Best Pale Blue Paint Colors: Calm, Not Cold

Pale blue lives or dies on its undertone. Eight I specify, and how to read each one before you buy a gallon. Read more...

Kevin Francis O'Gara Apartment Tour on Homeworthy

Homeworthy filmed my New Regency apartment in Midtown. The fabric wall panels, a bedroom canopy with no holes in the ceiling, and the rugs in each room. Read more...

Finishing Touches for a Stylish Apartment With Frontgate

The last layer in my Midtown apartment: a lift-top desk in place of a media console, counter stools, a shell mirror and a hand-painted floral triptych. Read more...

Small Space, Big Style: My Atlanta Living Room With Coley Home

My small Midtown living room, done in one color family with strong shapes, a Clam Chair and Coley Home's Mia Shin Toaster Chair and Herb mohair ottoman. Read more...

The Clam Chair: A Cozy Icon of Danish Modernism

The sheepskin Clam Chair in my living room is a guest favorite. The recently uncovered story behind this Danish modern icon and its club-shaped legs. Read more...

How to Make Fabric Panels Using Hollow-Core Doors

How I filled a tall wall in my Midtown apartment without a gallery wall: hollow-core doors wrapped in Lee Jofa Indiennes Stripe and hung on French cleats. Read more...

Beautiful Boudoirs: Transitional Bedroom Rug Ideas

How I choose a rug for a transitional bedroom, from sizing under a queen bed to materials and color, with the handmade designs I would put there. Read more...

The Best Sage Green Paint Colors (Without the Minty Mistake)

The line between a dusty sage and a dentist-office mint is thinner than you think. Here is where it falls. Read more...

Westover Place Project: A Classic Foundation for the Living Room

The Westover Place living room starts with classic pieces: an embroidered floral armchair, a linen cloud sofa, brass nesting tables and my Dede rug. Read more...

The Notebook: Luis Barragán's Mexican Minimalism

Luis Barragán joined modernist geometry with the colors of Mexican folk art and his ranch childhood. His hot pink walls and water gardens, and what I take from them. Read more...

High Point Design Details: Artisan Glass & Stitched Leather

At High Point Market the theme was craftsmanship. The handblown glass and stitched leather I saw in new collections, and why those details last. Read more...

The Return of Silver and Chrome in Interior Design

Silver is back after years of brass. Why warmer palettes make chrome and nickel look fresh again, and the difference between polished nickel and chrome. Read more...

Art Deco Furniture Trends From High Point Market

Art Deco was everywhere at High Point Market. What defines the style, where it came from, and the pieces that hint at what designers will use next. Read more...

My Restful Retreat Bedroom Design for Small/Cool NYC

My Restful Retreat bedroom for Apartment Therapy's Small/Cool NYC, painted in Clare Cloud Watching, with the symmetry and wallpaper tricks I use in small rooms. Read more...

New Regency Style: The Complete Guide to the Look I Built My Brand On

Classical bones, committed color, collected antiques, and enough glamour to make a room feel like an occasion. Read more...

Meet the New Cloud Rug + More Cloud-Inspired Decor

Meet the Cumulus Cloud rug, our first Tibetan hand-knotted design, in four colorways, plus cloud-inspired mirrors, art and lighting to go with it. Read more...

A Historic Kitchen Renovation With Georgia Marble

A badly flipped kitchen in a 100-year-old Southwest Atlanta bungalow. Raised uppers, a marble shelf on brass brackets and the old charm put back. Read more...

Westover Place Project: Modern Classic Dining Room Reveal

A dining room for an old friend's Buckhead townhouse: her heirloom pieces, Ballard Designs updates, custom drapery and a mirror to catch the light. Read more...

Modern Meets Classic: Atlanta Beltline Townhouse Tour

A new-build on the Beltline, layered with vintage art, a custom banquette and a bedroom painted to the ceiling. Read more...

Take Five: August Design Inspiration

Five things from my month: an OMEGA dinner at Summerour Studio, Carmel's coastal interiors in Buckhead, a Billy Reid campaign and an afternoon in Portofino. Read more...

The Notebook: Milo Baughman's Mid-Century Style for All

Milo Baughman designed luxe modern furniture for the everyman, much of it with Thayer Coggin. What I take from his mix of rich materials and plain silhouettes. Read more...

Guest House Renovation: Tiki Bar & Coastal Bedroom Reveal

An unused carriage house became a tiki bar in Naval blue with Tahitian thatch and an aqua velvet banquette, with a coastal guest suite upstairs. Read more...

Italy Travel Itinerary: A Recap of My Five City Trip

Twelve days through Venice, Verona, Florence, Rome and Portofino: the damask rooms at Residenza La Loggia, the Uffizi, Rasputin in Florence and Baia Cannone beach. Read more...

Art Hearts: Paule Marrot's Natural Curiosities

The French textile designer behind Les Tulipes, the print Jackie Kennedy chose for the White House, and a Renault paint palette. Why her botanicals still work in a room. Read more...

A Moody Dark Brown Guest Bedroom Refresh

Our guest room, painted in Clare Coffee Date with a custom blue toile headboard. Why going dark makes a small bedroom feel larger, not heavier. Read more...

From the Archives: A Classic & Contemporary Family Home

Design boards for a family home: a hardworking back entry, a classic contemporary living room, a calm primary bedroom and a bath lifted past builder grade. Read more...

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