The Francis Files

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Before & After: A Bistro-Inspired Breakfast Nook

A cramped kitchen in a 1920s Ansley Park home, reworked without a gut renovation: Cornforth White, checkerboard floors, roman shades and bistro chairs. Read more...

2022 in Review: Atlanta Interior Design Projects

A year of Atlanta projects: a North Buckhead living room of heirloom antiques, a blush and green West Midtown bath, a Queer Eye media loft and more from 2022. Read more...

Kevin Francis O’Gara’s Atlanta Apartment Tour

My Atlanta apartment as House Beautiful shot it: Turkish rugs in every room, my grandfather's campaign desk in the entry and crane wallpaper in the media room. Read more...

West Midtown Bathroom Renovation on House Beautiful

My West Midtown primary bath on House Beautiful: a walk-in shower where the tub was, a green marble-topped vanity, floral hex tile and Creme Fraiche walls. Read more...

A Fresh Pied-à-Terre Design With Coastal Living

An intown Atlanta pied-à-terre, lightened with Coastal Living pieces: a wicker bar cart, blue bamboo chairs and a rattan mirror, without changing the floorplan. Read more...

A Classic Primary Bedroom Design With Frontgate

The primary bedroom at Niles Place with Frontgate: marble-topped French nightstands, blue Parsons chairs, an antelope rug and playing card collages by the bed. Read more...

West Midtown Primary Bathroom Design

The plan for the West Midtown primary bath: open the wall between shower and tub to free the skylight, then green marble, hexagon flower tile and brass sconces. Read more...

Dark Brown Media Room Design Reveal

My first finished room in the new apartment: a media room and study painted in Behr Dark Truffle, built for reading, working and movie nights. Read more...

Powder Bathroom Design With Limewash Walls

A builder-grade powder room in West Midtown, changed with limewash in Vendôme Beige, a lucite pedestal and an eclectic sconce, with almost no renovation. Read more...

A Classic Coastal Pool House Design

A pool house I designed for relaxed summers, classic coastal with a touch of Palm Beach, built exactly to the original board and featured on Style Me Pretty Living. Read more...

Buckhead Guest Room Refresh With Serena & Lily

A Buckhead bedroom turned guest room with Serena & Lily: fringed sky blue sheets, a navy-embroidered duvet, a sand quilt and a rattan mirror above the bed. Read more...

Contemporary Atlanta Home Tour: Jefferson Street Project Reveal

A three-bedroom house for newlyweds: a dark blue dining room with gold accents, a chinoiserie tapestry in the breakfast room and Tilton Fenwick paper in the powder room. Read more...

Double-story living room with blue sofa, green chaise, cowhide rug, Article Abisko chair, and sputnik chandelier by Kevin O'Gara on Thou Swell #livingroom #livingroomdesign #homedecor #interiordesign #homedesign #homedecorideas

West Midtown Project in the Atlanta Journal Constitution

The West Midtown townhouse in the AJC's Private Quarters: contemporary architecture filled with my mom's antiques, an emerald velvet chaise and terrazzo counters. Read more...

Dark Green Media Room Reveal With AllModern

Meghan's media room in Behr Dark Everglade, which softens the jump to a navy sectional. A glass Flynt coffee table and a sky blue maze rug keep the small room... Read more...

How to Add a Baking Station to Your Kitchen

A kitchen cart turned into a baking station for extra prep space, with cabinets in Behr Perennial Green, a low-commitment way to try a bold color. Read more...

Hand-Painted Tropical Wall Mural

I hand-painted a palm mural in the West Midtown guest room in one day, using sample pots of Magnolia Home paint over KILZ primer. How I sketched and layered it. Read more...

Modern Chandeliers for a Midtown Townhouse

A Liberty sputnik for the double-height living room and a linear Bowery over the tulip table. Two West Midtown chandeliers that relate without matching. Read more...

Master Bedroom Vintage Rug in West Midtown

A faded vintage Turkish rug from Revival brings color to my mom's white West Midtown bedroom without crowding it. What I put under it, and what I would use next... Read more...

Bright Dining Room Update for Hedgewood Homes

A rental dining room for Hedgewood Homes, made light: white wishbone chairs at a black table, speckled ceramic vases and black and gold frames over a mid-century side table. Read more...

Styling a Cozy Fireplace With Holiday Decor

Holiday styling in the West Midtown living room: a fluted electric fireplace dressed with pine garland, gold ribbon and lanterns, plus a faux fur throw on the armchair. Read more...

Vintage kitchen runner from Revival Rugs in modern kitchen design on Thou Swell #vintagerug #vintagerunner #kitchenrug #kitchenrunner #vintagekitchenrunner #kitchendesign #kitchendecor #kitchenideas #vintage #revivalrugs

Vintage Kitchen Runner in West Midtown Project

A 3'2" by 10'8" vintage runner from Revival fits exactly between the island and counters in the West Midtown kitchen. Its muted orange picks up the wallpaper backsplash. Read more...

Bold Black Kitchen Renovation in West Midtown

Black cabinets in an exterior paint, a Vine Leaf green island and leftover wallpaper sealed as a backsplash. The West Midtown kitchen, finished. Read more...

One Room Challenge: Virtual Atlanta Loft Design

My virtual One Room Challenge loft, inspired by the Fulton Cotton Mill Lofts: exposed brick, a red-striped Raleigh sofa and Rainstorm teal in the dining room. Read more...

Modern kitchen makeover with Vetrazzo terrazzo countertops, black cabinets, and green island on Thou Swell #kitchen #kitchendesign #kitchenideas #modernkitchen #vetrazzo #terrazzo #countertops #polycor

Terrazzo Kitchen Countertops With Vetrazzo

Vetrazzo in Fair Pearl, made with recycled glass and flecked with mother-of-pearl, replaced builder-grade counters in the West Midtown kitchen. Ashy black cabinets finish it. Read more...

Refreshing Blue & White Bedroom Makeover

Meghan's bedroom in Swiss Coffee with a Waterfall blue ceiling and a painted faux mantel. A four-poster bed, floral curtains and a red rug over carpet keep it cozy. Read more...

Kevin O'Gara modern dorm design for The Home Depot summer catalog with gray gingham duvet, blue storage bench, cowhide rug, and map wall hanging on Thou Swell #dorm #dormroom #dormdesign #backtoclass #homedepot

My Dorm Design for Home Depot's Summer Catalog

The dorm room I designed for The Home Depot's summer catalog, modeled on Cornell's old halls: a map tapestry, tufted headboard and faux cowhide over a patterned rug. Read more...

Bedroom design finishing touches, decor, and modern ideas from AllModern on Thou Swell #bedroom #bedroomdesign #bedroomdecor #bedroomdecorideas #decorideas #homedesign #interiordesign

Adding the Finishing Touches to my Bedroom Design

The last room in my Hedgewood apartment: velvet pleated blackout curtains, two oval mirrors flanking the bed and a caned nightstand on concrete floors. Read more...

The Perfect Mirror for My Apartment Living Room

Why I chose the Atoll, a curvy white floor mirror, over two gold options for my apartment living room, and how it plays with cream velvet and a vintage Turkish... Read more...

Spring patio design ideas with modern patio furniture sectional and potted garden on Thou Swell #patio #patioideas #patiodesignideas #patiodesign #patiofurniture #homedesignideas #patiodesignideas

Spring Patio Ideas From the West Midtown Townhouse

My mom's West Midtown patio, ready for spring: painted-over red stone, a grey sectional, terracotta pots from Dove Hill and a plan for climbing hydrangea and jasmine. Read more...

Living room of the Dove Hill townhouse in Buckhead, Atlanta, designed by Kevin Francis O'Gara, mixing heirloom and new pieces

Dove Hill Townhouse Tour: A Buckhead Renovation, Before and After

My first renovation project: a Buckhead townhouse designed with my mom, mixing her heirloom furniture and art with new pieces, room by room, before and after. Read more...

Dove Hill Master Shower Reveal

The Dove Hill primary bath had not changed since the 1980s. A walk-in shower opened it up, with extra-long gray tile, dark grout and simple glass. Read more...

Cornell apartment design with tropical decor in Ithaca, New York on Thou Swell #apartment #college #collegeapartment #collegedecor #apartmentdecor #tropicaldecor

Cornell Apartment Reveal on Design Sponge

My first college apartment in Ithaca, built to get through long winters: layered lamps, a Boxwood green maze rug and a jaguar mural by Anewall in a small bedroom. Read more...

Invitation Homes Make It Home Showhouse master bedroom design reveal by Kevin O'Gara on Thou Swell #bedroom #masterbedroom #bedroomdesign #southernstyle #southerndesign #interiordesign

Make it Home Showhouse Master Bedroom Reveal

My showhouse bedroom for Invitation Homes: removable coral wallpaper behind a canopy bed, a framed St. Frank Ikat robe and Josh Young portraits over a campaign dresser. Read more...

Light blue dining room with Clare Headspace paint color in Atlanta with antiques and modern Hudson Valley Lighting brass chandelier on Thou Swell #dining #diningroom #diningroomdesign #bluepaint #southernstyle #interiordesign #antiques

Airy Dining Room Reveal With Clare Paint

Clare's Headspace on the walls, a brass Hudson Valley chandelier overhead and red striped curtains for contrast. The Dove Hill dining room, as featured on Domino. Read more...

Tye Street Project Final Home Tour

My dad's Cabbagetown bungalow, room by room: a checkerboard entry, a high-gloss blue dining room, a pink twin bedroom and a blue porch, before and after. Read more...

Inviting living room with blush decor on Thou Swell @thouswellblog

Cochise Drive Home Tour on Glitter Guide

My mom's rental on Cochise Drive was my decorating canvas from 2013 on. The tour as Glitter Guide shot it, from the blush living room to the blue and green... Read more...

Pink twin bedroom in Behr One to Remember on Thou Swell @thouswellblog

Pink Twin Bedroom in Tye Street Project

One coat of Behr Marquee in One to Remember turned the Tye Street twin bedroom pink. Grey striped bedding and Lewis & Sheron fabrics keep it from going sweet. Read more...

Small space bedroom dorm design with grey velvet curtains, blue Louis chair and black and white photography on Thou Swell @thouswellblog

A Sophisticated Grey Dorm Room Design

A year into living in it, I reworked my dorm room in navy and dark grey: Louis XVI-style linen chairs, grey velvet curtains and a tufted ottoman for storage. Read more...

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