May 7, 2024
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Onton Team
We sat down with Interior Design Expert Morgan Carter to hear her 5 tips for beautifully functional design.
Anyone decorating their home is caught between:
Wanting to live in a beautiful space but not an untouchable one.
Needing a functional space but not a boring one.
And making the space they’re imagining a reality only adds to the challenge.
Some design professionals have a gift for striking this balance. Take Morgan Carter, who has made a career by solving the form-function conundrum for her clients. Her business, Orderly Endeavors, creates beautifully efficient homes that promote functional, organized lives for families across Kentucky.
Here’s how she infuses homes with functionality and personal style.
Morgan Carter fuses practicality and aesthetics
Morgan’s design philosophy is simple: function should inform design. In other words, aesthetics are important, but functional interior design is more important.
Her career began in the organization space. However, so many of her clients asked for help designing their spaces that she realized you can’t separate function from form. So, she expanded her organization business to offer functional interior design services.
To make her slogan, “Make your home beautifully efficient,” a reality, she first ensures the functionality of a room and then beautifies it. She’s even done this in her own home.
Her mother refinished and gifted her an antique dresser from her grandmother as a wedding present. Morgan adores this meaningful, functional staple in her home.
5 expert tips for beautiful, functional interior design
Here’s how Morgan recommends designing a home with the functionality you need and the look you want.
Tip #1: Map the functionality of a room first
At the beginning of the design process for any space, ask yourself: “What do I need from the room?” Your answer reveals the purpose of the space.
Perhaps you’re designing a kitchen, and your dream is to host cozy, casual brunches for your family on the weekends.
In that case, Morgan recommends minimizing decor on your countertops. This will make the space feel clean and ensure you can easily work on the surfaces. Balance that functionality with homey pieces like cute breakfast bar stools and even build a breakfast nook that your friends will want to lounge in.
Know the general vibe or function you want from a room but need help making it happen? Use Onton Imagine to spark ideas.
To do this, simply type what you want from the space (for instance, “cozy, functional kitchen”) into the prompt. The tool will then generate a one-of-a-kind space that matches your keywords.
To refine your image further, add context (like “for family breakfasts” or “with a sunny color palette”) or add a photo of your existing room. Spinning up visuals with as many (or as few) words as you like unblocks creativity by providing beautiful, accurate visuals that stimulate your imagination.
Tip #2: Splurge on what you use most
When furnishing your home, your first impulse may be to avoid splurging on items like couches and dining room chairs. After all, they're unavoidable purchases, and buying new art instead can feel more exciting.
But the truth is, you should spend more on the necessities you will sit on and spill on daily. That’s because investing more upfront on those pieces can actually save you money in the long term.
For example, a performance, spill-resistant couch might cost more upfront. But it can handle toddler crumbs and pet nails, so it’ll continue to look good for 10+ years. Meanwhile, a cheaper couch might look just as nice out of the box but will likely look shabby after three years of everyday use. As a result, you’ll have to replace it more often.
To balance splurging a bit on furniture costs, save on decorations. Shelf fillers are far cheaper at TJ Maxx than at Pottery Barn but have the same effect.
Plus, you’re not touching decorative items every day and testing their longevity like you are with your dining table, so, they’ll stay looking brand new for much longer.
Tip #3: Lean on magazines + real world for inspo
In the digital age, people seeking functional interior design inspiration and discovering their personal tastes hit an algorithmic blocker.
Why? Because sites like Pinterest source the same images over and over again. You end up seeing the same “inspiration” as everyone else, making defining your style and creating original spaces much harder.
To develop your personal taste, Morgan recommends flipping through architecture magazines and figuring out what you like. Unlike Pinterest, publications like Apartamento, Apartment Therapy, and Architectural Digest feature original images sourced by design experts, not marketers.
Most major style publications like New York Magazine and Vogue even have YouTube channels, where you can virtually tour inspirational rooms to better understand a room’s form and function.
Try this: As you’re sourcing inspiration, note how the publications or designer talks about the space. Recycling their language to refine your Onton Imagine prompt can help you generate your dream room a whole lot faster!
Tip #4: Opt for pieces with meaning
Take your time decorating your home. Ideally, the items you source will stay in your home for decades, so be intentional with your purchases.
For instance, there’s no need to purchase the print at Target because it’s on sale, and you have a wall space to fill. As Morgan puts it, “sourcing items you genuinely love takes time.” Chances are, if you weren’t interested in an item until you saw the price tag, it’s not the perfect piece for your home.
Another way to ensure you love your decor in the long run? Avoid trends.
While a trendy piece may be fun now, it will make your home look outdated much sooner. For example, all-white interiors were all the rage in 2017. But now, they’re so common that many design experts feel the white era is over.
Even worse, trendy items tend to be more expensive because retailers need to sell them before they go out of style. But worst of all, trendy items aren’t meaningful for you or your family.
Instead, Morgan recommends sourcing items from furniture stores with a more timeless look. (Pottery Barn, West Elm, and Crate & Barrel are great places to start shopping for quality pieces.) Or, browse antique and vintage shops for a more homey, personal feel.
Morgan found one of her favorite decor pieces, an unusual mirror, buried in a local antique shop. She’d struggled to fill the dimensions of a specific wall in her home, but her patience paid off. That mirror perfectly fit her space, and the effort of the search gives it extra meaning, aligning well with the principles of functional design.
Tip #5: Use Onton Imagine to unblock creative juices
Sometimes, figuring out the little details of a room or sourcing that final touch is the hardest part. But don’t worry – every designer gets stuck.
For instance, Morgan notes that creating a compelling space from big, blank walls can be surprisingly tricky. Thankfully, that’s where Onton Imagine comes into play.
Rather than hanging one big frame or the overplayed six black frame gallery wall, she’ll use Onton to draw out several other ways to fill that wall space. This has inspired everything from organic gallery walls that can easily grow as her client captures more family memories to adding built-in shelving to double storage space.
There are other times when form can seemingly get in the way of function. This is when Morgan turns to Onton for out-of-the-box creative fixes.
For example, when one of Morgan’s clients remodeled their master bath, the new construction plans left no functional space for a towel rack. Everywhere a towel rack would typically go, there was a light switch or a door.
An image generated by Onton inspired Morgan to think about what other household mainstays could serve as a makeshift towel bar without undermining the client’s new bathroom design.
That’s when she reimagined a hanging bar to use as a towel bar. Today, it not only looks beautiful in the space but elevates the room’s usability.
Make your dream room real in just a few clicks with Onton Imagine
Morgan Carter’s approach to blending aesthetics with functionality provides a powerful blueprint for anyone looking to design a space that is both beautiful and practical. Her five expert tips offer a comprehensive guide for creating a home that not only looks great but also serves the needs of its inhabitants effectively. From prioritizing the functional mapping of a room to choosing meaningful pieces that stand the test of time, Morgan’s advice ensures that your home decor is not just about style but also about sustainable living.
Moreover, integrating innovative tools like Onton Imagine can elevate your interior design process. Onton Imagine puts the power of AI-driven interior design at your fingertips. Simply describe your desired aesthetic or upload a photo of your room. Onton Imagine will then generate high-resolution, photorealistic renditions that match your specifications. You can even shop the furniture or decor directly from the generated images. Best of all? It’s free to try. Visit shoponton.com to start redesigning your home today.
Whether you’re revamping a single room or rethinking your entire house, incorporating these principles and tools can help you achieve a balance that many find elusive. Ready to transform your living space? Remember, it’s not just about filling a room; it’s about enriching your life. So, take these insights from Morgan Carter and Onton Imagine and start creating a home that truly reflects and enhances your lifestyle.