Michael Thompson
About the Author
Michael has spent years in residential styling and renovation, and his honest take is that most home design advice either assumes an unlimited budget or ignores the way people actually live in their spaces. He writes about interior styling, color theory, and space optimization with a practical eye, because what looks good in a photo isn't always what works in a real room. He collects antiques in his spare time, which keeps him thinking about proportion, scale, and why certain pieces outlast trends by decades.
Blogs by Michael Thompson
I’ve styled dozens of living rooms where a plain wall with a mounted TV felt unfinished, and a media wall almost always fixed it. In my own projects, combining the
A small backyard does not need a large area to become a useful and inviting outdoor space. With thoughtful planning, even compact yards can include greenery, seating, pathways, and relaxing
I have redone more backyard corners than I can count, and a bare one does not need much to become the spot everyone ends up in. A pea gravel patio
I’ve put together enough backyard retaining wall ideas over the years to know a good one does more than hold back soil. The right one reshapes an entire backyard, adding
Your neighbor just re-roofed. The house down the street is under construction. Everywhere you look, the same roof shape keeps showing up: two slopes, one peak, a clean triangle at each end. That is a
Learning how to fit a kitchen yourself feels like a big job, but it breaks down into manageable stages once you know the order. After walking owners through countless installs, I have seen results always
A dormer loft conversion adds extra living space without pushing your home further into the garden. It projects out from the existing roofline, building vertical walls and a flat or sloped roof over what was
Every owner I talk to spends months choosing cabinet color and countertops. The splashback gets a week, and whatever budget is left. That’s a mistake. After years working on residential kitchens, I can tell you
Most kitchen island ideas online show you the same five things: a waterfall edge, a two-tone paint job, a row of pendant lights. You’ve seen them all before. This list skips that. Inside are ideas