Design perspectives and practical guidance.

Space Planning & Function · October 23, 2026 · 5 min read

A Home That Makes Room for Company

October is often when we start thinking about having people over again. Dinners move indoors, evenings stretch a little longer, and the calendar begins to fill with reasons to gather. Designing a home for entertaining starts with noticing how the rooms work with a few more people in them. The chair that looks lovely beside the fireplace may leave someone sitting outside the conversation, while the dining table may seat eight, provided no one needs to get up.

When we design for entertaining, we begin with how someone actually likes to host. A long dinner with six close friends asks something different of a room than drinks for twelve or a weekend with family staying over. There is little benefit in planning an apartment around a formal dinner party if everyone usually ends up on the sofa with plates on their laps. The most successful arrangements support the occasions that happen regularly, with enough flexibility for the larger gatherings that come a few times a year.

Plan seating and dining around the way you host

Seating is a good place to start. A generous sofa can anchor a living room, but its relationship to the other seats matters just as much as its size. Guests should be able to speak comfortably across the arrangement, reach somewhere to put a glass, and stand up without asking someone else to move. An upholstered ottoman or a pair of smaller chairs can bring more people into the conversation while giving the room variety; pieces that can be moved easily are particularly useful, though they still need a sensible place to live when company goes home.

Dining requires the same attention to the space around the furniture. A table’s advertised capacity tells only part of the story; the width of the chairs, the position of their legs, and the route through the room all affect how many people can sit comfortably. Before buying a larger table, pull out the existing chairs as though people were seated and walk from the kitchen to each place. This often makes the decision clearer than a floor plan alone, especially in a New York apartment where the dining area may also be a route between rooms.

An extending dining table can be an excellent investment when there is room to use it fully. Test the extended footprint with the chairs pulled out, and check that guests can still reach the kitchen, entrance, and adjoining seating area. A nearby serving surface can free the tabletop for food and flowers, provided it leaves those routes clear. Making space for an extra place setting should not leave someone trapped at the end of the table.

Make the work of hosting easier

We also pay attention to where the work of hosting happens. A sideboard earns its place when it holds the linens, serving pieces, and glasses used at the table. A tray of drinks placed away from the kitchen entrance gives guests somewhere to help themselves while the host finishes cooking. Even a small entry can offer a place for coats and bags, saving the sofa from becoming temporary storage.

These decisions make a noticeable difference to the evening because fewer things need to be fetched, moved, or explained. If serving dishes live in another room or extra glasses are difficult to reach, a thoughtful storage plan can make hosting easier without adding furniture. Think through the sequence from arrival to dinner to clearing the table, and give the things you use most a convenient home.

Set the room for an autumn evening

Once the arrangement works, the atmosphere can be built from what is already there. October suits the depth of polished wood, patterned textiles, and the softer light of lamps switched on earlier in the evening. A dark green tablecloth might sit beautifully beneath familiar white china; plum linen could bring out a color in a painting nearby. There is pleasure in using pieces collected over time, especially when they have a story someone might ask about.

Leave enough room on the table for serving dishes, keep flowers below the line of conversation, and adjust the lighting with people seated so that faces and plates are comfortably lit. Lamps and dimmable fixtures give you more control over the atmosphere as daylight fades. If you bring in additional chairs, check that each person has useful light and somewhere within reach to put a drink.

A useful way to prepare is to spend an evening in the room as a guest would. Sit in the occasional chair, put a glass on the side table, and notice whether the lamp shines into your eyes. Carry a dish from the kitchen to the dining table and see what needs to move when an extra place is added. A few thoughtful adjustments now can make hosting feel much easier—and leave you free to enjoy the people you invited.

At Ikorodu Interiors, our space planning and furnishing work considers how a home supports both everyday routines and the people you welcome into it. Explore our residential design services or get in touch to discuss a home that makes more room for company.

Design Principles · September 18, 2026 · 8 min read

Have You Ever Loved a Hotel but Would Hate to Live There?

This summer I spent time in Lisbon, the Algarve, Marbella, and then London, and by the end of the trip I kept coming back to the same thought: have you ever stayed in a hotel that you absolutely loved, but knew you would hate to live in?

I have, many times. In fact, I think some of the best hotels work precisely because they are not trying to behave like homes.

That may sound obvious, but it is easy to forget because so much of the language around hospitality design now is about making hotels feel more residential. There is certainly value in that. Comfortable furniture, softer lighting, rooms that feel layered instead of institutional, and spaces that do not feel like they were designed by committee are all good things. But I do not really need a hotel to convince me that I am at home. I already have a home. Part of the pleasure of travel is being somewhere different.

A hotel has a very different job to do. It needs to make an impression quickly, create an atmosphere, give you a sense of place, and make ordinary life feel temporarily suspended. It can be more dramatic, more romantic, more impractical, and sometimes more excessive than I would ever want my own home to be. That difference became especially obvious moving through four places with such distinct visual identities.

Lisbon: Pattern, Tile, and the Art of Repetition

Lisbon is almost impossible to separate from its decorative surfaces. You see pattern everywhere, especially in the traditional Portuguese azulejos that cover building façades, churches, stations, and interior walls throughout the city.

The blue-and-white tiles are probably the most recognizable, but what interested me most was the amount of artistry behind them. From a distance, a tiled wall can look like one continuous pattern, but it is really a composition made up of many individual pieces, each one contributing to a much larger image. Some are geometric or floral, while others create full pictorial scenes across entire walls.

There is something I really like about that combination of repetition and craftsmanship. A pattern may look simple when you first see it, but the effect depends on precision, proportion, color, and the way hundreds of individual tiles work together. It is decorative, but it is also disciplined.

The palette itself is part of the appeal. There are the deep cobalt blues against white, but also softer faded blues, ochres, greens, and yellows. Against Lisbon’s stone, plaster, and bright light, those colors feel especially vivid.

What I liked in the hotels there was not necessarily literal reproduction of traditional tile everywhere, but the way designers could take that visual language and reinterpret it. A blue-and-white palette, a patterned floor, a tiled bar, or even the confidence to use repeated pattern can be enough to make a space feel connected to Portugal without turning it into a theme. That distinction matters to me. I like interiors that feel of a place, not interiors that simply collect obvious symbols of it.

The Algarve: When the Landscape Becomes Part of the Interior

Once I moved down to the Algarve, the design language changed almost immediately. The decorative richness of Lisbon gave way to something much more sun-washed and relaxed.

The palette became quieter: chalky whites, warm stone, terracotta, sandy neutrals, bleached woods, and the blues of the water. The light does so much of the work there that the interiors do not need to.

That is something resort hotels can use to their advantage. A room can be relatively simple because the view is the focal point. Texture matters more than ornament. Linen, plaster, stone, woven materials, and timber all become more expressive because the sunlight changes them throughout the day.

I liked that restraint in the context of a hotel. It feels calm and easy, particularly when you are there for a few days and someone else is maintaining it. At home, though, I am not sure I would want quite that much pale upholstery, open space, or visual quiet. There is a point where serenity starts to feel sparse, especially once real life gets involved. That is one of the privileges of hotel design. It can create a controlled version of life that does not need to account for every ordinary thing.

Marbella: The Fun of Going All In

Marbella was probably where the difference between “I love this” and “I would never live like this” became clearest.

A beach hotel in Marbella is not really trying to be subtle. It is selling you a version of Mediterranean life: sun, water, long lunches, drinks outside, oversized daybeds, tropical planting, woven textures, and spaces that make you feel like you are very obviously on vacation.

There are also the deeper Andalusian references underneath that resort layer: whitewashed architecture, courtyards, terracotta, arches, patterned tile, and shaded spaces designed around the heat. Spanish tile traditions are particularly beautiful because of the way geometry, color, and repetition are used almost like fabric. Floors and walls can become highly decorative without needing much else around them.

What makes Marbella interesting is how those traditional references can sit alongside a much more glamorous beach-club sensibility. The result can be quite theatrical, and in a hotel I think that is part of the fun.

Give me the dramatic pool, the oversized planting, the textured furniture, and the room that looks perfect against blue water. I am very happy to live in that world for a few nights. Would I want it as my permanent environment? Probably not. And I do not think that diminishes the design at all. In some ways, it is the point. A hotel can be completely successful because it creates a fantasy that works beautifully for a temporary stay.

London: Richer, Darker, and More Layered

London was almost the opposite experience.

The design references are much more layered and, in many cases, much closer to my own taste. Darker woods, richer colors, decorative moldings, tailored upholstery, brass, patterned carpets, libraries, drawing rooms, and interiors that feel intentionally more enclosed all feel very natural in the city.

One hotel in particular captures that sense of drama exceptionally well. You move through spaces filled with polished stone, richly veined marble, dark woods, bronze tones, and an extraordinary amount of mirror. The mirrors are not treated as small decorative accessories; they become part of the architecture. They line walls and passageways, reflect lighting and ceilings, and multiply the materials around them. Combined with strong marble patterns and grand stone surfaces, the effect is polished, glamorous, and slightly theatrical.

I especially like the use of marble because it is not confined to a bathroom or used as a small accent. It becomes part of the larger language of the property. Different stones appear throughout, sometimes highly figured and sometimes more restrained, but always in a way that makes materiality feel intentional and important.

The mirrors do something similar. In a home, that much reflection could become exhausting very quickly. In a hotel, it works because it amplifies the experience. It makes spaces feel larger, catches warm evening light, and creates a sense of movement as you walk through them. It is one of those design decisions I can appreciate enormously in hospitality while knowing I would never want quite that much mirror in my own home.

That is probably where London made the central idea of the trip most interesting for me. Some of the design language is very much aligned with what I naturally like: deep color, traditional detailing, layered materials, and rooms with atmosphere. But even within that more familiar vocabulary, hotels can still take things several steps further than I ever would residentially.

The lighting can be moodier. The marble can be more dramatic. The mirrors can cover entire sections of a room. A seating arrangement can be designed around cocktails and conversation rather than how someone actually spends a Tuesday night at home. And that is exactly why it works.

London hotels have such a deep architectural vocabulary to pull from. Georgian proportion, Victorian ornament, private clubs, historic townhouses, and traditional English interiors can all influence a space without making it feel old-fashioned.

The city also has a confidence around color and pattern that I love. Burgundy, forest green, tobacco, navy, and deep red can all appear together in ways that might feel heavy elsewhere but somehow work in London. Wallpaper, carpet, upholstery, and drapery can all be present at once and still feel composed.

On the Portuguese coast, interiors are responding to strong natural light. In London, some of the best spaces do the opposite: they lean into shadow, warm lamps, reflective surfaces, and darker materials rather than trying to make everything bright. It creates a completely different kind of luxury, and after Marbella and the Algarve, that contrast was part of what made it so enjoyable.

The Best Hotels Know Exactly What They Are

The biggest thing I took away from the trip was not a list of ideas I wanted to bring home. It was a reminder that good design is not always about personal taste.

I can walk into a room and think it is incredibly successful without wanting to own a single thing in it. I can appreciate an interior because it is completely right for Lisbon, Marbella, or London even if it would be completely wrong for me.

The better question is not always, “Would I live here?” It is, “Is this space doing what it is supposed to do?”

A hotel in Lisbon should not feel interchangeable with one in London. A beach resort in Marbella should not be afraid to feel like a beach resort. A property in the Algarve can be quieter because the landscape is doing so much of the work.

The hotels I remember most are usually the ones that have a clear point of view and a strong sense of place. They do not try to make everyone comfortable by becoming generic. And maybe that is why the “I love it, but I would hate to live here” reaction is not actually a criticism at all. Sometimes it is the highest compliment.

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes hotel interior design different from residential interior design?

Hotel interiors are designed around a temporary guest experience. They need to create atmosphere quickly, establish a strong identity, and often communicate something about the destination. Residential interiors have to respond to daily routines, storage, long-term comfort, and the way people actually live over time.

How can hotels reflect local design without feeling themed?

The strongest hospitality interiors usually reinterpret local architecture, materials, colors, and craftsmanship rather than reproducing them literally. In Portugal, that might mean referencing azulejo patterns and blue-and-white palettes. In southern Spain, it could mean drawing from courtyards, terracotta, arches, or patterned tile.

Why can a hotel be beautiful but impractical as a home?

Hotels can prioritize atmosphere because so much everyday functionality is handled behind the scenes. Guests bring fewer possessions, housekeeping resets the room, and many spaces are designed for shorter periods of use. That gives designers much more freedom to prioritize mood and visual impact.

What makes a hotel interior memorable?

Usually a clear point of view. The most memorable hotels feel specific to their location and combine architecture, lighting, materials, color, art, and furniture in a way that feels intentional rather than generic.

Continue exploring The Journal

More perspectives on interiors, architecture, craftsmanship, and the places that shape the way we think about design.

Home & Studio · August 6, 2026 · 7 min read

Before You Add Space, Make the Space Work Harder

When a home feels crowded, the instinctive solution is often to add space. A larger kitchen, new closet, rear extension, finished basement, or additional room may eventually be the right answer. But square footage alone does not guarantee better function. Without a clear understanding of what is creating the pressure, a larger home can reproduce the same problems on a more expensive scale. Before expanding, determine whether the existing space is too small—or simply not working hard enough.

Identify What the Home Is Being Asked to Hold

Storage planning should begin with real belongings and routines, not generic cabinet dimensions. Clothing, books, kitchen equipment, linens, luggage, work materials, seasonal décor, and hobby supplies all require different kinds of storage. The problem may not be a lack of storage in total. It may be that storage is located far from where items are used or designed in dimensions that do not match what it needs to contain.

Design Around Points of Accumulation

Every home has places where objects naturally gather. Mail collects near the entrance, bags land on dining chairs, small appliances crowd the countertop, and laundry accumulates in bedrooms. Instead of expecting behavior to change completely, create storage at the point where the need occurs. Well-planned storage reduces friction because it works with existing habits.

Use Built-Ins With Restraint

Built-ins can make excellent use of awkward dimensions, but more cabinetry is not automatically better. Cabinet depth, door style, hardware, color, and alignment with surrounding openings all affect whether storage feels integrated or imposed. Custom storage should be planned around specific contents so it does not become an expensive collection of shelves that are still the wrong size.

Look for Underused Volume, Not Just Floor Area

Storage opportunities often exist vertically. Full-height cabinetry, shelves above a doorway, drawers below a bed, cabinetry beneath stairs, or a tall utility cupboard can add capacity without increasing the room’s footprint. Keep frequently used items easy to reach and reserve high storage for seasonal or infrequently used belongings.

Make Furniture Part of the Plan

Furniture can provide structure and storage simultaneously. A sideboard can support dining and household organization. A storage ottoman can hold blankets while serving as a table or additional seating. In a room that performs several functions, furniture can also create zones without adding walls.

Know When Additional Space Is Justified

Sometimes the existing footprint truly cannot support the household. An addition may be appropriate when essential rooms are missing, accessibility cannot be achieved, the kitchen or bathrooms cannot meet basic needs, or structural limitations prevent a workable reconfiguration. Even then, define exactly what the new space must accomplish and how it will improve the adjoining rooms.

Make Better Use of What Is Already There

The most sustainable and cost-conscious square footage is often the space a home already has. Better storage cannot solve every spatial problem, but it should be explored before a major expansion. A well-planned home does not simply contain more; it supports daily life with less friction and makes every room feel purposeful.

Space Planning & Function · July 22, 2026 · 8 min read

Does Your Kitchen Need a Refresh or a Renovation?

A kitchen can look dated without functioning poorly. It can also look perfectly acceptable while making every meal more difficult than it needs to be. A refresh improves the appearance of a kitchen while preserving most of its layout and permanent elements. A renovation addresses larger issues involving circulation, storage, electrical or plumbing systems, cabinetry, appliances, and the relationship between the kitchen and the rest of the home.

A Refresh Works When the Foundation Is Sound

Cosmetic updates can have considerable impact when the kitchen already functions well. A refresh may be appropriate when the layout supports the way you cook, cabinet boxes are sturdy, storage is sufficient, appliances fit properly, and plumbing and electrical systems are adequate. Paint, cabinet fronts, hardware, lighting, counters, and backsplash material can then give the room a new identity.

Layout Problems Usually Require More

A beautiful finish cannot correct an inefficient plan. A full renovation may be warranted when doors collide, counters are too limited, circulation crosses the work area, or the kitchen is disconnected from how the household actually lives. Before expanding the footprint, test whether a better configuration within the existing boundaries can solve the problem.

Evaluate the Cabinetry Honestly

Solid cabinet boxes may be suitable for new fronts, paint, refinishing, or improved interior fittings. Cabinets that are damaged, poorly constructed, badly configured, or incapable of supporting new counters may not justify further investment. Look beyond the doors and consider whether drawers open fully, corners are usable, shelves are adjustable, and frequently used items can be stored near the tasks they support.

Understand What Is Behind the Walls

Older electrical panels, insufficient outlets, outdated plumbing, inadequate ventilation, water damage, and uneven flooring can affect both safety and performance. Installing new counters over failing cabinets or refinishing walls that will soon need to be opened can increase the project’s overall cost.

Decide Which Improvements Will Change Daily Life

The most valuable upgrades are not always the most visible. A better-positioned dishwasher, wider drawers, effective task lighting, a vent hood that performs properly, or an uninterrupted preparation surface may improve the room more than a highly decorative material.

Avoid Renovating for a Passing Look

A kitchen is expensive and disruptive to replace. Permanent elements should be judged by durability, maintenance, proportion, and how they support the overall home. Expressive choices can be placed in paint, stools, lighting, art, textiles, and smaller areas of tile that are easier to change later.

Choose the Project Your Kitchen Actually Needs

The decision depends less on the age of the room than on the condition of its foundation. When the layout, systems, and cabinetry are sound, targeted improvements can be effective. When daily function is compromised, cosmetic updates may simply postpone the larger project.

Design Principles · June 17, 2026 · 7 min read

Plan the Light Before You Plan the Finishes

Renovation conversations often begin with kitchens, bathrooms, flooring, and paint. Natural light tends to enter the discussion later, when window treatments are selected or a room feels darker than expected. That sequence should be reversed. Light affects how a home functions, how large it feels, how its materials appear, and where people naturally want to spend time.

Begin With the Existing Conditions

Every home receives light differently. Direction, nearby buildings, trees, overhangs, window dimensions, and ceiling height all shape how daylight enters. Before changing the layout, observe the home at several points during the day and note which rooms receive morning light, where afternoon light falls, which spaces remain dim, and where glare becomes an issue.

Plan Rooms Around Daily Rhythms

The brightest room is not automatically the best location for every activity. Morning light can be appealing in a kitchen or breakfast area. Softer northern exposure may work well for a home office. Strong western light can be beautiful in a living or dining room used later in the day, but it may require shading.

Protect Sight Lines to the Windows

Natural light is most valuable when it can travel. Tall cabinets, full-height partitions, poorly positioned closets, and bulky furniture can block light from reaching the center of a home. Preserve clear paths between windows and adjoining rooms wherever privacy and structure allow.

Treat Windows as Part of the Architecture

Larger windows are not the only answer. The position and proportion of an opening can matter as much as its size. A tall window can draw the eye upward, a corner window can broaden the view, and a transom can preserve privacy while adding daylight.

Choose Finishes in the Actual Light

Paint, stone, wood, metal, and textiles can look dramatically different from one room to another. Review large samples vertically and horizontally in the locations where they will be installed and observe them throughout the day.

Create Layers for After Sunset

A naturally bright home still needs a complete artificial-lighting plan. Ambient, task, and accent lighting serve different purposes. Pendants, sconces, lamps, under-cabinet lighting, and illuminated shelving make rooms more adaptable throughout the evening.

Control Light Without Eliminating It

Direct sun can fade textiles and artwork, create glare on screens, and increase heat. Layered treatments such as solar shades and drapery can manage these issues while supporting the architecture.

Let Light Lead the Renovation

The most effective renovations make deliberate use of the light already available, introduce new openings where they have a clear purpose, and choose layouts and materials that allow daylight to move. Before selecting the countertop or debating paint colors, study the light.

Color & Atmosphere · May 20, 2026 · 6 min read

How to Use Color to Define an Open-Plan Home

Open-plan living offers flexibility, better sight lines, and a sense of spaciousness. It also creates a particular design challenge: how do you make one large area feel like several purposeful rooms without interrupting its flow? Color can provide the missing structure.

Start With the Way the Space Is Used

Before choosing paint, identify the activities that take place throughout the room. Think of the functions as zones rather than separate rooms. Color can reinforce the boundaries that furniture placement, lighting, and circulation have already begun to establish.

Build a Palette, Not a Series of Paint Choices

An open floor plan should be considered as one complete visual composition. Begin with a limited palette: a foundational wall color, one or two supporting tones, a deeper grounding shade, and a small accent color. These colors can appear through upholstery, stone, cabinetry, rugs, art, or window treatments rather than paint alone.

Use Contrast Where You Want a Boundary

Contrast attracts attention and creates separation. A dark dining wall at the end of a pale living room can make the dining area feel more intimate. A painted kitchen island can visually anchor the center of a larger space. The amount of contrast should reflect how distinct you want the zones to feel.

Let Architecture Guide the Color Changes

The most natural place to change color is where the architecture changes. Corners, ceiling transitions, beams, alcoves, built-ins, flooring changes, and openings give color a logical stopping point. When architecture offers no boundary, furniture can create one.

Carry Each Color Beyond a Single Area

Repeating colors creates continuity. If green defines the dining area, introduce a smaller note of green elsewhere through artwork, a cushion, a ceramic lamp, or the veining in a stone surface. Variation in scale keeps the palette connected without looking overly coordinated.

Consider the View From Every Direction

Open-plan rooms are experienced from multiple viewpoints. Stand at each entrance and consider what will be visible at once. Large paint samples and material boards are especially important because several finishes are often visible simultaneously.

A More Flexible Kind of Room

Open-plan living does not require every area to look the same. A thoughtful palette can make a large space feel layered, comfortable, and suited to the different ways it is used. Color is most effective when it does more than decorate a wall: it can establish rhythm, frame a view, guide movement, and give architecture to an otherwise undefined space.