Why Details in Interior Design Matter in Creating Your Dream Home
This post is the first in a three-part series exploring the role of thoughtful interior design details. Over the next few weeks in Jen’s Journal, we’ll take a closer look at how these small-but-mighty decisions – from millwork and architectural elements to accessories and finish selections – can transform the way a home feels. First up: the power of design details, and why they matter more than you might think.
In design, it’s often the smallest elements that leave the biggest impression.
Over decades of designing homes for clients across Oregon and beyond, I’ve seen firsthand how thoughtful details in interior design elevate a home from simply beautiful to deeply personal. These aren’t the flashy focal points. They’re the intentional touches that create flow between rooms, spark conversation, and make a space feel like it truly belongs to the people who live there.
This week on the Journal, we’re looking at the art of customization, from architectural elements to subtle finish selections. If you’re in the early stages of designing a home or midstream in a remodel, these are the kinds of choices that shape the lived-in experience of a space.
It Starts in the Planning Phase
If there’s one truth I wish more homeowners understood, it’s this: the best design decisions are made early.
Whether it’s custom millwork, a creative tile layout, or unique electrical placements, the timeline matters. When we’re brought in at the beginning – during the foundational stages of designing a home – we’re able to influence both form and function.
Without early collaboration, we often see missed opportunities. Like showers without space for built-in niches, windows without the proper size and placement as it relates to cabinetry and furniture, or lighting that competes with architectural features instead of enhancing them. These are mistakes on the floor plan that can easily be missed by the client, builder, architect. But you definitely notice them in real life. When the interior designer is brought in early, these corrections can be made so that compromises don’t have to be made during the construction process.
For example, do you want your pendant lights perfectly centered over your island or your range hood aligned with cabinet symmetry? That kind of detail has to be mapped out with intention. These moments also affect room flow, sight lines to other rooms or a specific view, and even the way natural light interacts with surfaces. Early design collaboration is where beauty and design opportunity meet practicality.
Personalizing Interiors with Meaningful Details
One of the joys of this work is helping clients create a home that reflects them, not a Pinterest trend or a showroom catalog. Personalized interiors feel lived in and timeless.
For some, that might mean commissioning a local artist to create a portrait of a beloved pet. (We recently worked on a piece featuring a charismatic cat named Joe, complete with a palette that echoed the home’s tones.) For others, it’s pulling colors or textures from their travels – like incorporating embroidered fabrics with special weaves or selecting paint inspired by a landscape they love.
These custom details are often the emotional thread tying a space together. Whether bold or barely there, they add heart and soul to the design.
Wall Finishes That Add Character
Walls are a blank canvas, and in many cases, an untapped opportunity.
We often specify wall treatments that introduce texture and movement. Examples include classic grasscloth wallpaper, hand-troweled Venetian plaster, and custom paint treatments. These aren’t always the first things a guest will notice, but they’re usually what makes them stop, linger, and feel drawn into a room..
Wall finishes are also a smart way to introduce a sense of luxury in understated ways. Even a tone-on-tone wallpaper can catch the light and create depth, especially in spaces like entryways or stairwells that benefit from softness. These kinds of details contribute to the overall room flow and visual rhythm of the home.
In one powder room, we worked with artists to incorporate delicate hummingbirds and dogwood blossoms for a wall finish that brought memories of her family home and her mother. , a nod to the homeowner’s garden. These are the kinds of personalized interiors that go beyond style. They’re stories, told in brushstrokes and finish layers.
Layers of Texture in Fabric, Fixtures & Furnishings
Thoughtful layering is what turns a house into a home.
A pair of embroidered pillows against clean-lined upholstery. A drapery edge trimmed in a saturated hue pulled from an abstract painting nearby. Even something as small as a contrast welt or a decorative tape detail can take a piece from good to great.
Hardware, too, deserves attention. A drawer pull with an aged patina or a light fixture with a sculptural quality can reinforce a design concept without being loud. These are the touches that reinforce the bigger story.
Custom Millwork, Trim, and Architectural Features
When we talk about custom millwork, we’re talking about craftsmanship that feels permanent, like it’s always belonged in the space.
In a recent project, we designed a curved range hood that felt connected to the client's European design aesthetic and then echoed that with the hand painted 3D tile backsplash that brought a sense of classic old Europe to the kitchen. We also partnered with local craftspeople to create turned legs on furniture that reflect motifs that were used elsewhere in the home. These kinds of personalized interior design details are not just beautiful; they show intentionality and care.
Even a subtle variation in crown molding or the design of a fireplace mantel can shift the feel of an entire room. And because we’re based in the Pacific Northwest, we love working with artisans who understand the materials and sensibilities of this region. As an Oregon interior designer, collaborating with these local makers is one of my favorite parts of the process.
Details You Don’t Always See – At First
Some of the most important moments in design are the ones you only notice after living in a space for a while.
Like the feel of a flush transition between two flooring materials. Or how light moves across a wall thanks to its subtle sheen or finish variation. What are the visual site lines when sitting in a dining or living room? Do we need to make sure we accentuate a hall with niches or columns?
We once repurposed a vintage walnut armoire, refinishing it in a rich teal and adding antique mirrored insets to convert it into an entry closet. It was a custom solution to a practical challenge – and it became one of the most treasured details in the home.
These kinds of decisions may not show up in a blueprint, but they shape the day-to-day experience of a space. Interior designers, when brought in early to the process, can realize opportunities to accommodate unique solutions and work with the architect and builder to make those things happen in the right order.
Small Design Decisions. Big Results.
At J. Myers + Associates, we believe in homes that are designed with meaning and real living in mind —spaces where designing a home is about more than choosing finishes or fixtures.
It’s about the hundreds of small choices that influence how a room flows, feels, and functions for those who will be living in it. From custom millwork to subtle textures to the light glinting off a perfectly placed sconce, we specialize in bringing these moments to life.
If you’re in the early stages of wanting to build a custom home, or exploring how to renovate with intention, don’t overlook the impact of these smaller choices. The details truly do shape the experience. And no two homes should ever feel the same.
Looking for guidance on where to begin? Reach out here. We’d love to learn more about your project.
This is the first in our three-part series on design details. In the next post, we’ll take a deeper dive into different custom details, followed by a look at styling and finishing touches that we’ve specifically created for our clients. If you’re dreaming of a home that feels both thoughtful and uniquely yours, you’re in the right place.