These Are the 5 Design Tips Joanna Gaines Thinks Every Homeowner Should Know

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Feel connected to and proud of your home thanks to Joanna’s self-taught design process outlined in her new MasterClass.

Television personality, interior decorator, and Magnolia co-founder Joanna Gaines can now add another title to her impressive resume—teacher. The designer has joined forces with online education platform MasterClass to help homeowners create a meaningful home while enjoying the process.

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1. Tell a Story

“Good design is about storytelling, and if there’s one lesson I hope you take away from my class, it’s this: You are the expert of your story, and you should design with that in mind,” says Gaines. “You more than anyone know the journey, what inspires and moves your family, and the rhythms of your home every day. So if you keep that in mind, what you create is going to be beautiful, and when people step in, they will feel that sense of home, which is the most important thing.”

for puzzle pieces and a magnifying glass for her son Crew’s treasure-hunting endeavors in the backyard.

2. Use the Three-Word Concept

At the inception of a client project, Joanna Gaines first asks, “How do you want your home or a particular space to look and feel?” She then works with her clients to nail down an aesthetic with three words describing one or more of the following: how they want the space to feel, how they want it to function, or the style they hope to achieve.

“What I love about this approach is that it takes people’s eyes off other spaces they’ve seen or want to emulate, and it focuses their attention on their own needs, wants, and wishes,” says Gaines. “It’s also the part of the process that you’ll rely on and return to the most as you move forward and begin to build out your space. These three words become your north star, functioning as a sort of filter to help you hone in on material selections, which in the end saves you time and money.”

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3. Shop Your Own Home

—can provide a quick update.

And when a larger renovation is in the works, Joanna recommends pausing to account for what you’d like to keep, then be strategic with further investments. Splurge on the items you’ve been dreaming about and cut back on others.

“It’s all about balance when it comes to where you’re going to invest, no matter what your budget is—and I personally love a space that doesn’t feel too precious with a lot of expensive pieces, but rather casual and comfortable with a good mix of high and low price points,” she says.

4. There’s a Hero to Every Room

“I have learned that one piece can shape the look of an entire room,” says Gaines. “I like to call it ‘the hero,’ and essentially it’s the thing in the room that you love enough to build the entire design around.”

, or a pristine view of sprawling landscapes. It’s ultimately up to you, and finalizing this direction will add some organization to your design process.

5. Combine Practical with Meaningful

, coffee tables, and rugs, and the meaningful ones represent anything you cherish.

“I typically follow an order of things when it comes to styling, beginning with a category I like to call ‘the things you love,’” says Gaines. “What are you most excited to bring into your space? It could be art, a small brass sit-about, or a bold chair that will set the tone for the choices you’ll make next. From there, I consider furniture, then textiles, followed by accents, art—and last but not least—plants!”

And don’t forget—you don’t need to be a professional to add meaning to your home.

“Most people just want to feel connected to and proud of the home they’ve created, but feel stuck about how to begin making changes,” she says. “I can remember that feeling when I first started when I’d look around my home and wonder why it didn’t feel right or look like us. Over time, I developed a creative process that places story above stuff, and I hope that sharing it in this class will help people not only get ‘unstuck’ but enjoy the process of design. At the end of the day, I hope this class will feel like a gust of wind to people, that it will open their eyes to see that they have what it takes to create meaning and beauty in the spaces they call home.”

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