Elevated interiors, tailored for Chicago’s finest
AWARD-WINNING INTERIOR DESIGNER
Meet Anthony Michael
Anthony is regularly named as one of the top interior designers in Chicago and various metropolitan areas such as San Francisco, NYC, Naples, New Buffalo, Scottsdale, Miami, Los Angeles, Belair, Nassau Bahamas and more in addition to numerous other projects in Chicago and the suburbs.
With offices in Chicago and Los Angeles, he works with bicoastal clients. His work has been featured in LUXE as a LUXE Gold Designer, House Beautiful, Traditional Home, The Wall Street Journal, Architectural Digest, Modern Luxury and more.
With over 35 years of experience, Anthony Michael is to interior design what Sir Alec Guinness was to acting— able to handle radically different roles, his talent comfortably manifesting itself behind many faces. While hard to typecast, he dares to cross the lines of convention to try what is visually bold and dramatic , but never jarring.
FEATURED PROJECTS
Buckingham Place
Breathtaking colors of our planet
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Sheffield
Portraits of people from around the globe
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Greenview
Stark beauty of desolate dunes
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FEATURED PRESS
FROM THE BLOG
If you’re thinking about renovating or redesigning your home, it’s time to consider moving away from crisp whites or neutral beiges. A new shade paints the town luxurious. These grounded, desaturated tones have taken over celebrity homes and professional design circles. They’re warm, welcoming and effortlessly chic. What Are Muddy Colors? Think of muddy colors as the more grounded cousins of brighter hues, with added gray or brown undertones that dull their brightness and make them feel more natural and lived-in. These include: Muted greens like olive, sage and moss Desaturated browns such as cinnamon, caramel and chocolate Dusty pinks, clay reds, mustard yellows Taupes, beiges with depth, warm grays This trend took off as a response to years of bright whites and saturated millennial pinks. Homeowners and designers alike started gravitating toward these softer, more calming tones. Muted and opaque versions now dominate mood boards and influencer decor posts. Why the shift? Designers say people increasingly crave comfort, calm and connection to nature , so they’re mimicking natural hues in their spaces. Earthy brown tones have replaced beige and cream as the new luxurious neutral for 2025. Why Muddy Colors Are So Popular The subtlety of muted hues can bring vivid character to a space. Here’s why designers and homeowners alike love them. Versatile and timeless: Muddy tones don’t scream for attention — they whisper elegance. You can layer or use them as a neutral base for bolder pieces. They mix well with other colors, bringing cohesion to any room. Adds instant warmth: Dakota Johnson’s much-loved midcentury modern abode hailing from the 1940s to the 1960s style era is a Carl Maston classic. Pierce & Ward, the design firm behind Johnson’s Hollywood home, championed “ugly” colors — their term for muddy tones — to dial down the pretty and perfect. The result is a house that feels lived-in, grounded and incredibly stylish. Connects you to nature: Muddy colors echo the natural world. Think forest floors, autumn leaves and worn-in wood. In Taylor Swift’s Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions, her home decor leaned into this palette with mustard velvets, rustic wood furniture and muted rugs. It’s cottagecore meets cool girl — and it’s gorgeous. How to Use Muddy Colors in Your Home If you’re ready to embrace the beauty of muddy hues, here’s how to use them to create a sophisticated and earthy aesthetic. 1. Start With the Walls Your wall color sets the mood. Browns with reddish undertones offer depth without making the room feel dark. You can also use softer options like taupe or caramel to bring subtle warmth. Go deeper if your room has a lot of natural light. For lower-light rooms, choose muted shades with a bit more warmth to keep it cozy, not gloomy. 2. Layer Similar Undertones Designers like Lynn Kloythanomsup advise choosing muddy shades with shared undertones to make decorating effortlessly cohesive. A clay-colored sofa paired with muted pinks, olive greens and cinnamon browns is a designer-approved combo. Take inspiration from Johnson’s living room and layer brown with soft reds and greens for a rich, grounded look. 3. Incorporate Natural Textures Muddy colors work best with natural materials like wood, linen, clay and leather. Swift’s bedroom in Folklore featured a Persian rug, rustic wardrobe and velvet armchair — all in muted, earthy tones that added warmth and texture. 4. Use Muddy Colors as Neutrals Not all neutrals have to be beige or gray. Earthy browns, deep olives and even desaturated mustard can function as sophisticated neutrals. They ground a space while giving it more character than a stark white backdrop ever could. Elle Decor even named brown the newest neutral in town. 5. Incorporate Light and Plants Balancing muddy colors with plenty of natural light and foliage is an excellent way to avoid making your home feel too dim. Olive and moss-green tones paired with leafy plants blur the lines between indoors and out. If you don’t have a green thumb, consider a low-maintenance Chinese money plant that can grow up to 12 inches tall . Muddy Has Never Looked This Good While murky colors aren’t flashy or vibrant, they are sophisticated. When used correctly, these hues bring personality, warmth and a timeless style that feels anything but boring. Whether revamping a room or building your entire palette from scratch, grounded tones offer a stylish, earthy, modern and nostalgic aesthetic.
Unless you’ve been off the internet, you’ve probably noticed the growing trend for all things nostalgic on TikTok and other socials. One such trend is the cool grandma aesthetic, with the emphasis most definitely on the cool. What Is the Cool Grandma Aesthetic? The cool grandma look is a modern, updated, carefully curated style of home decor that captures the nostalgic charm of your grandmother’s house. Think vintage but not old-fashioned and cozy but with an up-to-the-minute twist. Key features of cool grandma interiors include: Eclectic but traditional design choices. Knick-knacks and souvenirs. Mismatching prints and nostalgic colors. Comfortable and cozy fabrics. An authentic vibe with a sense of personal story. Is Cool Grandma the Same as Grandmacore? Good question! Not quite. Grandmacore leans more heavily on nostalgia, whereas cool grandma edits that nostalgia into a very modern trend. The distinction is subtle but important. This is also what sets cool grandma apart from other related trends, such as cottagecore or coastal grandmother. Why Has the Cool Grandma Aesthetic Become So Popular? The overall nostalgia theme in home decor dates back to 2021 , when social media — TikTok in particular — began obsessing over all things nostalgic and vintage. It was perhaps a very human reaction to the pandemic and the troubled times the world had just lived through. In 2022, the coastal grandmother design trend exploded on TikTok, embodying a well-off, beachside living lifestyle that was both relatable and aspirational. Since then, grandma-related trends have become ever more popular, ranging from the grandmacore lifestyle trend to cottagecore, grandmillennial, nostalgicore and other vintage vibes. The cool grandma aesthetic has emerged as a related trend, best suited to people who love the vintage look but also want to incorporate modern decor twists. It seems to be an instinct to romanticize the past, and these nostalgic decor trends — with their comforting visions of times gone by — perfectly satisfy that need. How to Style Your Home the Cool Grandma Way Ready to feel like the fabulous matriarch of your dreams? Here’s how you can incorporate the cool grandma aesthetic into each room. 1. Living Room Make your living room a cozy and comfortable space to embody the cool grandma life. Bring squishy sofas and well-padded armchairs up to date with soft throws using on-trend patterns. Floral wallpaper strikes the right nostalgic feel, while ornate frames on the walls can showcase an eclectic collection of modern photos or art. Remember to leave lots of room for some carefully curated knick-knacks and souvenirs. 2. Kitchen Get the cool grandma look in your kitchen by embracing comfort and charm. Details like lace doilies set the tone. You can display vintage teapots or plates on a traditional wooden dresser — the perfect vintage furniture choice for a kitchen. Hang cookware from open shelves and use fresh flowers to brighten the room. 3. Dining Room The dining room is somewhere you can really go to town with the cool grandma look. Choose a dining table and matching chairs with modern upholstery, and fill a sideboard with mismatched glassware. Add interest to the walls with an eclectic mix of prints, framed posters, or even some cross-stitch or other framed crafts. This is a great room to display a few family heirlooms or antiques and to evoke a sense of warmth, family, and nostalgia. 4. Bedroom In your bedroom, the cool grandma vibe might suggest a very modern bed frame but with traditional, vintage bed linen. The modern twist in your bedroom could also come from sleek bedside lamps or your wall art. However, this is your bedroom, after all, so make sure the room is still a calming haven where you can sleep well. 5. Bathroom Consider using vintage-style faucets or showerheads, or opting for tiles featuring classic patterns. A state-of-the-art shower blended with traditional bath mats, whimsical window treatments, and a wooden cabinet or two is a perfect example of how to blend cozy nostalgia with modern flair. 6. Outdoors While the cool grandma aesthetic is mostly about interior design, if you love this trend, you’ll want to make sure your home looks the part from the outside, too. Consider painting your front door in a vintage color and using cottage-type plants in your driveway, perhaps with solar lights in a traditional lantern style. Don’t forget your garage doors — a very visible part of your home’s curb appeal. Carriage doors are a great fit for the cool grandma vibe, or you could choose a steel-paneled option for the classic look that the cool grandma aesthetic calls for. Tips for Making the Cool Grandma Aesthetic Your Own If you like the vintage look, you are already halfway to a cool grandma aesthetic, but it can be hard to know how to give things a truly modern twist. Remember — this grandma is cutting- edge. Here are some tips for finding the sweet spot between traditional and modern: Prints: Nostalgic prints can look very dated, but not if you go for a super-sized version. Don’t be afraid to be bold! Retro colors: Avocado green, mauve and warm yellow are great , but can look old-fashioned. Keep the vintage colors, but use them in a new way, such as including them in a rug or just on one feature wall per room, accented by splashes of the same color in soft furnishings. Storytelling: A key element of the cool grandma style is the eclectic way it tells your story. Maximize your personal photos and trinkets but bring a modern twist to how you display them, perhaps through sleek modern frames or minimalist shelving. Embracing Your Inner Cool Grandma The key to the cool grandma aesthetic is to let your inner grandma out! Give free rein to your love of nostalgic decor, but blend it with the best of modern design, too. Make it your own and enjoy the vibe you have created.
Baby Brutalist is a newer trend in interior design, and it’s getting people raising their brows in the best way. This style is a form of the classic Brutalist style that became popular in the 1960s and ‘70s. However, it offers a new take on this interior design with a twist. If you’re drawn to interiors that feel sculptural and expressive but still cozy, this style may be what you’re looking for inside your home. What Is Baby Brutalist? Baby Brutalist is a fresh design that mixes Brutalism's raw, minimalist style with playful, intricate elements. It unapologetically takes the cold, harsh style and tones it down by integrating lighter curves, warmer neutrals and quirkiness. Brutalism often features concrete, sharp lines and industrial shapes, while neo-Brutalism is softer and more refined. While you’ll still see architectural lines and bold silhouettes, designers soften them with textures like plaster or handcraft finishes. For example, designers like Joelle Kutner and Jesse Rudolph use bold materials like walnut wood and monolithic travertine islands , then layer in softer textures and sculptural vintage pieces. This interior strategy makes the space feel characteristic but still livable by adding warmth and expression. Key Features of Baby Brutalist Interior Style What makes a space feel Baby Brutalist? This style is all about incorporating the following defining features: ● Raw, textured materials: The style includes unfinished concrete, plaster and stone softened with fabrics to balance it out. Figured wood, like wormy maple — which gets its colorful streaks from beetle activity — is one example. Its one-of-a-kind grain pattern adds character and can make for a beautiful table when paired with a neutral throw rug underneath. ● Sculptural furniture: Chunky, bold shapes feel more like art pieces than everyday furniture, such as curved sofas, round pillows and oversized chairs. ● Warm, neutral colors: You’ll see a lot of whites, beiges and creams, with the occasional muted pink, moss green or dusty blue. ● Minimal but expressive: These spaces feel open and uncluttered, but each piece has a purpose. It’s less about filling a room and more about letting the design speak for itself. ● Layered textures over bold colors: Instead of bright hues, Baby Brutalist interiors play with depth through material. For instance, an interior designer might pair rough stucco walls with buttery-soft upholstery to create textural contrast. Creative Ways to Implement Baby Brutalist If you’re ready to mix the old with the new, here are a few ideas for incorporating it into your home. 1. Start With One Sculptural Statement Piece Dip your toes into the Baby Brutalist look by beginning with a furniture piece with a presence. Consider investing in a curvy sofa, a chunky coffee table or a rounded accent chair. You can find exaggerated-looking used furniture on platforms like Facebook Marketplace. You’ll likely discover pieces that offer a sculptural feel online, even if they're on the smaller side. 2. Mix Raw and Soft Materials Contrast is key in Baby Brutalist design. Try pairing sleek concrete planters with a cozy boucle ottoman or a raw wood dining table with soft linen chairs. The goal is to create visual intrigue by layering hard and smooth so the space feels grounded rather than stark. 3. Choose Furniture With Organic Forms Skip the perfectly straight lines and opt for more irregular shapes. Think wavy mirrors, oval tables, blog-inspired shelving or lamps with rounded bases. These pieces add a playful touch to any space, keeping it from feeling too rigid. 4. Stick to a Muted, Earthy Palette Baby Brutalist interiors often use a soft, neutral color scheme to let texture and form take center stage. Stick with warm whites, beiges and taupes. If you want to add a pop of color, go for a dusty olive green or muted terra cotta. 5. Let Negative Space Work In Your Favor Resist the urge to fill every corner. Baby Brutalist comes alive when you give your space breathing room. If you have a few strong pieces, allow them to stand out by making room. For instance, a curvy chair should sit solo in a reading nook, or the walls should be relatively bare so the architecture speaks for itself. If the furniture is on the larger side, be sure to get its dimensions and measure your living space to see if you’re giving it enough room to stick out. Bring Out the Bolder Side With Baby Brutalist Baby Brutalist is all about making a serious design a little more relaxed by creating a space that feels lived-in. While it still lets raw materials and forms take shape, it tries to balance them out with expressive decorum. The Brutalist style may be “brutally honest” with the property’s architecture, but you can still make it warm and inviting by offering a playfulness for contrast.
