Joanna Gaines' Reveals Her Secret To Shaping a Room's Decor: "It's All About Identifying 'The Hero'," She Tells Me In an Exclusive Chat

No one knows style quite like the interior design master Joanna Gaines. From nailing the modern farmhouse look to sharing her expert styling tips in her new MasterClass, Joanna knows how to make a house a home. And the secret to a more personal home is all in the details. So, if you're looking to bring a little life and warmth into your interiors this cozy season, it starts by looking within.

One of the biggest interior design trends this year has been the incorporation of personal touches in our home decor. Joanna says "Our home is layered with small, personal details, such as family photos, artwork, and objects that speak to places we’ve been and our favorite memories. In every space of our home, I’m thinking about connection and how I can make it a place where Chip and the kids want to settle in."

So what does it actually mean to have a home that tells its own story? And how do you effectively incorporate personal details in your home? While Joanna's MasterClass explains in detail, we asked her to share a few personalized decorating tips with us, to get the inside scoop on how to bring your home to life.

What Does it Mean to Tell Your Home's Story?

We all have our trinkets, photographs, and keepsakes that we want to display around our home, but the trick is styling them in a way that creates a cozy living room, kitchen, or media room while simultaneously elevating your space.

"In our home, you will see artwork from the kids framed and hung on walls. Even our fridge has become a spot I cherish because of the story being told through sports photos and silly notes we‘ve held onto over the years," Joanna tells me.

If you are on the hunt for a refresh, Joanna explains that one piece can shape the look of an entire room. The idea of one unique piece is increasingly popular in today's trends, and can look like anything from vintage side tables and accent chairs, to chic vases full of your mother's favorite flowers. "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," explains Joanna. This can be a piece of furniture, tile, or artwork you fell in love with. "Whatever your 'hero' is in a space will become your North Star for the rest of the design process," she adds.

Shop Ways to Personalize

Joanna's Best Styling Tips

When it comes to keeping memories around, clutter can easily start to build up. Joanna explains that finding chic catch-alls to store your favorite items keeps things in order, while adding warm, personal touches to the space.

"Every day, my son Crew brings me something he discovered outside, and at this point he knows I’m going to put it on display somewhere around the house," she explains. "So I have his collections everywhere — a lot of acorns and shells and flowers we’ve picked together. Every time I walk by, I can’t help but smile at every one of his 'treasures.'"

Another tip from the designer for making a space feel special is to keep things fresh. The most important trick, she says, is to keep decor in your media room constantly changing and refreshing. "I love the concept of shopping your own home. Sometimes moving around furniture or restyling a shelf with borrowed pieces from other rooms is a helpful first step before picking out new items for your home," says Joanna.

Good design is about storytelling, explains Joanna, and if there’s one lesson she hopes you take away from my class, it’s this: "You are the expert of your story, and you should design with that in mind. You, more than anyone, know the journey — what inspires and moves your family, and the everyday rhythms of your home. So if you keep that in mind, what you create is going to be beautiful and comfortable. and spend time together."

For more clever styling tricks, you can sign up to Joanna Gaines' MasterClass.