We noted the best design tricks from Queer Eye’s new season for you

While using dark tones, the sexy, moody vibe that most of us are aiming for could easily transition into dungeon living if we’re not thoughtful and strategic. For instance, an untrained design eye might veer towards dark bedding in order to stay on theme with the dark walls. Not Berk. He balances the heaviness on the walls by relegating those shades towards the corners of the room, and having the bedding be a pristine shade of white, which lifts and brightens the centre of the space.

2.    Learn the fine art of balance
In Episode 3, Berk swaps dark panels for dark paint. He designs a den-like hunter green dining room with dark wood accents which has a moody quality that fits the home and people he’s designing for. The bedroom gets a Prussian blue makeover with light and dark wood accents and a light headboard.
 

3.    Don’t stick to the shade card
Classic colours, though timeless, can get predictable. Just like our wardrobes need an infusion of trendy pieces occasionally, so do our homes. There was no better example of this than on Episode 4, when Berk painted a kitchen in—wait for it—millennial pink. It seemed like a bold, almost crazy choice, but was probably strategically made. For one, millennial pink, though trendy, has been a long-standing and established trend for a while now. While it feels new and fresh from a design perspective, Berk probably adjudged it safe enough that the home’s residents wouldn’t tire of it when the next cool colour rolls around. Secondly, since it’s a cooler, paler shade, the pink fits into the small space almost like a neutral without overwhelming it or making it seem small.

This kitchen was a triumph of quirky design: it had all the vibrant hallmarks of Palm Springs aesthetics; apart from the colour, Berk had installed a bar cart with retro lines, and there were hanging planters as well as potted plants. Even the bathroom was millennial pink and the home perfectly vibed with the homeowner, who happens to be a children’s dance instructor.
 

In Episode 8, Berk updated the kitchen of a modern farmhouse in a seriously dramatic way: two walls were clad in chunky black and white plaid squares, mirroring the resident dairy farmer’s wardrobe. This was all offset by a cherry red door that really made the kitchen pop and modernized the space while remaining true to the farmhouse esthetic.
 

a ton of them together without any of it looking awkward or discordant. The trick here is to make it seem purposeful and not accidental, by repeating patterns, textures and themes. Since the same elements are mirrored in other sections through the house, that repetition ties different rooms together and make it seem unified in design, instead of seeming like disparate hand-me-down pieces were thrown together.

6.    Rethink the gallery wall
Everyone loves a gallery wall! But everyone also has a gallery wall! Do you still want a gallery wall? Berk updated the concept of grouping frames together in the most elegant way in Episode 1 by installing a shelf a few feet below the ceiling that ran along the entire length of the wall. The frames were placed on the shelf and made to lean against the wall, instead of being mounted on the wall itself. It imparted an easy, je ne sais quoi air reminiscent of chic Parisian apartments where dusty frames are stacked upright in hallways, seemingly nonchalantly overlapping each other and in random groupings. Aim for haphazard insouciance even if in truth you’ve micro-managed these picture pairings down to the last millimeter.