n this heartfelt episode, interior designer and author Ariel Magidson dives into a unique approach to designing your home when you're feeling stuck: externalization. Learn how to create a space by designing for your higher self, future version, or bestie—even when you’re in a season of doubt or transition.

🎁 Free Download: [Find Your Style in 5 Pins]
→ The 5-minute visual exercise that helps you stop doom scrolling and start making aligned design decisions: https://courses.arielarts.studio/Style-in-5-Pins

✨ What You’ll Learn:

• Why designing for yourself can feel so hard (and what to do instead)

• How to remove emotional overwhelm from the design process

• The power of mood boards and visual anchors

• A simple 3-step process to design with clarity and intention

🌿 Interior Design meets Emotional Wellbeing 🌿
This is for anyone craving a space that feels like home—inside and out.

Burnout doesn’t just live in your body — it shows up in your home. In this vulnerable and grounding episode, Ariel opens up about her personal experience with burnout and the quiet power of creating a space that supports your nervous system.

You’ll learn how to:

• Recognize the early signs of burnout through your environment

• Use small, sensory-based rituals to regulate your nervous system

• Create a low-effort, high-impact sanctuary (without needing a full renovation)

• Rebuild your energy with one tiny task at a time

• Support yourself through burnout with intentional design that nurtures your high and low seasons

Whether you're in the thick of it, crawling out, or trying to prevent burnout altogether, this episode offers tangible, gentle tools for using your home as a cocoon for healing.

✨ Because it all starts with home.

🔗 Mentioned:

Previous episode on the 5 senses: https://youtu.be/ha2smM0PAZQ?si=lSg_XKWY3cc0pIJH

Welcome to Episode 9 of It Starts With Home! Today we’re creating the ultimate spa-like bedroom, a space that feels calming, intentional, and deeply you. I’ll show you how to move beyond Pinterest-perfect and build a space that actually supports your wellness through texture, scent, movement, lighting, and your own intuition.

We’ll talk:

• How to define your version of calm

• Why texture > pattern (every time)

• Lighting tips for instant coziness

• Using all six senses to build emotional connection

• The #1 step most people skip that makes the biggest impact

And if you're feeling stuck, I’ve got you . . . my design course From Doom Scroll to Design Plan will help you create a space that feels like you. ✨
→ https://courses.arielarts.studio/doom-scroll-to-design-plan-full

Let’s design a space you actually want to live in.

🔔 Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and tag me with your spa bedroom transformation!

Ready to finally pull your home together, without the overwhelm? In this episode, I’m walking you through my signature design process that helps every client go from scattered ideas to a space that feels like them. We’ll talk about:

• How to start with emotion (not style)

• Why layout comes before mood boards

• The key anchor pieces to choose first

• How to layer in soul + personality

Whether you’re moving, renovating, or just stuck in the doom scroll, this is the grounded, feel-first process that always works.

🎧 Listen to the podcast: It Starts With Home
📘 Grab my book: https://amzn.to/4lDcfQf
🎁 Freebie – Find Your Style in 5 Pins: https://courses.arielarts.studio/Style-in-5-Pins
💻 Course – From Doom Scroll to Design Plan: https://courses.arielarts.studio/doom-scroll-to-design-plan-full

If this episode helped you or sparked a design idea, send me a message or share a pic, I’d love to see it ✨

Ever walk into your space and think something just feels off You have bought the furniture, you have styled the shelves, but the space still doesn’t feel finished I hear this all the time and I have been there too

The truth is most people are making the same handful of design mistakes without even realizing it In today’s episode I am sharing the 10 most common design slip-ups I see again and again from awkward rug sizes to the wrong lighting to skipping the planning phase entirely and I will walk you through exactly how to fix them

Because when your home feels aligned intentional and grounded your whole life starts to settle These simple shifts will have your space feeling more elevated cozy and like you no more guessing no more second guessing just a home that finally feels done

Inside this episode

How to hang artwork at the perfect height yes there is a formula
The secret to choosing the right rug size for your space
Why layered lighting makes all the difference
Mixing wood tones like a designer
Planning your space so it actually works for how you live
The styling details most people forget
How to design from alignment not trends

If you are stuck in the endless scroll for inspiration but your space still feels unfinished this one is for you

Mentioned in this episode
My book Your Space Made Simple all the layout rules and sizing guides made easy https://amzn.to/4lDcfQf
My course Doom Scroll to Design Plan your roadmap from scattered inspo to a space that feels done https://courses.arielarts.studio/doom-scroll-to-design-plan-full

Did you know your home can heal you? In this episode, I’m recording from my dad’s newly designed space (hello, proud designer moment) and sharing the unexpected ways your home reflects your nervous system, your self-worth, and the version of you that’s still becoming. We’ll talk about:

• How your space can help regulate your nervous system

• The sneaky connection between your home and self-worth

• Why every room is a mirror and how to make it reflect who you really are

• My take on ‘design with a capital D’ and tiny, powerful home rituals

• The real reason I still don’t have my dream chocolate velvet sofa

Whether your home feels supportive or draining right now, this one will help you reconnect with your space and yourself.

→ Ready to create a space that feels like you? Check out my course: https://courses.arielarts.studio/Doom-Scroll-to-Design-Plan

Not sure how to start designing your home? In this episode, interior designer Ariel Magidson shares her proven method to transform any empty space into a finished, personalized home. Learn how to design with confidence, avoid decision fatigue, and finally create a space that reflects how you want to feel, without the overwhelm. Perfect for anyone stuck with a blank room, new home, or unfinished space.

You’ll learn:✔️ How to design an empty room step by step✔️ The #1 mistake people make when starting their space✔️ Why feeling comes before furniture✔️ Ariel’s no-fail interior design formula for beginners

✨ Free Visualization Tool: ⁠https://arielarts.studio/resource/visualize-your-space/⁠✨ Learn more: ⁠https://courses.arielarts.studio/doom-scroll-to-design-plan-full

This one's vulnerable, babe. I’m recording from my dad’s freshly designed home, but back in my own space . . . I’m sitting in the raw middle of a breakup. In this episode, I open up about the transition, the emptiness, and the quiet beauty of rebuilding home after a chapter ends.

Whether you're moving through heartbreak, shifting into solo living, or simply feeling like your space doesn’t quite fit anymore, this is your reminder that emptiness isn’t a failure. It’s fertile. It's a beginning.

I’m sharing:

• Why the “mattress on the floor” phase is sacred

• The power of anchoring your next chapter in one small object (like a throw pillow)

• How to create ritual and safety when your nervous system is in survival mode

• The one thing I deeply regret not doing in my last space, and how I’m doing it differently now

✨ Resources mentioned in this episode:

• 🛋️ My design course From Doom Scroll to Design Plan → https://courses.arielarts.studio/doom-scroll-to-design-plan-full

• 🌿 My free grounding visualization → https://arielarts.studio/resource/visualize-your-space/

You are not behind. You are rebuilding. And babe . . . it’s going to be beautiful.

In this raw and real episode of It Starts With Home, Ariel opens up about the five most common interior design mistakes she sees — and has made herself. From rushing to furnish a space to falling into second-guessing spirals, this episode is your no-fluff permission slip to slow down, trust your gut, and design with intention. Whether you're sitting in an empty room or surrounded by pieces that just don’t feel quite right, Ariel walks you through each misstep with humor, honesty, and practical tips to help you shift into confidence and alignment.

✨ Topics covered:

• Why your space might feel “off” even when it’s full

• The real reason decision fatigue is holding you back

• How to stop designing piece by piece and start telling a story

• Why ignoring your senses is the #1 reason your space doesn’t feel done

• The personal regret Ariel still carries — and what she’d do differently

💡 Plus:
Grab the freebie Find Your Style in 5 Pins, and register for Ariel’s free masterclass — Pulled Together, Finally — to go from scattered inspo to a space that feels like you.

👉 Register here: https://form.typeform.com/to/ncfL9An6

Ever feel like your home is draining you — emotionally, mentally, or even physically?

In this episode of It Starts With Home, I’m sharing the real reason your space might be holding you back — and how to fix it (without the pressure to be “done”). This one’s personal.

I open up about my ADHD diagnosis during the pandemic, how clutter triggered anxiety, and the tiny design shifts that helped me feel grounded again.

💫 We’ll talk about:

• How your space affects your energy, habits, and emotional health

• What “slow dopamine” is and how to design for it

• Why hotel lobbies and vacation vibes changed how I show up at home

• My one-item-a-day method to move through overwhelm

  
  

🎟️ Free Masterclass — Pulled Together, Finally
Happening June 17 at 10am PT — get my exact method for designing a space that feels like you.
👉 Register: https://form.typeform.com/to/ncfL9An6

📘 Want more? Check out my book Your Space Made Simple

More at arielarts.com