Peek Inside Ellen DeGeneres' Home 

Did you know that talk show host Ellen Degeneres has impeccable taste in design? Take a peek inside Home, a gorgeously illustrated coffee table book that showcases seven of Ellen’s past and present homes. On its pages and in the excerpt below, she shares tips and musings on what she learned from each place she lived.

Trousdale Estates

1. Design your home with what inspires you. Use your favorite things as a departure point—whether it’s art or architecture, plants, textiles, or fashion—whatever sparks your creativity is a great place to start.

2. Defining the way you live and the look of your home can be as easy as getting dressed in the morning. Just start with the everyday basics and work your way around the room. Add some accessories for accent.

3. I like neutral colors with stronger colors in art, pillows, or a nice throw. Big color statements on walls or furniture can be fun, but limit the possibility of changes.

4. Always think of the optimal view of a room. This could be from where you see it the most, how you enter it, or where the light comes from. For example, in an open floor plan, it’s better to not have to look at the back of a tall sofa or chair. Benches or daybeds can offer you nice accent seating without blocking the view of the room. Arrange the room so when you walk into it, it looks open and engaging.

5. Always make sure you maximize a view or make sure a room plays to a natural light source. You wouldn’t want to always have your back to a window.

6. Don’t be afraid to mix ideas, periods, and price points. Just look for common threads between the pieces you choose, and you can create something fresh and fun. This could be as simple as color or finish. Shape and proportions are also important. A heavy leather sofa might overwhelm a delicate architectural chair.

7. If you spend a lot of time outdoors in the evenings, it’s great to have lamps outside. Usually this just takes some rewiring or a new socket and a grounded outlet, or make sure you buy a lamp made for outdoor use. If you’re only used to harsh lighting from above, it’s great to even the light out with a few different sources. It’s also nice to light plants and trees. If it’s not possible to do this permanently, there are now battery-powered and chargeable LED lights that you can use to feature your favorite flowers and taller vegetation.

8. Use coasters. Before we go any further and I forget, always use coasters.

Birdhouse

1. Try vintage pottery and ceramics and mix these with new planters for your patio. They really add mood and character.

2. Natural stone floors can give a nice organic feeling to your home and a warmer look than stone tile.

3. Strive for balance in a room. This doesn’t mean that things need to be symmetrical; it just means that the collective weight of furniture and objects can’t all be on one side of a room. Pieces with height or bulk don’t often pair well with short and delicate pieces, so choosing furnishings with good proportional relationships can really make a difference.

4. Vintage fabrics can help personalize your home. They can be used for throw pillows, upholstery on a headboard—even a dog bed.

5. If you buy good furniture, you can take it anywhere. Buying special pieces will always work for you, and a special piece will end up elevating everything in its company.

6. If you have a home with big, glass, floor-to ceiling windows always know what day your gardeners are coming and dress accordingly.

Excerpted from the book HOME by Ellen DeGeneres.  Copyright 2015 by Crazy Monkey, Inc. Reprinted with permission of Grand Central Publishing.