Every home has a secret. It may be hiding in a neglected hallway, a crowded living room, a lifeless bedroom, or a dining room that no one uses. In her newly launched book, DIY Interior Design, author and designer Julie McAulay helps readers uncover those hidden possibilities and transform their homes with creativity, confidence, and heart.
More than a traditional decorating guide, DIY Interior Design is a step-by-step companion for anyone who wants to make a space feel more beautiful, more functional, and more personal. McAulay brings readers into the design process in a way that feels welcoming and achievable. She removes the mystery from interior design and replaces it with practical tools, relatable stories, and thoughtful encouragement.
The book begins with a powerful idea: your home should reflect you. McAulay guides readers through discovering their personal style by looking closely at the colors, textures, patterns, rooms, and objects they naturally love. From there, she teaches the importance of planning the space, measuring accurately, creating mood boards, choosing colors with intention, and finding the focal point that gives a room direction and character.
Each chapter builds momentum, revealing another layer of the design journey. Readers learn how balance and harmony can make a room feel calm, how textures can add depth, how lighting can shift a mood, and how accessories can tell a personal story. McAulay also shows how furniture placement can completely change the way a room works, proving that sometimes the most dramatic transformation does not begin with buying something new, but with seeing what is already there differently.
One of the most engaging parts of DIY Interior Design is its celebration of resourcefulness. McAulay encourages readers to explore DIY décor, upcycling, secondhand finds, and budget-friendly updates. An old ladder can become a shelf. A tired chair can become a statement piece. A room that once sat unused can become an office, studio, playroom, or gathering space. The book turns design challenges into creative opportunities.
McAulay also addresses modern design needs, including small-space solutions, sustainability, augmented reality tools, multifunctional rooms, storage strategies, and maintaining a finished space over time. Her advice is practical enough for beginners but thoughtful enough to inspire readers who already love design.
With its warm voice and clear structure, DIY Interior Design feels like having a designer beside you—not one who takes over, but one who helps you discover your own confidence. McAulay reminds readers that the goal is not to copy a showroom. The goal is to create a home that feels lived in, loved, and unmistakably yours.
For anyone ready to uncover the beauty waiting inside their home, DIY Interior Design offers the perfect first step.
GRAB YOUR COPY OF THE BOOK, NOW AVAILABLE ON ITS OFFICIAL WEBSITE AND ALSO ON AMAZON
About the Author
Julie McAulay is a designer, consultant, and author whose work is rooted in the belief that good design should be both beautiful and livable. Her passion for interiors began early, when she found joy in rearranging rooms, studying home magazines, and experimenting with creative changes in her own surroundings. Those early experiences taught her that design is a learned process, built through observation, practice, and a willingness to try.
After completing design school, McAulay entered the furniture industry, where she gained valuable experience working with customers and home furnishings. However, she soon realized that helping people create meaningful spaces required more than recommending individual pieces. It required understanding their lives, their style, their budgets, and the way they wanted their homes to feel. This insight led her to build her own consultation business.
Throughout her career, McAulay has worked on a wide variety of design projects, including homes, offices, schools, and churches across northeast Ohio and Canada. Her approach is approachable, honest, and deeply practical. In DIY Interior Design, she shares the lessons, methods, and encouragement she has developed through years of helping people turn houses into homes with personality, purpose, and soul.