Rika’s 5 Golden Rules of Divine Design

Interior design has always come naturally to me. It moves through me with an ease that I’ve come to understand isn’t always common. There’s an intuitive element to it. It’s something that feels almost innate for someone like myself, but strong design is also shaped by practice, study and discernment. Over time, I’ve realized that design is a language. Not everyone speaks it fluently, but most people feel it instinctively. They know when a space works, even if they can’t articulate why.

Becoming an interior designer never felt like a plunge for me. It felt like stepping into something that had always been there. The decision to pursue an education and career in interior design came with a familiarity and it was undeniably the right move. I knew, very quickly, that this was where I belonged. And now, that instinct has purpose. It allows me to create spaces that are not only beautiful, but functional. I have the ability to create spaces that real people can actually live in, feel at ease in, and return to with a sense of comfort.

Whether people choose to acknowledge it or not, good design is always intentional. It doesn’t happen by accident. Every decision carries weight, even when it appears effortless. That’s the mark of a bona fide designer. It’s the ability to make something feel natural, when in reality, it’s been carefully considered from the ground up.

So, if you’re someone who wants to better understand what makes a space truly work beyond surface-level aesthetics, this is where to begin.

These are my 5 Golden Rules of Divine Design:

1 | Design For Function First

Interior design is often misunderstood as being purely a tool for creative expression. Some believe that it’s only the decorative aspect that takes shape in a residential or commercial space. And don’t get me wrong – while creativity certainly plays a role, it isn’t the sole requirement for effective design. When there is a disregard to design principles, a space becomes unsettled. And when a room no longer supports its intended function, that tension becomes conflict.

Look, this should be obvious… If a space doesn’t align with the way someone actually lives, it doesn’t matter how “aesthetic“ it appears. At that point, it isn’t good design. It isn’t effective design. It’s just performative decoration.

2 | Respect Scale & Proportion

I find myself emphasizing this far more often than I really should for people. It’s one of those principles that feels like it should be obvious… especially to designers. And yet I see it overlooked, even by those with experience and formal training, more often than it should ever be an occurrence. At a certain point, it makes you wonder how seriously the craft or the industry is being taken.

So if nothing else, understand this: when scale and proportion aren’t regarded, a space begins to fall apart before it’s even finished. A trained eye will catch it immediately, but even without that awareness, it’s something people feel instinctively.

3 | Don’t Ease On Edits

This is one of my favorite parts of any project during the final assessment. I step back and take in the entire space, paying close attention to how everything relates to one another. Scale, proportion, symmetry, color, lighting, all elements must work in balance together as a team. I move through the room, interact with it and even sit in each seat to ensure it feels right from every angle. Make sure that it works both visually and physically.

More importantly, I stay self-critical throughout this process for the sake of the space. It’s a necessary discipline. A designer’s ego, or the desire to be “unique”, should never override the application of essential principles. That’s where things begin to crumble.

Every element needs to function together, not compete. And a thoughtful designer knows when to remove something that doesn’t belong, no matter how appealing it may seem on its own. Sometimes the most impactful decision is simply knowing what to leave out.

4 | Go With The Flow

Understanding the flow of a home is a superpower in a good interior designer. It starts with recognizing the bones of the space you’re working with. Experienced designers tend to recognize different architectural styles and their characteristics and more importantly, how to design in a way that complements them. The goal isn’t to overpower a structure with excessive renovation or force it into something it’s not. Unless, of course, that’s a deliberate choice driven by the client.

Most of the time, a space is at its best when it’s allowed to be what it already is and given an opportunity to be a more polished version of itself.

And truly, there’s nothing more satisfying than resolving a “boring” space. That’s where creativity meets ingenuity and where you find ways to enhance what’s already there rather than fighting against it. Solid design doesn’t need to shout. It works with the architecture.

But flow isn’t just about structure, of course. It’s about movement. How people move through a space, how one room leads into another and how natural light shifts throughout the day. Morning light, afternoon shadows and the way a space feels at different hours. All of it matters. These details influence everything from layout to function, sometimes even prompting a full reconfiguration of how rooms are used. When flow is understood and respected, a home doesn’t just look good—it feels good.

5 | A Matter of Taste

Tackiness always shows up when a space is trying too hard to perform. When it’s trying to impress, to imitate luxury, to follow a trend or to prove something. It’s the overuse of statement pieces, the materials pretending to be something they’re not, the décor that feels chosen for effect rather than meaning. This doesn’t read as classy, it reads gaudy. And we definitely don’t want that.

Authenticity is much harder to fake. It comes from selecting pieces that make sense for the space, the structure and the person living in it. It means letting materials be what they are, allowing a room to develop character over time and resisting the urge to over-style just for the sake of impact. There’s a level of restraint and confidence. The room isn’t trying to prove anything.

The truth of the matter, is that a space will begin to look and feel tacky the moment it becomes more about how it’s being perceived than how it actually functions or feels to live in. When every element is trying hard to be noticed, the room loses its footing. But when choices are grounded and aligned with the architecture, the function and a clear point of view, the space has a chance to hold itself together without needing to announce it.

This is never about stripping away the personality from a design. It’s about refining it.