Sure, shopping online is easy. It works. It’s also often inspiring. Most of us have scored a great find (or more!) thanks to social media. But to uncover interior design inspiration and truly transform your home, you need to get out and see, touch, and feel—and not just with your hands. You know how it feels to wander into a shop you’ve just happened upon, maybe someplace far flung, and connect with something you’re certain is special?
DIY influencer and maximalist extraordinaire Julian Thomas certainly does. Also known as “the Internet’s Favorite Home Boy,” Thomas may have built his brand online, but when it comes to cultivating design ideas, he knows the power of the senses—and lives for the thrill of the unexpected. It’s one reason he loves HomeGoods, and always has. His first trip to HomeGoods was as a 13-year-old. “We were at the mall, and my parents asked me what I wanted for my birthday,” he says. He wasn’t sure. Nothing inspired him. They went into HomeGoods. “I saw this bedroom set,” he says, “and I was like, that’s what I want.” As soon as he saw it, he just knew.
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And so, when in the early stages of conceptualizing design ideas for his first “big boy” space, a converted loft in a former grocery warehouse in Brooklyn, Thomas was determined to think outside the internet, as it were. He headed to HomeGoods for inspiration. “One thing I enjoy about HomeGoods is being able to walk down the aisles, see something I love, and be able to physically see myself next to it,” he says. “That helps me visualize that piece in my space and actually feel how it will elevate and contribute to my quality of life—whether that’s by making things easier or more beautiful, or both.” The pieces Thomas is most drawn to, he says, are those that speak to, and enhance, his personality, which is “big and bold and unafraid,” he says. “My home is my sanctuary, a place where I can come home and relax,” he says. “But it’s also my launch pad—to start my day, to spark my creativity. HomeGoods definitely matches my energy.”
This is how shopping becomes more than buying, and how decorating a space can become an act truly reflective of who you are. It’s how what you never even imagined you wanted comes to fruition as the space of your dreams. “I entertain a lot and when people come over to my home, I want them to feel like they are stepping into my brain, like, oh yeah, this is what Julian thinks about,” he says. At HomeGoods, Thomas found what he was looking for—design ideas, out-of-the-box inspiration, high-quality pieces at great prices. Even better, though, he discovered tons of unexpected finds. Like a very Palm Springs-style yellow leather chair with rounded edges that fused the masculine and feminine. “For a bachelor pad, you tend to think of sharper edges, but the curvature and color of this chair inspired me to want a softer space,” he says. “Because let’s be frank: You want your home to feel cozy. Do you really want so many sharp edges?”
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