4 min readWe’ve all heard the phrase, “Celebrities—they’re just like us,” often met with a whole lot of skepticism. After all, the lives of A-listers can seem far removed from everyday reality. But now and then, a few stars surprise us by doing something genuinely relatable. Take, for example, decorating their own homes. While many celebrities enlist high-profile interior designers—often famous in their own right!—to create extravagant spaces, others take a more hands-on approach and make the design choices themselves.
Below here are seven celebrities who skipped hiring professional help and styled their homes on their own. The outcome? Interiors that are both chic and down-to-earth—and a reminder that when it comes to home decor, some stars might not be so different from the rest of us after all.
Drew Barrymore
It should hardly come as a shock that Drew Barrymore, who designs furniture (we're all obsessed with her famous bouclé chair) and charming countertop appliances, decorated her home herself. The home in question is in New York City, where her namesake talk show is filmed. Here's the thing: It looks like a house your friend may live in. It's not over-the-top with precious upholstery and delicate accessories. It's very normal—especially for a celebrity home! The bright colors, sweet nooks, and touchably soft textures definitely mirror her own bubbly personality.
Brooklyn Decker
If you follow the actress on social media, you know that she is a regular everywhere from High Point Market in North Carolina to the Original Round Top Antiques Fair in Texas. She is definitely a design aficionado, which is why she took on her family's home in Charlotte, North Carolina. While it's definitely suitable for 21st-century life, it boasts a very authentic midcentury feel, with myriad vintage leather chairs, unfinished wood tables, and soothing shades.
Lenny Kravitz
Rock star Lenny Kravitz has definitely earned the right to call himself an interior designer. After all, he stands at the helm of his namesake firm, Kravitz Design, which launched in New York City in 2003 and has since teamed up with CB2 on an exclusive home collection. Though the company is still very much based in Manhattan, Kravitz's main residence is in Paris—specifically, a 1920s mansion he lovingly calls "Hôtel de Roxie" as a tribute to his mother, Roxie. Sadly, it's not a real hotel, so fans can only check it out in person if they're expressly invited in by Kravitz himself.
He's also famously private about showing off his work, but every now and then, he'll post a photo on social media that subtly reveals a nook or cranny with his decorating expertise on full display. However, one of his projects entered the spotlight in season four of HBO Max's Hacks—the ultra-modern Stanley House was actually designed by the singer.
Blake Lively
Blake Lively famously doesn't use a stylist (not even for major red carpet events!), so it should come as no surprise that she hasn't enlisted the help of a professional interior designer either. Though she and husband Ryan Reynolds are notoriously private about their homes—especially when their four children are nearby—the starlet does occasionally let fans into her New York City pad (digitally, of course). The room we've seen most is perhaps the foyer, where a massive Sage Vaughn painting hangs on an exposed brick wall. Back in 2023, Lively flexed that she "moonlight[s] as an interior designer," adding, "but please don’t tell [because] I definitely don’t want the world to know that I have a hidden talent which I require external validation on." Noted!
Goldie Hawn & Kurt Russell
Longtime celebrity couple Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell—who have been a pair for more than 40 years—collaborated with friend and designer Chubby Specter on their New York City apartment, which features more than a few references to Hawn's love of both Indian and Anglo-Indian styles. The duo's Los Angeles home, though, where they spend most of their time, is entirely Hawn's creation. If you look closely, you'll notice the star's Instagram account offers quite a few snippets of her design work.
Diane Keaton
Few A-listers have amassed a real estate portfolio as noteworthy as Diane Keaton, who began collecting homes during her Annie Hall era. While the late actress often collaborated with designers, her most iconic project—an 8,000-square-foot L.A. farmhouse—was largely a solo endeavor. In 2017, she chronicled the experience in her book The House That Pinterest Built, detailing how she relied almost entirely on Pinterest for inspiration and sourcing. Much like her signature personal style, the interiors she designed had a relaxed sophistication and were predominantly black and white.
Kate Bosworth & Justin Long
It girl Kate Bosworth admitted that she didn't hire an interior designer for the midcentury L.A. home she shared with ex-husband Michael Polish, nor did she use one for her current abode, where she and husband Justin Long live. Though the two are hardly private online, there aren't a ton of images of their love nest. From what we have seen, though, it features a very soft and neutral palette, complete with organic materials like wood and linen. Bosworth took on all of the design work herself when the pair moved in together in 2022.
