A properly design(ed) house is both beautiful and totally functional—and this never means the same thing for any given person. In the case of ordinary home decor challenges, you likely need solutions that function out of necessity and also look super cute in your space.

I moved into our first home this past January and purchased virtually everything brand new—meaning every second I realized something was missing that I didn’t think to purchase when I was buying the big sexy stuff. I don’t have a ton of extra space and was fully committed to a cohesive design so any and everything had to “go” together. I’ll spare you the 122,000 items I obsessed over through and through—here’s 5 of my most notably ordinary home decor challenges I found really cute solutions for:

Problem: My living room was cold AF.

Solution: Oscillating heater

Our house doesn’t have a basement and the furnace is located in the attic so while the temperature was blazing upstairs it was literally a frozen tundra downstairs. Standalone fans and heaters can be by far one of the ugliest household items on the planet in my opinion. Imagine your living room and then BAM a cheap looking white or black oscillating fan collecting dust as it ruins the entire aesthetic of an otherwise well-designed room. And then there’s the size—I needed something slim and minimal to be hidden in plain sight.

I found this one (which also doubles as a fan) from Amazon and I love everything about the design. It’s space-saving, black/white like my living room, with an internal filter so fan dust isn’t really a thing. Oh, and it gives Dyson vibes without the Dyson price tag—yeah, that part.

Challenge: I need to work out from home, but can’t devote ANY space to any permanent equipment.

Solution: The Mirror by Lululemon

Okay, before we go there I should preface by saying I’m not at all one of those workout snobs and this is not an ad—they don’t pay me sh*t. I just could never commit to a gym and don’t like to sweat, but my upper body strength is trash and I really wanted to work on some things at the 30 plus mark. So I invested in The Mirror and would you believe it was literally the first item delivered to my new home meaning I had to take a chance by having it installed on a wall without knowing where the rest of my furniture would go! Luckily it worked out by remaining discreet, sleek, and ideally located on an otherwise awkward transition wall which happens to be perfect for my workouts.

Challenge: Where TF can I display cool sh*t that won’t take up more floor space or encourage my toddler to climb and ruin said cool sh*t?

Solution: Floating shelves

I love a good bookshelf, but you see, the way my two year old would likely climb up on one and completely destroy everything on it before breaking his bones and giving me a panic attack is just too much to consider. I had some interesting items I wanted to display to add color to my otherwise monochromatic living room/kitchen, but they wouldn’t work on any low bearing surfaces (puppies chew, two year olds destroy) so I opted for these floating shelves from Target instead. The various lengths and fact I found them in white sold me. Plus they were so easy to put up, I purchased another set for my bedroom.

Challenge: I don’t want a pile of shoes to live at my front door!

Solution: Entryway bench and discreet shoe tray

My entryway is basically a small corner, but there’s a fantastic window that sets it off as a workable space deserving of at least some decor. I’ve got a pretty serious no-shoes rule, but didn’t want to commit to a shoe rack or storage bench I felt might encourage clutter. I lucked up and found this amazing bench from CB2 and snuck a simple, inexpensive shoe tray underneath from Amazon, that gets purged pretty regularly and hardly noticed with the floors and bench being so dark. It’s perfect for the kids to sit on while they put on their shoes and Poe (the pup) uses it to lay in the sun away when he’s feeling melancholy.

Challenge: Finding curtain ties for a 5 year old girl’s room that aren’t ugly AF.

Solution: Cute AF curtain ties

Finding the perfect curtain ties is tough, but for a kid’s room, it’s damn near impossible. Luna’s room is the only bedroom besides mine with curtains and because they’re already a heavy velvety material, I really didn’t want anything too old lady or ornate. Amazon had these plushie unicorn curtain ties that couldn’t go better with her theme with the added bonus of being super cute, inexpensive, and doing their job perfectly.

Staying true to the personality of the space and needs you may have as the one occupying it is of the utmost when making sure common home decor challenges don’t get in the way of your aesthetic vision of a beautifully designed home. Every element has got to look like it belongs and serve its purpose in order to truly work. My big takeaway: once you commit to an aesthetic or theme seek inspiration, don’t be afraid to shop around until you find what you want, and stay on-brand so to speak!

What home decor challenges have you had and what were your super cute solutions? Be sure to check out our IG stories for ideas and shoot me a DM (or comment below) with your own suggestions.

Form vs. Function: 5 Super Cute Solutions to Common Home Decor Challenges