Welcome!
Hello! My name is Melissa Michaels and I’m the creator of The Inspired Room (a top decorating blog for the past 18 years!) I’m passionate about home creating and a New York Times Bestselling author of many books on home, hospitality and lifestyle!
My goal here at The Inspired Room is always to encourage us all to find more joy and contentment in the home we have — which includes the fun of finding and sharing inspiration and ideas, dreaming of what could be and being intentional with what we have. I share several new weekly posts to inspire you!
To help you create the home you really want I’ve also created many home resources, including a fresh and inspiring step by step decorating course called Room Recipe. I also have a mini-course on establishing Home Rhythms to help you to love every season in your home, along with a printable HomeBody notebook to help you be more intentional with caring for your home (and life, too!). I also offer live weekly Home Therapy sessions to encourage your journey in home creating. These resources and so many more are all included in the monthly membership to the HomeBody Gathering Place community.
I was honored two years in a row to be voted the Reader’s Favorite Decorating blogger at Better Homes & Gardens magazine and I’ve continued to share my home and ideas on The Inspired Room blog for the past 18 years.
Our Coastal Cottage Kitchen in our current home
We previously lived in this 1950s cottage and renovated the kitchen and refreshed the rest of the house to make it a cozy cottage in Seattle). See the kitchen transformation here.
Click here for “How We Transformed Our 1950’s Brick Ranch to a Charming Coastal Cottage (our befores and afters!) and see more photos here.
In 2021 we downsized when we became empty nesters and moved from Seattle into our coastal cottage on an island in the Salish Sea!
We had dreamed of this life by the sea and what we called “a huggable home” for so long — after many years of waiting and dreaming and struggles and disappointments, moving here truly was a dream come true.
Now we’re putting down our roots and creating a family home, one layer and memory at a time.
In 2023 we renovated this 1900 square foot cottage to create our family-friendly layout with a new kitchen and dining nook and we added The Tiny Cottage, a 400 square foot home for my parents who live with us!
Posts on the Coastal Kitchen Renovation
The Kitchen and Dining Room Swap + Before and Afters
My Coastal Cottage Kitchen Sources: Details & FAQ
My Kitchen Cabinet Layout and Dimensions
Posts on The Tiny Cottage
The Tiny Cottage by the Sea (the empty home tour)
The Tiny Cottage in Spring (and my thoughts on living with less in a cottage by the sea)
In previous years we also remodeled and added character to a new construction Craftsman home, which was featured in The Inspired Room book). Prior to that we lived in a large English Tudor, which is where The Inspired Room began! I’ve lived in so many homes — and told so many of our home love stories in my books!
My Books
I am the author of:
– New York Times Bestseller Love the Home You Have, released March 2015 – Amazon // Barnes and Noble
– The Inspired Room, released November 2015 – Amazon // Barnes and Noble
– Make Room for What You Love, released May 2016 – Amazon // Barnes & Noble
– The Inspired Room Coloring Book, released July 2016 – Amazon // Barnes and Noble
– Simple Decorating, released April 2017 – Amazon // Barnes and Noble
– Simple Gatherings, released October 2017 – Amazon // Barnes and Noble
– Simple Organizing, released April 3, 2018 – Amazon // Barnes and Noble
– Dwelling, released April 2, 2019 – Amazon // Barnes and Noble
– But Where Do I Put the Couch, released September 2019 – Amazon // Barnes and Noble
– Dwelling Well Journal, released January 7, 2020 – Amazon // Barnes and Noble
– A Lovely Life, released May 17, 2022. Click here to order on Amazon
– Simply Home, released August 15, 2023. Click here to order on Amazon
Partnerships & Publicity:
While this blog has grown and spread its wings over the years, my focus and passion has remained the same. I have a loyal following on many social channels.
I’m humbled to have been voted in the top five editor’s choice awards for best decorating bloggers at Better Homes & Gardens, as well as voted the number one fan favorite decorating blogger at Better Homes & Gardens in both 2015 and 2014.
My previous kitchen remodel was featured in a five page spread in the November 2014 issue of Better Homes & Gardens, photos of my home and interviews have been featured in numerous newspapers, several national home magazines, podcasts, radio shows and other publications.
My current kitchen remodel was featured in a six page spread in the 2018 Small Space Decorating issue of Better Homes & Gardens.
My Seattle home was also featured in an eight page spread in The Cottage Journal 2018 Spring Edition.
My Kitchen in Better Homes and Gardens 2018
My (Previous) Kitchen in Better Homes and Gardens 2014
8 page spread in The Cottage Journal – Spring 2018
My Previous Home’s Kitchen Remodel
Writing Elsewhere:
In addition to writing at The Inspired Room, I am on the original writing team with (in)courage, and have contributed to sites such as Proverbs 31 and Ann Voskamp. I have written for eBay, LifeStorage, My Colortopia (by Glidden Paint) and have been a speaker for such fabulous conferences as Haven, Blissdom, and Relevant.
Brand Connections:
I’ve worked with major brands such as The Container Store, Target, Lowe’s, Wayfair, Ebay, Serena & Lily, Trex, Mohawk, West Elm (hosted an Etsy Pop-Up Shop!), Pottery Barn, Martha Stewart, Samsung, KitchenAid, Glidden, Home Depot, Dash & Albert, World Market, Pier1 Imports, Select Blinds, Kohler and many more.
Featured In:
Better Homes & Gardens, American Farmhouse Style Magazine, The Cottage Journal, The Washington Post, Ladies Home Journal, Oprah Magazine, Domino Magazine, Apartment Therapy, The Kitchn, RealSimple.com, Cottages & Bungalows, Today.com, Family Circle, Cupcake Magazine, Called Magazine, Belong Mag, The Seattle Times, The Oregonian, The Kitsap Sun.
Interested in working together? Send me an email at theinspiredroom@gmail.com — I’d love to discuss!
You can find my Instagram pages at:
The Inspired Room // The Inspired Room Style // Cozy Cottage by the Sea // Homebody Gathering Place
Check out my home tours and posts, below:
Craftsman House Tour (from my The Inspired Room coffee table book!)
See all of my previous house tours here.
Testimonial via The Unconventional Doctor’s Wife
“…I tried to picture what I would want my house to look like if I could decorate it any way I wanted. Not thinking about money or other people’s opinions. And guess what was the only place I could think… I Googled:“how to decorate your home like Anthropologie.”Lo and behold, The Inspired Room popped up. Right away, I was hooked.
I could love Melissa for the simple fact that she lives in the Northwest, but I loved her even more when she talked about living authentically. Not striving to have a home like something out of a magazine, but a real, lived-in, loved-on home. Where you feel comfortable and those that enter your home do too. She told me to ignore the “rules” of home decorating and use the things I love. She gave me permission to paint my family room ruby red (if I wanted, which I don’t). She told me I could hammer a nail in the wall to hang a picture… even if I wasn’t 100% sure I wanted it there the next week. And she said if I didn’t like something, I could change it. Imagine that! She unlocked the chains of my decorating bondage ;)
I experienced home-decor freedom for the first time in my life! hee hee.But let’s be real here, or should I say, authentic. It was more than just the freedom to decorate how I wanted. Reading that blog gave life and inspiration to someone who had been missing for so long. It was about learning who I was again. Learning how to live authentically, in my home, as myself. And with that, creating a place where my family feels comfy, loved, and safe.”
NOTE: The Inspired Room® brand is a legally registered trademark. This means that you may not use The Inspired Room or any variation of that name in a way that could be confused with me or my business, such as your own decorating business or blog. I am required by law to defend my trademark, so if you are in doubt, check with an attorney or email me to ask about the use of any similar name.
