Melissa LaRosa Interior Designs

09/04/2026

The Art of Living Well

Design for the Life That Happens Between the Photographs

There is a version of home we see in photographs.

The pillows are perfectly placed. The counters are clear. The flowers are fresh and nothing appears to have been left behind.

And then there is the version I love most.

The coffee cup beside the book you’re halfway through. A throw pulled from the back of the sofa because someone got cold. Shoes by the door. Dinner simmering while everyone seems to gather in the kitchen at exactly the same time.

That is the home I want to design for.

Beautiful interiors matter to me deeply—but beauty becomes so much more meaningful when a room also makes everyday life feel a little easier, a little softer and perhaps even a little more special.

It’s why I think about where you’ll set your coffee in the morning. Where guests will naturally gather. Whether there’s somewhere comfortable to curl up on a rainy afternoon. Whether the dining room feels beautiful enough for Christmas dinner but comfortable enough for pizza on a Tuesday night.

Because the best rooms shouldn’t only photograph beautifully.

They should live beautifully.

A well-designed home doesn’t ask us to perform for it.

It simply gives us a beautiful place to live the life we already have.

And I think there is something rather luxurious about that.

— Melissa LaRosa
Melissa LaRosa Interiors

09/03/2026

DESIGNER’S NOTEBOOK | What I Would Save in a Southern Historic Home

There is something about walking into an old Southern home and realizing that so much of its story is still right there in front of you.

The worn wood beneath your feet. A transom above the doorway. The slight texture of an old plaster wall. A beautiful mantel that has anchored the same room for generations.

And sometimes, the things that initially look like they need to be replaced are the very things that make the house special.

Heart pine floors, transoms, original plaster, mantels, doors, hardware and millwork are all details I would stop and evaluate before removing.

That doesn’t mean every old feature has to stay.

Historic homes should be allowed to evolve. Kitchens need to function for today’s families. Bathrooms need modern conveniences. Electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems may need significant updates.

But I believe there’s a beautiful middle ground between preserving a house exactly as it was and stripping away everything that tells us where it came from.

Keep the character. Add the comfort. Let the two live together.

That’s where I think some of the most beautiful historic homes are created.

And if you’re lucky enough to uncover an original detail during a renovation, don’t be too quick to cover it back up. It may just become the thing you love most about the house.

Save this for your someday-old-house renovation. 🤍

— Melissa

09/02/2026

Come on in, grab a cup of coffee and sit with me let's talk about The Lantern & Oak

Step Inside the Lantern & Oak, a journal by Melissa LaRosa Interiors celebrating historic homes, timeless interiors, Southern living, gardens, and the stories that make a house feel like home.

09/02/2026

Rooms Worth Remembering

The Rooms We Remember Aren’t Usually the Most Perfect Ones

There are rooms we admire—and then there are rooms we remember.

I’ve been thinking about the difference lately.

Usually, it isn’t the newest furniture or the most impressive finish that stays with us. It’s the way afternoon light came through the windows. The chair everyone somehow ended up sitting in. The old chest that had been in the family longer than anyone could remember. The books beneath the coffee table, the slightly worn rug, the lamp that made the room feel especially beautiful at night.

Those are the details that give a room a pulse.

As a designer, of course I care about proportion, scale, color, materials and all of the things that make a space work beautifully. But I also believe good design should leave enough room for life to happen inside of it.

A beautiful home shouldn’t make you afraid to put your feet up.

It should invite you to stay.

To bring another chair over when company comes. To leave the book you’re reading on the table. To let the dog curl up beside you. To watch your children grow taller against the same doorway year after year.

Maybe that’s why I’m increasingly drawn to rooms that feel as though they’ve been there awhile—even when they haven’t.

Not perfect.

Personal.

Because twenty years from now, I don’t think we’ll remember whether every pillow was perfectly placed.

We’ll remember who was sitting beside us.

— Melissa LaRosa
Melissa LaRosa Interiors

09/01/2026

The Collected Home

A Home Should Reveal Itself Slowly

There’s something I love about a home that doesn’t tell you everything the moment you walk through the door.

The prettiest rooms, to me, are often the ones you discover slowly.

An old landscape tucked beneath a picture light. A table whose wood has softened with age. A stack of books that has actually been read. A piece of pottery that isn’t quite perfect. Brass that has been allowed to develop a little patina instead of being polished back to new.

None of these things necessarily command attention on their own.

Together, though, they give a room something that can’t be ordered overnight: a sense of history.

When I’m designing a collected home, I don’t want every piece to belong to the same collection, decade—or even design style. I’d much rather find the thread that allows an old piece and a new one to sit comfortably beside each other.

Maybe it’s color. Maybe it’s proportion. Maybe it’s simply the feeling they share.

That little bit of tension is often what makes a room interesting.

So if your home doesn’t feel “finished” yet, I wouldn’t rush it.

Leave a little room for the painting you haven’t found. The chair you’ll stumble across years from now. The books that will eventually fill the shelves. The things you’ll bring home from places you haven’t even visited yet.

A collected home isn’t really something we finish.

It’s something we build a life inside of.

And perhaps that’s exactly why those rooms are the ones worth remembering.

— Melissa LaRosa
Melissa LaRosa Interiors

08/31/2026

The Monday Edit

The Finish That Changes Everything: Why Hardware Is Never an Afterthought

There are details in a room that take up very little space—and somehow change everything.

Hardware is one of them.

A cabinet pull may only be a few inches long, but its finish, scale and shape can quietly shift the entire personality of a kitchen, bathroom or piece of furniture.

I often think of hardware the way I think of jewelry.

It shouldn’t compete with everything around it. It should finish the story.

On a beautifully painted cabinet, an aged brass pull can introduce warmth and history. Against white oak, something darker can create just enough contrast. And sometimes the prettiest choice isn’t the most decorative one at all—it’s the simple piece with the right weight, proportion and finish.

One thing I’m particularly careful about is mixing metals intentionally rather than matching every finish in the room.

Your faucet, lighting and hardware do not have to be identical.

In fact, a room can feel far more collected when finishes relate to one another without looking as though they came from the same box.

The secret is repetition.

If I introduce aged brass on the cabinetry, I might allow it to appear again in a lamp, a frame or another small detail elsewhere in the room. That repetition gives the eye a reason to believe it belongs there.

And this is why I rarely consider hardware at the very end of a project.

The smallest details may not be the first thing you notice in a beautiful room—but they’re often what make the entire room feel finished.

That’s the difference between simply selecting materials and actually designing how they live together.

— Melissa LaRosa
Melissa LaRosa Interiors

08/30/2026

It’s finally time to open the door. 🕯️🌿

Welcome to Lantern & Oak.

For a while now, I’ve wanted to create a place that goes a little deeper than beautiful rooms.

A place to talk about the homes that hold our stories. The traditions we carry with us. Old houses with creaky floors and beautiful imperfections. Gardens that change with the seasons. Tables meant to be gathered around. And all of those little details that somehow turn a house into home.

So I created Lantern & Oak — Stories of Home. Timeless Living.

Lantern & Oak is the Journal of Melissa LaRosa Interiors, where I’ll be sharing stories and inspiration centered around historic homes, timeless interiors, gardens, Southern living, family, traditions and the art of creating a home that feels collected rather than simply decorated.

Some weeks we’ll talk design.
Some weeks we’ll wander through old homes and gardens.
And some weeks we may simply talk about the things that make home feel like home.

Because I believe the most beautiful homes aren’t the ones that are perfect.

They’re the ones with stories.

✨ A new Lantern & Oak Journal article will be published every Monday.

You can read each week’s story on the Journal at MelissaLaRosaInteriors.com.

And throughout the week, I’ll be sharing little pieces of Lantern & Oak here—ideas, stories, inspiration and perhaps a few things worth slowing down for.

This has been on my heart for quite some time, and I’m so excited to finally invite you in.

Welcome to Lantern & Oak.
The porch light is on. 🤍

May your home always be a place where stories are gathered, seasons are celebrated and the porch light is left on a little longer.
Come back Monday for the Journal.

— Melissa

08/30/2026

Sundays to Savor (4 more Sundays until Fall)
Before Fall Arrives, Notice What Summer Left Behind

August always seems to leave quietly.

There’s no grand ending to summer. One evening the light simply begins to soften a little earlier, the house grows quieter after dinner, and September is suddenly waiting at the door.

Before we hurry into the next season, I think there’s something lovely about noticing what this one left behind.

The linen napkins that were actually used.
The doors opened and closed a hundred times by children running outside.
The glass left beside the sink after a long afternoon.
Flowers beginning to fade in a pitcher because no one thought to replace them yet.

None of it is particularly styled.

That may be exactly why I love it.

A well-lived home carries little traces of the season that happened there, and I’m learning not to rush quite so quickly to erase them in preparation for whatever comes next.

Tomorrow the hydrangeas can be changed. The heavier throws can come out. September can begin making its way through the house.

But tonight?

I think I’ll let summer stay just a little longer.

— Melissa LaRosa
Melissa LaRosa Interiors

08/29/2026

There’s something incredibly rewarding about taking a space that no longer feels quite right and giving it new life. I truly believe our homes should feel like us — they should tell our stories, welcome the people we love, and make even the everyday moments feel a little more special.

I finished my own guest bathroom transformation yesterday, and I’m so excited to finally share the before & after with you!

I’m incredibly grateful that Melissa LaRosa Interiors has grown into a multi-award-winning design firm and was recently named a 2026 Best of Florida Regional Winner. But at the heart of what I do, it’s still about something very simple: creating homes that feel beautiful, meaningful, and deeply personal to the people who live there.

You can learn more about my design services at melissalarosainteriors.com.

And while you’re there, I’d love for you to visit The Journal — a little corner of my website devoted to stories and inspiration surrounding home, family, gardens, traditions, timeless living, and all the things that make a house feel like home. 🤍

Thank you to this wonderful community for continuing to support local small businesses and neighbors chasing big dreams. It truly means more than you know.

— Melissa
Melissa LaRosa Interiors

08/29/2026

Tomorrow. 🤍

For a little while now, I’ve been dreaming about creating a place that feels like more than design.

A place for old homes and beautiful details. For gardens, traditions, collected rooms and the stories that make a house feel like home.

It’s a little quieter. A little more personal. And very much a reflection of everything I’ve been falling in love with lately.

Tomorrow, I finally get to open the door and welcome you in.

One more day… 🗝️🏮