What can a multi-million dollar yearly salary buy you? A beautiful house with stunning architectural detail, a great interior designer, and tons of top-of-the-line furniture and accessories. Money may not buy happiness (allegedly) but it can buy you a whole lot of prettiness (which makes some people pretty happy). Here are some celebrities spending their money smartly when it comes to their homes.
Ellen invites her audience to dance with her every day on her show, and for that I will always love her. Plus her house is beautiful — old world sophistication with a quirky twist. She kept her main pieces of furniture more classic and timeless and infused youth and quirk with accessories and artwork. The modern pieces contrast perfectly with the classic pieces, helping the whole home look collected and effortless.
See more photos of her house on my blog.
I styled this house for a shoot (not these photos) so I've seen this mansion in person. Yes, I just committed the odious sin of name-dropping but! I can attest that the house, perched on the cliffs of Malibu, is actually very beautiful. It has a workout house and a guest house. Yes, I just wrote "WORKOUT HOUSE." Michael S. Smith designed it to be a California casual meets global traveller vibe and he did a fantastic job. All the furniture and accessories have a lot of integrity (they are mostly antiques). But the color palette is updated and youthful which helps it look current. Smith used a ton of different wood tones throughout the house which keeps it feeling warm, despite how huge it is.
See more photos here.
It's "dude" without being too bachelor pad-y. The architectural detail is beautiful and inviting. The stained beams on the ceiling balances out the dark furniture on the ground. On the other side of the room are gorgeous arched doorways that counteract how masculine the space is. I'm pretty sure that color is "Blue Steel." And that color of blue is pretty bold, more 'blue' than i would have gone, but all that dark furniture needed a color and not a neutral so it works. See their bedroom here.
She designed her Hollywood home herself which makes her awesome. It only makes sense that America's sweetheart would have an adorably eclectic, quirky house full of personality, vintage accents, antiques and femininity. My personal dream is to design her nursery.
See the rest of her house's awesomeness here.
She designed her New York pad and it totally looks like her: casual, colorful and elegant. Even though she's loaded, she mixes a lot of low-end and vintage pieces. This makes her house unpretentious and easy rather than fancy or fussy. She's got a second career if she wants it, although interior designers typically don't average $6 million per project so I wouldn't totally recommend it at this point.
See her bedroom here.
Adam Levine
The Maroon 5 singer's pad is half bachelor, half designer. When I first saw it, I noticed some questionable elements, like the purple sofa on the red rug which isn't a color combo you can do casually and definitely not a go-to for me. But ultimately I decided it all just looks like him and works because it's a little rebellious and funky like him. See his bedroom here.
Diane Keaton
Discovering that people I like have good taste makes me so happy and Diane Keaton's Hollywood Spanish style home is kind of magical. Mediterranean-style houses aren't usually my favorite but her house is the best example I've ever seen of a Spanish house that looks Spanish and modern/current at the same time. Check out her insane kitchen here.
Keri Russell
So after Felicity and Ben broke up, she graduated from medical school and moved back to New York, married a hot carpenter/contractor and together they built and designed this amazing brownstone in Brooklyn. I know, sooo not how I thought it would turn out.
Their brownstone is beautifully rustic yet modern and totally casual. They stripped down the house and restored it to bring out the early 20th century details, but then added a lot of modern and rustic finishes, and elegant feminine touches. It's a very happy house for a happy family.
Zooey Deschanel
Like her celebrity persona, Zooey's house is energetic and adorable with a retro vibe. Also her walls match her eyes and look great with her skin. I believe one's house should be flattering to ones face and figure. I'm not kidding — If it doesn't look good on you, then don't surround yourself every day with it. Most of us do this without knowing it, but if you are as pale as Powder and painting your walls beige, then you probably look like you are about to throw up all the time. And the perpetually nauseated look is super '97 — and not in a good way.
Check out the rest of Zooey's studio HERE.
Christina Aguilera
The pop singer's house looks like her crazy concert costumes — untamed and unpredictable with just a bit of bordello flair. Is this my style? NOPE. Would I own one of these pieces of furniture? Nah. But the pops of colors, the crazy patterns, the gaudiness, and the overarching sense of excess and luxury creates an adventurous spirit I admire. It's not my taste, but this crib is ballsy and has a point of view. You look at this and know instantly that you'd party hard here.
Check out her bedroom and closet HERE.
Emily Henderson is the 2010 Design Star winner; the host and designer of Secrets from a Stylist on HGTV, and founding editor of her own daily style blog. She also has inappropriately intense feelings for Ryan Gosling and believes that a kitten can never be too small. For more of Emily's favorite home things (and generally awesome photos), follow her on Pinterest.