How To Decorate Your Home Like Christina Haack

HGTV design pro Christina Haack, star of "Flip or Flop" and "Christina on the Coast," gave fans two opportunities to see how she styles her homes. Following her 2021 divorce from TV personality Ant Anstead, Haack purchased a $10.3 mansion on California's coast as well as a $2.5 million Nashville-area getaway. Both homes take her style chops to the limit for plenty of reader inspiration. Luxury runs through the veins of the guard-gated-community mansion in Dana Point, California, with exterior and interior designs reflecting views of the Pacific Coast and mountains, says Taste of Country. For resort-style living at home, there's a rooftop deck with a fireplace, inground pool, and spa, according to The New York Post. The 6,081-square-foot house capitalizes on the panoramic view at every junction — this is the beach, after all. The open floor plan not only unites the formal dining room, double-island kitchen, and great room, it merges with the outdoors like one big room. And when Haack and gang tire of the beach, the good times can continue indoors with a purple theater and a game room. Sleek contemporary style marries rustic and wood elements for contrast.

In a Nashville suburb, the 5,000-square-foot farmhouse (six bedrooms, 5.5 baths) features more of this juxtaposition,n but also digs into its country roots with barn doors, wagon-wheel chandelier, and brick kitchen backsplash says Taste of Country. Do you love the look of these homes? Here is how to decorate your space just like Haack. 

The Pacific Ocean and mountain vistas are too awe-inspiring to enjoy only when being outside. According to Taste of Country, Haack designed her California living room with a retractable wall to blur the line between indoors and out. Better than a painted masterpiece, the view takes center stage in the dining room, and a balcony in the owner's suite makes sure each day starts in sync with nature's glory. Plus, the open floor plan maximizes the vantage points, allowing one to see the view from multiple corners of the house.

From furniture placement to the color scheme, Mansion Global says there are many ways to highlight views in your own house— whether that's a natural setting like a pristine lake or a backyard garden. "I always look to the environment first for inspiration — the natural surroundings, landscaping, and architecture. From there, I develop a color palette and build the design around that," Laura Brophy, a California-based designer, told Mansion Global. That design can include floor-to-ceiling windows or the placement and scale of furniture to complement the scene. The Anderson Studio in South Carolina recommends being intentional about windows if you're renovating. The design firm recommends selecting panoramic, bay, or bow windows to really make the most of your setting.

An open floor plan can seem daunting. But Haack was able to draw from years of experience — at least a decade on HGTV — to do a masterful job in both her primary California home and woodland getaway. "Open spaces can pose a multitude of design challenges, but it doesn't have to be intimidating," Memphis designer Sean Anderson told Southern Living. One hack is to use a color palette that creates a sense of harmony. This typically means neutral shades like white, grays, and blues. As Dallas designer Jean Liu told Southern Living, one might liven a consistent palette with various fabrics and textures to coincide with yet another hack: large furniture groupings to cozy up the space. Color is not only powerful but multi-functional, says Nashville designer Roger Higgins. He suggests breaking up the room with a contrasting hue on the doors, woodwork, or ceiling.

MyMove suggested turning this contrasting color loose on an accent wall to give the space depth. You can also float furniture away from the walls and repeat elements as you did the colors. An example in Haack's Tennessee retreat is the bricks that repeat in the fireplace and stove areas for down-home country charm.

Anyone who grew up with Barney, the bright purple dinosaur, bouncing across their screen knows that this can be a joyous color. Seldom seen in nature, purple was long reserved for royalty, but today it lifts spirits in any room. According to Dirt, Haack chose purple cushions for the seating in her California mansion's dual-level movie theater. This departure from her home's neutral color scheme worked because the movie theater is not part of the open floor plan.

Do you prefer a quieter palette? Purple still may be a perfect choice. HGTV explains that different shades of purple trigger different emotions, since the color is a combination of tranquil blue and volatile red. At the lighter side of the spectrum, lavender makes the ideal girl's bedroom or powder room, but bolder tones like plum can elevate a living room. Since purple is such a powerhouse, a little can go a long way. You can even use it as an accent shade. As per Treehouse, purple did not go out with that dinosaur. Instead, it has gained popularity and works especially well with modern or glam designs. Go purple!

With 6,000-plus square feet to play around in, what kind of rooms did Haack include in her California mansion? She went with an office, a formal dining room (great for special occasions,) and a game room/billiards room. When choosing what kind of rooms to create in your own home, consider your family's needs and how accessory rooms can fill them. Nowadays, more and more Americans realize they need an office and dining room in their home. Since the pandemic, home offices have served a vital role, especially when designed for more than casual use. According to Entrepreneur, offices should be separate from other rooms and set up to mean business. Haack does this by putting her desk in the center of the room and adding plenty of dark wood shelving (via New York Post).

According to True Fashionistas, formal dining rooms are back in vogue and can become the house's focal point. Consider adding glam to your modern design by choosing unique lighting, like a chandelier with unusual details. As for Haack's game room, a standout feature is the glass walls used to separate the pool table from the rest of the room. Archaeological Digest agrees pool tables should not be banished to a corner of the basement, so show your spirit if billiards is your hobby.

Haack is a fan of brick, and it's a hot option for a kitchen backsplash. It contributes both strength and durability, which is important in a place like a kitchen. Specifically, Haack used bricks to decorate her farmhouse-style retreat in Tennessee. Bricks play a starring role in the décor, rising in an archway over her stove and accenting her living room fireplace. In a tribute to organic decor, both wood and stone accentuate the walls in the country getaway. This matches the down-home elements in the house, like the wagon-wheel chandelier. But real bricks could break the budget for most people. So, Bob Vila suggests using a brick veneer to make this option more affordable. No, brick veneer is not imitation stone. It draws its aged charm from thin authentic brick panels that interlock decoratively. One could cut costs even further with plastic or porcelain imitation brick, but that might compromise the stone look. 

According to Backsplash.com, brick backsplashes match various aesthetics, from farmhouse to modern. And bricks are not limited to the red variety: Gray bricks bring a sleek touch to a modern farmhouse kitchen with a wood-based island. Three cheers for bricks!

Fireplaces today are no longer a necessity for heat, but that doesn't mean they don't have a place in just about every room. Haack can't seem to get enough fireplaces in her California mansion. In her living room, her fireplace is nestled into a wall made out of stone, bringing an earthy element into the space. While stone feels right at home in the great room amidst the natural wood accents, her bedroom took an equally dramatic approach with a heavily veined marble fireplace. On nippy nights, her rooftop deck is equipped to handle the chill with yet another fireplace. 

Elle Décor demonstrates that fireplace style is limited only by one's imagination. No home need be left in the cold, as design runs the gamut from traditional to ultra-modern. Imagine white bricks with a brass cage front for a white-and-black-contrast sitting room, a glass-enclosed two-way fireplace to define an open floor plan, or a mirrored fireplace for a dramatic reading room. For those fearful of the cost of a new fireplace, HGTV suggests wallpapering above the mantel as a budget-friendly alternative to tile.