My grandma used to keep a stack of glossy interior magazines by the sofa, and half the appeal was never really the magazines themselves. It was the excuse to sit down together and flip through them, pointing at kitchens and patterns we liked, and ones we didn’t.
That kind of design content has mostly moved online, and somehow it still manages to feel like an extra bill. Every design show worth watching seems to live behind its own premium tier, on top of the streaming subs we’re already paying for. So here’s a shortlist of what’s actually free, sitting right there on YouTube, no extra subscription required.
Design Notes by HGTV
These episodes run about 10 to 15 minutes, and a good number of the homes belong to designers themselves, which makes for a nosier, more instructive kind of tour. The British episodes are my favourite. Overgrown gardens, mismatched patterns used with real confidence, the sense that a home was layered over years rather than styled in a weekend.
Homeworthy
Homeworthy leans heavily into southern American homes, though it has started branching out into the UK and France. The tour I keep thinking about is Ambrice Miller, an American antique dealer with taste so exquisite it borders on intimidating. It’s the kind of home tour that makes you want to rearrange your own living room the moment it ends.
Open Door, Architectural Digest
This one needs no introduction. It’s the channel everyone already has open in another tab as soon as a new episode is released, and the one that turns up in group chats the second a celebrity home tour drops. Kendall Jenner’s mountain home is a recent favourite of mine, all florals and wallpapered rooms that lean into pattern instead of shying away from it.
Whether you’re after real design inspiration or something low-stakes to have on in the background before bed, there’s usually something here that can definitely scratch that aesthetic itch.