Decorating the Home Alone House

September 20, 2026

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If you had $5+M to spend on the gorgeous Georgian colonial home that starred in the movie “Home Alone” (apologies to Macaulay Culkin) – how would you decorate it? A couple of weeks ago I posted about the evolution of the Home Alone house decorating style from the 1980’s to today. It’s a beloved movie home that has gone from riotous and Christmasy green and red to zzzz… As my design friend and colleague (and humorist) Janet Lorusso said “It looks like it’s been stripped down to its underwear!”. ‘Tis true.

I’ve had a lot of fun putting together concept boards for each of the primary spaces that featured in the movie – Foyer (and sledding zone), Dining Room, Living Room and Primary Bedroom.

Some things I kept in mind:

This is a stately home and deserves furnishings that work well with the architecture and scale of the home. While I think it’s possible to use modern style furnishings and palettes and get it to work within the envelope of traditional and classical architecture – it would take a deft hand that few actually posses.
While the overall home is a large (and made much larger by a recent renovation) the rooms have a lovely human scale – the ceilings aren’t crazy high and the rooms aren’t cavernous.

The famous enfilade when looking from the living room through the foyer into the dining room speaks to the need to keep these three spaces unique yet harmonious.

Aside from the overall grey and boring of the recent Home Alone house decorating and remodel (though this could be just staged for sale) the foyer is lacking oomph (to say the least). There’s nothing that says welcome – there’s no statement. It’s a nothing of a space – which doesn’t at all work with the statement exterior of the home! The original millwork was stripped from the walls as well.

When putting together the Home Alone decorating concept for the foyer – I started with the rug. (all sources are linked below each concept board – fyi). I actually started with the dining room and then the living room – so the foyer was designed to pull the two rooms together while also being its own space. I like the idea of a darker rug against the deep brown floors of the remodel (which I love!). A wool sisal carpet with studded leather border would go up the stars and run next to the stairs towards the back of the house. My feeling on foyers is that they are really hardworking spaces – lots of foot traffic from around the house and from the outside. The foyer should transition one emotionally from the outside to the inside of the house – so it may feel slightly less “formal” than other spaces. I don’t think the foyer should be off putting. It shouldn’t be so formal that one immediately feels the need the whisper. I want people to feel like they can either kick off their shoes OR keep them on – whatever makes them feel comfortable.

The dining room has lost its double doors seen in earlier images. Kind of a shame but it does allow for more wall space. The first item I spec’d for the dining room was the wallpaper which I just love. From there I found the Murano glass chandelier and sconces and the rug. The furniture is a mix of vintage (sideboard and table) and new (seating). The palette is ethereal and the furnishings are grounding.

The living room is tricky because it’s really three areas – this seating area around the fireplace, the “walkway” between the sun room (off stage on the left) towards the foyer and the area between the walkway and front windows which has housed a grand piano in the previous images. I mainly focused on the sitting area. The fabric came first in this room and then the rug and other furnishings. I wanted a swanky luxe feel with a touch of modernity in the art and 1970’s French cocktail table. The Murano glass table lamps and the burled wood in the cocktail table call back to the dining room.

The primary bedroom is of course a stand alone space. This one took me a bit to “get into”. I didn’t have a strong sense for a color palette – which could be why I ended up with my favorite color palette. The first items I found were these gorgeous nightstands and then I found a stately poster bed. I played around with canopy beds and more modern upholstered poster beds – but this classic won out. I still didn’t have a color palette and started looking for rugs. I played around with many rugs but in my mind I kept coming back to wanting something very simple and luxurious underfoot. I didn’t want the rug to be the statement in the room because the bed covers most of it anyway. I actually love a fully carpeted bedroom with something delicious feeling underfoot. The statement is of course the Chinoiserie wallpaper and fabrics. As with the dining room – the furnishings are grounding so the walls, windows, sofa and bedding can soar.

So – what do you think? I’d love your thoughts on what you would do with the Home Alone House decorating!

All resources are linked under each room plan. Some are “to the trade only” so if you’re interested in more information – just ask! Some of the links are affiliate links which return a small commission if a purchase is made at no additional cost to the buyer. This helps support this blog.