Only in the world of Miami interior design is the decoration of luxury yachts one of the biggest and most competitive areas. Yet it’s amazing how much you can learn from paying attention to paying attention to how to make the insides of these mega-boats shine.

Here are a few tips anyone making interior design choices can learn from luxury yacht designers:

1. WORK WITHIN YOUR SPACE
I started my own interior design career as a yacht designer, and it has provided me with great knowledge that has carried over to all my residential design work.

Even large yachts have limited space. When designing small spaces it is important to remember to utilize everything you can to provide functionality as well as decor.

There are couple great ways to do this. One,  use the inside a sofa or banquet as storage when you have the opportunity to get custom furniture. Or you can always purchase storage ottomans or beds with storage below.

More often than not people solely focus on how things look without also considering that they need to think about functionality. With yacht interior design, that’s not an option.

2. RESPECT YOUR ENVIRONMENT
Another important factor when designing a yacht interior is to never use any wall coverings with metal content. Before you order a metallic wall covering make sure there is no metal content or you will quickly see the wall covering oxidize and you will need to go through the expense of replacing it. Important advice to keep in mind for a beach home as well.

The more important point here you always need to thinking about the unique constraints of your environment and make interior design choices that work with them instead of fighting them…even for the most high end homes.

3. CONSTANTLY BE MAINTAINING
Part of making sure you have top quality interior design when you’re working on yachts is thinking about the future. Since a boat is always going to have wear and tear, you need to start thinking about tricks for keeping things nice right at the outset.

While your home may not have the problem of wind and salt air, there will always be wear and tear. It is always nice to be able to keep things around the house looking like new even when they’re are not. So thinking ahead and preparing your bag of tricks always helps.

Always keep a can of wall paint handy for minor scuff marks. Never touch up paint by applying a lot of paint on the paint brush and using up and down strokes to touch up. This will not blend with the old paint and will look terrible. Instead, apply a small amount ever so lightly on the paint brush and keep taping it while rotating your wrist until the mark is covered. This creates texture and blends the paint into the wall.

Another great tip: Hairspray removes ink. That’s right…hairspray! When my son was two he drew on my ivory leather dining chairs with a pen. At first I panicked, but then I ran for my hair spray bottle and with a little elbow grease it all came off. I have even removed Sharpie ink that seeped through the paper of his beautiful art creations onto my quartzite counter tops with ease! This one even surprised me!

Many people have trouble getting burnt stains off of their glass cooktops. Ibiz Waterless Wax is a great product that will remove those stubborn marks as well. This product is great on shower doors and stainless steel refrigerators.

As you can see, the principles of high end interior design aren’t that different between a luxury yacht, the home where you raise your family, or a vacation place you slip away to. Keep these principles in mind and things will start out looking good and stay that way.