Add that extra bit of sophistication and depth to a home

If you care about your home, how it looks and what you put in it, there's a high likelihood you're familiar with Maxwell Ryan.

Ryan is the founder of the wildly popular home design and décor site ApartmentTherapy.com and four books under the Apartment Therapy name. The newest book, "Apartment Therapy: Complete + Happy Home (Potter Style, 2015), explores everything from an old carriage house in Los Angeles to an old power plant in Chicago to a ranch in Texas, while teaching readers how to set up, live in and maintain their homes.

Here, Ryan shares more about how to create and maintain a home you'll love.

Q. Your first Apartment Therapy book was an eight-step guide to curing the common problems of living in a small space. Do those principles and steps still apply?

A. Yes. My first book was a lot about my clients' homes as much as my own. And that's still true. Now I don't work with clients anymore; this is all based on our experience with readers. While I wrote the (new) book, I really wrote it with Janel Laban, who's our executive editor, and the editorial team. And … to be honest, the team is younger than I am. Some of the tips and service pieces on style are more on-trend with, say, a more younger demographic than I might have written for myself now. The basic stuff, though, like furniture placement and window arrangements, is still very true to the first book, in a way.

Q. When looking at a home, are there different ambitions now? Or does that 8-week plan still apply when you're trying to refresh a space?

A. Well, a bunch of stuff has changed. One of them is that people typically don't want to take eight weeks to do anything. It's too long. And the second thing is that the site is reflective of a much broader audience that lives across the country in different types of houses. So this book is really a guide for how to put your home together and maintain it. Sort of, put it together, be inspired and maintain it. And you should be able to dip into the book and use pieces of it at any time. It's not so driven or directed like a lesson or a school plan, like the first one. It's meant to be more referred to as a handbook and not followed like a curriculum.

Q. What are the most daunting things about moving into a new home or a first home, for someone who is taking the responsibility of a home versus an apartment?

A. I think the problems are the same. The difference is that homes are bigger. Apartment people are fortunate in that they don't have a lot of choices to make. They're lucky if they can get one sofa into their living room, let alone two. They're lucky if they have to buy shades or curtains for four windows, let alone eight or 12. And so what I see with homeowners is that it's just so much more expensive. And most people have a harder time finishing their home than they would, say, an apartment, because there's so many places to touch. That's the challenge.

Q. Jumping on what you said about homes being more expensive - you say it's good to stretch a bit, maybe spend that extra 10 or 20 percent more than you anticipated, to get that extra bit of space to grow and work with. Why do you say that's important?

A. When you're buying a home, it's a long-term investment, first of all. However you structure your mortgage, you have to be thinking long-term. And I think it's very hard to know how big your life is going to get. Obviously, it's going to get bigger if you have children. You don't want to put yourself into a house that you're going to grow out of in two years, and you're like "Oh, man. I have to do this all over again. And it's going to cost more money to do that." It's very hard to estimate what it will feel like once your life has grown. You're better off just giving yourself extra room to play with, knowing that it will come in handy and that you will probably fill it. And you'll appreciate it down the line, even if it costs you more in the present.

Q. The book's Good Flow Guide shows readers how to arrange rooms in the best possible way, depending on the room. Is there a kind of general "do no harm" rule for good flow that works for every room?

A. There's usually good flow in a room if it means you can vacuum the whole room and get to the walls without moving your furniture. If the furniture is in such a way that it creates blockages in the room, that you literally can't clean it - you can't get the vacuum in very easily - you've got a problem.

Q. Is there a good timeline for someone to say: I moved into a home, I have "this long" to get everything accomplished? Painting, decorating, etc.?

A. Yes. It is really good to set the clock ticking once you move in to get your boxes empty and stuff like that. And I'd say, ballpark, two months to get most of it done is super, super healthy and successful.

Q. You say a home without art is not finished, and that a stylish home has plants. Must you have all these elements to really call it a home?

A. Those things are finishing touches. I think you could feel very good about yourself if you've got a really well put-together, clean, organized home. What I've found over the years is that these are the extra touches that add the extra layers, that add that extra bit of sophistication and depth … to your spaces. As we grow older, we have a deeper appreciation for our home, and we want more out of it. We want to see ourselves reflected in it in different ways.

Q. What's a great way for someone to put a personal touch in their homes?

A. Personal touches come from anything that is handmade or vintage - even if it's not your vintage. People who furnish their homes with new furniture generally have a dead space. If you mix in some antique or vintage … that makes a great impact. Artwork, too. Not posters but original artwork of any kind. Whether it's a painting or a print … that has that touch of human in it will give also to the home the feeling of the human that lives there. It's the opposite of sterile.

Q. What are some easy ways for folks to change things up seasonally in a room?

A. One thing I do at home is I move around my living room. I have a winter position and a summer position. The winter position faces the fireplace. It's much cozier and it's more brought-in. And the summer position opens out to the room and it's more open and airy. In addition, I like to change my sheets in the bedroom. In the winter I use warmer sheets. Flannels in darks colors. In the summer I go bright. Sheets are an easy thing to change for the season. Rearranging your furniture is a great thing. I do have plants. I love to bring them outside in the summer, and they all crowd in in the winter, which changes things a bit.

Q. With more people working from home these days, how has the office changed from a place to read or pay bills to a place you're actually working eight hours a day?

A. A lot of our people work from home … and one thing I've noticed is that now everything's driven by the computer. So, the room is not a sitting and reading room. It's a workstation room. And oftentimes now that means they're on video cameras, they're video chatting throughout the day. That's how I see them! They have standing desks, so they're standing like five feet away from the monitor. That's a big deal now. It's that workstation that has taken over the home office, and it's not just a desk and computer. It's a desk that may go up and down. It's a screen. It's a keyboard. It's a special chair. It's a camera. It's headphones for talking on camera or Skype. The office is now a media center for telecommuting and working with other people remotely. It's not a study. It is not a retreat. In fact, you'd get out of the office if you wanted to read a book because it's no longer a quiet retreat. It's a workplace.

Q. Maintaining your home - repairs and projects - are there certain points where it's OK to put it off? When do you have to address it?

A. As soon as possible! I consider anything that's broken or scuffed or in need of repair a serious problem. You want to just get on it right away. Especially if it's a small thing. It's like a cut on your skin. You want to get a Band-Aid on it right away. This is not a decorating issue. Get it done right away because it has a much deeper emotional impact than anything else, and it will weigh you down.

Q. You've said everyone has a problem room. What's your problem room?

A. I just moved … my whole house is a problem! I'm finished moving in, but now I have that problem, which is I have more space than I've had before, so I've actually had to buy some furniture to finish it, which I've never had to do before. I have a guest room, which I've never ever had before, and it's a problem! I want it to be lovely … but it's the guest room, and I never get to it ... it feels sort of sad. It also has become a dumping ground for stuff that we're clearing out. I don't know if this is a problem for other people, but it's a problem!

Q. You say you're an apartment therapist. How have the therapy sessions changed over the years?

A. Home is not just furniture and paint color. That's the mistake. The therapy part comes from … helping them to realize that the home is not a square-foot location. It's a path. It's a space that our lives are moving through over time, and it changes. It should be changing as we change. A true home is not a static place. So that's why it is and has always been therapy, and I think that message resonates with people. It's helpful because if you understand all that, then it can't be perfect. It has to always be changing and in flux.