12 Style Secrets to Steal From Alison Victoria's Design Playbook

Alison Victoria, host of Windy City Rehab and Sin City Rehab, has been updating homes for many years and across many HGTV shows. While every property is different and each project comes with its own challenges, Alison has a consistent approach that makes all of her before-and-afters monumental. Her secret? She uses small touches in almost all of her renovations. Ahead, discover our favorite Alison-design-isms that you can try at home.

Alison's attention to detail often extends to doorways, proving you can make a statement in unlikely spaces. The molding and cornices — used to highlight the opening of this pantry in a Rock the Block competition alongside Mike Holmes — give it an air of luxury without feeling too overwhelming.

Alison is a big fan of fireplace surrounds, particularly ones that are historic and ornate. In her Parisian-style Chicago home (which has since gone on the market), the "McMantel" in her living area is balanced by one of her other familiar design moves: a large and equally fanciful vintage-looking mirror.

Alison and Food Network chef Antonia Lofaso share a love for the color black. So, when Antonia asked Alison to renovate her Las Vegas home during Season 1 of Sin City Rehab, it made perfect sense to go all in on the raven shade. The black-on-black kitchen doesn't feel too heavy, thanks to surrounding materials like warm wood and shiny metals.

In keeping with her love for moody shades, Alison often highlights architectural features by painting them black. She covers door frames, bookcases, windows, railings and staircases. In this Chicago home, featured on Season 4 of Windy City Rehab, Alison and her team rebuilt a damaged staircase to resemble the original, then modernized it with black paint. The result is a mix of vintage and modern — Alison's favorite combo.

Alison's love for both vintage and modern becomes particularly relevant when she's renovating historic houses in Chicago on Windy City Rehab. She often adds character by either restoring or installing stained glass. In this living room, the intricacies of the window panes are a warm contrast to the clean lines of the furnishings.

Kitchens are Alison's bread and butter. She loves creating sleek, modern designs fit for endless entertaining. But to ensure that these showstopping spaces also have character, she almost always installs Old World intricacies like corbels. In this kitchen from Season 4 of Windy City Rehab, the corbels are purely decorative — but they make the kitchen island feel more substantial and traditional.

Alison frequently goes searching for old-school elements to give her projects charm. One of her specialties is a vintage door, like this one in chef Antonia's Las Vegas home. These doors are more than a century old and hail from France, and they exemplify Alison's love of finding unusual pieces that tell a story — while completing her vision.

Alison has a long-standing appreciation for brass. The metal often appears in her projects as a layer of timeless style. In the open kitchen of her home in Chicago, Alison made a statement with a brass hood vent above a 60-inch double range. The metal complements stone countertops and green cabinetry.

Speaking of green, Alison often gravitates toward the earthy hue. (Think deep, forest-y shades.) "Bringing green [into my designs] is so important to me," Alison says. "It just exudes calmness and happiness and life and energy. This bathroom, which claims the most radical makeover from Ugliest House in America Season 7, Alison used a backdrop of slate-green tiles to create a relaxing haven around the soaking tub.

We're not sure how many at-home bars Alison has designed, but we'd guess she's in the double digits by now. Her secret: Salvage a bar you're drawn to, then make it work for your own space (while maintaining its original style and charm). For this client from Season 1 of Sin City Rehab, Alison reimagined the renovated bar with a vintage door she transformed into a mirror.

It's not a design done by Alison without some unique (namely, arched) architectural details. Here, in her Mediterranean-style Las Vegas home, an arched doorway brings character to the area around her breakfast nook.