As are many of you, I'll wager, I am passionate for names. I have been slowly collecting my favorite children's name displays from Apartment Therapy Family and across the web.  Parents with a knack for picking great monikers also tend to get creative with their kids' rooms.  Click through for inspiration beyond the traditional cookie-cutter mold.  

It's pretty easy to create your own "custom" table by using IKEA table legs. The legs are set at a perfect height for making a desk, and people have often turned to an assortment of surfaces to match for a simple DIY desk solution. But I wanted to set out to build something a little more advanced...

As a designer, I've always got my eyes peeled for those little details that make a room stand out from the crowd. One such idea I'm loving lately? Wallpapered ceilings. This design trick is nothing new (we've talked about it here and here), but it's uncommon enough that it still feels fresh and innovative, not to mention whimsical. 

Light fixtures can be changed. Colors can be painted over. Ugly floors can be covered. They're not all easy projects for renters who've found themselves in apartments cramping their style. But they're all do-able, and importantly, reversible. Just like this solution for covering ugly appliances with removable peel-and-stick wallpaper.

I love bedrooms that are well-styled, but I also love the clean simplicity of a bed that looks like it's seriously meant for sleeping in, with cloud-like crisp white bedding and a few downy pillows. 

Entries for our annual Small Cool Contest are flooding in, and as usual they are filled with fantastic ideas we can mine for our own spaces...including kids spaces! Here are a few images and ideas for your kid's room inspiration-board.

On first glance, the events in my new book The Art of the Party are large and extravagant, but the truth is that those events are filled with smart ideas that utilize inexpensive, highly accessible, every day materials that can be lassoed for parties of any scale – even a dinner party for six at home!