One of my friends recently described shopping for a sofa with her husband as one of the most depressing things one could do on a weekend. It is one of those furniture purchases where people are terrified of making a mistake, since the general thought is that a sofa will be in your home for at least the next ten years. Here is a simple guide to help you navigate the overwhelming sofa market.

Here's kind of a cool thing. This steel-framed chair had seen better days. Enter Janusz, who has an abiding love for the world's most humble material — cardboard — and for bringing old furniture back to life. Click here to see what he did next. 

Among the many booths at the Architectural Digest Home Show, the work of Tucker Robbins stood out for his unique point of view and stylish way of mixing concepts, textures, and time periods in a way that feels very organic and natural. 

I grew up in the 80s, but one of my first introductions to interior design was through the 60s and 70s-era design books my mom would collect at garage sales. With their outlandish modern furniture, strange shapes, and unusual materials, these spaces were not quite like anything I had ever seen, and I was fascinated by the differentness of it all. I was reminded, a little, of those books by this concrete house that I stumbled across on World of Bea. It's full of modern design pieces that are both beautiful and unusual, but has a lightness to it that feels very now. 

This season, iconic British designer Sir Terence Conran is bringing his signature modern style to the more budget conscious shoppers of JC Penney's. While his pieces are clean, stylish, and modern, often with a bold jolt of color, he also places great importance on quality of design and comfort —two important concepts in a piece of furniture meant to be used and well loved. 

Every year when I go to the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, or ICFF, I tell my friends that it's like a fashion show, but for furniture. It's where designers go to get their new creations in the public eye, and where we go to get an idea of what's happening in the world of design. Here's our report on what we saw, what we liked, some new trends that are emerging, and some old ones that are still going strong. 

Benjamin Klebba, the designer behind Phloem Studio, was practically raised to be a maker. Growing up in Michigan, Ben's father taught construction trades and also built the house that Ben grew up in. After spending some time building guitars and custom furniture, Ben moved to Portland to strike out on his own. 

When Ursula outgrew her crib, and then the conversion crib with only three sides, I decided to stretch the life of her very nice mattress further by turning it into a toddler bed (amazingly, she slept on this until recently, and she's six and a half). Even though I saw some nice ones, rather than buying a frame, I decided to save money and build my own for her.