Of all the rooms in my house the "second bedroom" has been the hardest to resolve. Yes, I'm grateful for the extra space, but rather than be efficient with it, the room has mostly become an oversized storage closet — all the miscellaneous stuff gets thrown in there, including a desk, old couch, drying rack, books, etc. I'd really love for it to be a true combination home office and guest bedroom. But is it even possible? Here are few inspirational photos that give me hope.

More

DIY bloggers Chris and Julia Marcum (of Chris Loves Julia) finally got to working on a project they've been meaning to for years (hey, we've all been there!): 

More

Grain is a design studio based in Bainbridge Island, Washington that is dedicated to social and environmental responsibilities. They introduced two new houseware collections at ICFF this past weekend: the first is a line of hard goods that includes the Dish Table, which was inspired by hand carved African stools, new stitched mirrors, and new candle stick holders. The second is a natural dye collection of cotton pillows and woven towels. 

More

We're plenty familiar with Derek Chen and his work. In addition to being profiled on Apartment Therapy, he was also one of our Fall Color Judges back in 2007. While he's making the rounds to promote his newest project in collaboration with Newton Vineyard, he sat down to answer our Meet the Maker survey.

More

Nightwood is a Brooklyn based furniture, textiles and interiors outfit that was founded in 2011 by Ry Scruggs and Nadia Yaron. All of their furniture and textiles are hand crafted one-of-a-kind works of functional art. Inspired by "old things, primitive practices, creative reuse and natural materials", they incorporate both salvaged and scrap wood into their wood furniture, and they use organic, sustainable fabrics, as well as woven scraps, in their textile-based products. More

Growing up, the only type of couches my family owned were futons. I thought they were the coolest — you could change the covers, they expanded for sleepovers, and they seemed much more modern than an overstuffed sofa. Nowadays futons are more often associated with dorm rooms than cool furniture. However, there's no denying a futon's small space convenience. Here are a few convertible options for your post-collegiate home.

More

You've heard of the three R's: reduce, reuse, recycle. Reworx collective believes in the ten R's: reclaim, reuse, recycle, rethink, repurpose, refresh, reinvent, refurbish, rediscover, reissue. The group of artists that make up this Connecticut collective all create furniture and housewares from discarded items. 

More

Since I moved to Brooklyn, ants have been invading my kitchen for several weeks each spring. Usually I buy commercial (and toxic) ant bait traps from my local hardware store, but this year I opted for an easy solution using two ingredients I had in my kitchen pantry. Here's how to make your own non-toxic ant killer. 

More

No room for a makeup drawer? Brushes getting jumbled in your bag? Looking for a pretty way to dress up your vanity? One of these clever solutions should be able to help you out. 

More

This morning, bright and early, Maxwell visited the crew at GMA Live and shared simple yet soul-enhancing ways to bring a little green goodness to any size space. Check out the video and then jump below for info on the featured ideas...

More