apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

About 70 miles north of Chicago stands the Racine Art Museum in downtown Racine. Back in May 2003, we were fortunate enough to be able to experience the first few days of the museum's open doors and were able to shoot and explore it, before the crowds came in...

A friend of ours is in the midsts of remodeling her kitchen. Now faced with the daunting task of picking out new cabinets, appliances, countertops -- everything -- she has been asking anyone and everyone for advice. One thing she knew, however, was that she wanted her new kitchen to be as green as possible.

We're always envious of those gifted thrift store types. You know, the people who manage to find a mid-century gem for only $20; people who find a dumpy couch and with a quick cleaning and new pillows suddenly have a fantastic centerpiece for their living room. Yeah...we hate those people. Still, we've been lucky once or twice!

When we were a child, we visited our next door neighbor’s home quite often because – well, because she was always feeding us cake but mainly because she always had the most interesting things around her house.

While we love looking through ReadyMade magazine and are always inspired by the projects, more often that not we’re left thinking, "I’ll never be able to make that." You see, we’re not that handy; it’s our lot in life. Still, looking at Paul Schifino’s lovely modernist bowl, we feel there’s hope for us yet!

File under odd/interesting combinations, the hooking up of DuPont’s Corion and Missoni is certainly one. The two companies have created a rather esoteric line of sinks, showers and other bathroom necessities.

While visiting our friendly neighborhood library the other day, we found quite a large book sticking out of a shelf. Upon closer examination, we were thrilled to see it was a book on Andy Warhol. It was Andy Warhol "Giant" Size to be exact.

One of our future household makeover plans is to redo our boring bathroom (vinyl flooring + plastic shower/tub = ugh²). We’re always looking for inspiration and ideas on what to do -- and we love the idea of a bathroom overflowing with tile.

While many claim the modern wing or the Thorne Rooms as their favorite spots in the Art Institute of Chicago, we admit we’re quite fond of the Asian and Ancient Americas galleries. On a not so recent visit, we were smitten with this orange teapot.

Perhaps it was inspired by the iconic Saarinen table or its ubiquitous Tulip chairs? Although it seems to give a straight-up "holla" to the Spun lamp. Whatever the case, we are really enamored with CB2's Ada Table lamp.

When we were young, we would pore over every issue of our mother's subscription to Metropolitan Home. While we loved closely examining each page, our main fascination was always the countless living rooms featured and, in particular, the coffee tables. What was placed on top of them seemed as important as the table itself.