Tag: lumber & building supplies | Apartment Therapy

Reclaimed Wood in Modern Homes

Reclaimed wood is a sustainable, beautiful material. And it can be used in modern residential applications to add a feeling of warmth and age. Here, we share a few modern homes from the portfolios o...

A Gallery of Spiral & Helicial Staircases

There is just something intriguing and beautiful about spiral and helicial staircases - the sort of magical "lighter than air" feeling it gives to something architecturally important in combination wi...

My Great Outdoors: Josh & Heather's DIY Gabion Fence

Name: Heather & Josh Location: Chicago, IL Type of space: Back yard patio and fence Tell us about your outdoor project and how you enjoy it: When we first moved into our house, the back yard patio w...

Small Space Inpiration: Dormer Windows

An exterior view of a modern dormer via livemodern. Dormers eek a little extra space out of upper stories and bring a little added light, too. They're small space friends and here we're taking a loo...

Good Questions: Sources for Decorative Concrete Blocks?

Courtney sent us an email: I'm desperately looking for concrete screen blocks similar to the picture I've attached...in any design, actually. I want to spray paint them and stack them to make a sweet...

Creative Reuse: Reclaimed Wood Box Stairs

As part of a project in Germany, Jan Korbes used recovered antique floor wood and leftover construction wood to create this unusual staircase of add-on boxes. This is just one of many "garbage archit...

CHI Good Questions: Carpet or Wood?

Cara sent us an email: My parents are replacing their living room flooring and are trying to decide between carpet or laminate/engineered wood. (Hardwood is not an option right now, unfortunately.) ...

CHI Good Questions: Repurposed Lumber Source?

Rebecca sent us an email: "I absolutely LOVE the custom made bookcase in "House Tour: Shannon and Emmett's From Factory to Family" post. I would love to find a place in Chicago to source repurposed lu...

Look! Our Outdoor Workshop

One of the challenges of small space living is having to find room to do "workshop" type projects. When we redid our desk during the January Jumpstart (thats right, dead of winter, in Chicago) we had ...

The Many Uses of Kirei Board

We'd seen Kirei board (an eco-friendly wood substitute) on the pages of magazines - but this was the first time up close. It is complex and interesting to look at, extremely light, and can function pr...

CHI Good Questions: Insulating a Garage?

Nia is house hunting and sent us an email: "My husband and I are in the process of looking for our first home, and we're needing a house with office space to run a business from home. Many of the ho...

Best of Three: IKEA Kitchen Cabinets

Best of Three. Ikea has become a go-to spot for kitchen re-dos. Easy availability and good price points are the lure, but the looks are strong too. Which do you think is the best bet for design longe...

Murco Recycling: Demolition Auctions

Tagline: Because there is no "Rest" in "Restoration." We met Erika, a friend of a friend and a fan of AT, last weekend at a party. She tipped us off to Murco Recyling, which she's been using to reha...

Green Idea: Residential Deconstruction

Building in Reverse. Chicago's first residential deconstruction is currently underway according to the always-informative local green architecture blog, Green Bean. A two story home on the north s...

Pre-Cycle: Aluminum Cans

Recycling is high up on the list of green living. But we can do better than that! Who says we aren't sometimes our own best recycling center? Before you head down to the dumpster or reach for the b...

Green Design: Reclaimed Wood Furniture by Uhuru

Uhuru is making a living off the stuff the rest of us throw away. This Brooklyn-based "design + build" company creates striking furniture entirely from wood scraps. We strive to make furniture and p...

Decorative Screen Doors from Hip Haven

Hip Haven has been on our radar since we found their great retro bullet planters and Kelley from the Austin-based shop just let us know that they now also sell them in chocolate brown and sky blue. ...

Habitat for Humanity ReStores

An excellent reader tip from Jacob: "You may or may not have heard about the Habitat for Humanity Re-Stores, but they're GREAT! Essentially, Habitat receives a lot of donations from companies that ...

Steel Fireplace Surround and Concrete Hearth

John Beck Paper & Steel, based in St. Louis, are makers of one of a kind steel, concrete and glass furnishings. The latest addition to their line is a steel fireplace surround and concrete hearth. ...

Luna: The Light + Air Door

We got a reader tip on Friday about this Light + Air door, Luna. Then this morning we saw Luna on AT: New York, so it appears to be following us around and really wants to be noticed. Okay! We're not...

Decorators Supply Corporation: The Past Preserved

What does Marshall Field's State Street store, the South Shore Country Club and the White City of the 1893 Columbian Exposition have in common? They all incorporated design embellishments from the D...