Apartment Therapy - posts by Leah Moss

Incorporating Photos into Holiday Decor

country living family-tree-wreath-decorating-1209-de.jpg
While we like to display family photos year round in our home, we don't like to overload our home with them. However, during the holidays we tend to be a bit more sentimental as we keep looking for ways to slip more photos of loved ones into the usual holiday decor.

Creative, Clutter-Free Ideas For Displaying Christmas Cards

It's begun! Our first Christmas card arrived in the mail yesterday and hence commenced the welcomed onslaught of mail-carried holiday cheer. We vowed last year— after seeing our entry table fall prey to an unruly array of cards— to preempt the happy attack by having an easy and orderly card display system in place. Here are a few favorite ideas.

Five Places To Clean Before Your Next Party

real simple cleaning 101 family-room_300.jpg
We had a lovely gathering for Thanksgiving, complete with awesome food and wonderful company. However, what we didn't have was the spotlessly clean home we had hoped to prepare before the wonderful company came trickling in. Throughout the night we kept noticing all the unexpected places we had overlooked during the great pre-party clean.

Holiday Traditions: When Do You Bring Home Your Christmas Tree?

simply marvelous scott-harmon-with-karry-and-dempsey-4.jpg
We seem to have some especially spirited neighbors when it comes to Christmas decorating. As soon as the sun set on Thanksgiving, our festive neighbors flicked on their glittery myriad of flickering lights — BAM! Christmas arrived!

The Small Escape: Secret Reading Nooks

via emmas blogg reading spot helene3_55185100.jpg
Quiet, relaxation spots are all the more rare and all the more important as we head into the full festiveness of the holiday bustle. Do you have the perfect solitary getaway in your own home?

Ten Easy, Not Cheesy, Ways to Enliven A Thanksgiving Table

Although turkey decor hit the retail world months ago, I've been holding out for the perfect — non-cheesy!— harvest pieces, only to find myself two days before the big feast with nothing to show. Thankfully beauty doesn't always equal time and money and lots of grooming. This year, I'm giving thanks for simplicity, and embracing easy table ideas.

Roping In Style: Decorative & Functional Uses for Rope

Rope has long been a staple in coastal style, but even for those of us inland dwellers, it can be an easy way to introduce texture and variety into a room. While researching a instructions for a rope frame mirror that I'm devising for my kids' playroom, I came across some other lovely unexpected applications.

Round Up: Nesting Tables

With the holidays quickly approaching, I've been thinking about all our guests who are bound to be balancing their tiny hors d'oeuvres plates on their knees if we don't come up with a better plan quickly. While researching my options, I've become quite smitten with a few of these lovely nesting tables. Check them out after the jump.

Going Dark On The Ceiling

There's no about it, deep colors done right have an arresting impact. Still, I never viewed them as flattering ceiling hues until I stepped foot in Supon's serene guest room. Instead of weighing down the room as I expected, the dark color added depth and increased the sense of restfulness. Check out these other inspiring examples.

Sprucing Up Cold Weather Window Boxes

It seems that even the hardiest of late summer blooms are finally facing their fate in Washington. Rather than watching them brown over and sit idle until next spring, we're looking for festive ways to fill our back porch herb boxes in the off season. Here are a few of our favorites.

Raised Panel Accent Walls

I love the idea of using an accent wall as a way to create a focal point, but I'm much more of a texture person than a color person. So while I've given up the idea of a brightly painted wall, raised panels have officially stolen my heart. With clean geometric lines and timeless appeal, they're the picture of established style.

How To: Prep Your Bathroom For Company

At a recent gathering, I was struck by the inviting elegance of the well-groomed powder room. With simple but thoughtful details, it easily rivaled the lavish glamorous dining room. I tend to focus on the obvious, fun party details: food, music, flowers; but learning from that little gem, I'll be adding some new things to my next party-prep routine.

Small Room Solutions: Using Your Under Window Space

Most of our windows are between 2 and 3 1./5 feet from the ground, making them the perfect place not to place a sofa, headboard, or any piece of high-backed, light-blocking furniture. Here are a few ideas for making the most of the light and the coveted wall space.

A Sumptuously Textured Birmingham Abode
B-Metro, Fall 2009

When my friend Mandy sent me a link to B-Metro's feature on this lovely Alabama home, I knew I'd found the perfect antidote to today's gloomy bone-chilling weather. Filled with layers of cozy, earthy textures and breath-taking architectural features, the home is certainly a feast for the eyes and a lift to the (rain-drenched) spirit.

Inspiration: Gourd Centerpeices

With their quirky sculptural forms and amazing longevity, gourds make the perfect unfussy fall centerpiece. After spending a few years in the Midwest where grocery stores abounded all autumn with waxed gourds, I had all but written them off as mere festive fall kitsch, but these simple arrangements have definitely convinced me otherwise.