apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

No matter what I do to organize my house, the sad reality is that this is what my living room couch looks like at the moment. Creating this little piece of installation art was quite an labor of love for my 2-year-old and though thankfully he's pretty good at putting things away, there just aren't enough places to put it all.

We almost always try and take a copy of the menu when we eat out at fancy restaurants — it's a perfect memento of an evening that can be a bit hazy if there was more than one glass of wine involved. So why not do the same at dinner parties?

Further proof that vinyl wall decals aren't just for kids anymore: Bodega unveils a "curated collection of large scale, eco-friendly, temporary indoor art" by Barry McGee, Cody Hudson and other artists available online at Arkitip.com.

This wall treatment using vintage recipe cards in the kitchen of a Providence art space reminds us of Depression-Era interiors where newspapers were often used as wallpaper. While the results might not be beautiful in a conventional sense, they show that you can be creative about your surroundings no matter what your economic circumstances.

While I’m usually not a minimalist, the gloomy weather and the looming holiday frenzy have made me long for calm, light-filled spaces like the incredible black bathroom I photographed this week for an upcoming house tour. If there is such a thing as vicarious rest & relaxation, staring at these monochromatic, simply adorned rooms would be it.

Fred & Friends (which happens to be based right here in Rhode Island) has made an art of creating well-designed products that don’t take themselves too seriously. Here are 10 of our favorite Fred & Friends tongue-in-cheek party accessories.

There's no shortage of beautiful handmade Thank You cards out there, but they tend to be on the pricey side. With all the parties and gifts to give thanks for this time of year, we tried to come up with some simple DIY card ideas that would be unique on the cheap.

Name: Asya Palatova of gleena
Location: Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Size: 750 square feet
Years lived in: 5

The first thing we noticed about Asya’s light-filled loft was how similar her home feels to the delicate ceramics she creates under the name gleena. Both the space and her handcrafted porcelain dishes have a minimal quality, but her playful color palette and use of graphics give both the loft and the tableware a warm approachability.

Try as I might, I’ve never quite gotten the whole Steampunk thing, but after seeing this incredible Victorian Steampunk house on wheels, I’d say I’m pretty much sold.

Our post last week about the grand dining rooms of the Newport mansions got an interesting response both from readers who like the idea (if only the idea) of ornate dining room décor and those who prefer a more minimal approach. When it comes to entertaining we tend to hop back and forth to both sides of the elaborate versus simple debate. Which do you prefer?

Entertaining at Newport’s turn-of-the-century seaside “cottages” (read: “humongous mansions”) was clearly not a casual affair. But after last year’s austere holiday party season, we must admit that we find the over-the-top opulence of these dining rooms kind of appealing, even if there aren’t exactly any formal banquets looming in our future.

Printing napkins, coasters, or glassware with custom graphics or text isn’t as expensive as you might think and doesn't necessarily even require graphic design expertise. We love the idea of sending our guests home with a one-of-a-kind brandy snifter or other personalized glassware as a party favor.

Wes & Kayla’s admission in yesterday’s wonderful house tour that getting their apartment looking just right took a lot longer than they expected really hit home for us. It’s been over two months since we moved in to our new place and instead of plowing through projects, our to do list just keeps getting longer and longer.

Recipe card boxes may seem like a quaint idea in the Internet age, but these Joseph Cornell-inspired upcycled boxes by Karen Malcolm make me start to rethink my recipe (non) organization system.