apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

While having a large instrument in an urban home can be a huge sacrifice in square-footage, for some talented folks, the benefits outweigh the cost. This equation becomes exponentially more real when there are many people around to enjoy the sounds.

Business Week reports that tenants in green buildings have fewer sick days and better health. Several studies found that LEED-certified buildings had healthier tenants and lower vacancy rates. Is your home or office in a green building?

Being big nerds themselves, married couple Nicholas and Angela from Kansas City, Missouri took their love of robots and started designing their own — so nerdy, it's cool!

For the past ten years, we've had very low bedside tables. Whether it's a low cut side table or a vintage trunk, I've tended to go low slung. This past weekend, however, we rearranged and moved our IKEA Anes dressers next to our bed to shake things up a bit. What I thought I was getting was a new, clean look, what I didn't suspect was how MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE it was and how big a difference it made that the side table/dresser was a few inches above our bed.

In search of a 20th Century objet d'art or piece of furniture for your home? Troy Seidman has the expertise and selective eye for assisting you in finding the piece you are looking for.

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I recently asked my friend and fellow colorist Emmett Fiore at Fine Paints of Europe what he had cooking and these are the first photos he sent me. For an inexpensive way to brighten your homes exterior for the holidays, why not try a new treatment around the front door?

This stainless steel "Babylon" shelf can be used as a planter, but I like it as shown holding books and doodads.

Name: Ray James
Location: East Village, NYC

I just completed a new staircase renovation with a modern, minimal aesthetic. I needed more storage so I built out storage under the stairs and removed a previous cable railing to open up the space.

Q: I've become obsessed with a shade of blue paint I've seen in a couple of Apartment Therapy House Tours (Lisa and Clay's Artsy and Calm Collaboration & Kelly Rae's Colorful Seattle Farmhouse. Any help identifying the brand and exact color would be much appreciated!

Sent by Liz

This sculpture series by New York-based artist Marsha Tosk immediately won us over. A literal interpretation of common terms or phrases, each sculpture is a combination of wit, whimsy and form...

Here's a tip from our own experience in throwing many dinner parties and holiday meals. If you are able to, set the table the night before! Here's why we like to do it.

• Read the full post at The Kitchn

Name: Alvar Aalto
Location: Helsinki, Finland

After Alvar Aalto's firm had outgrown the small studio space in his family's home the Atelier was built in 1955 in a residential neighborhood just a short walk away from Riihitie 20, west of the Helsinki city center.

• Cure Clock: 2 weeks to go
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>> New Flickr Group: AT Home Cure
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Hey, take the survey below and give yourself a break. This week is a chance to catch up. I love this week. Not only was it designed to give you a little slowdown, so you could catch up before the end, but it also deals with with the bedroom, which is a fabulous space to work on, it can change a lot with just a little attention and you appreciate anything you do immediately when you get a good night's sleep...

A very close ladyfriend of mine is going through a breakup. A few days after the final curtain dropped on her relationship, she gave him back all his crap and put fresh sheets on the bed. She also deleted archived communications and lost the phone number of he-who-shall-not-be-named. Great work!