apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

A ladder in the kitchen? We've dreamed of a library lined with bookshelves and a sliding ladder, but we never thought about a ladder in the kitchen.

But that turned out to be exactly the right solution for this small, but tall, Edwardian kitchen.

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We love how this kitchen has clean, crisp modern touches right alongside some really traditional elements—the toile-like wallpaper and the wooden cabinet (maybe it's antique?) tucked into the far right corner. It belongs to a woman who's known for her fancy, iced-to-perfection cookies in every shape, size, and character. Know who it is?

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Art, paint and pattern: three spirit-raising tools that I use in every project. They exist in the kitchen as part of the fabric of the design. Can you have a happy or home environment without them? Color is their chief medium, albeit with texture and shape delivering their full presence.

Here are a few tips on using color in your kitchen or other spaces.

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Happy Monday! Our discussion on choosing the fastest checkout line reminded us of this more humorous take on "queue strategy." Get your week started with a laugh from one of our favorite comedians, Eddie Izzard. (P.S. Go ahead - this one's SFW!)

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Apples, peaches, plums, and pears: Early fall is prime time to enjoy the glorious colors and flavors of stone fruit. This time of year we almost always have a bowl of fruit in the dining room, and we like to use our prettiest bowls to display it. The beauty of fall fruit deserves center place.

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When I first met Margaret Roach, it was during her days as Editorial Director at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Little did I know we'd become friends under different circumstances: trading cooking and gardening tips and sharing an affinity toward dirty hands across the blogosphere. Ass summer began to wind down, I had the pleasure of visiting her home in the Berkshires.

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What do you do when your house has cabinets and countertops that are a little less than inspiring, or your wall color puts you to sleep? Why, you make them over of course! This first-time homeowner and her husband set to work, making smart economical decisions.

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This kitchen looks more traditional than many of the ones we feature at The Kitchn (maybe it's the mural painted on the back wall?) but it belongs to a very sophisticated lady — opera star Renee Fleming.

What we love the most is that she managed to get a surprisingly luxurious eating nook into a galley space.

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A few weeks ago, we noticed a phantom stinky odor in our kitchen. It wasn't the trash. It wasn't the fridge. We finally traced it to the garbage disposal! Here's what we learned about getting it clean and keeping it fresh.

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Mary, a reader, just sent an email showing us her pot rack solution for a small kitchen. She doesn't have a lot of room in the kitchen for a full-sized pot rack, since their kitchen has only eight feet of vertical space.

Read on to see more of why, and how, she hung this inexpensive and practical pot rack.

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One of the biggest complaints, and hardest things to change, about a rental kitchen is the floor. When you own a kitchen you can put down new tile or wood floors — but even then you may not want to for reasons of cost. So, many of us are stuck with ugly, peeling linoleum tile.

But here's one great option for renters and budget owners alike: Canvas floor cloths.

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We've all uttered some variation of the phrase, "I practically live in my kitchen," or, "When guests are over, everyone ends up in the kitchen."

Which is why we love seeing accents that you'd usually find in a living room — unique things that have more personality than our normal accessories (i.e. the stand mixer on our countertop). We think an antique lamp or an upholstered chair makes the kitchen feel so much more comfortable.

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Here's an interesting makeover for you: a kitchen that traded in white cabinets for pine cupboards — an opposite direction than we would generally go. Do you think it works?

Read on for more photos, and some inspiration, perhaps, for those of you living in kitchens with pine or oak cupboards.

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Subway tiles are a common element in bathrooms, but we also love the way they look in a kitchen. There's something about the shape and brick-like pattern that makes them look more modern than square tiles, but they're still classic and clean. We've rounded up lots of crisp white, plus colors from blue to chocolate brown. Take a look!

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