Apartment Therapy Archive: Aug 2011

Name: Sandra Location: Brentwood — Los Angeles, CaliforniaSize: 2,400 square feetYears lived in: 8 months — Own Months ago I was visiting interior designer Craig Olsen at his showroom on La Brea. In the corner window, he had a gorgeous black and white striped couch on display. He told me how he had custom upholstered it for his client Sandra’s new home. After almost a year of residence, Sandra welcomes us to her new Brentwood abode.

Inspired by NicoleMari’s reading chair makeover, Rachelle decided the time had come to make some changes to the reading chair passed down from her parents when she was young and furniture-free. Since she still loved the comfort and scale of this chair, changing out the fabric to bring it up to date was the ideal (though challenging) solution. Though she originally planned to reupholster the chair, in the end she opted to make a custom slipcover instead.

Name: Ros Wyatt (of Green Plum Design) and James VernonLocation: Kensington, CaliforniaSize: 2,100 sq/ftYears lived in: 9, OwnedWho else lives here: Jack, Mischa and Alfie In classic English style, interior decorator Ros Wyatt’s San Francisco Bay home features a multitude of pretty prints. A plaid throw drapes over a wing chair, gingham rambles across a coverlet, mod poppies blossom beside a bed, and cabbage roses bloom in the medicine cabinet.

I don’t think I’d ever be able to tackle this impressive DIY project, not unless my dad decides to take up carpentry when he retires. Luckily for Sarah, her father is a self-taught carpenter who was happy to help her transform an old oak door, some plywood and some wood strips into a herringbone-pattern dining table. Prepare to be jealous!Sarah details the entire project from start to finish over at Design*Sponge. The steps sound tedious, but not impossible.

With a long weekend ahead and a summer full of travel and fun in the past, I think it is high time I finally wrap up a few of those projects that I meant to finish earlier in the season. There is still time, and I am taking inspiration from these four outdoor furniture makeover projects…First up, old and tired becomes new again with a little TLC and some new accessories.

After spending four muddy days under flood water this mirror was on top of a pile of trash, destined for the tip. Then I got sentimental and retrieved it. It was too wet and filthy to bring inside so it spent the next 6 months outside before I finally decided it was time to make it work or let it go. I toyed with the idea of painting it bright yellow but in the end I couldn’t do it, so I kept it simple and tried to return it to its former glory.

If you have room to stash a few rows of books, you have room for a home office. While it might not be as easy a DIY project as, say, making a smartphone speaker out of a drinking glass, anyone with a cordless drill should be able to tackle this improvement. We spotted this armoire (far above) on This Old House. While we were initially drawn in by its feminine style and stellar organization, we came to appreciate its other creative feature: a fold-down desk built into the door.

Name: Kelly ReemtsenLocation: Downtown — Los Angeles, CaliforniaSize: 3600 square feetYears lived in: 11 years — rented When you enter Kelly’s loft you are taken aback by its enormity, the wall of floor-to-ceiling windows, great lighting, bright colors, incredible art and mid-century charm. Kelly is an artist in Los Angeles who has lived in her space for over a decade and is one of my dearest friends.

Name: State Aloysius (13 months)Location: Dallas, TXRoom size: 13.5 ft x 13.5 ftIf you close your eyes and picture a little boy’s cowboy inspired room in Texas, we’re betting you’d come nowhere close to picturing this room. Two entire walls of windows with breezy white drapes keep it light and fresh, and the overall look is just about as gender neutral as it gets.

image:883cf3a76f03eaab148cf82fd2bb7542ff2d6185 w:540 s:"fit" class_name:"mt-image-center" show_pin_button:"true" show_image_credits:"true" “All I want is a rug that doesn’t try to kill me in my sleep.” I read this comment on a message board recently. This poor chap was lamenting all the recent exposés on phthalates, BPA, brominated flame retardants, and other VOCs that tell us how poor and potentially harmful our homes’ indoor air quality has become.

Name: Jackie, Paul, & their 3-year-old son GrahamLocation: Rochester, New YorkSize: 2,300 square feetYears lived in: less than a year — owned After 15 years in New York City, Paul and Jackie’s small, but gorgeous 5th floor walk up in Nolita was no longer practical for their growing family. But finding a new home upstate in Rochester they could love just as much presented a challenge.

Something about making over a fireplace always seems daunting to me. I think it’s all the tile or brick work that makes me feel I should leave it to a professional, but after seeing Heather’s surprisingly smart and simple fireplace facelift at Home Modern I’m gonna take a deeper look at it from now on.

50″, 60″, 70″, 80″ – how high can you go? We’d like to think that the bigger the better when it comes to television screens, but in reality there are several constraints that dictate the ideal TV size for your space. Check out our tips on how to ensure your TV looks, fits, and feels right in your home.Fitting a large television through the doorway might not be as bad as it was back in the days of big CRTs, but even so size is still a consideration.

One of the best parts about making do with what you have is the opportunity to make awesome improvements! In the case of these stadium seats, although they were cute beforehand, they needed more personality. Ready to see what they look like now?By using foamcore and fabric, the people behind Maple & Magnolia gave the backs of these seats a bit more punch. With the additional help of some color and wax, the chairs are now ready to take center stage!

Name: Beatrice Valenzuela (shoe designer and hairdresser) & Ramsey Conder (clay modeler for Tesla Motors) Location: Echo Park – Los Angeles, California Size: 800 square feet Years lived in: 1 year A good friend, Kathryn Bentley, suggested I tour Beatrice and Ramsey’s unique and well decorated Echo Park home. From the moment I walked through the door I knew their place was very special. There were no barriers between the indoor and outdoor areas.

According to the Philadelphia Rowhouse Manual, “the Philadelphia rowhouse, most simply, is a one to four-story house occupying a narrow street frontage and attached to adjacent houses on both sides.

When Carrie found this vintage vanity at a garage sale, the large center mirror was missing, the finish was in desperate need of some TLC, and the drawers were full of dead bugs. Despite the obvious condition problems, and the fact that she herself had no need for a vanity, Carrie knew this lovely piece deserved a second chance to grace a home. After a little reflection on the piece and on her actual needs, Carrie was able to give her secondhand vanity a new lease on life.

I know, I know, they did more than just knock out a half wall, but I would argue that it was the half wall removal that really made the difference in this kitchen. If they had done nothing else, the half wall removal would have transformed this kitchen completely. Find out more after the jump.This is a great kitchen renovation on a budget any way you slice it. The surfaces that were replaced were high impact and the surfaces that stayed were easily refinished.

Whether you have a dining room table, an open bar or kitchen island, a pendant lamp makes for a great lighting solution. By providing a low, diffused glow, these ceiling lights create cozy atmospheres, ideal for intimate gatherings. Because style options can be seemingly endless and mind-boggling, let us help you choose with these ten high and low recommendations from our Marketplace.

Name: Harper and Caleb Carnes with Piper the PomeranianLocation: Dalton, GeorgiaSize: 2000 square feetYears lived in: Own — 9 months Sure, we used the word “sophisticated” in the title because it pairs so cheerfully with the word “Southern,” but make no mistake; the Georgia home of cute couple Harper and Caleb might be grown-up and good-looking, but it’s also bold, bright, adventurous, fun and full of inspiring ideas and enviable thrift store finds.

Name: Amy & Greg Strunk, their brand new baby, Graham, and their two kittens, Pips and Fawkes Location: Penderbrook (Fairfax, VA)Size: 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, 2 ½ baths on 4 floorsYears lived in: owned 4 years I didn’t even have to look at the house number to find Amy and Greg’s home on photo shoot day— as soon as I saw the flowers and foliage cascading down the front steps I knew I had arrived. Knowing that Amy is a landscape designer, that part was a giveaway.

I’ve been trying to come up with a pun on this door-to-bookcase project — you know, something like opening the door to a new bookcase or some such cleverness. But, well, as you can tell by that sentence alone, i have not had much success. So let’s just make it simple: this project is totally rad!I love a project that re-imagines stuff that would have otherwise been bound for the junk heap. And Gail, from the blog My Repurposed Life, is the queen of such projects!

Many people are discouraged by the thought of switching to bar soap from their liquid soap pump. Soap dishes make them think of puddles and melting bars of soap. Never fear! These terrific soap dishes are designed to drain, keeping your bar soap dry, and your hands and bathroom counter happy. In addition, they work great for drying sponges and small items like contact lens cases, retainers, toothbrush heads and mouth guards.

Kate found this great dresser for only $20 at her local thrift store; though it had lovely lines, she knew it needed some TLC before it found a place of pride in her home. Kate originally planned to sand and stain the piece, until she discovered the top of the dresser was laminate rather than solid wood. Faced with this unexpected curveball, Kate was forced to change her plans for this inexpensive piece.

Name: Gary and Ellen BriefelLocation: Brooklyn, New YorkSize: 1,500 sq/ftYears lived in: 6 months, owned For the Briefels, going green was a family affair. When Gary and Ellen returned to New York City after 35 years in the Maryland suburbs, they turned to their son David Briefel, a LEED accredited interior designer, to remodel their new Brooklyn apartment.

Name: Maegan TintariLocation: Los Angeles, CASize: 12′ x 13′Years lived in: 1 ½ Maegan’s home office started off like many rooms designated for work use: it was thrown together. Back in January 2010, the style+design blogger and her husband moved into a new house, designating a spare room for double duty as both a home office and dressing room.

This project was completed by some regular readers from Seattle: “In March 2010, I came upon the ever-popular Penny Tile floor post on your site. At the time, we were in the process of renovating our 1950s rambler and I was unsuccessful in finding a contractor to complete a concrete overlay (thin-set concrete) design on our master bathroom floor.

Once your child gets a bit older and starts getting interested in coloring and creating art it’s nice to have a dedicated area where he or she can keep their supplies and creations. You can also double the fun by putting it near your own workstation, so that you can also partake in a bit of creativity with your child.Almost all children enjoy coloring and drawing. It’s surprising how quiet and concentrated they can become.

Try vinegar! Soak the brush in vinegar for an hour or so until you can bend the bristles. Fill a saucepan with vinegar until the brush bristles are covered. Bring the vinegar to a boil and let it simmer for a couple of minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool for a minute before removing the brush. Gently comb the brush with your fingers. The paint will still be attached but will fall away as you comb it. Rinse the brush under running water to release the loose paint.

Name: Rich and Emily and their daughterLocation: Somerville, MassachusettsSize: 2000 square feetYears lived in: 3 — owned I tend to be a little Jamaica Plain-centric with my house tours so it’s always fun when I scooch on over to the other side of the river for a house tour. Rich and Emily’s Somerville home was well worth the trek! Their condo includes the second and third floor of a two-family house.

As we noted earlier this month in our Slow Home Manifesto, a slow home “doesn’t have to be fancy. It doesn’t have to be expensive. It just has to be easy to live in.” And what’s one of the tenets that make a home easy to live in? Organization! Here are 20 of our best posts on how to get and stay organized.

Name: AnuLocation: Seattle, Washington My home is like a canvas bringing my thoughts to life. Its a haven for me and my family. I love to decorate my home with things that have a special meaning for me. In my home silver treasures go together with a few sea shells from a memorable trip to the beach.I believe that one should not be afraid to blend different styles and colors as it will all come together to create the”look” thats all yours!

I’m the kind of DIY-er who imagines elaborate and wonderful furniture re-finishing ideas and is consistently too busy, lazy, or pre-occupied to execute them. But in desperate need of bedroom dressers I dropped $70 for a pair from craigslist that had good bones, but were grimy, scratched and in need of help.

Say goodbye to sad, leftover soap pieces. Do this one easy tip, and you’ll never waste good bar soap (and money) again! Functional and efficient, bar soap produces extremely low post-consumer waste and therefore stands heads and shoulders above its bottled liquid counterpart. This tip gives you one more reason to make the switch! Read more for details…Using bar soap eliminates the need for additional plastic bottles in your home.

Yesterday we looked at lunch bags for young kids, but dripping-with-cuteness probably won’t fly with tweens and teens. So, your choice, pay for turtle lunchbox-induced future therapy or pay for a non-embarrassing, mature lunch bag now? Here are ten inconspicuous lunch bags that fly under the radar (suitable for parents, too): • Read the full

image:63769ea70e4d7f93835c848c3f00801bf8fa4670 w:540 s:"fit" class_name:"mt-image-center" show_pin_button:"true" show_image_credits:"true" Although we have hopes that the steamy weather is coming to an end soon, it really can’t end soon enough since the air conditioner in our pre-war apartment has died. We have not shopped for an AC unit for quite some time, and being the design minded folks that we are, we are hoping to find a much more design forward option for a replacement.

Name: Alex Fulton Location: Sumner Beach — Christchurch, New Zealand Size: 180 square meters Years Lived In: 5 years this Christmas. A few weeks back I practically spit my drink all over myself trying to get shouts of exclamation out when stumbled upon this home in New Zealand. Although I would have loved to have flown there to photograph it myself, we called in the big guns (aka Li’l Magoolie). This home is so packed with color, you might actually need to sit down.

Name: Andrea Bellamy and Ben Garfinkel, their daughter Lila, and Schnoopette the cat Location: Vancouver, British ColumbiaYears lived in: 5 yearsAndrea Bellamy and Ben Garfinkel grow plants in every nook and cranny they can find around their urban townhouse. Potted tomatoes and herbs grace their balcony and front patio, the couple share raised beds with their neighbors above their parking garage, and they planted a woodland garden in their cozy back patio area.

Ultra-thin tablets. The MacBook Air. Everything’s getting smaller and more compact—but somehow we’re still dealing with big and bulky printers. Until Apple releases the Inkjet Air, we’re stuck with finding different ways to store our printers and make them less of an office eyesore.If you think the desk and the floor are the only spots for your big inkjet printer, think again. You can stash your printing gear in a million different places, if you know where to look:1.

Many traditional neighborhoods need a little boost before they’ll be able to move to grass free yards. This project serves as just that. The yard in front of this home goes from a terrible looking patch of dead grass to a sustainable rockscape. Check out the dramatic transformation after the jump.Without the huge water needs of a typical grass lawn, this yard looks great with minimal upkeep.

If your child is just starting daycare or school this year or if last year’s lunch bag is worse for wear, you may be in the market for a kid-sized, kid-friendly lunch bag. We recommend letting your child pick it out – it’s fun and maybe they’ll have a stronger attachment to it and not

Name: Cody, Kamie & Sophia RasmussenLocation: North Beach — Seattle, WashingtonSize: 2240 square feetYears lived in: 5 — rown Cody, a graphic designer and owner of the custom furniture shop Modgrain, his realtor wife, Kamie, and their daughter, Sophia, have settled into one of the hidden gem neighborhoods of Seattle.

We always focus on organizing your closet, which is definitely a vital storage area to keep clean and organized for easy dressing during the work week. But your dresser drawers are important too — save yourself just the smallest amount of time by cutting out the search for matching socks! Here are a few tips for getting your dresser drawers organized and keeping them that way.

It takes a keen eye see past the dingy upholstery and waiting-room feel to focus on the possibilities of this loveseat. When Kelli found this piece at a garage sale for only $20, she knew she had a steal of a project on her hands, but she had to wait a few months to find the time to get this makeover started.Kelli stripped this seat down piece by piece, saving the fabric to use as a pattern for the new upholstery.

I love it when readers leave links to their blogs in comments, which is how I found out about this project from Gloria at A Little Paint. She commiserated with my can’t-paint-another-stroke pain by showing a room makeover she took on earlier this year. The “after” is proof that a little paint can make the biggest difference in the world.I am so impressed by how Gloria transformed this once boring room, from the eye-catching detailing on the ceiling to the cool ombre cabinet.

My sister moved into a great little fixer-upper a couple of years ago and this past spring our Mum joined forces with her for a three-week landscaping caper. One of the most striking changes was this fantastic fence project.Even though the old fence had seen better days, the next door neighbors weren’t ready to replace the structure outright. Rather than just sprucing up her side with some paint, Big Sis designed a modern facing to glam up the area beside her deck and patio.

Whether you’ve lived in your house for years or just moved in, many wood floors have seen better days. It can be intimidating to think about restaining or coating them in their entirety, so why not just tackle the spots? Look no further than your tool chest or under your kitchen sink.Martha Stewart’s team of creative, crafty and clean people have suggested using steel wool to help banish small floor blemishes on the spot. Use a fine grade and press lightly.