Apartment Therapy Archive: Sep 2013

There are plenty of reasons for an adult to have nightlights in the house. Some use them to avoid tripping during late night trips to the bathroom, or to illuminate the path to a midnight snack in the kitchen. And, yeah, OK? Some of us might still be a little afraid of falling asleep in the dark. Whatever the reason for the all-night soft lighting, nightlight options aren’t limited to the fairy and fire truck options in the kids’ aisle.

Name: Amy Tremper of Stitch & Hammer Location: Boulder, Colorado Size: 350 square feet Years lived in: 8 months; Rented Everyone meet Amy, owner and founder of Stitch & Hammer, a leather goods shop based out of Boulder, Colorado. What started as a desire to reconnect with her family heritage led to a serious side project and quickly (and perhaps somewhat unexpectedly) evolved into an established and fast growing business.

Erin’s neighbor was moving out of the state and she wanted to help fill her new, bigger home with furniture. When she spotted this chair at a garage sale for only $45, she knew that with a little work, this chair could be the perfect going away present. From Erin: With a little spray paint for the frame and a fun black and white bold fabric for the cushions, this chair screams for attention now. And our friend absolutely loved it! Want to copy her look?

Name: Teressa and Ryan Johnson Location: Boulevard Park, Seattle, Washington Size: 770 square feet Years lived in: 1.5 years; rented Teressa and Ryan’s home is a tiny wonderland of sorts. Theresa is the owner of Cashmere Floral Designs in Seattle, and her beautifully arranged designs are peppered throughout the space, adding a natural warmth to their DIY home. Nestled on a quiet street in Boulevard Park, the house is small but perfectly styled, warm and friendly.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) From The Kitchn → 8 Breaking Bad Desserts & Cocktails You Should Make For the Finale.

Amy says, “Great things happen when you are willing to haul your neighbors’ discarded trash down the street at 8am in your PJs while they drive to work in their swanky cars.” Want to see what she means? Read on… Amy’s about to start her own creative business so she needed a great space to inspire her. With her limited budget ($200), she was able to fill in the gaps of her scavenging with a few key IKEA pieces and some DIY initiative.

Now that I’ve taken the year off of work to stay home with my girls, I’ve been on the hunt for fun activities to entertain my preschooler while I’m otherwise occupied with my baby. I usually try to involve her in whatever I’m doing – she loves to help with the dishes, vacuum, and assist with diaper changes, and we seriously have the best tea parties, but when I’m nursing a distractible five-month-old I need to bring out the big guns – arts and crafts.

Name: Adam Wallacavage Location: South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Size: 3000 square feet Years Lived In: 13; Owned Stepping inside Adam’s home is akin to stepping inside a set designer’s brain. Everywhere you look, it’s a creative smorgasbord for the eyes. But what makes this place even more spectacular is the fact that Adam’s home is composed of his own creations, most of which he crafted with his own two hands.

image:e4471c14063691b3b4999905f48d87bfe81e71bd w:540 s:"fit" class_name:"mt-image-center" show_pin_button:"true" show_image_credits:"true" Almost everyone who has worked on a DIY or renovation project has applied too much torque and stripped a screw head clean. It can feel like a frustrating dead end, especially if you don’t have a specialized extractor kit on hand.

Jessica picked up this bench for $10 several years ago, but it wasn’t until a trip to India that she found the perfect fabric to complete her project (and get a lovely souvenir from her travels). When she stumbled upon this beautiful gold leaf print, she knew it would be perfect for the bench. She also sanded and painted the frame to compliment the new design. Jessica says, “All told I spent about $45 on this bench and I love the way it looks in my entry!

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) From The Kitchn → The Perfect Kitchen Throw Rug: Swedish Plastic Floor Mats from Plasitca.

Name: Maaike, Erik and Harper Bernstrom Location: Middletown, Rhode Island Size: 2500 square feet Years lived in: 4 years; owned It’s hard not to fall in love with the bucolic land along Aquidneck Island’s Eastern shore. Stone walls line winding roads covered by canopies of green.

Coral can be defined as a reddish yellow, pinkish yellow or a light yellowish red. It’s similar in shade to salmon and tangerine, with the former having a stronger pink undertone and the latter, a stronger orange. Coral is often associated with colors suited for a Caribbean beach house or tropical decor, but with the variety of tones, this bold yet warm color is quite easy to pull off in many spaces.

Immediately after finishing up my mudcloth project earlier this month, I looked around the house and asked myself, “Hmmmm, now what else can I dye?” There are so many other materials out there in the world, why stop at just fabric? I just want to turn the world into a great big vat of Rit Dye or blackberries and throw everything — furniture, accessories, you name it — in and swirl it around.

Reading the comments after Christina’s closet-turned-office space post on Monday, I found some discussion about facing the wall while you work. If you have a desk at home, do you prefer to face the room or have your back to it? What about windows and doors? Or, do you prefer “floating” in the middle of the room?

Name: Rosie and Kara Volcano Location: Wicker Park, Chicago, IL Size: 1,000 square feet (2 bedroom coach house) Years lived in: 1; rented Volcanos are fiery and dynamic, leaving ribbons of blazing light in their wake. Kara and Rosie Volcano certainly fit this bill. Warm, welcoming, and downright radiant, they are an on-the-go-couple who are just as fearless in their home design as their personal pursuits.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) From The Kitchn → Wendelien’s Floating Kitchen

Heidi had been storing these bland 90’s era stools, hand-me-downs from a relative, for years but it took her daughter’s room makeover to finally put these blank canvas stools to use. See how she punched up their personality. From Heidi: I first painted them a raspberry pink color. I created the gold dipped effect by spray painting a taped off portion of each stool leg.The whole project cost about $10 and only took a couple of hours. It fits perfectly in her themed room and I LOVE it!

Not only are smartphones sporting increasingly powerful camera components more than capable of taking breathtaking photos (the new iPhone 5s has a larger pixel, f/2.2 aperture lens, while the Nokia Lumia 1020 sports a gigantic 41 megapixel sensor!), the accompanying apps make it easy to share photos, store, or process them into unique works of art in ways casual film photographers could never dreamt of doing.

Stainless steel may still be the dominant kitchen appliance finish trend, but that doesn’t mean large metal clad appliances have to dominate the kitchen. A few kitchen appliance manufacturers are starting to take note some customers don’t want a giant fridge as the focal point of their kitchens, and have begun offering an alternative: refrigerator drawers. Refrigerator drawers are fridge and freezer models that fit underneath countertops in place of cabinets.

Name: Emily Ardoin and Basha the cat Location: North University; Austin, Texas Size: 400 square feet Years lived in: Rented; 1 year This isn’t Emily’s forever home. It’s not even her few years home. This tiny studio Emily Ardoin is renting is only her home while she attends graduate school at the University of Texas for Historic Preservation.

Jennifer and John loved their new home’s open floor plan, but they didn’t love the lack of a defined dining area. So they set out to create a dining space with personality and punch. For the walls, they chose a muted yellow (Dried Plantain by Behr) which, Jennifer says, “makes us happy and hungry!

(Image credit: Emma Christensen) From The Kitchn → How To Freeze Cookie Dough

I’ve been unable to find a word adequate to describing these beautiful purple-brown hues. Not quite eggplant, not quite taupe, they inhabit some luscious middle ground. These purple-browns can add more depth to a room than a standard chocolate or lavender, thanks to the way that they elegantly shift in tone as the light waxes and wanes, at times seeming gray, at others cocoa, and at others still, a deep purple.

I recently took a trip to Victoria, British Columbia, and was able to stay at one of the most charming homes I’ve ever seen (house tour coming soon!). Among all the gorgeous vintage pieces, some well-styled vignettes also caught my eye. A vignette (in terms of interior design) is a tiny, curated style statement, made up of a group of objects that are displayed on a shelf, a table, or elsewhere in the home. You may be creating vignettes in your home and not even realize it!

Floor cushions are hot items right now. They make great alternative seating to accommodate extra dinner party guests and they’re perfect for back patio garden parties during the summer. Every shop from West Elm to Serena & Lily offers plenty of options, but depending on your budget they can be a little on the pricey side.

Maybe you’ve decided to stop subscribing to a digital satellite cable provider to save money, but still have one of those large pizza sized dishes sitting on top of your home/building doing diddly-squat.

Name: Grainne, Ian, Tait, and Otto Location: Edinburgh; Scotland Size: 4 Bedroom Edwardian Terrace Years lived in: 8 years; Owned The moment Grainne and Ian clapped eyes on this 1910 Edwardian terraced house, they knew it was the family home they had been waiting for.

Kate stumbled upon these two dilapidated chairs at her local Goodwill for…wait for it… $14.99 for both. Spoiler alert: she sure got her money’s worth. Want to see these chairs now? Kate says, “as I started to peel away the faded ashes of rose velour, the foam basically fell off the seats and backs and disintegrated into a cloud of dust.” Obviously new foam and fabric was in order: I fell in love with this bold 50’s inspired floral pattern.

Q: My husband has VERY large feet (size 16s, to be exact), and we’re struggling to figure out a really good way to store his shoes. Our apartment is barely 475 square feet, and we don’t have much in the way of closet space. His shoes are too large to fit in underbed shoe organizers, and the IKEA shoe cabinets can only hold one pair of his shoes. Help!! Sent by Kristen Editor: Leave your suggestions for Kristen in the comments — thanks! • Have a question for our community?

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) From The Kitchn → 10 Desserts To Know By Heart

Name: Monique Lavie, her boyfriend Matt Woodward, and Elsa the Boxer Location: Travis Heights; Austin, Texas Size: 900 square feet Years lived in: Owned; 6 months It’s completely enviable when someone can successfully pull off a super simple, clean, minimal look without their place looking empty.

Michelle and her husband go camping every year with a big group of friends, but they were getting tired of their tent, so they found a rundown vintage trailer and fixed it up. Michelle says, “We had no idea how much fun it was going to be.” From Michelle: We would work on it at night after the kids were in bed, and it took us about 4 months from start to finish. We have three girls so we painted it pink (obviously!).

During my travels in England and France this month, I was very nicely invited by Terence Conran’s team to meet them all and see their offices at Shad Thames as well as Terence Conran’s old apartment on top. This part of London was largely re-developed with Conran’s help in the early 90’s, and he moved all of his offices here at the same time. He lived here as well until recently. Here’s a little eye candy for you!

Name: Lalita Adkins Location: Phoenix, Arizona Size: 2,2000 square feet Years lived in: 5 years; Owned Five years ago, Lalita moved into her husband’s townhouse while they were still dating. Before she got her hands on it, she says it was a bachelor pad, with occasional traces of the ghosts of girlfriends past. As a lifelong design lover, Lalita recognized the possibilities in the unique and open layout of the home.

Painting your bathroom mint green can get wonky 60’s grandma real fast, but lately I have seen so many examples that are clean and refreshing. Different shades can create different ambiances: lighter shades of mint green make for a more calm, relaxing feel, while brighter shades of mint green can be more fun and retro. Here are some inspiring rooms, and inspiring shades for you to check out. INSPIRATION ROOMS: 1. The New York Times 2. Castro Design Studio via Houzz 3.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) From The Kitchn → The Best Way to Keep Chopped Fruit From Turning Brown

Mustard can be a hard color to pin down — yellowy, orangey, golden, ochre-esque, olive-adjacent — but like pornography, I know it when I see it. Here are a few gorgeous mustard living rooms and paints perfect for autumn and beyond. INSPIRATION ROOMS: 1. Post from Paris: Steven and Garth’s Pied-à-Terre 2. House to Home 3. Valerie’s “From Craigslist with Love” Room 4. Martell Home Builders PAINT COLORS TO GET THIS LOOK: 1. Behr Brown Mustard #360D-7 2.

Name: Stiles and Lauren Christner Location: Englewood, Colorado Size: 624 Square Feet Years Lived In: 2 Texas born and bred, Lauren and Stiles embody the small town warmth and southern spunk so often found in the Lone Star state. Lucky for us, the same can be said about their beautiful starter home in Denver, Colorado. Stepping through the threshold of this home, one might initially find it hard to determine the age of its residents.

Name: Reed Location: Boston, MA Room Size: 10′ x 12′ When I found out that my friend Dina was pregnant with her second baby, I knew it was going to be a showstopper of a nursery. You see, Dina is a DIY maven with an amazing eye. Although the nursery looks like a million bucks, she managed to put her DIY touch on nearly everything – from the curtains to the artwork to the showstopper ceiling.

I don’t think I’ve ever met a dark blue I didn’t like. Especially when paired with white, metal, or warm wood, paint in these tones can be a sophisticated choice. Here are five rooms where dark blue paint creates an inviting backdrop, and 10 paints to get the look. INSPIRATION ROOMS: 1. Ashley Capp for The Marion House Book 2. Nuevo Estilo 3. Lonny 4. Design*Sponge 5. House Tweaking PAINT COLORS TO GET THIS LOOK: 1. Van Deusen Blue by Benjamin Moore 2.

Ashley’s a DIY fanatic and she had so many ideas that she couldn’t commit to a headboard so she found a clever solution to both her blank wall and her need for variety. A customizable headboard! Smart! Says Ashley, “Now whenever I get an itch for change, I can easily update it with whatever style or trend I love at the time!” Want to steal her look? Ashley shares the whole project at her blog, Sugar & Cloth. Thank you Ashley!

(Image credit: Faith Durand) From The Kitchn → Lunch Recipe: Mozzacado Sandwich

Hanging planters are having a resurgence in popularity, and with their space saving design they are a perfect fit for square-foot-deficient plant hoarders (ahem, me) and 70’s aficionados alike. Here are a few great options to buy or DIY one for yourself. BUY: 1. Brass Himmeli Hanging Planter no. 2, $65 from Hruskaa on Etsy 2. Scribble Hanging Planter, $70 – $90 from Pigeon Toe Ceramics 3. 3 Tier Oval Porcelain and Cotton Rope Planter, $140 from Light and Ladder on Etsy 4.

I like to play with the feel of interiors, throwing together things that you might not always think to combine. One of my favorite looks at the moment is something I like to call ‘dark feminine,’ which pairs things that we traditionally associate with ‘feminine’ decor — curves, intricate patterns, soft fabrics, flowers — with dark, moody colors. The result is mysterious, intriguing, and unexpectedly modern. TOP ROW: 1. That aubergine velvet sofa! Yum.

Matt and Christian’s IKEA table was still really good at doing table jobs like supporting their food, but not so good at looking pretty while doing it — the pressboard top was beginning to disintegrate. So they came up with an easy and inexpensive way to give it a new life. They headed over to their local scrapyard and picked up some reclaimed 3/4” planks. For variety, they looked specifically for pieces with interesting paint or stain colors.

(Image credit: Lucy Hewett) From The Kitchn → Victor & Rajiv’s Colorful, Collected Kitchen (and Garden!)