Apartment Therapy Archive: Apr 2014

Thinking of turning a spare closet or nook into an office or craft room? Check out these 10 examples for inspiration. TOP ROW: 1. Studio Renovation from Cardboard Sea 2. Home Office from Natalme 3. Closet Turned Home Office from A Cup of Mai 4. Tiny Closet Office from Design Addict Mom 5. Jason’s Closet Office from Apartment Therapy BOTTOM ROW: 6. Melissa’s “Cloffice” on a Budget from Shoestring Magazine via Apartment Therapy 7.

(Image credit: Joe Gough/Shutterstock) From The Kitchn → 5 Tips for Getting Rid of Cooking Smells

From Apartment Therapy → 7 Small, Stylish Eating Spots “Still need inspiration on how to fit a spot for eating into your small space?

Name: Jennifer Pade Type of Project: Kitchen remodel Location: West Village, New York, New York Type of building: 300 square foot apartment in a co-op building For those of you who have been following along with Jennifer’s NYC kitchen remodel, and who saw the truly dire state of her original kitchen, this reveal will be especially satisfying. The work is done, the dust has cleared, and now it’s time to take a look at the finished product.

Why do flowers get all the credit? These bright, beautiful leaves deserve their own vase and pedestal, too. For those of you who want to add some greenery to a room without needing a green thumb, here are some great ways to display some fresh cut greens. 1. An olive branch paired with a vintage bottle (like this arrangement from Natalie Bowen Designs) is timeless, classic and perfect for just about any interior. 2. We’re still loving the use of beakers and test tubes as vases.

Name: Dave Widmer, CB2 eCommerce Brand Director and Chad Ross, Crate and Barrel Visual Merchandising Team Lead Location: Andersonville; Chicago, IL Size: 1,600 square feet Years lived in: 2 years; Owned Never hesitate to walk through a bright green front door: I promise you, only good things are waiting for you on the other side. In the home of Chad and Dave every last detail from the foundation to the roof and everything in between was meticulously thought about and designed.

Ellen and her sister were cruising around their neighborhood one day when they spotted this nightstand sitting by the side of the road. It was in pretty good shape, if a bit outdated, so she immediately knew that she could give it a fun update. Ellen says, “I only spent about $20 on this project. I’m glad I went bold as it’s now a statement maker in my bedroom.” Thank you Ellen!

When I finally killed my low-light, hard-to-kill ZZ Plant, I knew plants just weren’t “my thing.” In a last-ditch effort to save the rest of my indoor garden, I’m turning to tips and tricks that, the experts say, can save sad-looking plants from certain death. Like watering them with bottled soda water instead of what comes out of the tap. Real Simple suggests that filling your watering can with bottled club soda can give your plants a boost.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) From The Kitchn → 10 Ways To Be Less Frustrated WIth Your Rental Kitchen

We’re asking readers to share how much they spent on a given item, project, or upgrade in the home. We hope this information proves helpful to anyone needing to get a basic sense of how much something costs, and how much you can expect to pay to hire someone. If you can, let us know the type of carpet you chose, and how many square feet you installed, and specify materials vs. hired labor. Approximates are fine. Since costs vary, your region of the country is always helpful too!

(Image credit: Dana Velden) From The Kitchn → 5 Ways to Use Zested Lemons

In Seattle, many people don’t have air conditioning. We just don’t need it — the temperatures are mild most of the year, and in the summer we usually have one week of moderate heat that we manage to get through. But every couple of years or so, we get a massive heat wave. The rest of the country tends to scoff at our “heat.

Name: Homepolish Location: NoMad, New York, New York Size: 1,000 square feet Years worked in: 1 year When you’re a design team known for creating fabulous office spaces for high tech and high profile clients, the pressure can really be on when it comes to your own workspace. This was Homepolish’s challenge — and one that they’ve risen to with comfort and grace. The folks at Homepolish are known for mixing vintage treasures with modern and classic pieces.

Living rooms are the workhorses of the home. Most us spend the majority of our time in these spaces, and they often have to fulfill a host of functions: seating, storage, dining, and leisure. In small homes, cramming all this in can be quite the challenge, but here are 10 eensy and efficient living rooms from our recent Small Cool Contests that have done it beautifully. Top row: 1.

Feeling weighed down by your many winter indulgences? It’s out with the overstuffed and bloated and in with the sleek and streamlined. Put your closet on a diet this spring. We’ll show you how. Ok, friends, here’s the cold, hard truth: you already know what flatters you and what doesn’t. You know that great feeling you get when you slip on your favorite item and it just makes you look better.

Some parents share a room with their baby by choice (especially those who choose to co-sleep) and others by necessity if they live in a small home. Perhaps you have a long-term plan to move into a two-bedroom home, but are staying where you are for now. Or, like my family, you’re not quite ready to have your infant share a room with an older child.

Name: Meg Shackleton Location: Cole Valley — San Francisco, California Size: 1200 square feet Years lived in: 3 years; Rented Meg Shackleton is the creator of Margaret Elizabeth designs — check out her recent studio tour. Not surprisingly, her home incorporates many of the elements that make her jewelry line so unique. Color, form, and shine come together in a style that is at once classic and modern.

Let me let you in on a little secret…filling your home with beautiful artwork can be easier and cheaper than you think. Just give a paint set to the smallest artist in your life and let them have at it. Add a frame, create a gallery wall, or just tape it to the wall willy nilly – it matters not. The important part is to find a place that is deserving of its inhabitance.

Have you heard of Ardex Feather Finish? I hadn’t either until we featured this floor about a month ago. But I couldn’t ignore the fact it this DIY concrete finish kept popping up in my blog feed over and over again, used to remake and refinish some high-cost areas around the home—we’re talking floors, walls and kitchen counter tops—for cheap. Really cheap. All the projects I’ve found made it sound incredibly easy too.

I didn’t notice the title on this 550-square-foot entry from 2013’s Small Cool Contest, and assumed the fireplace, bead board, chandelier, and shelving were all original, and that Ryan and Alana had gotten very lucky. Not lucky, it turns out, just blessed with an incredible knack for renovation… I dream of stumbling upon a home with this much Old World charm and high quality materials — it never occurred to me that you could make your home look like this.

Backyard play sets are great, but for renters or families contemplating a move the investment and complex installation can feel like too much of a commitment. Bypassing the play set doesn’t mean forgoing outdoor fun for some tepid consolation; there are portable alternatives that are at least as thrilling as their permanent counterparts. Here are a few play options that are easy to set up and just as easy to move when the time comes. 1.

Emily tells us that she, “wanted all evidence of this bathroom removed as fast as possible.” This attic bathroom had everything she didn’t want: thick fluffy carpet, limescale blocked taps and a bowl collecting liquid beneath a ‘critical’ drain. Eww. She smartly thought about how she wanted to feel in this space, and thus came up with a redesign plan for this high-altitude room. Thank you Emily!

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) From The Kitchn → Kitchen Before & After: A Hand-Built Shelving Unit Fills a Blank Kitchen Wall

Q: For the past year, we’ve heard mice in our ceiling. We’re on the third floor of a 3-story condo, and they wake us up every few weeks with their scratching. We’ve never seen evidence of mice in our apartment, thank god, but their incessant scratching makes us nervous since they seem to scratch around our bedroom light fixture (fire hazard?) and keep us up at night.

Name: Nick Fanelle & Spiro Georgi Location: Andersonville; Chicago, Illinois Size: 1,100 square feet Years lived in: 2 years; Rented There’s no reason you can’t enjoy both the vibrancy of city life and the peacefulness of a rural retreat. Now, if you were to find an urban townhouse on a farm, it might strike you as a bit odd, but bringing the rustic, worn-in feel of the country into a Chicago apartment turned out to be just the thing for Nick Fanelle and Spiro Georgi.

If you’re working with a small space (or a teeny-weeny one), you probably don’t have a dedicated entry in your home, and you may not have room beside your door for even a narrow bench or console table. But that doesn’t mean you don’t need a place to stash your stuff right after you walk in the door.

I love poring over the “teeny-tiny” category of Small Cool entries from the past. It’s these tiniest of studios that really get inventive when it comes to fitting in all of the comforts of home. Alexa’s Paris in Park Slope is no exception: This 335 square foot apartment manages to feel home-like and cozy but not at all crowded. First up: check out that mirror in the shot up top.

(Image credit: Cheryl Sternman Rule) From The Kitchn → You’re Doing It Right: Feeding Your Kids

Do you put away more personal savings by focusing on the future or the present? It seems counterintuitive, but the answer, recent studies say, is the present. Life is a beach. Do you ever notice how many books about personal savings show someone relaxing on the beach on its cover? The message is to visualize your future self, the one with tons of money in the bank, living the good life—- maxin’ and relaxin’.

From Apartment Therapy → Tips For a Double-Duty Living and Dining Room in a Small Apartment “Trying to lounge and dine in the same small space? Here are some ideas to consider if you’re trying to figure out how to mix these two functions in one small space gracefully and stylishly.

I feel like my life is less routine than most, in both a good and a bad way. I have my personal rituals that keep me on track and set the tone for the day, like checking my email over a latte and walking the dogs, but after that portion of the day is over my career as a freelancer sends me all over the place. I might be out on a shoot, holed away editing for days, or taking meetings at local cafes.

While not everyone is a fan of the toddler bed, they can be good solutions if you have a small amount of space. Even better is this clever hack from Adriel Booker that turns a crib into a toddler bed with room for storage. Adriel kept the frame of the crib basically intact, but raised the bed up so that it’s a small version of a lofted bed. The crib rails provide security for the sleeping toddler. And with all the extra space underneath, she can store ride-on toys and buckets of toys.

I sometimes wonder if the guest room is, like the formal dining room, going the way of the Dodo. With people living smaller by choice and necessity, an entire room dedicated to overnight guests is a luxury you don’t see as often as you once did. These days, extra rooms tend to be home offices, if they exist at all. But people will want to go visiting, won’t they? As someone who has made my home away from my native country, I’m used to having people come and stay.

Emily and Shane hated their textured ceilings, but felt stuck with them because they weren’t ready to deal with the mess and trauma of drywalling. Finally, they just couldn’t take any more of those ceilings, “staring down at us,” so they took a gamble on another option, and boy, did it pay off. They covered it with beadboard! What a great way to give the ceiling a beautifully coffered look with surprisingly little effort and money.

There was a time, way back (way, way back) when I wasn’t allowed a computer in my bedroom. But now, in the world of laptops and iPhones galore – is anyone really stopping teens from having screen-time in the privacy of their own itty-bitty space? A few months ago I shared the story of a friend who felt their family’s screen time was out of control. One thing about it that really struck me was that every kid had their own laptop in their bedroom!

While here in California the seasons are a little less, ahem, defined, transitioning from winter into spring still not only inspires me to trade in the heavy bedding — it also makes me want to bring on the color and add seasonal treasures like fresh local blooms. Trading out accessories like throw pillows, duvets and seasonal decor can be a great way to both mark the change in seasons and to shake things up a bit from time to time and keep your home fresh.

We’re asking readers to share how much they spent on a given item, project, or upgrade in the home. We hope this information proves helpful to anyone needing to get a basic sense of how much something costs, and how much you can expect to pay to hire someone. If you can, let us know the type of laminate flooring you used, how many square feet you installed, and specify materials vs. hired labor. Approximates are fine. Since costs vary, your region of the country is always helpful too!

Name: Laura Paul Location: Ottawa, Ontario My home is an 850 square foot, two-bedroom condo in Old Ottawa South, which I purchased when moving back ‘home’ after living in Toronto. Sustainability is my passion, and Buildings are my canvas (I obtained a Bachelors in Civil Engineering). I went to work renovating the dated condo to be more sustainable, and inline with my personal aesthetics.

Want to see what just a few coats of paint can do to a room? Rafaela’s dining room wasn’t bad-looking before — great furniture and fun art made for a stylish space. But as a renter, she hated the beige walls that seemed to cast a dull look on the entire room. It was time for a wall paint change as well as a new coat of color on a pair of shelves she had had for years. From Rafaela: I rent this place and all walls were beige-yellowish (urgh!

Have you ever taken a moment to dissect a gorgeous room? It’s not magic that goes into creating a room that looks harmonious and balanced and that feels good when you’re in it; it’s just applying sound design principles in a way that’s also pleasing to the eye. This living room from a recent house tour caught our eye as having lots of lessons to learn from it.

Name: Amanda Bullock & Justin Taylor Location: Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, New York Size: 1.5 bedroom; 600 square feet (estimated) Years lived in: 11 months; rented Amanda Bullock and Justin Taylor like books. Amanda came from the book publishing world and is now the Director of Public Programming at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe; Justin is an acclaimed author and teaches creative writing at a number of universities in the city.

Our favorite before and after projects are the ones that are downright unrecognizable after being transformed, and this project certainly fits the bill! Diane and her husband came across this dresser for cheap at a thrift store and decided to make it look like a type of furniture Diane had always wanted — only more practical! From Diane: First, we removed the top two drawers and built a base for the bookcase. Then we used lattice to create the fronts of each card drawer.

Want to add sophisticated drama to a piece of furniture you found at a thrift store (or you’ve had for awhile)? Create contrast — mix two different finishes in an intentional way on the same sideboard, dresser, desk, table or more — and you’ll end up with a customized furniture piece exuding eye-catching tension and style.

Are you struggling with staying motivated about something around your house? Perhaps it’s sticking to a cleaning schedule. Maybe it’s keeping things organized. It could even be finding the energy to make that decor change or tackle that DIY project that you’ve been wanting to do. How do you find your motivation if you’ve lost it? How do you spark it if it was never there to begin with? Consider these six ideas. 1.

Name: Limor Zamir Location: Tel Aviv, Israel I’m from sunny Tel Aviv in Israel and my four bedroom apartment is located in the Northern part of the city. The look of it clearly reflects my love of shabby chic style! I just renovated the kitchen because I couldn’t stand the plain boring cabinet doors, so I changed them all into ones with a shabby chic, grandma-style glass doors. The bathroom cabinets were also replaced to coordinate with the new kitchen’s style.

From Jamie: In truth there are still a few small things we want to change or tweak (one major project being the demolition of the drywall around the stairs to allow the installation of a modern, open handrail) but we are satisfied with how far it has come. We feel it is bright, cheerful, and modern while still meshing with the overall transitional style of the house.