Apartment Therapy Archive: Sep 2015

Name: Virginia Location: Maitland, Florida My husband, Garrett, and I live in an 816 sq ft condo that we rent in Maitland, Florida. What we loved most when Garrett first came to view the condo and continue to – is the incredible lake view we have from our living room window. We are on a gorgeous Central Florida lake and the sunrises can’t be beat. (Check out our #goodmorninglakemaitland !) The condo complex was built in the 1950s but our unit has been updated.

When I think about an eclectic room, I always picture something very involved. With lots going on inside of it – colors, treasures, just… things. But the truth is, eclectic style is more than just having a lot of different stuff. Your home can live somewhere between minimalist and eclectic, and these 8 rooms prove it. Just take a minimalist room, then add color and texture – not stuff! – to give it that worldly, lived-in look we’ve come to love.

Never feel like you have enough time? You can reclaim lost minutes throughout the day that could add up to a lot more “me” time in your evenings by cutting out these time wasters that could be lurking in your home. How many hours of your life have you spent searching for your keys? Your wallet? Your purse? Your homework? Your ______?

Name: Becca Kannapell Location: Noble Square; Chicago, Illinois Size: Approximately 1,400 square feet Years lived in: 1 year; Rented When Becca and her boyfriend moved from New York City to Chicago a year ago, they were amazed by their new-found apartment options. Both of them lived in tiny 400-square-foot apartments in Manhattan, and now they have all this space to create in — and Becca has been taking full advantage.

First making furniture out of pallets was ingenious, then it was trendy, then it was kind of a cliche. But just because pallets have suddenly become the DIY furniture-making material of choice — with a few unfortunate results — doesn’t mean there aren’t good ideas out there. But before we get going, a caveat! Be very careful which pallets you use in your projects, as some of them may have come into contact with dangerous chemicals.

Your apartment. It’s not quite a dream home. The floors are terrible and the kitchen is in need of an overhaul. Your rental might not be Mr. Right, but it is Mr. Right Now. If the place you call home feels a little dated, here are some easy ways to modernize your apartment.

There are three types of people who need this list: One, couples who are filling out a wedding registry but already have all they need. Two, people who have had the same hand-me-downs since college. And three, anyone who just wants to treat yo’ self. It’s time for an upgrade. This is by no means an exhaustive list, either.

Dear Alice, I am living with my family in a high-rise apartment. I am new to this country, Germany. My child is three-years-old and I am having trouble getting him adjusted to this new environment, but he is doing much better than in the beginning. Our upstairs tenants have a problem with my kid crying as it is loud and echoing at times. This happens especially when my son is inside the bathroom, as it is small and opposite to the bedroom.

Q #1: I am getting ready to move from a furnished flat to a 3-bedroom house. We have almost no furniture (only a desk and a couple of random tables). I recently saw a post from way back in 2013 where you had a list of 10 budget-friendly but stylish companies as an alternative to IKEA. I am begging you for a UK edition! Please help. -Sent by Lindsay Q#2: I’m a longtime Apartment Therapy reader about to move from the US to Singapore.

From Apartment Therapy → Can You Really Use Ketchup to Clean Copper and Brass?

Name: Signy Roland Location: Yorkville; Toronto, Canada Size: 712 square feet Years lived in: 2 years; Rented After spending nearly a decade living in the great cities of Montreal and New York, Signy recent returned home to Toronto. Condo development has skyrocketed in the city, making it one of the more popular residential options in Canada. At first hesitant to make the move, Signy came around to the idea and really enjoys living in her one-bedroom condo.

Annie’s Color-Splashed Home We use color metaphors to express our emotions all the time. We feel blue, see red when we’re angry, turn green with envy, and others may call us “yellow” when we’re afraid or lacking in bravery. Are these metaphors just that—metaphorical—or do they have some basis in biology?

Aaron and Heather are no strangers to Apartment Therapy, they’ve shared their converted St. Louis firehouse home with us before. Their latest project? Making over a guest bedroom they affectionately call the Captain’s Suite. It was painted this bright orange shade with accents of royal blue, probably inspired by a sports’ team as Heather suspects this was the previous owner’s “man cave.

Need a boost? Just put on this feel-good playlist, created by neuroscientist Dr. Jacob Jolij of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, scientifically guaranteed to make you feel good. Dr. Jolij analyzed songs across decades and found that “feel good” songs are more up tempo than your average pop song: “Where the average tempo of pop songs is around 118 BPM, the list of feel good songs had an average tempo of around 140 to 150 BPM.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) From The Kitchn → 9 Easy Ways to Celebrate International Coffee Day

Your brain is a pretty powerful thing, and yet, you can’t seem to remember where you left your keys last night. There’s a lot to be said for having a routine and keeping things in the same place every time (can you say “landing strip“?). But sometimes, you just need a good, solid memory trick.

With fall in full swing in the Northern Hemisphere, many of us can look forward to quite a few rainy days ahead. When it’s cold and wet outside and you just can’t be bothered to leave the house, use your time inside well. Here are five ideas beyond “Netflix binge” (though hey, no judgement) to keep you busy on those rainy days.

Home is supposed to be a calming place. But with the movement towards open floor plans, things are only getting more complicated. Same goes for anyone living in a studio apartment: When most of your life takes place in the same sweeping room, where do you go for a moment of serenity? Answer: Anywhere you want. Start with a corner, or a bedroom, or the bathroom, or even your closet.

I live in New York City where people watching is not just a pleasurable pastime, but pretty much unavoidable in a city of pedestrians and close quarter subway rides. A few times a year during those weeks between seasons when the weather yo-yos between hot and cold or wet and dry, I have a lot of anxiety about how to dress. When I look to my fellow New Yorkers for guidance, I also see confusion. I’ve observed 5 types of between-seasons dressers.

Q: Let me start off by saying that my boyfriend [let’s call him Steve] has been living with his roommate for years and had been hesitant to look for another living situation for fear of finding someone/something worse. They were friends, but now he isn’t so sure. She [let’s call her Kelly] let her boyfriend [let’s call him Brandon] move in after weeks of them going out together and neither of them really do any washing up.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) From The Kitchn → Stuff Nutella in Sugar Cookies, Find Eternal Happiness

I moved into a small, 500 square foot apartment with real wood floors, tall charming ceilings and a spunky little kitchen that can’t be more than a few feet wide. Yes, WIDE. We’re talking can’t-open-the-oven-unless-you’re-standing-on-the-side small. But I managed to fit everything I needed in my kitchen snugly, in a way that functions well enough that I can easily pull things out as I need.

Does your bedroom or living room seem a little… boring? Sometimes you just want something a little different. If you’re craving a little newness in your space but don’t want to spend a ton of cash, here are five ways to perk up a room without spending a lot — or anything at all. Add color. Nothing adds life to a room quite like a little color — and fortunately there are lots of inexpensive ways to add color to a space.

Renovations often produce dramatic results, but that doesn’t mean you need to rip out floors and knock out walls to make a statement. Let’s look at some of our favorite big, bold, and beautiful Big Reveal transformations, using just the power of paint and decor. Re-edited from a post originally published 9.27.

Name: Erica Feldmann and Dave Wells Location: Somerville, MA Size: 1,100 square feet Years lived in: 3 years; Rented Like many millennials, Erica and Dave were drawn to Boston by grad school, and their life path is similar to that of current and past generations: move to a new place, meet somebody, start putting down roots. What is different is this: their apartment doesn’t feel like it belongs to a couple in their first place together.

Name: Emily & Ian Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan Our house is old—about 120 years old! It is in Heritage Hill, which is one of the largest and oldest urban historical parks in the country. Living in an old house has some quirks—our stairs are super creaky and the windows are heavy and made gasping sounds in the winter, but overall we love all the little unique parts of the house and the neighborhood.

Name: Fernanda Location: Brasília, Brazil I have always been a design lover and always felt this was my talent, but I ended up graduating in journalism. One day in 2011, I was writing an article about affordable design with a work friend when we encountered the site (we did an interview with you guys). I became really obsessed with the house tours and did my own blog on house tours in my city (Brasília, Brazil) inspired by the Apartment Therapy idea.

Name: Erin Lyons and John Paul Doguin Location: Georgetown; Washington, DC Size: 525 square feet Years lived in: 3 years; Rented Meet Erin and John Paul. Erin’s a writer and JP works on a design team at a federal agency. I shot their studio one week before they moved into a larger one-bedroom apartment downstairs; I had seen their place for the first time a few days earlier and insisted we do a House Tour before they packed up! I’ll tell you why.

Is one of your rooms feeling a bit drab? We bet if you focus your design efforts on one spot (the size of which depends on your home’s architecture) you can really add some interest and beauty to your entire home. As a matter of fact, it just might be the case that you’ve either forgotten to decorate this spot in your home entirely, or that you threw something up quickly and never got back to it again. This weekend, pay attention to this decorating element.

They’re a refreshing escape. They’re a terrifying safety hazard. They’re an eyesore. They’re a beloved part of the urban fabric. For as long as there have been fire escapes, there have been mixed opinions about fire escapes. The zigzagging metal stairs that many people associate so closely with the look of New York first started to appear in 1860, when a revision to the state code required buildings to have them.

Name: Hannah Location: Tupelo, Mississippi I am incredibly lucky to live in my great-grandparents home on the land that used to be our family farm. My house is a converted 4-square home that my grandmother, Rooney, was born in. We don’t know the exactly age of the home, but it was definitely built before 1936 (Rooney’s birth year.) My green little house is completely surround by a white picket fence and directly behind it is our family lake.

Have you ever heard of that mental exercise that challenges you to think about what you might grab and run out with should your home ever catch on fire? The challenge is to as succinctly as possible narrow down what the most essential elements of your home are (or perhaps, remind us how few the really important, irreplaceable things in our lives are).

When you live in a teeny apartment, it’s just adding insult to injury when a seemingly inordinate amount of that space is devoted to a hallway. Sure, hallways are good for getting from one place to another, but you can’t live in one. A hallway, so the thinking goes, is just a waste of space. But it doesn’t need to be. Here are seven ways to make the most of your hallways. The hallway above, from Bolig, also functions as an entryway.

Location: Brooklyn, New York I live in Red Hook, Brooklyn. I have been in this apartment for 4 years. It is a small 2 bedroom apartment with a really good sized back yard. I live here with my 10 year old Golden Retriever, Duke. The negative of being on the ground floor in a flood zone is that I was flooded during Sandy. I have since re-built and am happy to be back! My style is modern & eclectic. I am an avid thrift store, flea market and craigslist shopper. I love mixing styles and patterns.

Name: Michael Shaikin, Gaelyn Eyre and baby Wolf Location: Chelsea, Quebec Size: 2,450 square feet Years lived in: 7 months; Owned With its towering, glass-fronted facade and the Gatineau river as a backdrop, Michael and Gaelyn’s house is the stuff modern dreams are made of. Having recently welcomed their son Wolf into their family, they are convinced that buying this beautiful property only a 20-minute drive from downtown Ottawa, where they work, has been a great decision.

No matter how confident you are about your decorating chops, there will always be times when you doubt your decisions. Especially when you are facing big purchases or more permanent-seeming changes, it’s nice to reflect upon how well you’ve actually done creating a home that you are happy with. Think through the following prompts for an instant boost to your decorating self-esteem… If entering your house gives you a little lift, then you’re doing something right.

Q: Hello! I have severe mold allergies and recently moved to the Pacific Northwest. I was careful to check for signs of dampness when we were house hunting—and even turned down a great place because of a hint of mustiness in the back bedroom—but, after a year of various illnesses, and despite air purifiers and dehumidifiers, I just tested my home and mold was detected. My question is this: How can we, as renters, ensure that our next place is not (or is less) moldy?

(Image credit: sarsmis) shutterstock From The Kitchn → 6 Ways to Tone Down a Dish That’s Too Spicy

Name: Lauren and Shawn Location: Toronto, Ontario Lovers, builders, crafters and believers that a Shared Life is truly a beautiful thing, our latest home renovation was a basement conversions from a dark uninviting space to a beautiful and bright retreat that we are renting as a B&B. Each detail was daydreamed about, hunted for and brought together to create a space for our guests to truly unwind and indulge in.

It was a game show in the ’90’s, but these lifelines can really work anytime. After a recent re-watch of Slumdog Millionaire (holds up!), I started remembering a few of the ins and outs of this gameshow. Turns out, all the lifelines they offered contestants to help them field trivia questions work in real-life situations too, especially when it comes to the one major area where we face tough choices every day: shopping.

Run–don’t walk–to your nearest contractor, cabinet maker or handy family member and ask–nay, beg–to have one of these seriously smart solutions built into the storage around your home.