Apartment Therapy Archive: Oct 2015

No matter whether you’re starting with a blank slate or wanting to add something new to your existing space, if you’re thinking about buying, DIYing or doing some decorating, look inward to pinpoint these five things about yourself — it’ll not only give you decorating direction, it’ll save you from future home headaches. How do you actually use your home? Like, use use it?

Name: Amandine Isnard & Mihalis Gripiotis and Aristos Location: Williamsburg; Brooklyn, NY Size: 2,800 square feet Years lived in: 7 years; Rented Amandine is the Head of Product Development for Eve Lom, a European niche luxury beauty brand, and Mihalis is a journalist and the founder of the art-house film production company IFFI Productions. Their Brooklyn house was decorated to look like a film set, and as a result, has been used as a studio for various film projects.

Standard bathroom lighting is often functional, but it can also be pretty, well…blah. Here are eight exciting—yet practical—ideas that will help you take your lighting scheme to the next level. The bathroom above by Kelle Dame Interiors features a showstopper chandelier, which adds instant drama. I particularly like this fixture because it casts beautiful patterns of light over the room, which gives the space a different feel at every point of the day.

Whether you’ve got big Halloween party plans or will be taking the kids around trick-or-treating, chances are you might not have as much time as usual to dedicate to a Weekend Project. This weekend’s assignment taps into the spirit of the series by giving you a truly small task to complete that really will have a noticeable impact on your home. Perhaps you created a box of stuff to donate when you did the Closet Cure.

Jenn & Hunter’s Historic Landmark Apartment Traditional rugs are traditional for a reason. Even though they are densely patterned and filled with a multitude of colors, they somehow still manage to go with everything. I’ve rounded up a bunch of rooms from our House Tours that feature these gorgeous rugs—pale, bright, deep, rich, red, blue, yellow: you name it, they’re all here.

Name: Gemma and Duncan Patford-Legge Location: Brunswick; Melbourne, Australia Size: 2 bedroom Years lived in: 3 years; Owned After buying their apartment in the inner-city suburb of Brunswick three years ago, rope vessel artist Gemma Patford and graphic designer Duncan Legge were determined to turn it from drab, rundown, dated disaster to something light, airy, welcoming, and altogether more modern—with a touch of nostalgia.

Name: Faith Location: Arlington, VA Room: Dining Room Size: about 140 square feet Own or Rent: Own This is an update from the #MakeoverAmerica road trip! We’re traveling across the United States to tell people about Complete + Happy Home, and while we’re at it, we’re saving the country, one room at a time! Design Prescriptions are hour-long visits where Maxwell offers advice on what readers can do to improve their homes.

We’ve all got them—you know, those awkward empty spaces that are a little too small for an accent chair but way too big for just a side table. If blank spaces are making you uncomfortable, the good news is that you’ve got plenty of options for filling them without cluttering up your home.What are a few of the best empty space solutions? Well, plant parents will be pleased to hear that they have another excuse to go out and buy a few more indoor trees and succulents.

From The Kitchn → This Is What Your Favorite Halloween Candy Says About You

Name: Emily and Zack Location: Fishtown —Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Back in June, my husband Zack and I made an unexpected decision: we left our two-bedroom apartment in the posh Rittenhouse Square neighborhood of downtown Philadelphia to call a one-bedroom Fishtown flat home. We weren’t planning on moving when our previous landlord approached us about renewing our lease for a third year. But as it goes, one conversation led to another, and we began itching for a new experience.

Feeling in a bit of a rut today? You don’t have to be a prisoner to your moods. Even if you’re stressed out and crazy busy, just 10 minutes could be all you need to turn your mood and your entire day around. Open the blinds. Getting some sunlight will amp up your production of the mood-regulating neurotransmitter serotonin. Get moving. Do jumping jacks, run in place, whatever won’t disturb your downstairs neighbors. Any kind of aerobic activity will improve your mood.

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “I want it done yesterday!”. Well, in the case of these super simple habits, you can just about make that impossible request happen. As you know, it’s much easier to start a good habit than it is to break a bad one. To ensure success, start off with readily adoptable ones (like the ones on this list) that don’t take a lot of time, but yield happy results with little effort.

This past winter I fell on ice and broke my wrist. As you can imagine, this made many things more difficult, including housekeeping. My husband and I (and now our two kids) have lived in the same rental apartment sans dishwasher for eight years. My husband had been campaigning for one for years, but I had resisted for two reasons: 1) why invest money in a rental apartment and 2) why give up valuable cabinet space in our already small kitchen.

Marina and her husband Sebastiano bought a 100-year-old home in Houston about a year ago. The overall condition of the house was near-perfect, but Marina wanted to transform the traditional home into a more modern, open space. After knocking down the walls between the living room, dining room, and kitchen, Marina and Sebastiano now have a full view of the major rooms of their home from the front door. The openness and the new white paint work together to create a bright, open space.

Wish you had a living room, bedroom, kitchen or some other room flooded with natural light…but you’re stuck dealing with a few dinky windows that just aren’t getting the job done? There are decorative elements you can add to your home that can help fake more natural light in your dark rooms; try one or more to fake the feel of a room flooded with natural light.

Q: My husband and I picked up a fantastic shag rug from West Elm a few months ago. So excited was I by the prospect of digging my toes into its plush woolly depths on cold wintry mornings in the future, I didn’t stop to consider that this rug would shed. And shed it does. First we tried waiting it out, but it’s been months now and balls of wool still roam our hardwood floors like tumbleweeds.

How much water do you use every day? Every week? Every month? Is it a lot? Is it too much? If you want to do a small part to help the environment (and lower your water bill), consider if there’s any room to adjust your water usage in these five ways. Luxuriating in a hot bath after a long day is truly a beautiful thing. So is enjoying a beer in the shower if that’s your sort of thing. But both of those activities can use up a lot of water. Showers use less water than baths.

Ok, honesty time: Do you feel like your home just isn’t working? Chances are, you’re missing one or more of these three very important elements. Let the tenets of your life–your history, place and sense of self–guide your decor. I read a quote recently (of course I can’t find it for the life of me now) that basically said, “Interior design is a study in autobiography.

Name: Pierce Atkinson Location: St. Henri; Montréal, Canada Size: Approximately 900 square feet Years lived in: Almost 2 years; Rented Pierce is someone who is not afraid to take risks in life, especially when it comes to style and design. Following the best design advice he’s ever received—decorate for “You Do You”—Pierce has filled his apartment with what he is attracted to the most: color, patterns, and quirk.

Whether your tackle the cleaning yourself or this is a chore you choose to outsource, we could all use a virtual snooze button for our deep clean routine. To make your time spent cleaning even more effective, take these small steps to keep your spotless home looking clean longer. Get doormats for every door and use them religiously. I know you want a chic doormat that fits with your vibe, but this is not a place to sacrifice function for fashion.

Lick or treat! Pet owners nailed it this year, with dog and cat costumes touching upon politics, the 1980s, and pop culture. And all the dogs are, of course, thrilled to be there and wearing masks, fake ears, wigs, and who knows what else. Enjoy the pet parade! Above, Oliver the Golden Doodle channels a certain 80s sitcom. “It’s your world. Let’s paint some happy little trees!” courtesy of brookesphynx. Ace Ventura, Pet Detective! Costume and hairstyling by k9_closet.

Name: Wintta Location: Capitol Hill; Washington, D.C. Room: Bedroom/Living Room Size: about 400 square feet Own or Rent: Own We’re on a road trip across the United States to tell people about Complete + Happy Home, and while we’re at it, we’re saving the country, one room at a time! Our second makeover stop is Washington, D.C., where we meet Wintta and her studio with an inherited Murphy bed, just itching to for us to come in and make her Parisian dream a reality.

My messiest spot is most definitely the closet. Because laundry is the bane of my existence, I try to get as many wears as I can out of things like jeans and sweaters (a.k.a. the entirety of my fall/winter wardrobe) before they have to be washed and put back away with the clean clothes on the shelves. The jeans and sweaters inevitably end up resting in piles on the furniture around the closet and bedroom. Unsightly, to be sure.

No matter how clean it may be, a cluttered bathroom always looks messy. Whip it into shape and put everything in its place with one of these easy DIY makeup organizers. 1. DIY Skateboard Makeup Shelf by a pair & a spare Kick-push your makeup into the right space with this fine-looking recycled skateboard shelf. 2. Leather Makeup Brush Holder by hello natural Having a hard time keeping your brushes close? DIY this easy, chic holder in leather—or your favorite heavy duty fabric. 3.

Q: Hi Apartment Therapy! Every few days, the tension rod holding my shower curtain up was falling down. After a while, I figured the springs must have been wearing out so I purchased a new tension rod. This one stayed up for about a day and now it won’t stay put for longer than a couple of minutes. The walls are tile and it’s a rental, so I can’t drill into them. Any ideas on how to make the rod stay up long enough for me a take a shower?

I have a pair of beloved sweatpants that has a hole in them. I would still continue wear them — in spite of said hole — IF I could find them, but I have a sneaking suspicion that my partner boxed them up and toted them off to Goodwill. She is curiously mum on the subject, feigning perfect innocence in the face of my pointed questioning and unblinking stares, but it’s been months since I saw them last. I am quickly losing all hope of ever seeing, let alone wearing, them again.

You’ve got the fixer-upper home of your dreams, and you’re taking on a big remodel to totally make it your own. You’re living the dream, so why does it feel like you’re living in a disaster zone? The truth is, living in a home during a big remodel is actually a really hectic process. Here are a few ways to stay sane. So the kitchen is out of order for the next several weeks. Not a problem!

Name: Kersten & Kim McFarland and their children, Christian and Grace Location: Maylands, Western Australia Size: 170 square meters (1,830 square feet) Years lived in: Two years; Owned When Kim and Kersten first stumbled upon their 1950s cottage, they could see its potential right away. The location was enviable, boasting both a nearby river and views of the city, and they knew with some careful planning, they could turn the small, dark house into the light, bright family home that it is today.

We’re rounding up some of the smallest, coolest trailers we could find. Although we would have loved to test each and every one of these, the list is more of a general overview — these are small travel trailers that look good, received good marks in our cursory research, and represent a range of prices and styles. For more detailed information, follow the links below. This Upland, California, company does a good job with the classic teardrop trailer.

(Image credit: Leela Cyd) From The Kitchn → 10 Cooking Tricks That Changed Everything for Us

It seems easy enough. Grab a hook and a hammer and get to work. But there’s definitely a bit of a science to hanging artwork properly. With these three key measurements as a starting point, you can’t really go wrong. This first figure tells you that the center of your piece should be around 57 inches (or a bit more) from the floor.

Dear Alice, a lot What’s a nice way to tell them they can’t smoke in my apartment at all? My boyfriend always caves in and tells people they can smoke out the window, but after a party it still reeks of cigarettes everywhere, and I know after five days it will be the same. I don’t want to be rude, but I hate myself and my home smelling like smoke! Sincerely, Neurotic Non-Smoker Dear Non-Smoker, The first thing to do is get your boyfriend fully on board.

If you saw our tour of Laura and Blaine’s Restful 1920s Asheville Home, you know that their place is really peaceful. They’ve opted for a muted color palette, relying heavy on basic white to give their home a sense of tranquility (and to better show off their collection of artwork and objects), so I was surprised to discover there was a lesson to be had here in how to use color at home.

From Apartment Therapy → Why Do People in the South Call Lunch ‘Dinner’ and Dinner ‘Supper’?

Admittedly, this might seem like a silly bit of advice, but I assure you it’s a tip from my own experience, well-rooted in practicality. After all, smart shoppers consider the family’s needs with every purchase. “The family,” of course, also includes our furry friends. When I first spotted dark charcoal linens in a moody, dark bedroom, I felt like I’d found my soulmate. The look was–for lack of a better word–perfect in my mind.

Name: Allie & Travis Hackett-Camacho and their dog, Brody Location: Lynn-Highland Park; Oakland, CA Size: 1,300 square feet Years lived in: 3.5 years; Rented Allie may look familiar to Apartment Therapy readers, as her twin sister Caitlin’s home—Caitlin & Dave’s Oakland Apartment of Wonder & Oddities—was recently featured.

We regularly ask readers to share how much time or money they spend on a given item, service, 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. It’s also just interesting to know how others approach the same topic. When Do You Start to Decorate for the Holidays?

Do you wish you were just a little bit neater around your home on a daily basis? While you can definitely make successful, long-lasting tweaks to your weekly cleaning schedule, you can also do a little bit of cheating to make it look like you’re neater, too. Here are five favorite cheats to be a bit more neat. Feel like you can’t throw away that thing? Need to save that other thing so you have that small piece of information written on it?

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) From The Kitchn → 7 Tips for Influencing What Goes on Grocery Store Shelves

I have see the future of tile and it makes me want to renovate my bathroom or kitchen…again. At Cersaie last month, which is *the* bath and tile show, I had a chance to see lots and lots and lots of examples of what’s next in that world. Here are some of the trends I saw: As technology improves, ceramic tile makers find new methods to create tile that looks and feels like completely different material.

Sometimes it’s up to the people closest to us to tell us the real deal, or to stage a friendly style intervention when we can’t be objective about our own space. In response to your question, “what do you think of the new room?” they’ll tell it like they see it, instead of spewing platitudes. And sometimes it makes sense to listen and incorporate their advice into your own thinking. Here are the things only your best friends have the guts to tell you.

If you live in a large apartment building and can still receive packages there, count yourself lucky because, as The Wall Street Journal reports, residential management companies are beginning to curb or even ban the ability to receive packages at home. Why? Y’all are doing too much online shopping!

Name: Christeleny Location: Upper East Side — New York, New York I bought my 1000 square feet, two bedroom, two bathroom apartment in 2010. The previous owner had lived there for decades and it was quite literally falling apart. It’s in a great pre-war building with an interesting history so I was sure I could make it into something wonderful! Because I had to bring everything up to code the entire apartment had to be gutted. Between the co-op board, the NYC board of buildings etc.