Apartment Therapy Archive: May 2016

See what I did there?? Dye, while a little scary (it’s permanent! it stains things!) can also be a great way to get big results from your DIY projects with a minimum of effort. Here are nine DIYs perfect for transforming your favorite textiles with a little color. Above: From Livet Hemma, instructions for adding a little color to a plain old white IKEA duvet. (Use Google Translate to get directions in English.

We know that one of the most taxing and tricky commitments to make when decorating a room can be what colors to use in unison. The world of color is a vast one with endless options, so to help guide the decision-making process, we introduce this new series on flawless designer-approved palettes where we tapped 10 experts and asked them for their own go-to combinations. Up first: The lovely ladies from CLOTH & KIND.

Q: We bought our ‘forever home’ last month and we plan on remodeling the entire house, including new drywall, kitchen, bathrooms, and a 10′ extension. My question is, should we put any money into the house [photos below] before the actual remodel? The common advice seems to be that you should give your walls a fresh coat of paint, and that makes sense if you’re going to live with what you have for some time to come.

Often our favorite television series and films showcase dreamy apartments that are quite unrealistic for the characters who inhabit them. You know, the ones where your quintessential broke 20-something somehow affords to live in the lap of luxury despite being in financial ruin? That said, here are five TV and movie characters with practical, realistic apartments that look like mine and yours. Finally, a break from all the apartment envy.

It’s halfway through 2016 and I’ve already spotted stand-out design trends in beautiful homes. But I’m not just referring to common colors, patterns and materials. This year, I’m spotting elements that infuse playfulness into interiors. Add some playfulness into your rooms today with these fresh and fun decor trends. Neon isn’t a new idea for interiors, but the ways that I’ve been spotting them in interiors recently is fresh.

Looking to ensure that your new bathroom will still look as beautiful twenty years from now as it does the very first day after your remodel? Here are nine bathrooms with beautiful, timeless style, and design ideas worth stealing from each one. By playing up the contrast of black and white, you can create a dramatic effect with tile without spending a lot of money. In the bathroom above, inexpensive hex tile and subway tile come together for a look that’s eye-catching but timeless.

Coffee tables are a living room staple that can effortlessly inject some pretty serious style. Case in point: the marble-topped table. On trend at the moment but undeniably a classic, they will put you firmly “in style” for a long time to come. We love the sleek and modern appeal they lend living rooms of all sizes and found examples for every layout and budget: round, square and hexagonal examples across a wide range of price points.

Name: Teresa Location: Valencia, Spain Size: 1022 square feet (95 m2) Years lived in: Owned 3 years With a big smile and friendly attitude, Teresa is the kind of person you connect with immediately. The second she opened that door, I could see a reflection of who she is in every corner of this beautiful home. This creative and colorful place was created with a lot of care. Almost all the furniture pieces are inheritances from family, but she know’s how to mix everything in an original way.

No patio? No problem. You can still build a lush summer garden inside your four walls, no matter how much living space you have.

The Tiny Canal Cottage is 1920s Craftsman-style house near the Venice Beach Canals in Southern California. Because the home itself is only 362 square feet, most of the furniture is built into the space, so they don’t move furniture around on a whim. That leaves the outdoor space as Whitney’s design playground, where she switches things up as needed.

Congrats, you’ve made it to the second half of the Cure, which means that you’ve got one week and lots of sorting down! Your closet and drawers should be less crowded and hopefully you have a stronger sense of what clothing has and hasn’t been working for you, which is half the battle. Today, we’ll focus on a little assessment and introspection, so we can take a bit of a breather before we dive into rebuilding.

A few weeks ago, our collection of celebrity bedrooms provided a tantalizing peek into the spaces where famous people sleep. Today, we’re taking it a step further with a roundup of celebrity kitchens. Check out the beautiful spaces where people like Ellen Degeneres, John Legend, Cameron Diaz, and Martha Stewart (or maybe their personal chefs) prepare their meals. Above: The kitchen of Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi‘s Beverly Hills home, spotted on Architectural Digest.

Name: Lesley Pennington and her family (husband, a teenager and a dog) Location: Viggbyholm, Sweden (Just outside of Stockholm) Size: 240 square meters Years lived in: 3 years Before the Pennington family acquired this property three years ago, this was the home of a famous Swedish textile designer.

Road tripping across the country sounds dreamy enough, but Becka’s gorgeously renovated camper makes the whole excursion so glamorous! From Becka: My husband and I decided that we wanted to invest in memories with our son before he started school so we purchased an older, used 5th wheel RV and gave it a big makeover to take on a cross country trip this summer (that we are currently on!) I want to inspire people to think outside of the box and see the potential in the older RV’s.

Dear Alice, My husband and I have a terrace and we like to throw parties during the warm weather season, cooking on the barbecue, and so on. I know that today parents are going everywhere, every time, with their children and I even can understand it; also, I know that, if I want to be with my friends, I have to be with my friends’ kids too. Which means that, besides our work as hosts, we have to babysit at our own parties sometimes.

(Image credit: Erika Tracy) From The Kitchn → 3 Things You Should Always Take to a Picnic

(Image credit: Margarita Gokun Silver) From The Kitchn → I Tried to Erase My Soviet Past, but Tea Brought Me Back

From A. Wagner: I’m absolutely in love with agate slices. My great aunt had a huge collection of them in a beautiful display case and I spent hours looking at them as a kid. Yes, hours. I was a little quirky, yes, but the beautiful swirls of color and speckles of glimmering crystals were mesmerizing. Now that they’re everywhere and mostly as coasters, I want them! All of them! But that would be crazy and also really, really expensive.

(Image credit: Danielle Rubi-Dentzel) From The Kitchn → 5 Entertaining Souvenirs I Bring Home from My Travels

A lot of things in Kristen Ley’s home are vintage. She is the founder of Thimblepress, a letterpress and stationery company based in Mississippi. Kristen also has an eye for affordable new buys that she masterfully mixes with her one-of-kind second-hand and travel finds. Her apartment, located on the top floor of a building in the historic downtown Jackson area, is a beautiful blend of styles that create a cheery and personal home.

In 2012, Hallie Borden decided to take a big risk and quit her steady yet unfulfilling office job to pursue a lifelong dream of owning her own store. Hallie will be the first to say that working as an entrepreneur is not always an easy path, but she also shows that it is an achievable and rewarding path.

Many families struggle with making dinner at home, and thanks to a recent study, we are starting to understand why. From Apartment Therapy → Can You Guess the Biggest Barriers to Eating Dinner at Home?

There are many widely accepted reasons to bring plants into your home—they look nice, they clean the air, they add life to a room. But here’s one you probably haven’t thought of… They can make a space feel bigger. Yes, really. When strategically placed, dramatic houseplants that hang down low, sweep the ceiling, and spread out will draw the eye, highlighting vertical space or a second floor.

Name: Thimblepress headquarters Location: Jackson, Mississippi Size: 2300 square feet Years lived in: Rented 1.5 years In business for over three years, Thimblepress is “an art studio, sewing studio, design studio, woodworking studio, and basically anything creative that Kristen [the founder] wants to try her hand at next.

We love the classic Eames shell chairs for all their beautiful simplicity, but even the most classic and beautiful things in life can sometimes use an upgrade. Whether you’ve got an original in need of restoration or a knockoff that could use some jazzing-up, there’s a project here to suit your chair — and your style. Print out a banana leaf pattern, decoupage it to the seat, paint the legs coral, and voila—tropical chair!

When Alexia purchased her first house, she got all of the freedom and joy that come with homeownership as well as some very ’80s bathroom tile. With a trip to IKEA, some lucky finds and some smartly shopped tile, Alexia was able to create a soothing space on a budget. From Alexia: My house is from the early 1980s, the bathroom was carpeted when I moved in (I stripped and sanded) and the ‘before’ tiles were the original builders décor.

I’m a big believer in personal authenticity on the job. For instance, in my very first meeting at Apartment Therapy, I was asked to tell the team an interesting fact about myself. Did I highlight a professional triumph? Share an anodyne tidbit about my family? Please. Instead, I talked about a time in sixth grade when I gathered a fluffy bouquet of poison ivy and purposefully rubbed the leaves all over my face and arms. How’s that for a fact, everyone?

(Image credit: Anthropologie) From The Kitchn → 10 Tea Mugs & Sets Perfect for an Afternoon Break

If friends have yet to beat you in Cards Against Humanity, congratulations: your mind is in the gutter and your people skills are off the charts. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Union College psychology researcher Christopher Chabris describes the ribald party game as “a brilliant exercise in social intelligence.” A rules refresher for anyone who’s forgotten: [P]layers earn points by coming up with the best ways to complete sentences like “But before I kill you, Mr.

TheKitchn.com is actively looking for an Associate Editor (Wellness/Health). Please click through for details! The Kitchn | Associate Editor (Wellness/Health) The Kitchn is an influential independent online food publication, with over 20 million monthly readers. The associate editor will be a key member of the editorial team, involved in story ideation, assigning, editing and writing, especially as the content covers nutrition, wellness, and the healthy home.

What do you get when you combine a lighting mishap, a designer with multiple personalities and some budget/logistical concerns? An Apartment Therapy choose-your-own-adventure! If you’re into lighting and reaallly basic Photoshop, join me after the jump. About a month ago I arrived home one afternoon to find my beloved Vita Copenhagen Eos shade hanging at a perilous angle and, when I went to adjust it, it practically fell apart in my hands.

Name: Kristen Ley and pups Willow Scarlet Ley (photographed) and Henry Albert Ley, and cat Norman Location: Jackson, Mississipi Size: 2300 square feet Years lived in: Renting 1.5 years Kristen Ley is the creative mastermind and founder of Thimblepress, a letterpress, stationery and celebration company out of Jackson, Mississippi (perhaps most recognized for their incredibly cheery and colorful Push-Pop Confetti).

I was driving by the intersection of 16th and South Van Ness in San Francisco one day when I spotted what looked like an Eero Saarinen side chair (with metal legs) in a pile of discarded furniture. I turned my car around to take a closer look, and turns out it IS an authentic Knoll Saarinen side chair(!!!). The upholstery was in poor condition with rips and stains, but other than that, the chair looked like it’s in a solid condition.

Name: R (1.5 years) Location: Denver, Colorado So I’m not a decorator…like at all. But before the birth of my first child, I wanted to do a nursery. We didn’t know the gender so the room needed to be neutral. I got a lot of ideas & inspiration from Apartment Therapy including all the IKEA hacks: shelves, bookshelves & cart. But I got most of my inspiration from this post.

It’s no secret Katy Goodman and Todd Wisenbaker of the band La Sera have style. Just like their guitar-filled Silver Lake home, their fashion choices are fueled by carefree living and an insatiable love of music. They share one small bedroom closet and a modest-sized dresser, and while neither storage device is bursting at the seams, the couple’s daily fashion choices are anything but lackluster.

Name: Kathryn Baugher of Up to Date Interiors Location: Okinawa, Japan Size: 1500 square feet Years lived in: 1 year It takes creativity, guts and energy to turn a plain space into something spectacular, and Kathryn’s done it. The home in Okinawa that she shares with her family exudes both serenity and excitement—and those floral covered kitchen cabinets are amazing!

Ever come home with a tomato-red complexion after spending a day outdoors—despite slicking yourself in sunscreen? Shady product labeling could be to blame, according to a Consumer Reports investigation. Of 104 sunscreens tested over a four-year period, 48 percent failed to deliver the sun-protection factor on their labels. Mineral formulas—intended to physically reflect ultraviolet rays from skin—fared especially poorly, with 74 percent missing the mark.

We’re all about the goings-on inside of your closet, but sometimes the outside needs a little love and attention. Anne hits all of the functionality & beauty buttons with her new closet. She not only had the closet fixed to fit the space and her needs, she added some gorgeous color and pattern to her spare room. From Anne: My old closets had ugly doors, and too much space behind walls. I wanted to open up the access and have sliding doors.

Short of a renovation, there’s not a lot you can do to make bathrooms feel brand spankin’ new and sparkling, deep down in its bones. Your moves are limited. You can declutter the medicine cabinet, keep the room clean, or buy a new shower curtain and towels — but those are largely superficial moves that look good but don’t address the heart of darkness in your bathroom — the corners and crevices where problems start, and mold and grime linger.

Happy Friday and welcome to the first full weekend of the Closet Cure! The next assignment won’t be sent out until Tuesday, so you’ve got four days to get this assignment done – you can blast it out in one big session and then take some time off or spread it out over a few days to chip away at it little at a time. Either way, its an opportunity to start next week (and the new season) fresh, unencumbered by the clothes that you no longer wear.

I might have a collection of over 1,000 lovely photos of kitchens (hey, I’ve been working on it for a long time), but these Mediterranean kitchens are some of my favorites. I love the way they combine texture, and color, and some seriously gorgeous patterned tiles to create a look that’s both bold and refreshing. Although these seven spaces are from faraway homes, you’ll be sure to find plenty of inspiration for the kitchen you have right here.

Textile designer, sourcing consultant and founder of Artisan Project, Nina M. Alami lives in a patterned, colorful riad in the Old Medina of Fes with her husband, Mohamed and their kids. The mother of four, she’s also an “artist producing textiles with a community of cooperatives, and a lineage of craftsman; simultaneously sourcing, consulting, and overseeing production in Fes, the Middle Atlas and the Rif regions of Morocco.

These planters are so darn cute, they might just steal the show from your houseplants (it’s a risk I’m willing to take!). Pair each pint-sized pot with an air plant or tiny succulent, then let them strut their stuff along a mantel, bookshelf, or windowsill. Octopus air plant hanger, from theYarnKitchen, $24. Have your air plants go deep-sea diving in a felted wool octopus hanger, available in 24 different colors. Cat ceramic plant pot, by Noe Marin, $29.