Green rubber boots on a mat made of upright wine corks on a white tiled floor.
11 Projects That Solve What To Do With All Those Winter Boots
If you’re like me, you’ve always had a growing pile of shoes in your vestibule/ entryway/mudroom. Which normally wouldn’t be an issue except that the shoes are now boots – they take up more space, they track in more mud, and they can take a bit longer to dry out after a good rain or snow. So what do you do with all of them? How do you solve the growing boot dilemma this time of year?
Nov 5, 2017
Pineapples Are Coming For Your Christmas Trees
If you wandered over to Instagram or Pinterest at all during October, you probably saw your share of carved pineapples instead of pumpkins (yes, this is apparently a thing). Not satisfied with just being a symbol of summer, the tropical fruit is also aiming to take over Christmas by standing in for your fir or pine.
Nov 4, 2017
Looking For a Change? This Italian Village Will Pay You To Move There
If you’re looking to pick up and move in search of adventure, a fresh start, or just a change of perspective, one mayor in Italy wants to literally pay you to move to his village in Puglia. According to a recent interview with CNN Travel, the mayor of the Italian town of Candela, Nicola Gatta, is trying to reverse the reduction in population of his once-thriving Medieval village by paying people a not-insignificant stipend to relocate there.
Nov 4, 2017
A Tiny Apartment That Transforms Into a Super Efficient Space
As someone who used to work as an architect and now writes about small spaces, I love seeing how a clever design can completely transform a tiny space. At first glance, this little Italian apartment did not seem very promising. Its 317 square feet (29.5 square meters) were awkwardly chopped up into a tiny bedroom, barely large enough for a bed, an oddly placed bathroom, and a combination living room/dining room/kitchen that was strangely shaped and a bit cavernous.
Nov 4, 2017
If You’ve Always Wondered Why Anthropologie Smells So Good, It’s Because of This Candle
Anthropologie is set up in a way that it’s not just a “store” but a “shopping experience.” It’s a place you stroll through, linger around, dream of living in. Part of that magical experience? The just-strong-enough aroma that fills the air, luring you across the impeccably styled threshold. I always thought the retailer’s sweet smell was a perfect marriage of all the candles they were burning throughout the store.
Nov 3, 2017
11 Inspiring Gratitude Logs for Your Holiday Bullet Journaling
As the holidays are approaching and the year is winding down, many people are starting to think about all the people and things they’re thankful for. Practicing gratitude is pretty standard during the holidays, but it’s also something you can do all the time to be more mindful and help you focus on more positive things even when you’re feeling down.
Nov 3, 2017
Serena Williams Aces House Hunt With $6.7M Beverly Hills Mansion
Tennis legend and new mom Serena Williams may have only recently listed her Bel Air bachelorette pad for sale (Williams is engaged to Reddit and Hipmunk founder Alex Ohanian), but she’s wasting no time on her house hunt. That’s right, in a move seemingly faster than one of her blistering serves on the court, Williams has already scored her new home.
Nov 2, 2017
Here’s How Much It Costs To Be On Fixer Upper
Want to see your home get a full makeover on Fixer Upper? Well, it turns out it’ll cost you a pretty penny. According to TheCheatSheet.com, contestants must be willing to drop a minimum of $30,000 on renovations in order to have the wonders of Waco, Chip and Joanna Gaines, show up on your doorstep ready for a full demolition. All that shiplap is darn expensive, y’all!
Nov 1, 2017
These Swedes Tried Out IKEA-Hacking Each Other (& We Love the Results)
November 1st marks the start of Prettypegs’ PrettyHackathon Auction. Why should this interest you? Well, if you’ve been holding onto those less-than-perfect or basic IKEA pieces in hopes of giving them new, exciting life, we’ve just found the ultimate source for makeover ideas and inspiration.
Nov 1, 2017
Buying A Sofa Online Seemed Risky, But It Was The Best Thing Ever
My family and I live in a remote area—the nearest town has 200 people—so when it came time to replace our falling-apart sofa, our IRL shopping options were very limited unless we wanted to devote our lives to driving to furniture stores. The closest shops were perfectly respectable but lacked a certain flair. It seemed like ordering a sofa online was our only good option, and I’m thrilled it was, because it ended up working out great.
Nov 1, 2017
If You Want to Get Along With Your Roommates, Don’t Do This
The standard solution for dividing up roommate chores is to come up with some sort of rotation schedule, but while that works for some people, sometimes it’s just not the most efficient way (even if it does feel more “fair” because some chores are arguably better than others) to do things.
Nov 1, 2017
Southwest Airlines to Add Live In-Flight Music
Nowadays whenever an airline is making headlines, it’s usually ranges from bad news to very bad news. But Southwest Airlines just released some news that is…good? Bad? It sort of depends on your general outlook; the airline will now offer surprise, pop-up, in-flight concerts.
Nov 1, 2017
70 of the Coziest, Most Inspiring Dining Rooms of All Time
Inspiring rooms your guests will feel like sinking into and staying awhile.
Oct 31, 2017
Before & After: A Large ’80s Bathroom Becomes Two for $4K
Chantel’s bathroom had a dark dungeon of an enclosed shower, dated vanity that lacked storage, and an odd medicine cabinet behind the toilet that protruded from the wall. With 35 years of use into this bathroom, it suffered from a grunge she just couldn’t get rid of — not to mention a slight odor and an odd color scheme that she just couldn’t live with. As you can see above, the 1980s was in full effect. The bathroom was originally one large 16′ x 7′ bathroom.
Oct 31, 2017
This $90 Bedding Set Wants To End the Struggle With Fitted Sheets
Have you ever felt like the exercise of replacing the fitted sheet on your bed should be an Olympic sport? One innovative new company in New York feels your pain and wants to arm you with better equipment: a sheet set that’s more like a layered ski shell than your standard bedding. Stretto is a new zip-on, zip-off fitted sheet design that envelopes your mattress more like a mattress cover — allowing you to just zip off the top part for cleaning and zip a fresh one back on.
Oct 31, 2017
10 Ways to Fall in Love with the Home You Live In Right Now
Most of us have complicated relationships with the places where we live. Unless you have unlimited amounts of money, there’s probably something about your home that you don’t like. Maybe you don’t like the place where you live much at all, and are stuck there because of circumstances or budget.
Oct 30, 2017
Score the Apartment of Your Dreams: Everything You Need to Know About Getting a Guarantor
You may have heard about guarantors during your apartment hunt, but if you’re not familiar with what they actually do—or how you can still find one if you don’t know anyone personally who can be a guarantor (or even land an apartment you love without one!)—we’ve got you covered. Here’s everything you need to know about getting a guarantor. A guarantor is someone who signs your lease with you to guarantee payment in case you can’t pay for some reason.
Oct 30, 2017
Never Overstay Your Welcome Again: This Etiquette Expert Tells You Exactly When to Leave a Dinner Party
As holiday party season quickly approaches, you may find yourself revisiting all of your party habits. Do you show up early, same bottle of wine in tow? Arrive late empty-handed but full of good cheer? Keep a series of excuses in a draft folder on your phone and just sit the whole thing out all together?
Oct 30, 2017
One Reddit User Built This DIY Reclaimed Sofa for $100
One Redditor took the “trash” laying around his home workshop —including two old mattresses he used for cushions — and turned it into this sleek, mid-century inspired, industrial-reclaimed couch. For about $100, not including tools.
Oct 30, 2017
Partner
Before & After: With Only One Little Window, a Basement Rec Room Finds Its Light
Carli, of the blog Fearfully & Wonderfully Made by Carli, hadn’t gotten around to turning her basement into the comfy family room she had imagined when she and her family bought the house. Dark walls and a lack of lighting made for a dim space that was only partially furnished, and almost never used by the family.
Oct 30, 2017
Before and After: A Living Room Stuck in the ’90s Gets a Gorgeously Dark & Modern Makeover
We showed off Timothy’s remodel of his inherited childhood home in a tour recently — it’s beautiful, modern and it perfectly illustrates what can be done with a limited budget. Timothy was kind enough to contribute family photos from the early ’90s showing the front room — or parlor — in its original state, complete with drab carpet and lackluster furniture.
Oct 30, 2017
Over & Out: 10 Home Trends Our Readers Are Ready to Say Goodbye To
To dig into the heads of our most loyal followers, we surveyed readers last month on a bevy of topics. They revealed their favorite cleaning shortcuts, their most hated chore, even the Apartment Therapy advice that has been a game-changer for their home life. We also asked them about trends. We learned that readers are still pretty much into the whole boho look and really love colored doors (and color, in general).
Oct 29, 2017
This Building’s Plant-Covered Balconies Turn Its Facade Into a Checkerboard
Looking away from the eye-catching checkerboard exterior of the latest design from Vo Trong Nghia Architects is virtually impossible. The Vietnamese firm didn’t construct FPT University’s newest administrative building simply to mesmerize the viewer. In addition to commanding attention and admiration, the structure features artistic placement of greenery to play up its exterior and is also a certified passive design to contribute to the campus’s ongoing sustainability efforts.
Oct 28, 2017
This Spooky Staten Island Mansion Is For Sale
Honestly, the closest we want to come to living in a real-life scary house is having a haunted mansion-inspired bathroom. For that reason, we’ll gladly leave this supposedly spooked out Staten Island manse listing to a less skittish bidder. Just in time for Halloween, this nightmare-inducing abode known as the Kreischer Mansion is up for sale for $2 million, plus $1,233 in monthly taxes (additional costs include: nerves of steel and an affinity for ghosts who may or may not be friendly).
Oct 28, 2017
The Uber-Easy “Always and Never” Guide to Making Hardwood Floors Last Forever
This guide takes the guesswork out of caring for your wood floors.
Oct 27, 2017
How to Find First-Time Home Buyer Programs in Your State
If you hope to own a home some day, you may be under the impression that you need to save up for a 20 percent down payment—but the truth is, that’s just a myth. According to data from Better, an online mortgage platform, only 17 percent of homebuyers actually put between 15 and 25 percent down — and more than a quarter (27 percent) of them put down between 5 and 10 percent.
Oct 27, 2017
8 Fall-Inspired Fireplaces Sure to Light Your Decorating Fire
The fireplace might have been an ignored home feature during the warm days of summer, but fall gives us a very good excuse to turn our attention to the mantel, and beyond. Though some heartily embrace fun Halloween decor here, there are other ways to say “fall” besides black-and-orange accents. The easiest? Adding a few small pumpkins and a festive wreath to your current mantel accessories, like the fireplace of Chris from Just a Girl.
Oct 27, 2017
Partner
Yes You Can Change Your Own Bathroom Fixtures, and This Is How
A little while ago, Rebecca came to us for help with a bathroom facelift. We told her one of the quickest and most affordable ways to bring in some major drama is to upgrade her fixtures. She didn’t want to hire a handyman, she told us, and we didn’t want her to. We told her that fixture changes are totally DIY projects, and she should totally DIY it. So we sent her some beautiful new Moen fixtures from The Home Depot. You may have seen her transformation here.
Oct 27, 2017
This Minimal, Modern Brooklyn Rental Will Make You Believe in Beige Again
Interior designer Maggie Burns describes her Williamsburg rental apartment’s style as “Modern, Eclectic, Cozy, Urban, Minimal.” But I would describe it as a beautiful way to keep a home light and airy by using warm, cozy beige and cream tones (rather than a just all-white palette). Beige has (quite rightly) gotten a bad reputation over the years (mostly due to bland, builder’s grade homes).
Oct 26, 2017
Google Mapped 31 Spooky Sites Across The Country
Do you typically reserve your usage of Google Maps for finding places to go and things to do that don’t scare the crap out of you? If that describes you, then a) welcome to the fearful fold, fellow reluctant Halloweeners, and b) you probably won’t be mapping any of the locations on this list of 31 haunted places to visit that the search engine has taken painstaking measures to compile.
Oct 26, 2017
Survey Finds Almost a Third of People Would Live in a Spider Infested House For Free Rent
Just in time to give you the heebie-jeebies before Halloween, a recent survey from Insight Pest Solutions found some… well, surprising information about how far people will go for free rent. Apparently, nearly a third of respondents said that they would be willing to live in a house full of spiders in exchange for a year of free rent or mortgage payments.
Oct 26, 2017
Peek Inside This Converted Caboose Tiny House For Sale
Creating a comfortable residence when you have limited space requires sacrifice, ingenuity – and in the case of this train caboose tiny home known as “Side Trak”– an engine to haul it to your desired living location, along with a railroad track that can support its weighty frame. Currently on the market for $51,500, this uniquely converted home is not as spacious or pricey as this $2.
Oct 26, 2017
How “Gen Z Yellow” Became the Color of a Generation
As a person who writes content for the internet, I am uncomfortably familiar with the lengths people will go to to entice people to click on their content. “X is the new Y” is a well-trod and reliable formula. Because who wouldn’t want to know what’s new? So when I saw the first flurry of articles crowning something called “Gen Z Yellow” the new Millennial Pink, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes a little bit. Another day, another trend piece.
Oct 26, 2017
The Best Ways to Clean an Oven, According to Kitchn Readers
(Image credit: Lauren Volo) From Kitchn → The Best Ways to Clean an Oven, According to Our Readers null
Oct 25, 2017
These 7 Fantasy Bedrooms Are Inspired by Wes Anderson, Peter Jackson and More Star Directors
From the magical realism of Audrey Tatou’s bedroom in Amelie to the rustic cottage minimalism of Meryl Streep’s loft in Mama Mia, we all love to take Pinspiration from our favorite movie bedrooms — and HomeAdvisor just took it a step past paint swatches and accessories with these seven fantasy bedroom visualizations.
Oct 25, 2017
Partner
Before & After: Rebecca’s DIY Bathroom Makeover
Rebecca’s LA apartment already had a dreamy bathroom. Like the rest of her rental, it featured vintage touches and baked-in charm that suited her organic, eclectic style. But its functionality wasn’t so pretty: The bathroom plumbing hadn’t been touched since the ’70s, and the rusty sink faucet required MacGyver-style moves — it once took a friend what felt like 20 minutes just to get the thing on!
Oct 25, 2017
New Mom Serena Williams Lists Her Bel Air Bachelorette Pad for $12M
Serena Williams is having the best year ever: after winning both singles and doubles at Wimbledon in 2016, the tennis star announced that she and soon-to-be husband — Reddit and Hipmunk founder Alexis Ohanian — were about to welcome their first child together. And now that baby is here, Williams’ bachelorette pad in Bel Air’s “poshly rustic” Stone Canyon is on the market for $11.995 million.
Oct 25, 2017
Redditors Are Explaining How to Get Out of Awkward Social Situations & It’s Hilariously Helpful
For an introvert and homebody like me, it takes a lot of energy to get psyched enough to head out to a party. Mainly because I just know I’ll get stuck in a conversation about something I’d rather not talk about, probably with someone I’d rather not talk to. In those situations — where a once-pleasant conversation takes a turn for the worse and I need a fast out — I find it helps to heed the Boy Scout maxim and “be prepared.
Oct 25, 2017
City Life Done Right: How to Attractively Store a Bike Indoors
If your preferred mode of transportation is powered by bike pedals, you might be familiar with the dilemma many bike owners + city dwellers face: Where the heck do you store a bike? Like, in a way that’s not totally revolting to the eyes? These real-life spaces have the right idea. As a rule, your best choice is going to involve some sort of wall or ceiling hanging situation. Why? Because attaching your bike (or bikes) to a solid surface will impose visual order on them.
Oct 25, 2017
There’s More Color in This Modern 360-Square-Foot London Flat Than Most Homes
Name: Sally Averill Location: Notting Hill, London Size: 360 square feet Years lived in: 2 years, owned After putting in a few failed offers on flats in the Notting Hill area of London, Sally discovered this mini and modern home and knew it was love at first sight. “I’ve lived in Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland and Australia — I love the light and knew I wanted somewhere full of light but also bold colours.
Oct 24, 2017
Sure, Candy Corn is Gross, But You’re Still Allowed to Love it
Let’s just get one thing out of the way: yes, I am completely aware that candy corn is just sugary wax. I will readily admit that it’s kind of gross when you think about it too much. I will even admit that it has a weird, fake taste. But guess what? I still love it. And that’s okay. During the rest of the year, I forget that candy corn exists. But every year, come September 1st, it’s like a light switches on and suddenly I’m craving it again.
Oct 24, 2017
Bob Vila Renovated This Brownstone, and You Could Own a Condo In It
This old house on the Upper West Side has been restored to some of its original glory, thanks to OG home renovation show host Bob Vila and his son Chris — who are now selling one of the brownstone’s five condos for $2.5 million. Built in 1909 by John C. Umberfield and designed by architect George Walgrove, the historic townhouse at 21 West 75th Street inspired many episodes of the This Old House show.
Oct 24, 2017
Before & After: This “Tuscan Cottage” Kitchen Is No More
This kitchen has a few issues that my own kitchen has—mismatched countertops, cottage-style details, cabinets stained a color I don’t care for—so I was so curious to see how it was improved. Perhaps there would be a few ideas I could steal! Alas, the makeover is so total, so incredible, that it’s a level of transformation to which I can’t currently aspire. But perhaps you can? Read on for a gorgeous transformation!
Oct 24, 2017
Science Has Figured Out the Best Length Our Vacations Should Be
From Apartment Therapy → Science Has Figured Out Just How Long Our Vacations Should Be null
Oct 24, 2017
Why Shallow Pantry Shelves Are the Best Shelves
(Image credit: Emily Billings) From Kitchn → Why Shallow Pantry Shelves Are the Best Shelves null
Oct 23, 2017
This Incredibly Chic Dorm Room Makeover Proves No Room is Beyond Hope
Are your dorm room days behind you? You can still find a ton of inspiration with this tiny, 180-square-foot, concrete-brick room's stunning transformation.
Oct 23, 2017
A Super Simple Way to Disguise a Window Air Conditioner in the Off Season
While they’re absolute LIFE SAVERS in the summer months (or, if you live in the South like me, 11 months out of the year), A/C window units are pretty much hideous. But, cooler temperatures bring the opportunity to hide or disguise that window A/C during the winter, and it’s a small tweak that will dramatically upgrade a room’s look.
Oct 23, 2017
The Amazon Hangover Cure: Handling the Packaging Monster, Sustainably
We’re online shopping more than ever and, unfortunately, that means bringing unwanted waste into our homes in the form of cardboard boxes, bubble wrap, and other packing supplies. (A problem that gets especially frustrating when I discover the refrigerator-sized box on my porch actually just contains the single pack of face wipes I ordered).
Oct 22, 2017