The Latest
2018

The Latest: 2018

Welcome to the hub for accessing all our latest posts! Easily sort through content by date to quickly find what you’re looking for — you’ll never miss out on the latest updates here.
The Surprising Place You Don’t Even Need to Clean
Keeping the kitchen clean is hard work. Every single day, multiple times a day, you spill food across the floors and countertops. You chuck crusty dishes into the sink. You splatter sauce or grease. And the effort of keeping it all spic and span— all that wiping, sweeping, and scrubbing! — can get totally tedious day in and day out.
Ayn-Monique Klahre
Aug 5, 2018
7 Smart Ways You Can Repurpose a Hanging Closet Organizer to Tidy Up Any Mess
Okay, I admit it: I’d long written off hanging closet organizers as, well, passé. You know the ones—those lightweight foldable things that you used in your college dorm room for storing shoes and sweaters. But truth be told, once you think outside the box, you’ll discover that these inexpensive space savers are actually great for organizing all kinds of things throughout your home. Don’t believe us?
Caroline Biggs
Aug 5, 2018
This Colorful California Condo Has the Coziest Window Seats
Name: Pratiksha Tandon, husband, and 17-month-old daughter Location: Foster City, California Size: 1,350 square feet Years lived in: 1 year, renting I am an architect and an interior designer married to a data scientist currently living in the Bay Area, California. We moved to the Bay Area from Connecticut a year ago to be close to family. The thing that made us fall in love with this house were the big gorgeous windows on all three sides with beautiful views of green outside.
Apartment Therapy Submissions
Aug 4, 2018
Is This the Most Underrated Apartment Amenity in NYC?
You’ve seen those fancy gizmos in suburban sinks—those garbage disposals that suck down each and every coffee ground or lettuce leaf you don’t need, making it next to unnecessary to make countless runs to your building’s refuse bin. But despite all the modern luxuries of living in New York City, garbage disposals are actually pretty rare.
Lambeth Hochwald
Aug 4, 2018
7 Trends That Will Be Huge in 2019—According to the IKEA Catalog
The 2019 IKEA Catalog is the gift that just keeps on giving. Beyond serving up tons of eye candy, painting ideas, and new collections, the IKEA catalog is a great place to go for a sneak peek at the home trends that will take the decor world by storm in the coming year. Ahead: A look at a few of our favorite home trends we spotted throughout the catalog. Get ready to see these everywhere in 2019.
Bridget Mallon
Aug 4, 2018
Here’s How You Can Snag Some Vintage Disneyland Memorabilia
Everyone loves Disney, right? It’s been around since we were all kids and we grew up with the movies and TV shows. There’s no denying that The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King are more classic than the older films, like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. You might think you’re a big Disney fan because you love the movies, but anyone who has been to a Disney park knows that park goers are another level of fans.
Ana Luisa Suarez
Aug 4, 2018
7 Celebs With Bigger Houses Than You Can Even Imagine
Most celebrities live in nice houses (once you’ve watched enough episodes of MTV’s “Cribs,” you know not to say “all”). But there are nice houses… and then there are sprawling estates so palatial that you’d get lost on your way to one of the 15 bathrooms. For these seven big names, home is certainly where the heart—as well as the 17-car garage, screening room, and horse farm—is.
Megan Johnson
Aug 4, 2018
11 Small Space Closet Designs We Can’t Get Enough Of
Having little to no closet space is every renter’s nightmare—if you don’t have a proper place to store your clothes there’s always the fear they will eventually take your bed hostage or end up piled all over the floor. While the possibility of a permanently cluttered bedroom is a real fear, there are plenty of creative and innovative ways that you can carve out extra clothing storage.
Marlen Komar
Aug 3, 2018
A Bustle Fashion & Beauty Editor’s Small NYC Apartment
Name: Olivia Muenter, her boyfriend Jake, and their dog Winnie Location: Upper East Side, NYC Size: Not sure Years lived in: 1.
Elaine Musiwa
Aug 3, 2018
So Your Landlord’s Bad. Does This Mean You Can Break Your Lease?
When living conditions are unacceptable, do you have enough of a legal leg to stand on to break your lease? Turns out it’s all about the fine print.
Lambeth Hochwald
Aug 3, 2018
Partner
Lazy Late-Summer Cleaning to Make Your Place Shine
By August, the sparkle of our spring cleaning efforts can start to fade like even the best spray tan. But the summer is often too hot—and too busy—to tackle a deep clean. Welcome to late-summer cleaning: By looking around your place and identifying a few low-key chores, you can prolong that summer shine without breaking a sweat. Aniko Levai, the blogger behind Place of My Taste, invited us into her home to share some little tasks that won’t ruin the season’s lazy vibes.
Creative Studio
Aug 3, 2018
7 Next-Level Kitchen Organization Tools You’re Not Using Yet
It’s still summer, but make no mistake: fall is right around the corner. Now’s a great time to get your kitchen in shipshape before school starts and life becomes crazy again. Here are seven simple, inexpensive tools and creative methods that’ll make your kitchen easy to use again, and next-level organized. You thought you grabbed a spoon, but it isn’t until you got clear across the room that you realized it was a fork instead.
Dabney Frake
Aug 3, 2018
IKEA’s New Collection Is for People Who Love Their Stuff
Despite the trends toward minimalism in recent years, some of us aren’t meant to be KonMari devotees with clutter-free spaces. IKEA, despite being a bastion of Scandinavian starkness, has been coming around to a maximalist way of life. Their latest collection is definitely for people who love their stuff, and want to show it off.
Tara Bellucci
Aug 2, 2018
10 Beautiful Bar Closets Worth Toasting To
We hate to break it to you, but bar carts are so yesterday. Today, interior decorators and design fans are taking their love of libations to the next level by turning their extra closet space into a wet bar. If you ask us, this is one trend that’s here to stay. Not only will you have plenty of space to store bottles of bubbly, glassware, and other accoutrements, you have the opportunity to turn something as mundane as a hallway closet into a bonafide design moment.
Kelsey Mulvey
Aug 2, 2018
The New, Supremely Satisfying Way I End My Day
Most of us take on a lot of different roles in life. You’ve got to be the housekeeper, bookkeeper, nutritionist, chef, personal shopper, stylist, events coordinator, therapist, bodyguard, CEO and assistant of You, Inc.—all the time, around the clock. Oh, and cheerleader too, if you hope to have the stamina and enthusiasm to do it all over again tomorrow.
Taryn Williford
Aug 2, 2018
Exclusive: Your First Look at the Latest Hearth & Hand with Magnolia Collection at Target
Good news for farmhouse style fans: Chip and Joanna Gaines’ latest collection of Hearth & Hand with Magnolia is hitting Target stores this weekend. We have your exclusive sneak peek at everything new, plus tips from Joanna, below. There are over 50 pieces in the new collection, with prices ranging from $3.99 for a kitchen towel to $55.99 for a pouf, with most under $25.
Tara Bellucci
Aug 2, 2018
Commuter Solutions: The Best Suburbs Close to Los Angeles
With all the Brooklynites flocking to Silver Lake, Echo Park, or Los Feliz, you might be feeling the itch to get out of Central Los Angeles once and for all. Whether you’re looking for lower rents (the average rent across all of Los Angeles’s 272 neighborhoods is $2,251 a month, according to Rentcafé), homeownership opportunities (18 percent of homes in L.A. sell for over a million, according to Curbed), or just more space, there are a glut of nearby options.
Gina Vaynshteyn
Aug 2, 2018
This Harlem Home Has an IKEA Bed Hack—In the Living Room
Name: Habiba Koroma Location: Central Harlem, NYC Size: 630 square feet Years lived in: 4 years, renting A ball pit is not necessarily something you expect in an NYC apartment, but in Habiba’s home, it’s an integral feature of her son’s play area. The ingenious, whimsical kid-friendly space that Habiba, an interior designer, has created for Miles also includes a library, a whiteboard, a hanging yarn installation, and a giant rasterized mural of him.
Chinasa Cooper
Aug 2, 2018
Colorful Vintage Farmhouse Style in Ohio
Name: Chelsea Farmer, husband, son and five rescue animals Location: Owensboro, Kentucky Size: 4366 square feet Years lived in: 3 years, owned Remember the opening scenes of Disney’s “Tangled”? Rapunzel created a whole world in her little space with colors and inspirations. I’d like to think that if she came over, she would instantly understand my decorating perspective.
Apartment Therapy Submissions
Aug 2, 2018
21 Things To Take Out of Your Junk Drawer Right Now
Junk drawers don’t always deserve their bad rap, since they can proffer whatever odds and ends we need at a moment’s notice. But when they’re choked with actual junk? That’s when they fail to achieve their usefulness potential, leaving this humble drawer to be little more than a ticking time bomb that will eventually require a massive and mind-numbing go-through.
Shifrah Combiths
Aug 2, 2018
A 118-Square-Foot DIY Converted Bus Is a Lovely Tiny Home
Name: Kai and Julie Location: Homebase is Berlin, Germany Size: 118 square feet Years lived in: 6 months, owned We found our home in Berlin by accident. We saw the bus standing on the street on our way to grab a coffee and bought it one day later without knowing anything about US school buses. In Germany you rarely find buses like that and the size is perfect for traveling Europe.
Apartment Therapy Submissions
Aug 1, 2018
I Was “Househacking” to Pay My Mortgage—Then Things Fell Apart
Essentially we decided to buy the home, rent out the parts we weren't using, and cover our mortgage with the income. But then it got hard.
Dana McMahan
Aug 1, 2018
Study Says: It’s Easy to Get a Mortgage Again
For many, the path to becoming a first-time homeowner is an uphill climb. Student debt, low wages, high housing prices, and massive down payments can mean putting home-owning dreams on the back burner. But a new report provides a flicker of light for wannabe home buyers: It’s getting pretty easy to land a mortgage again, regardless of these hurdles.
Liz Steelman, with additional reporting by Leeza Dennis
Aug 1, 2018
This Hong Kong Home Is the Best Use of 370 Square Feet
Nelson Chow bought this tiny apartment a year ago and made good use of a small space by building a "treehouse" bed loft.
Viv Yapp
Aug 1, 2018
Bobby Berk From Queer Eye Knows How to Cure Your Design Fatigue
It’s only natural to experience some design fatigue after living in the same space for a few years. You know, that irksome feeling you get when your once perfectly curated home feels stale, old, and uninspired? Bobby Berk, interior designer and co-star of Netflix’s Queer Eye, is the master of transforming a space, and he shared his tips for curing a case of home design-itis. Turns out, hitting the refresh button is easier than you’d think.
Kelsey Mulvey
Aug 1, 2018
Partner
Before and After: A Dilapidated House Gets a Lot of DIY Love
Jenni of I Spy DIY is all about rolling up her sleeves and turning that DIY home into a permanent address—and she’s got a whole house to prove it. When she got a tip on a Milwaukee fixer-upper (emphasis on the “fixer”), Jenni had never bought a house before. And this one had a complicated story: Now owned by the city, its buyer would need to pass a proposal process and demonstrate a commitment to the neighborhood.
Creative Studio
Aug 1, 2018
Partner
How This DIY Blogger Transformed Her Dilapidated Fixer-Upper
When Jenni of I Spy DIY first spied her $24,000, 3-bedroom, 2-bath abode, it was a fixer-upper with a lot of, um, potential.
Creative Studio
Aug 1, 2018
Partner
Before & After: Yes, Even This Room Deserves a Little Color
In fact, it's a really good one for taking risks.
Creative Studio
Aug 1, 2018
Before and After: A Bus Turned Incredible Tiny House
Kai and Julie are the kind of adventurous couple to take a risk. While walking to get coffee in their Berlin neighborhood, they came across this bus for sale—and bought it the next day. According to Kai, these sorts of buses aren’t commonly found in their area. Not to mention the couple didn’t know anything about converting a bus when they made the purchase.
Adrienne Breaux
Aug 1, 2018
A Fabulous Forever Home Is Full of Colorful Accents
Name: Clayton Brant, husband Keith and two little boys, Fischer and Ford Location: Carlisle, Pennsylvania Size: 2022 square feet Years lived in: 1 year, owned We found a four-acre property right outside of town with beautiful trees in a very quiet neighborhood, and built a house on a very strict budget. We were committed to keeping our footprint relatively small (around 2,000 square feet), so we designed the interior of the house to use space very efficiently and functionally.
Adrienne Breaux
Jul 31, 2018
5 Side Table and Lamp Pairings to Try in Your Home
The right accessories can really make or break your living room. Sure, the big ticket items—your sofa, rug, chairs, etc—are what set the tone in the space, but it’s the littler pieces that really make it feel like you. Your side table and its accompanying lamp may not feel like the centerpiece of the room, but that doesn’t mean you should sideline this important design aspect.
Bridget Mallon
Jul 31, 2018
Zillow Now Lets You Apply For Apartments and Pay Your Rent
Applying for an apartment is hard. First you have to find one that’s moderately nice and within your price range, and then you have to get all of your documents together really, really fast. This would be easy if you were organized and had time set away to sort through your papers. But this is life and we’re not as organized as we’d like to be; it’s likely that you have a job and thus have limited time to collect your bank statements from the last six months.
Liz Steelman
Jul 31, 2018
An Architect Turned a Photography Studio from the ’60s into a One-of-a-Kind Home
Name: Gianni Ruggiero, his wife Valeria Dubin, and their two daughters Olivia and Mila Location: Barcelona — Spain Size: 2,153 square feet Years lived in: 8 years, renting This big open Barcelona loft has seen a lot over its lifetime. In the 1960s, it was a photography studio, welcoming lots of models and colorful characters into its airy interior. When that photographer retired, he moved out and let his son rent the place: Gianni, an architect who appreciates simplicity in things.
Lula Poggi
Jul 31, 2018
Before & After: Look What $22 Worth of Contact Paper Can Do in a Bathroom
You’re looking at a pretty standard-fare bathroom, one part of a mostly unrenovated 1950s house where Andrea lives with her family. Since she’s a renter, she decided to make one big temporary change—something warm and fun—that works with the pink tile in the bathroom shower. I think we can all agree this is very fun, and very bold.
Dabney Frake
Jul 31, 2018
Partner
4 Common Home Renovations and How Much They’ll Cost
There are two parts to every home renovation: There’s the fun part, where showroom salespeople treat you like royalty and Pinterest becomes your part-time job. But there’s also the practical part, which is mostly consumed with creating a budget and paying the bills. As much as we love a mood board, today we’re going to look at determining a project’s budget and financing.
Creative Studio
Jul 31, 2018
Smart & Stylish Ideas for Dividing a Bed Area in a Studio
Living in just one room doesn’t have to mean seeing your bedroom from the front door. These smart studio dwellers created cozy bedroom areas despite the fact that their homes don’t have walls. Elaine Burns had the unique idea for her studio apartment to create a plantation shutter faux wall to hide the bed and separate it from the entryway. She reached out to American Blinds to have the wall custom built.
Adrienne Breaux
Jul 31, 2018
Peek Inside This Out-of-this-World Sculpture House for Sale
Greetings, Earthlings: today’s real estate gem is an out of this world “spaceship” house. And this might not even be the first time you’ve laid eyes on this otherworldly dwelling. That’s right, we featured the 1969 sculpted house in La Selva Beach, California as a House Tour back in 2016. Now, it’s currently listed with Coldwell Banker for $1.4 million.
Tara Bellucci
Jul 30, 2018
The 8 Dreamiest Airstreams and Campers on Airbnb
If you weren’t already hip to Airstream rentals, now’s the time to smarten up. Sort of similar to glamping—but indoors—Airstream trailers and campers are essentially mobile mini-homes you can park (and rent) in just about any location (the desert, the beach, and so on). It’s no surprise that Airbnb is brimming with cool Airstream rentals in dreamy destinations all over the globe.
Caroline Biggs
Jul 30, 2018
This Salt Lake City Bungalow Is Full of Modern Touches
The Yale Avenue home might be simple from the outside, but the interior is chock-full of impressive updates. 118 Yale Avenue Located in Salt Lake City, Utah $279,000 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom To be perfectly honest, this house on Yale Avenue isn’t the most glamorous from the outside. The 1925 bungalow is cute enough—with a solid brick exterior and a pretty porch—but it’s the inside that truly impresses.
Anne Roderique-Jones
Jul 30, 2018
The $7 Find Everyone Should Have in Their Shower
Soap scum and water marks are ubiquitous in most showers and baths. So often we treat them as an inevitable nuisance that is hidden from most eyes and that we address when we deep clean the bathroom, have guests coming, or just can’t take it anymore. And then we look for quick fixes and hacks like the baggie method to tackle the clinging grime (nothing wrong with that!).
Shifrah Combiths
Jul 30, 2018
A Tiny Gutted RV Is Now a Fun Family Home for 4
Name: Annie Robertson, husband, two sons (ages 4 and 7) Location: Portland, Oregon Size: 250 square feet Years lived in: 2 months, owned We are in the planning and permitting process of building a house from scratch, and our family faced an unexpected job loss. Rather than give up our lot and move out of inner Portland, where housing costs are ever-rising and we would be hard pressed to get into again, we decided to remodel a two-bedroom fifth wheel trailer! We are stationary on our lot.
Apartment Therapy Submissions
Jul 30, 2018
Partner
5 Renovations to Consider Taking On Right Now
Almost every homeowner has a renovation project in mind, but the big question is: When should I do it? Sometimes, it makes sense to save up and put it off. But in certain cases, it would behoove you to do it sooner. These are the medium and big-ticket projects that, yes, will add value when it’s time to resell, but are also improvements you want to enjoy for yourself.
Tim Minerd
Jul 30, 2018
This Might Be the Most Universal Storage Hack Ever
One of the greatest gifts the internet ever gave us was fellowship. Your fingertips impulsively tap out a random thought, hit send, and seconds later the entirety of Twitter is liking it and retweeting it in solidarity. Like they’re saying through emoji hearts I know the feeling, too.
Taryn Williford
Jul 30, 2018
The 2019 IKEA Catalog Is Here—These Are Our Favorite Products
The past seven days of my life have been shrouded in secrecy—like NDA-level secrecy—but I can finally open up and shout the big news from the rooftops (well, from Apartment Therapy, at least). The 2019 IKEA Catalog is officially here, and it’s a good one! Especially considering it’s the Swedish design giant’s 75th anniversary year.
Bridget Mallon
Jul 30, 2018
This Hairdresser’s Home Is a Playground of Patterns
Name: Erin Love, husband, two daughters, and two dogs Location: Russiaville, Indiana Size: 2,300 square feet Years lived in: 2 years, owned Our home is set back on a semi-wooded lot in the country. I would describe it as a cozy cottage. It was built in 1977 and has so many cool “older” quirks that won me over instantly. I am drawn to earth-toned colors and pretty textures and patterns.
Apartment Therapy Submissions
Jul 29, 2018
5 Towns That Are Hidden Architectural Gems
The architecture of a city so often becomes an integral part of its branding and identity. The distinguishing image of Paris is the Eiffel Tower and Haussmann apartments. San Francisco has the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, of course. And New York has lofts, brownstones, impressive skyscrapers like the Empire State Building, and quirky modern residences designed by big names like Zaha Hadid and Bjarke Ingels.
Keshia Badalge
Jul 29, 2018
This 130-Year-Old Dutch Home’s Reno Is Industrial Boho Chic
Name: Marieke Rijksen, husband and two children (11 and 6) Location: Haarlem, The Netherlands Size: 2,400 square feet Years lived in: 4 months, owned Our home was built about 130 years ago on the canals of Haarlem. It features gorgeous ornate original high ceilings and many of the historical features have been preserved. When we bought it late 2017, it needed a bit of love and some extra space. The kitchen was tiny and the second floor was not very practical with a pitched roof.
Apartment Therapy Submissions
Jul 28, 2018
Jojo Fletcher’s First Apartment Was a Pizza Lover’s Dream Come True
Welcome to My First Apartment! Whether it’s your first studio, a four-bedroom deep in the city shared with a handful of roommates, or even an entire house (lucky you!), there’s something special about moving into the first place that’s truly your own. In this series, we’ll showcase actors, artists, entrepreneurs, and beyond—asking them to revisit that oh-so-sweet nostalgia of newly-found freedom.
Liz Steelman
Jul 28, 2018