The Latest: May 2019

When Matt and Amanda first looked at this house, they were able to instantly imagine fixing up all of the rooms — except for the kitchen. It was a dark, dated galley kitchen with a wall smack dab in the middle. Matt writes: “We went back to look at it one last time and I just sat there trying to visualize what the solution could be. When I realized it could be done, I did my best to explain the mess in my head to Amanda and we went for it!

Matt and Amanda knew they wanted to strip this entire bathroom down and create something new that was light and airy — that felt good to be in. As Matt writes: “The two rooms of the house that we had done by contractors were the kitchen and the bathroom. I was too afraid to deal with that much tile and plumbing. We had them gut everything. …We wanted a classic subway or old Italian restaurant vibe in here for some reason.

At first glance, this space above the bathroom in Brett’s apartment looked like an unfortunate eye sore. But Brett saw this area as more than wasted space. He had a vision, and very specific goals for the small space. And his DIY solution is both attractive and functional. Using 1/2 inch PVC piping from Home Depot and some standard wooden slats, Brett transformed this otherwise useless space into his bedroom!

When Tim Sheehan bought an 1860s Greek Revival home that had been abandoned for six years, the kitchen was crammed into a small room at the end of a hallway. The house was used as a rectory for 80 years, so a full kitchen wasn’t necessary when the home was first constructed. So Tim gutted the back hallway, knocked down a wall that once enclosed the tiny, impractical kitchen and removed sheet rock and a drop ceiling to reveal wood walls painted white.

When Tim purchased his house in 2010, it had been abandoned since 2004, a year before Hurricane Katrina. The windows were left open and the walls were covered with mold. The property was what Tim describes as “marginally livable,” and didn’t even meet the requirements for financing. He would have to pay out of pocket to get a hot water heater installed, the electricity turned on, and have the mold re-mediated in order to secure a mortgage.

Chances are good that you’ve seen rubber flooring in a school, or a commercial building, or at your gym, but we’re here to make the case for why you should consider it as a choice for your home, too. We’ve rounded up plenty of inspiring photos of rubber floors in the home, along with seven things you might not have known about this incredibly durable, hardwearing material. 5. It doesn’t have to have that bumpy texture.

For years, well-intentioned renovators have been painting over wood trim of all kinds. White trim was good, or ever colored trim or even black. But wood trim, of the kind found in so many beautiful old houses, was deemed heavy, old-fashioned. Well, I’m happy to report that the pendulum seems to be swinging back in the other direction. So before you paint over that woodwork, take a look at these beautiful examples of wood trim done right.

There’s nothing like photos to give your home a warm, personal feel, and remind you of the people and the memories most important to you. That’s why we’ve rounded up these twelves ideas for creating photo collages at home. They’re all easy and affordable ways to display (lots and lots of) pictures with style. Love this project, but prefer to buy your own instead?

When Chris and Amber renovated their Brooklyn apartment, transforming their kitchen and adding an extra bedroom for their son, they hadn’t originally planned on redoing their bathroom, too. Then halfway through the remodeling process, they realized that they never, ever wanted to do another remodel — and that if they were going to re-do the bathroom, it was now or never. The original bathroom was, in Chris’ words, “tired and shabby.

Chris and Amber had a problem common to a lot of New York City homeowners: a family that kept growing, and an apartment that stubbornly remained the same size. After the birth of their first son they decided to look for a two-bedroom apartment, but were unable to find anything acceptable in their price range. When the impending arrival of a second baby really raised the stakes, they decided that maybe the solution was to renovate the apartment they already had.

First of all, shout out to Tanya’s mom for choosing kitchen elements way back in the ’80s that wouldn’t look totally insane to our modern eyes. As smart as her choices were, time waits for no man and since the kitchen was showing its age, Tanya figured she would jump in and help her mom update her space.

April’s guest bathroom wasn’t making a great impression, so she started again from down-to-the-studs scratch. With some seriously impressive DIY skills the final product is a serene and welcoming space. From April: Our hall bath is the bathroom in the house that all of our guests use, whether they be overnight or just dinner guests. The room needed a major upgrade. We completely gutted the space to start with – down to the studs and slab.

Like the ongoing pumpkin spice latte craze, the ugly sweater trend isn’t going anywhere. Chances are, you will get invited to an ironic Christmas sweater party, and you will be socially shamed if you don’t wear something appropriately ugly. If the thought of spending money on an item you’ll only wear once makes your wallet cry, here are 13 DIY ways to ugly-up an inexpensive thrift store sweater. Leave it to Studio DIY to craft the cutest ugly sweater ever.

It’s a fact of life that things tend to get dry and crackly in the winter: your skin, your lips, even your wooden furniture. And if you think your apartment feels like a dry, cold, relatively inhospitable place at this time of year, chances are your furniture agrees.

If you think you can’t fit Christmas decorations into your small space—we’re here to show you that you absolutely can. To prove it, we transformed designer Akhira Ismail’s 288-square-foot Brooklyn apartment into a Scandinavian-inspired winter wonderland using ten design tricks for small spaces. Yes, you can have a merry little Christmas, even in the tiniest of apartments. 1. Style a holiday shelfie.

After fifteen years of living in their one-bedroom Brooklyn apartment, Deniz and Ramon had plenty of ideas for upgrades they could make to the place. So when they finally embarked on their long dreamed-of renovation, the result was some very dramatic changes indeed. Previously, the apartment, while quite spacious at 1,000 square feet, was broken up into small, choppy spaces. The kitchen, separated from the living and dining areas, had no natural light at all.

You may remember Nisha and Tim Stevens’ house in South East London. Having spent most of their budget buying the house, Nisha and Tim had to be creative when it came to decorating. Luckily the couple is pretty handy and they saved a lot of money by renovating most of their old kitchen themselves. Nisha’s Advice: Paint an ugly kitchen worktop with an oil based blackboard paint. Ours was a not-very-nice wood-look laminate which we sanded back and then painted.

Kitchens are the heart of the home, and islands provide kitchens with their heart: a place to gather, additional seating, more counter space, extra storage, and so much more. This collection of islands range from the ubiquitous IKEA STENSORP to DIY pipe and scrapwood versions to luxurious custom models with marble tops and wine fridges — but they all are essential to the function and life of their kitchens. Explore ideas to find an island that speaks to you: Do you have a kitchen island?

Homebuying in New York is one of those things that doesn’t always turn out like you planned. Jamie and Chad had their hearts set on buying a brownstone in Brooklyn, but when it turned out that everyone else had their hearts set on this as well, they wound up with an apartment in Ridgewood, Queens with plenty of space, its own backyard, and a bathroom that was well, interesting.

The Apartment Therapy Sofa Squad shopping guide has me dreaming about green velvet chesterfields and tailored mid-century modern sofas—prompting me to give my basic white IKEA couch some serious side-eye. Before tossing any couches to the curb, I set out to find affordable DIY fixes. As it turns out, even if you’re not ready to make the splurge on a brand new sofa, there are several inexpensive solutions that allow your good taste and your wallet to compromise.

Apartment Therapy just wrapped up a makeover of a non-profit café called First Slice in Chicago, giving it its first facelift since opening in 2009. We are so happy that that we were able to give a little design boost to such a hardworking organization – they run the café to help support their outreach programs which feed 600 homeless and hungry Chicagoans each week.

There’s no question, many people are beginning to rethink their consumption, and have been transitioning to more natural ingredients when it comes to food, skincare, and even medicine. If you’ve ever been curious about some of the positive not-so-known properties of some of these common natural items, then you’ve come to the right place. We’ve put together a little 101 to get you started on your path to a more natural and holistic lifestyle in the new year.