6 Ways to Use the “Little Walls” in Your Home
Do you have a little wall in your home? Usually two or three feet wide, they’re often the transition space between two rooms and they’re often not used for much of anything. Here are six examples of smart and stylish ways to use them in your home to add more function and more beauty. A small wall becomes a spot to store mail and papers, display cards, and hold other accessories.
Oct 4, 2023
12 Clever Blanket Storage Ideas to Steal
Organize & Clean
They’ll keep your home looking neat and tidy.
Oct 4, 2023
Costco Has a “Friends” Advent Calendar for Half Off Right Now
Could this BE any more exciting?
Oct 4, 2023
7 Simple Ways to Improve the Time You Spend at Home
How do you spend your time at home? Is it spent wisely? Is it enjoyable? No matter the way it looks — whether it’s close to your dream home or far from it — everyone can agree that actively finding pleasure in your home is vital to enjoying the rest of your life. So how can you increase your enjoyment of your home? Here are seven ideas. 1. Open your home to the outdoors more A part of feeling out of whack is not feeling connected to nature and the changing of the seasons.
Oct 4, 2023
A Modern Barcelona Studio Apartment Has the Sexiest Archway
Tours
Tour a former artist’s studio transformed into a small but stylish home for digital artist & creative director Pol Solà.
Oct 4, 2023
The Adorable IKEA Kids’ Toy You’ll Want to Steal for Your Dog
Dog- and kid-approved!
Oct 4, 2023
My Filipina Grandma Always Styled Spaces with This Light-Catching Material
STYLE
Capiz shell is the worldly, versatile material your home needs.
Oct 4, 2023
Mystic Chic: Decorations & Favors
A mystical theme calls to mind fortune tellers on a boardwalk, tarot readings, and the spectacle of discovery. For the party decorations, we used deep jewel tones that are colorful and rich, with yards of fabric in competing patterns. → The Kitchn threw a Halloween Party, too. Check it out: A Spooky Colorful Halloween Party Just like rooms, parties need a large focal point – a statement piece that makes a huge impact.
Oct 4, 2023
Fortune Finding Fun: Party Games & Activities
Maxwell and Ursula planned a series of activities for their recent Halloween party, and both kids and adults joined in on the fun. They included a visit from a real fortune teller (at least the kids thought so), a simple craft, and a twist on a classic Halloween game. → The Kitchn threw a Halloween Party, too. Check it out: A Spooky Colorful Halloween Party Maxwell enlisted a friend to the play the part of a fortune teller or palm reader.
Oct 4, 2023
Cool It: Amazon’s Having a Sale on the Nest Thermostat
Just in time for Earth Day (and before another summer of expensive AC bills), Amazon is offering up the Nest programmable thermostat for a (rare!) discount. Nest Thermostat on Amazon, $249 now $219 While there’s quite a few other learning thermostats on the market that are aiming to close the gap, Nest was the first, and is still considered the best amongst its competition (see: Wirecutter and CNET). And now it’s on Amazon for a $30 discount.
Oct 4, 2023
LEGO’s Tranquil Garden Set Is $20 Off at Costco Right Now
Attention, LEGO fans: Don’t underestimate Costco as a great source for discounted, popular sets.
Oct 4, 2023
20 Last-Minute Halloween Costume Ideas That Take Barely Any Effort
You probably have these costume supplies already.
Oct 4, 2023
Want to Get More Design Done? Follow This Simple Philosophy
Do you dream of adding daring design details big and small to your home; the kind of ideas that will transform your space into a place you truly love? But does it seem like you never get any design actually done? Well, then consider this idea. It’s a simple, smart philosophy for design and life, and comes from the advice shared in a recent house tour. Robin writes: “Sometimes you just have to start a project!
Oct 4, 2023
A Real Estate Agent's Ingenious Tip for Making Outdated Cabinets Look Sleek
Real Estate
It’s not what you think.
Oct 4, 2023
An Industrial Rental Boasts 13-Foot Ceilings and 9-Foot-Tall Windows
Tours
Tyler Dubreuil believes good design doesn't have to be expensive: Each furniture piece was no more than $200 — except for the sofa, which was bought at half price!
Oct 4, 2023
This Simple Hack Gets Rid of Spiders from Windows Once and for All
Organize & Clean
Keep spiders (and their webs) away for good.
Oct 4, 2023
A House We Loved and Lost: The Story of My Grandparents’ San Francisco Home
Our homes are the biggest settings in the stories of our lives. The walls hold so much more than the things we’ve curated or the edited details of what we choose to live with or without; they hold the memories of all the small moments that make up our days and the nostalgia of times — bringing home babies, blowing out birthday candles, the most intimate conversations, the tears, the laughter — that live in our memories for our lifetimes.
Oct 4, 2023
Trust Your Taste: Our Ultimate Find-Your-Style Quiz
Learning your own taste can be a lifelong journey. Wherever you are on your path, take our quiz as a way to clarify your current perfect style profile. Here’s what to do: turn off your brain, scroll through these slides and pick the very first room that catches your eye. Don’t try to figure anything out, just go with your gut and record your answers.
Oct 4, 2023
A Quartet of Little Paris Apartments that Prove that Less is More
Since Europeans have mastered the art of living small and Parisians are some of the most stylish people in the world, it stands to reason that Paris would be a bountiful source for small space inspiration. And it is. Hardly a week goes by where I don’t find another impossibly beautiful tiny space, chock full of clever and elegant solutions for living well with less. Here are four of my favorites. Want to see more of these spaces? Click the links in the descriptions!
Oct 4, 2023
A Place for Everything: How To Use Labels to Help KonMari Your Home
Having a place for everything, every single thing, is not a new idea. But implementing this concept, which is the cornerstone of the hugely popular KonMari method and the fundamental step in having a house that will stay in order, is a major undertaking. Labeling helps me designate a place for each thing — and make sure everything gets back to its place.
Oct 4, 2023
10 Things You Didn’t Know You Needed in Your Dream Backyard
A backyard is like a blank slate: a little tiny plot of land all your own, to deal with however you please (with perhaps a little input from your homeowners’ association). What will you do with your own little estate? Here are 10 ways to make the very most of your backyard — innovative (and maybe even a little crazy) features you never knew you needed. 1. A swimming pool that looks like a pond. → Learn more about natural pools here. 2.
Oct 4, 2023
Just Starting Out? 5 Strategies for Outfitting Your First Apartment
Homes are made up of so many pieces from furniture basics to personal touches so how do you make a place feel like home when you’re starting from scratch and with little scratch to spend? Here are five strategies to help furnish your home when you’re just starting out… You’ll be surprised what people will offer you. It may not be just your style, but it can be a placeholder until you can afford something better.
Oct 4, 2023
This Weekend: Save Money, Have Fun & Learn How to Make Something From Scratch
This will be one of our broadest Weekend Projects yet (and therefore will require a little brainstorming on your part before you can start) but it’s an important idea to tackle. Not only is this type of project fun (and the perfect thing to do on a particularly hot or rainy summer day), you can (perhaps most importantly) save money — for summer plans or things you want to add to home.
Oct 4, 2023
Time Wasters to Eliminate from Your Life TODAY
Never feel like you have enough time? You can reclaim lost minutes throughout the day that could add up to a lot more “me” time in your evenings by cutting out these time wasters that could be lurking in your home. How many hours of your life have you spent searching for your keys? Your wallet? Your purse? Your homework? Your ______?
Oct 4, 2023
DIY Furniture for Small Spaces That’s Flexible & Functional
We love to write about clever, multitasking furniture designs for small spaces, but the downside to a lot of these pieces is that they come with hefty price tags. If, like a lot of people, you’re living in a small space and have a similarly small budget, the good news is that there are a lot of DIYs out there for hardworking, flexible furniture that you can make yourself. Here are 11 of our favorites. Above, a custom table created for this tiny beach house seen at VT Wonen.
Oct 4, 2023
Are Your Neighbors Locking Their Doors? This Survey Tells All
Growing up in a city, everyone I knew locked their door. Granted, we all hid keys in easy to find places like the doormat right in front of the locked door, but we locked them nevertheless. Turns out, not every region of the country locks their doors equally. A new survey from Safehome.org looks at the door locking habits of folks across the country. While they have a reputation for being easy-going and welcoming, turns out Southerners draw the line at letting you just waltz on into their homes.
Oct 4, 2023
How To Create Your Own (Quick but Powerful!) Style Profile
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.
Oct 3, 2023
A Financial Planner’s Advice on What NOT to Do in Your 20s
Your twenties can be a challenging time when it comes to your finances—you’re young, you’re free, and you’re just starting out in your career, but you’re also likely in debt and still learning about how to successfully plan your spending and saving for next month, let alone ten years down the road (and everything in between).
Oct 3, 2023
Design Lessons: How To Spot (& Fix!) an Off Balance Room
Balance is a tricky beast when it comes to interior design. Some people love perfectly symmetrical spaces, and others are utterly bored by them. Wherever you fall, you’ve got to admit that a balanced space — in terms of color, visual weight, pattern and layout — is perfectly pleasing to the eye. But knowing how to get there takes trial and error. For some examples, I’ve rounded up a few spaces that with a tweak or two, could be perfectly in balance.
Oct 3, 2023
Our Best Thrifting Tips for National Thrift Shop Day
It’s hard to believe that it’s already been six years since Macklemore and Ryan Lewis captured the zeitgeist of mainstream tag-popping and bin-scouring with their runaway hit song, Thrift Shop. But while hippies and hipsters come and go, the joy of thrift shopping and treasure hunting is forever—so I rounded up some of my favorite tips for National Thrift Shopping Day, culled from my decade of prior experience as the editor of budget living magazine Shoestring.
Oct 3, 2023
To Be Is To Do: 10 of Our Favorite Posts for Mindful Living
In my own life, it’s all the little choices I make each day—from how much sleep I get to how I’ve handled stress to personal interactions—that shape the feeling I have about my day when I turn out the lights each night.
Oct 3, 2023
Jet’s Gift Calculator Tells You How Much Your Relationships Are Worth
How do you decide how much to spend on gifts for friends and family during the holidays? Online retailer Jet launched a “careculator” to determine what each relationship is worth. The Careculator suggests how much you should spend on your coworker, your cousin, or your bestie based on how much they interact with your posts on Facebook.
Oct 3, 2023
A Lord of The Rings Meets The Flintstones Home is on the Market
A truly unique property is on the market just outside of Eugene, Oregon. A little bit Shire, a little bit Bedrock, the home is an otherworldly, one of a kind spot. The property, built in 1988, sits on just under an acre of land and consists of eight rooms with concrete art, skylights, and up-cycled wood. It needs a lot of work, but for the right buyer, could be a lot of fun— especially since it’s priced under $200,000.
Oct 3, 2023
This Week: The Best Furniture Finds Under $50
There are a handful of things for your home you should not skimp on if you can help it. For furnishings you put through the wringer on a daily basis (like your sofa, dresser or mattress), buy the best quality you can afford. But for smaller accents (which are great for changing up the look of your home when you’re in need of a refresh) I personally think it’s okay to skimp.
Oct 3, 2023
Editing Your Home to Happiness: Our Best Decluttering Strategies
Clutter, probably more than cleanliness, affects our sense of well-being at home. And in a place where we should feel relaxed, refreshed, and most like ourselves, it’s imperative to shed anything that makes us feel otherwise. Here are our top tips for sorting through and shedding the clutter energy-zappers that drag us down. Cheers to a clutter-less fresh start! Decluttering begets decluttering.
Oct 3, 2023
50+ Ways to Learn, Grow and Find Happiness at Work
“Work” can look like many different things, and a typical 9-to-5 commuter job is only one of them. You might be a freelancer, or a graveyard-shift-er, or a part-time-er, or somebody who spends their days taking care of their family. All that matters is that you’re happy with where you’re at. When your life is in perfect balance, work is fun and motivating. Work takes just the right amount of time in your day (or week or year or life).
Oct 3, 2023
This Weighted Blanket Could Help Relax You To Sleep
If you’re one of the 40 million people that suffer from prolonged anxiety (or one of the millions more that have trouble getting to sleep), the answer to sweet, sweet slumber might just be hiding right in this blanket. Gravity is a weighted blanket that’s meant to provide soothing deep pressure across your whole body to help relax you to sleep. And good news: It might actually work.
Oct 3, 2023
Trulia’s New Property Listings for Pets: The Top 10 Places for Pets in the US
Why should humans be the only species with control over a dog’s domain? Trulia announced this week that they’ve developed sales and rental “pawperty” listings that divulge the details that pets really care about when finding a furever home.
Oct 3, 2023
An IKEA HEMNES Gets the Look of Expensive Bone Inlay for Just $43
HOME PROJECTS
This once-plain shoe cabinet is now a stunning entryway statement piece.
Oct 3, 2023
Partner
How to Fall in Love with Your Rental
There’s a temptation not get too attached to your rental. Just keep things casual for now, you think, because who knows where you’ll be in one, three, five years? Why invest in something if you don’t know it will last? Because this is where you are right now and you deserve to enjoy your life right now; that’s why.
Oct 3, 2023
The 4 Big Reasons Renters Aren’t Buying Homes
More than a third of American households are renting their homes — thought not all of them want to be.
Oct 3, 2023
3 Things Every Self-Employed, Aspiring Homebuyer Needs to Do
Buying a home when you’re self-employed is notoriously tricky. After all, an up-and-down income cycle is—understandably—less appealing to mortgage companies than a dependable paycheck. That said, it’s far from impossible. Freelancers and small business owners alike can absolutely be approved to buy the home of their dreams. It just takes a little extra prep work. If you’re thinking about entering the real estate market while still being your own boss, listen up.
Oct 3, 2023
This Weekend: Roll Up Your Sleeves, Because It’s Time For Some Major Elbow Grease
This weekend, we’re focusing on one of those seemingly minor details that actually makes a huge impact in your home. You might not be able to put a finger on it, but it means the difference between a space that feels distinctly dingy versus one that totally sparkles. All during October, we’re tackling your home’s “scariest” tasks — the dirtiest, foulest, most dreaded jobs on your to-do list.
Oct 3, 2023
“Boo Baskets” Are the Halloween Tradition You Need to Start This Year
HOME PROJECTS
If you’re looking for fresh ways to get into the Halloween, ahem, spirit, this is for you.
Oct 3, 2023
Everything You Need to Know about Target’s New Home Brand, Project 62
Back in July, Target announced that they’re introducing a new home line this fall called Project 62. This week, the retailer released the look book for the new brand, and we are seriously swooning over its mid-century vibes. We’re giving you a closer look at your new favorite temptation at the bullseye, below. Project 62 takes its name from the year 1962—when modernist design took over homes across the country (it also happens to be the year Target was born in Minnesota).
Oct 3, 2023
You’re Looking for Your Dream Apartment All Wrong—Here’s Why
We all know someone with an objectively amazing apartment. It’s light and airy, remarkably spacious for its size, in a great location, and somehow costs less than your dark, cramped, inconvenient shoebox. Though you may think your friend is just incredible lucky at real estate, here’s the hard truth: Chances are, they just did a better job during the apartment search than you did.
Oct 3, 2023
The Things No One Tells You About Selling Your House
Buying a home is a momentous time in one’s life and, accordingly, congratulatory pats on the back abound — as does unsolicited advice. Everyone has insight about everything from how to pick the perfect house for you to saving money on home repairs. However, there’s not nearly as much fanfare when it comes time to sell your house.
Oct 3, 2023