The Latest: Aug 11, 2026

When Sophie Simmons moved into her 331-square-foot New York apartment, she was living alone and planned on using the railroad apartment’s awkward middle room as her closet and living space for her “single girl setup.”“The room started as a small shoebox with a closet spanning one entire wall, and a bench seat on the other,” Sophie explains. The whole room revolved around her French Louis XVI-style John Richard coffee table that she had bought secondhand for $50.

It seems as if more and more people are leaning into darker kitchen cabinets, whether it’s through deeper wood tones or striking paint colors. But sometimes your first try at the dramatic look just isn’t, well, dramatic enough — something Mara Greenwald learned the hard way when she was reimagining the kitchen in her home.Mara’s original kitchen had a 2000s aesthetic, and the wood cabinets contributed to that overall vibe.