The Latest

After about a decade with a builder grade bathroom that was fine but not really his style, Jonathan made some gorgeous changes to his space. Turns out patience truly is a virtue, at least when it comes to glamorous bathroom renovations. From Jonathan: I bought my house nine years ago, new, and my master bathroom was complete with builder grade fixtures, lighting, brown walls, brown ceiling and travertine tile, as far as the eye could see.

Aubrey brings up the very important (and totally technical) design concept of finding the right vibes in your space. Sure, you could make some smart upgrades that would save on labor and make the space more aesthetically pleasing, but sometimes when the space just isn’t right you have to commit to a big ol’ project. From Aubrey: I would love to share my story of our newly remodeled kitchen.

We don’t all have a mudroom in our home. We don’t even all have an entryway. But nearly all of us have at least one hallway. If you’re looking for stylish and functional design ideas for whatever kind of narrow space you’re working with, find inspiration from this dreamy mudroom makeover.

One of my absolute favorite elements of our living room design is the IKEA Billy bookcase hack that TJ Breil of Slab Woodworking rescued. I say rescued because we attempted to create a hack of our own, using the bookcases you see here and a shelving unit, to fake the look of built ins. We got as far as putting it all together but the process of making the unit look “built in” was a dud.

Road tripping across the country sounds dreamy enough, but Becka’s gorgeously renovated camper makes the whole excursion so glamorous! From Becka: My husband and I decided that we wanted to invest in memories with our son before he started school so we purchased an older, used 5th wheel RV and gave it a big makeover to take on a cross country trip this summer (that we are currently on!) I want to inspire people to think outside of the box and see the potential in the older RV’s.

When Alexia purchased her first house, she got all of the freedom and joy that come with homeownership as well as some very ’80s bathroom tile. With a trip to IKEA, some lucky finds and some smartly shopped tile, Alexia was able to create a soothing space on a budget. From Alexia: My house is from the early 1980s, the bathroom was carpeted when I moved in (I stripped and sanded) and the ‘before’ tiles were the original builders décor.

I was driving by the intersection of 16th and South Van Ness in San Francisco one day when I spotted what looked like an Eero Saarinen side chair (with metal legs) in a pile of discarded furniture. I turned my car around to take a closer look, and turns out it IS an authentic Knoll Saarinen side chair(!!!). The upholstery was in poor condition with rips and stains, but other than that, the chair looked like it’s in a solid condition.

We’re all about the goings-on inside of your closet, but sometimes the outside needs a little love and attention. Anne hits all of the functionality & beauty buttons with her new closet. She not only had the closet fixed to fit the space and her needs, she added some gorgeous color and pattern to her spare room. From Anne: My old closets had ugly doors, and too much space behind walls. I wanted to open up the access and have sliding doors.

Aniko’s living room certainly wasn’t awful, but it didn’t feel like her. With a little white paint, some stylish DIY action and an excellent pink rug she totally lightened up the space and gave it a ton of character. From Aniko: Our poor little family room went through multiple stages since we’ve lived in the house. I tried decorating it many different ways, but we haven’t done any major projects in the room.

When Paige and Thorben moved into their San Francisco apartment, they knew they were going to stay put for a while. And though they were renting, the couple made it a goal to customize their apartment to their liking—something they could call home and be proud of. Throughout the years, they’ve tackled many ambitious projects: building a Murphy bed, custom shelving, and “hacking” their kitchen lighting.

This Before & After is all about the pursuit of a beautiful dream. When they bought their co-op in Manhattan, Laura and Peter had a dream, the same dream that animates the hopes of millions of New Yorkers: an in-unit washer and dryer. In pursuit of their dream, they intentionally bought in a building that allowed retrofits of washer and dryer connections.

Meredith moved into a lovely mid century modern home with a decidedly not mid century style kitchen. Ten weeks of living through a renovation with three kids led to a gorgeous, window-grate free update. From Meredith: My husband and I bought this dated, yet lovely mid century modern home in River Forest, Illinois in September 2015 and immediately saw its potential to be something great. He is an architect in Chicago and I am a stay-at-home mom of three with a background in fashion and styling.

All this week we’re talking about bathroom renovations, starting with Ashley’s recent remodel, and following up with tons of helpful posts about the process! So you’re well under way on your bathroom renovation, but it’s time to choose a grout. While this step may seem unimportant in comparison to the bigger pieces of the renovation, the material and color of the grout can have a huge impact on your bathroom’s design and function.

All this week we’re talking about bathroom renovations, starting with Ashley’s recent remodel, and following up with tons of helpful posts about the process! Cement tile is a Pinterest dream come to life. Installing it, however, can be tricky if you don’t plan ahead and do your research. If you’ve laid ceramic tile before, you’re headed in the right direction — but there is still much more to learn before you start.

Phew. This project was a squeaker. Ashley found out she was pregnant after the renovation was planned and wound up photographing the final space at about thirty-seven weeks. I think she’s pretty happy she didn’t bring her new baby daughter home while the paint was still drying. Take a look at the finished space!

The good eyes over at Mignonne Decor were able to overlook the 90s sitcom floral pattern of this chaise and see it for its true potential. They not only re upholstered this bad boy, they used a total unique mix of textiles to do so! From Johnelle: Mignonne Decor is a furniture and design shop based in Berkeley CA. We specialize in transforming the old and unwanted into fun and funky statement pieces! We reupholster, re-stain, repaint and repair, all in house.

There are two groups of people when it comes to cast iron tubs: those who believe in their preservation, and those who believe in the almighty sledgehammer. If you’re the latter, this post is not for you. For those of you who believe in preservation and love a good soak in a nice, deep tub, we think that tub should look its best. Here’s how we took ours from an eyesore to eye candy.

All this week we’re talking about bathroom renovations, starting with Ashley’s recent remodel, and following up with tons of helpful posts about the process! There’s just something about soaking in a huge, luxurious tub to melt away all the stress of the day. When remodeling, the question is what kind of tub should you get: built-in or freestanding?

Astral’s antique market find was almost perfect, save for one thing. After some deconstruction and reconstruction she has a stylish and gold pattern free swivel table. From Astral: I LOVE mid century modern furniture. I lucked upon this beautiful vintage swivel table at an antique mall. Everything about the table was great EXCEPT the gold pattern in the glass. At first I thought that the pattern was part of the table underneath the glass and not a part of the glass.

All this week we’re talking about bathroom renovations, starting with Ashley’s recent remodel, and following up with tons of helpful posts about the process! Changing out the faucet on your bathroom sink can be a pricey project. Fortunately, not every bathroom faucet is created equal. There are so many shapes, sizes, finishes -and price ranges to choose from. So where do you start?