As the DIY maven behind Dwell Aware, Amanda Walker is known for creating big impact with easy projects, earthy color palettes, and a lot of creative thinking. So when she wanted to turn the tiny space below her stairs into a reading nook, she knew just how to add pint-sized oomph: a painted design! Playing with painted designs is easy (and easy to change), and it can really help define a space — especially a small one like this nook.

Broadway actor Justin is a man of many talents: When he’s not performing in Tina! The Tina Turner Musical, he’s photographing other performers’ headshots for his side hustle, Jshoots. But when the pandemic hit and Broadway closed, Justin was doing it all in the New York apartment he shares with his fitness instructor boyfriend — who, of course, was also working from home.

Let us guess: You cobbled together your WFH setup over a year ago and have been making do ever since. You’re not the only one. Our homes have had to do a lot of improvising, but it’s time to say goodbye to your couch-slash-office and dining table-slash-classroom. Instead, carve out an intentional space that lets you focus and doesn’t disrupt the rest of your home.Staples Connect™ understands how we (and our homes) are working and learning remotely.

As a freelance graphic designer, Julia needs space to create. She also needs storage for her many notebooks and art supplies, a system to keep all her various projects on track, and plenty of colorful inspiration. That’s a tall order for a cozy New York apartment, where she lives with her husband and cat.While most of the world struggled to figure out the WFH lifestyle last year, Julia already knew the drill.

Working from home takes on a whole new meaning when your colleagues are five-year-olds. When Molly, a bilingual elementary teacher, transitioned to teaching kindergarten and first grade remotely from her New York living room, she didn’t just need a desk. She needed a dynamic virtual classroom that allowed her to sit, stand, stretch, and use her learning board, where she displays various teaching materials.

From the full-time remote gig to the afternoon homework session, a good WFH area will serve you well in the “new normal” and all the normals after that. Even if you only have a little space to spare, you can still create a functional — and stylish — spot to tackle that to-do list.

For Riddley Gemperlein-Schirm, an allergy sufferer and lifestyle editor for our sister site, the Kitchn, dusting and sweeping aren’t chores at all. “I love to clean,” she says. “It helps me feel centered.” We couldn’t agree more: Cleaning clears your mind as well as your space.But Riddley and her husband just moved into a new home, and she needed a better solution for the dust that accumulated in her master bathroom’s hard-to-reach spots.

Every big task — even one as huge as saving the planet! — can be broken down into small steps. Living more eco-consciously may sound overwhelming at first, but simple habits lead to big impact. This is especially true for our homes’ sustainability HQ: the kitchen. Food waste is a big piece of the sustainability puzzle: 25% of the food system’s emissions comes from producing food that’s ultimately wasted.

We have some news that would alarm our grandmothers: Folks just don’t dust the way they used to. Data shows that millennials are especially averse, and while we get it — because, chores — dust is, well, pretty gross. And not just for your surfaces. Dust also likes to linger, affecting the quality of the air you breathe in your home.Now for the good news: With the right tools, dusting is a quick addition to your weekly cleaning schedule.

Can we tell you a style secret? Your space can be both timeless and on-trend. In fact, that’s where the I-can’t-believe-I-live-here magic happens. The key is to invest in versatile pieces that only get better with age, and then build around them.Nobody gets that style philosophy like AnthroLiving, with its signature mix of vintage-inspired classics and distinctive new designs.

It’s no secret that small spaces have to work harder than other spaces. But having less square footage to work with doesn’t have to be uninspiring. Small spaces have a superpower: They’re endlessly nimble. You can do a quick style refresh — a sleek piece of furniture, an effortless accent, a quick zhush — without it turning into A Whole Thing.Small spaces contain big design possibilities, and Anthropologie gets that.

There’s intimacy, and then there’s quarantine intimacy. Whether you’re cohabitating with a spouse, an SO, or roommates, living together has taken on a whole new meaning this past year. We’re learning a lot about sharing space with people we love — and not all of those lessons are fun.

Who: Laura Baross, interior designer and founder of Design With CareNominated by: Laura Schocker, Apartment Therapy Editor-in-ChiefWhere to follow her: InstagramApartment Therapy’s Class of 2020 Design Changemakers is a specially-selected group of the 20 people in the design world everyone should know about by next year. We asked experts (and you!) to tell us who they think should be included—see the rest of the nominees here.

I’m on what I call a “fewer better” mission: an effort to say “no, thank you” to all the cheap goods of dubious origins that fill store shelves and “yes, please” to unique, quality items that reflect ethical practices and high standards. So if you’re getting a gift from me this holiday season, it’s coming from a brand that shares my mission and my aesthetic — like The Citizenry.

Even if it feels like winter will never end, 2019 is already barreling along, and several of the year’s trends are beginning to crystallize. We’re seeing people work new texture, line, and scale into their spaces in ways that emphasize comfort just as much as style. In short, comfy is in. These three mood boards show some of the themes of what’s trending, and they’re shoppable so you can get the look. charset="utf-8" src="https://d30bopbxapq94k.cloudfront.