My problem isn’t the physical act of cleaning my fridge out; I do that every now and then without trouble. The real issue is keeping my fridge organized and functional for more than a week or two at a time. The whole beautiful array of fresh veggies and lined up condiments will slowly turn into a jumbled clutter that hides almost-expired products and allows dishes of leftovers to grow their own ecosystems in the back.
There’s no faster way to look more put together and elegant than having a closet full of well-tailored clothes. But if you have a hard time finding pieces that fit you properly—from struggling with long pant hems or boxy blazers—know that there’s an easy fix for that: A tailor! Bringing your clothes into a trusted seamstress to be nipped and tucked can make all the difference, especially considering you can change the details that you don’t find flattering.
Considering this San Francisco mansion takes up an entire city block in the most expensive urban real estate market in the country — one of the largest private lots in the Bay Area — and is a compound comprising four separate residences around a sculpture garden, it’s actually kind of a steal at $12.5 million.
This kitchen above designed by Laura Butler-Madden, is very pretty, with deep blue cabinets, brass accents, and open shelving. It sits on one end of a huge, open concept great room with soaring ceilings and beautiful herringbone floors. But this room’s highest achievement may be achieving “peak kitchen island”. Let’s zoom in on it and discuss, shall we? First off, it’s freaking huge.
Two things are for certain, Floyd “Money” Mayweather loves to make headlines, and it’s been a great year for the boxer. He won the much-hyped “one-of-a-kind superfight” against UFC champ Conor McGregor last month, the estimated $300+ million in winnings from which enabled him to do good (purportedly one of several athletes who promised to donate millions to Hurricane Harvey relief in Houston) and #treatyoself with luxurious new digs.
No one doubts the transformation that painting an entire room in neon pink would have (bold, to say the least), but tell someone you painted an entire room white, and they might wonder what the next coat will be. These rooms prove, however, that white is its own standalone color that can make a huge impact on a space. Perhaps white paint’s biggest super power (other than being affordable and versatile, of course) is its ability to brighten up a space.
This unremarkable “cherry wood cave with black plastic counter tops” in the suburbs of Chicago was transformed into a dreamy kitchen, full of personality and luxurious finishes. The homeowner spent months searching for the perfect interior designer, someone who would bring authenticity to the project, and the wait was clearly well worth it.
There’s no denying the appeal of vintage bathrooms — but Rachel and Michael’s vintage bathroom had seen better days. The tilework, though charming, was badly chipped, and the tight, walled-in enclosure made showering a bit of a claustrophobic experience. The original vanity, mirror, and lights had been replaced with ones that didn’t quite suit the style of the room, and then on top of it all, there was the color of the walls: a very bad, oppressive beige.
Before there was Chip and Joanna, there was Tom Hanks and Shelley Long in the classic 1986 film The Money Pit. The duo starred as two yuppies who buy a sprawling estate for just $200,000 in a distress sale. But naturally, nothing goes right when they attempt to move into the home, which ends up being a deathtrap with collapsing stairs, a bathtub that falls through the floor, and even a resident raccoon. And now, it can all be yours!
When Kia Designs renovated a house in London that had been previously used as a house share, they knew they had a lot of work ahead of them—especially in the kitchen, which was easily the worst part of the house. They hoped it would come to be the heart of the home, a place that people would love to gather in and hate to leave. To give you a sense of how far this room came, take a look at it in it’s original state: Clearly, mission accomplished!
Zachary Leung’s Toronto kitchen was recently declared the 2017 Remodelista Considered Design Awards Best Amateur Kitchen, and it’s not hard to see why. He lovingly converted this 130-year-old dark and awkward room into a space that’s somehow both timeless and of-the-moment, with room for entertaining, laundry, and cleverly concealed storage. It’s hard to believe this was designed by someone who doesn’t do interior design full-time for a living.
Nothing adds life (literally and aesthetically) to a space quite like plants. And in a kitchen, plants can serve a double purpose, because if you choose to grow herbs, you can look at them and eat them, too. You may think that having a teeny-tiny kitchen means no room to grow things, but that’s where you’d be wrong. If you’ve got the light, we’ve got nine ideas for ways you can find the space.
It’s the final week of our month-long decluttering plan (you can catch up here if you want to join in), and hopefully your home is feeling lighter, leaner and more in-control than ever. That’s why now is the perfect time to set up a system that I believe is the secret to keeping future clutter from getting out of hand.
I don’t know about you, but my bathroom is usually the first casualty to clutter. I think it’s because it’s the last room I spend time in on my most hurried, out of control days. In a rush to get out the door, I leave my bathroom in a mess of tissues, makeup and hair products that, yeah, don’t get picked up as quickly as they should when I get home. So my bathroom has always been in a perpetually messy state that lends itself to attracting more clutter.
Decluttering is an exercise in introspection. You need to think about the way you feel about your things (aka the entire KonMari philosophy) and also about when and how you use them. Who wants to hang on to things they don’t need? It’s that question—will I really use this?—that is at the heart of my favorite closet decluttering exercise: The reverse hanger trick. The idea is that you turn all the hangers in your closet around so that they hang backwards on the rod.
It took 12 years and two successive, fantasy-loving owners to complete, but this charming little cottage in Ollala, Washington is now an exact replica of Snow White’s House — and it’s for sale. According to Travel+Leisure, the 2,800-square-foot home features four bedrooms and four and a half bathrooms on five private, gated, wooded acres — and all the character and charm you could want from a real-life Brothers Grimm fairytale, minus the seven dwarves.
We’re eager for that moment to throw our windows open to fresh spring breezes — and it seems that the things outside our homes are awaiting the opportunity, too (but for different motives). If it’s not the pollen blowing inside, it’s the bugs that somehow make it through the tiniest nooks and crannies you don’t see (even if you have screens).
If you plan on selling within five months, or even five years, a renovation is usually planned with extra consideration for resale value. Though there are certain updates that will always be a worthy investment with wide appeal (read: hardwood floors), some projects aren’t worth the trouble if your goal is to maximize your home’s value. One of the most common pitfalls for value-focused renovators is going overboard on the extras.
Nothing compares to the smell of fresh laundry that’s been hanging outside to dry. Not only is it a fresh and efficient way to do laundry, it’s also oft-touted as a way to brighten whites without having to use special detergents or harsh chemicals. All you need is plenty of time and sunshine. First, wash your clothing as usual, adding up to ½ cup of lemon juice to the wash for an extra boost. (You can also add lemon juice to a spray bottle and spray directly on tough stains.
Aspirin is a staple in just about everybody’s medicine cabinets. But beyond its medicinal purposes, aspirin comes in handy for many uses at home, with applications ranging from laundry aid to dandruff treatment. Especially if your aspirin tends to expire before you see the bottom of the bottle, these household uses will allow your go-to pain reliever to do more than just that.
It’s that time of year again—Halloween! And why should kids shopping for costumes have all the fun? Treat your house to a little bit of festiveness, too. But first, decide what your spook style is: glam goth and scary, modern and minimalist or classic/throwback. Wherever you fall on that spectrum, there’s plenty out there for you to pick from for both indoors and out. Just for you, here’s our Halloween decor shopping scouting report.
It’s officially October, which means it’s time to bust out the pumpkins, pull the skeletons out of your closets (literally, not figuratively, of course) and get festive. Whether you like to keep it simple with chic white pumpkins, prefer the glam goth look via black velvet and brass skulls, or display your classic jack-o-lanterns and not-so-scary bats with pride, we’ve got you covered with ideas no matter what your Halloween style.
Ashlee Gadd is the founder of Coffee + Crumbs and the author of “The Magic of Motherhood: The Good Stuff, the Hard Stuff, and Everything In Between.” We ordered bunk beds yesterday. It was an inevitable purchase, I suppose, after having two boys in two and a half years. When we found out our second baby was another boy, I remember thinking: Someday they’ll share a room, probably bunk beds.
There are a few conversation topics that remain off limits today. Polite company (if they want to remain polite) might not touch politics. Coworkers often avoid talking about their salaries. And unless you’re very close friends, you probably don’t ever feel brave enough to reveal how truly filthy you actually are at home. Thankfully you don’t have to.
Although I was the grown age of 22 by the time my parents split up, I was still hoping for a fabulous Parent Trap ending. Not the one where my parents reunite, but the one where I get to live on a California vineyard AND in a London townhouse. If you don’t remember, in the 1998 remake of the Parent Trap, Lindsay Lohan plays Annie James and Hallie Parker, twins separated at birth and fortuitously reunited at summer camp.
To share a mere 478-square-feet with another human has its challenges. But to share and successfully use only 38 square feet of kitchen space is even more impressive! There were many design dilemmas facing Ali and Chip when they purchased this small Brooklyn apartment three years ago, but none so mammoth as the task of making a teeny tiny kitchen work for two people who enjoy cooking.
Sad news for Fixer Upper fans: The HGTV renovation show’s fifth season will be its last. Chip and Joanna announced the news this morning on their blog, citing the need to “catch our breath for a moment.” The couple have been going full force with the show, its spinoff, books, and new products, including a line for Target called Hearth & Hand that debuts in at the store in November.
There are so many reasons to remodel your kitchen. You just bought a house and you hate what’s there now. Perhaps you finally saved up some money and can afford the change. Or, you plan to sell the home in a couple of years and think new cabinets will appeal to buyers. All good reasons, but do you want to know the most common thing that pushed people to finally take the plunge and redo their kitchens? #1 Reason: Because homeowners just can’t stand their current one anymore.
A few weeks ago, when I wrote about square tile being the new subway tile, the response, from a lot of you, was a hard no. Many people in the comments agreed that subway tile was classic, whereas square tile reminded them of either truck stops or icky, bland ’70s and ’80s bathrooms.
IKEA’s IVAR collection is a very versatile system, with different ways to configure storage, and made of unfinished wood that’s a virtual blank slate for paint. But, in a recent makeover project, the big question became: could it become the centerpiece of an inexpensive rental bathroom makeover? Erika’s bathroom suffered from a distinct lack of style, so I wanted to start with a great vanity in a fun color. One of my first thoughts, when on a strict budget, is usually IKEA.
IKEA’s instructions are in(famous), with their illustrated diagrams, lack of words, and the oddly bulbous “IKEA man.” For the most part, with some head scratching, you can figure them out. But, as we discovered in our recent bathroom makeover, when it comes to installing a sink, the Swedish retailer left out one major detail, which is essential to the job. Read this before you shut your water off and get to work.
There were just two things a young Kate Inglis wanted to be when she grew up: a professional roller skater and an author. “Only one so far has panned out,” reports the YA and children’s book author (If I Were a Zombie, Flight of the Griffons, and The Dread Crew) and the upcoming adult non-fiction book Notes for the Everlost: A Field Guide to Grief.
A woman opened the door to her office. Powerful, successful, creative, she seemingly had it all. But something was missing. Love? No, with millions of adoring fans she had that in spades. Family? No, she was a mother of nine, the matriarch of a warm and happy home. She leaned back into her 4 inch high heels and took stock of the room. As she cast her eyes over her writing desk she knew in an instant what she needed. She scrolled through her Rolodex, “yes, artisans?
Oh, American Horror Story. You have such campy, spooky promise, and when you deliver, you really deliver. The scenery was always a draw: even when the plot flailed, the sets gave your eyeballs a treat. Now that AHS is gradually leaving Netflix, queue up your television and relive the architectural highlights, before the episodes disappear like so many bodies. Begin with Hotel, arguably the weakest season and the first to get the axe.
For our most recent budget makeover, I was working with a double whammy on the walls: textured surfaces on the top half, and oddly-cut sections of beadboard paneling down below. Combined, everything looked bad and very slapped together, not to mention dingy and depressing. In order to inject some style, I needed an inexpensive solution that was also practical enough to work in a bathroom. My solution? I replaced the awful beadboard with crisp white sheets of pegboard!
We’re on a mission to do something good for our homes each weekend. Sometimes we have to roll up our sleeves and tackle a dreadful, somewhat thankless task that simply must get done. Other weekends, we do something that feeds the soul for the week ahead. This weekend, rather than a deep-dive in one particular area, we’re going to blitz around our homes and attack a handful of 5-minute tasks. Turns out you can get a lot done in five (or 10, or 15) minutes.
A starring turn on television, much like it does for actors, can also make a house famous — or infamous as the case may be. That was what happened to this picturesque Everett, Washington colonial home. The house took center stage on TV’s cult hit Twin Peaks, during its original two-season run from 1990-1991, as the home of the fictional murdered teen Laura Palmer.
Bohemian-style living rooms scream cozy, comfy, and “come sit awhile.” Characterized by lots of green plants, layers of color and pattern and a healthy mix of eclectic furnishings, bohemian living rooms are also budget-friendly! In fact, the more vintage, often the better. Though there are plenty of great examples of bohemian living room lounges in the States…there’s one country that seems to be knocking it out of the ballpark.
Is it just me, or was 2017 the year everyone became obsessed with plants? I can barely remember to drink enough water myself, let alone keep houseplants alive, but I so admire the plant lady lifestyle. I want to fill my apartment with ferns and flowers and feel a little extra life in my home, but without a naturally green thumb, I need a little help, and I can’t be alone in that, right?
Paring down your wardrobe can make your life so much easier—less clothing takes up less space, and keeping your options to a minimum makes getting ready quicker. But on the other hand, it can be a challenge: what if you still want the option to try new trends and experiment with different styles without buying more and more clothes? If you’re in this boat maybe it’s time to try a clothing rental service.
The exterior of Erin’s home was not only weathered and not particularly stylish, it appeared to be falling apart. They decided to tackle a major exterior overhaul while living in the house, and lived to tell the tell. Five weeks later they had a gorgeous new exterior that pays homage to the historic character of her neighborhood. From Erin: Our two bedroom, one bath, ~1,000 square foot row house previously had a stucco front which had been placed over the original brick exterior.
If you’re over the hues of 2017, you’re in luck—paint companies are steadily releasing their trend reports, along with their 2018 Colors of the Year. Today, we have the pick from Sherwin-Williams, which is “mysterious,” “opulent,” and “inspired by wanderlust.
These days, I prefer weekdays to weekends when it comes to my IKEA trips. Why, you ask? Well, as if it isn’t obvious, it means less crowds and more leisurely wandering the aisles, sans pressure. What am I looking for exactly? Maybe I have a simple list of items I need for a closet makeover, but then I spot a serving bowl that would make a perfect pendant light. Or I go in for some picture frames then can’t help but notice a kitchen cart that would be the perfect bar cart.
Whether in-store or online, any fan of H&M Home will tell you it’s their one-stop shop for stylish and inexpensive home decor. However, what they won’t tell you is that figuring out what to buy when you’re overwhelmed with tons of options can be tricky, so it’s important to have an idea of what products you’re interested in ahead of shopping time.
Get growing, even if you have a completely black thumb, thanks to these new smart planters that connect your container gardens to an app that tells you when to water, prune, and harvest food plants and constantly monitors the weather, soil conditions, and your plants’ every need for you.
For someone who lives in the scorching-hot-nine-months-out-of-the-year South, I have a surprisingly large amount of blankets and over-sized sweatshirts. The blanket collection has been growing ever since I left home, with quilts my mother has gifted me, vintage afghan blankets I’ve found while thrifting, and a glut of cheap throws I always buy any time I spot one on sale at TJ Maxx or Target.
Name: Lori Mooney, a TV producer who also runs the website TV Travels with Lori. She shares the apartment with her cat Prancer. Location: Bronx, New York Size: 525 square feet Years lived in: 6 years, renting “I usually describe the decoration of my home as a ‘visual assault.’ I like a million colors coming at me as soon as I walk through the front door,” explains TV and entertainment superfan Lori Mooney, of the incredibly one-of-a-kind apartment she rents in the Bronx.
If you’ve ever lived in an apartment with an old, crumbling bathroom, you recognize Janna’s frustration with her Manhattan bathroom. “No matter how much we cleaned, it never felt clean,” she said. The small bathroom was dominated by an enormous seven foot tub, as demonstrated by the “before” pic above. In addition to the less-than-ideal layout, the walls and floors were in bad shape, the toilet leaked, and the vanity was beginning to fall apart.
Amidst vociferous feelings on both sides of the debate, many millennials are famously abandoning top sheets. But along with traditionalists and Xennials like me (I’d never do it), the bedding industry mostly hasn’t caught up with this probably-here-to-stay trend, because top sheets do serve an important purpose as part of a sheet set.
IKEA kitchens—and bathrooms and wardrobes—are super-popular, but sometimes you want to kick things up a notch and move past the ubiquitous IKEA look. These six companies craft cabinet fronts, panels, and more in a wide variety of materials, colors, and styles. Some of them will even work with you to create fronts in custom colors and styles. Design your basic IKEA kitchen layout, and then head to one of these companies to make it the kitchen of your dreams.
While having “too many” windows may sound like a good problem to have (hello, vitamin D), treating multiple windows in one space is often a task best left to the professionals. With so many variables involved, it’s hard to know what treatments will look good together until the installation is complete (aka once it’s too late).
With a new record dropping on Friday called Colors, it might be shocking to Beck fans that the Grammy-winning 90s icon is actually more of a fan of neutral palettes — at least, that is, judging by his last two Los Angeles renovation projects in as many years. The LA-native musician and his wife, actress Marissa Ribisi (twin sister to Giovanni, known best for her role as redhead Cynthia in Dazed and Confused), are quickly making a name for themselves as adept home flippers.
Window treatments are one of the most powerful decor tools. Some curtains serve physical functions like blocking light or providing privacy, but the magic of curtains lies in their visual strength. Curtains add softness to typically rectangular or square windows. They draw the eye upward, preventing rooms from feeling too bottom heavy. They can frame furniture arrangements for effect, or they can add balance and symmetry to an otherwise eclectic composition.
For plant lovers who’d rather leave watering routines to the horticultural pros, allow us to point you in the direction of Barcelona-based paper artist and set designer Raya Sader Bujana’s miniature paper plants. The little leafy replicas are so eye-catching you’ll instantly want to lean in for a closer look at the details. It’s hard to believe what Bujana can do with only paper as a medium.
Following a much-publicized recent breakup with longtime fiance Hayden Christensen, and an insult-to-injury robbery, actress Rachel Bilson and her young daughter are getting a fresh start with an inspiring new home perfect for two ladies starting over. High in the Pasadena hills above the Rose Bowl (and the Kidspace Museum, for toddler Briar Rose), Bilson’s new $3.
I love Halloween, but in the making costumes, eating candy, and drinking a cocktail while asking “and who are you supposed to be?” kind of way. When it comes to the actual scary stuff, I’m the first to cry and run for my life. I jump a foot when a pin drops, fast forward through tense movie scenes, and avoid haunted houses as if my life really depended on it. And thanks to these yards on Instagram, I’m now going to sleep for the next month with all the lights on.
When Giovanni purchased his Brooklyn condo, the kitchen had barely any cabinet space — and almost no workspace to speak of. His kitchen was just a drab row of appliances stacked next to each other, adjoining an alcove where a combination washer/dryer sat, visible to the rest of the apartment.
If you ask a feng shui expert about the space under a bed, they’re going to tell you to keep it clear — that putting anything in that space will block energy from circulating around your body when you sleep. So, basically, they’re going to tell you the exact opposite of what I’m about to suggest. But as a mother of two little ones, I find the space under kids’ beds to be prime real estate.
One of the only hints this classic, light-filled West Village townhouse was owned by the late star best known as Tony Soprano might be in the office — where both the wall-to-wall carpet and the wingback armchair are covered in leopard print.
On National Laundry Day (April 15, if you’re curious), GE conducted a poll about the public’s laundry habits. Pertaining to bath towels, “50% of those polled live by the philosophy that ‘I’m clean when I use it’ because they all admit to using their bath towel at least five times before throwing it in the washer. An additional 14 percent use their bath towels more than eight times before it hits the laundry basket.
Fall has its beauty, but it can be a little too fleeting. Only too soon are we dealing with winter’s bare trees, slush, and seemingly neverending cold weather. If there’s a season where everyone deserves a little extra self-care, it’s winter. Japanese culture has an age-old way to combat the chill, which we could all learn a lot from.
Certain landlords, and almost all dorms, have strict rules against painting the walls, which is a major bummer if you love color. So imagine my excitement when I learned about removable, paintable wallpaper — I shouted “hallelujah” and quickly ordered some to find out if it was the answer to all our rental wishes and dreams. So, is this product too good to be true? One thing to note is that it took awhile to find actual removable paintable wallpaper.
Is a plaid shirt the only dead give-away sign that helps you tell HGTV’s Property Brothers, Drew and Jonathan Scott, apart? Well soon there’ll be another way to differentiate between the TV star twins — a wedding ring.
Mila participated in a recent round of the One Room Challenge, but didn’t want to get overwhelmed by a major hard-core makeover. So, instead, she chose to redo the single wall just inside her entryway, which is also part of her living room. As is, the space was fine, but she was bored with the current gallery wall of photos, and wanted instead to make it as impressive as possible with just a little work and money. Her goal for the end of the project?
If you love the great outdoors and going to the country for that Wild West lifestyle, then take your money and run to the listing agent for legendary musician Steve Miller’s 13-acre “gentleman’s ranch” in Ketchum, Idaho —which just hit the market as the region’s fifth most expensive real estate listing, ever.
I don’t know about you, but I am so tired of hearing about “man caves” and “she sheds” all the time. Don’t get me wrong—I’m totally here for people carving out their own spaces in their homes (personally I would love a separate room where I could just hang out and do crafts and practice my guitar and have alone time whenever I want it). But… why do we need to gender rooms? And why do they need to be so binary?
Laundry isn’t just about washing dirty clothes so you have clean ones to wear. It’s about cleaning and maintaining your wearables and textiles so that they always look their best, whether that means making jewelry sparkle, getting stains out of the lining of a purse, or keeping shoes looking their sharpest. And there’s a simple way to have all those things: A tube of non-gel toothpaste.
For the aesthetes among us, the journey of organizing doesn’t begin and end with an approved checklist of what to get rid of. It’s more than a mindful or tactile task; if you’re a lover of design, organizing a home is organically something visual. That notion is mostly ignored in the modern decluttering book canon — for example, there are zero photographs in “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up” — and we’re not the only ones who noticed.
30—the magical percentage of take home income that people are supposed to spend on housing and housing related expenses like utilities for their living situation to be considered within their means—might be harder and harder to achieve, but at least us regular, real life people aren’t alone. TV characters often live in unrealistic places, and a new study shows just which ones could afford their homes, and which would be spending more than they should.
When I make pie, I use my grandmother’s pastry blender and rolling pin, but one thing she did not pass down was her cast iron skillet slick with a history of family feasts. Instead, I received my cast iron pan five years ago—a new Lodge pan, fresh with the factory seasoning. Even with a factory fresh seasoning, the surface never felt smooth; it always had a pebbly texture. I’ve worked with enough cast iron pans that I knew the pan was supposed to be slick enough to fry an egg.
If you love pink faux marble Formica, do not click through because you will be heartbroken to see that this counter and backsplash have been (spoiler alert!) ripped out in favor of an impeccable slab of marble. As for the shutters, I have some further bad news… So gorgeous and graceful!
