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We love macramé as much as anyone, but maybe you want your walls to be fun and functional, especially if you’re working with limited space. DIY cord art is the happy medium. Not familiar, you say? It’s low-budget bedside (or anyplace) lighting that’s colorful, creative, and easy to install. All you need are a couple of plug-in pendant lights with long cords and a few (OK, quite a few) Command™ Clear Round Cord Clips.

Whew, I hope you’re sitting down. Of course you’re sitting down, because you’ve just spent the past week settling into your new place, somehow unpacking more boxes than you remember packing, and wondering how you’ve acquired so many novelty coffee mugs. (Garfield? Really?) But now that you’ve stacked what seems like two tons of cardboard on top of the recycle bins, what else do you need to do? Not as much as you think.

From natural light to smart storage to reliable Internet, your checklist for a workspace that works.

Le Corbusier famously said, “The history of architecture is the history of the struggle for light.” The right lighting makes the difference between a good room and a great one, but it (usually) doesn’t come cheap. There’s always a workaround, though. When you don’t have the budget to hire an architect, designer, or even an electrician, you can still get great light for less.

An essential element of so many homes, the gallery wall is a beautiful way to collect and display those things that are important to us, but it has its limitations. Once you’ve lived with a gallery wall for a while, it can start to feel staid or static, and changing out the art becomes a thing once you’ve gotten the gallery just so. Also, many a gallery wall feels off because it’s not built around one anchor piece. This new innovation solves all those problems and more.

The kitchen is the home’s powerhouse of innovation. It’s the lab where you test new ingredients, try new recipes, and taste new flavors. When that spark of cooking inspiration strikes, having a kitchen that’s prepped and ready will help you bring that new dish to fruition. We’ve combed through years of kitchen tips and boiled it all down to a handful of recurring solutions that people have used to create spaces where anything is possible.

Prize: A gift card to spend on the tile of your dreams! From: Fireclay Tile Value: $2,000 Tiling a kitchen or bathroom is such a dramatic way to personalize the home’s hardest working rooms. But the actual process of choosing and installing tile? Easier said than done. Enter Fireclay Tile, the California-based, sustainability-committed company that’s changing how we think about tile.

Anyone who lives with dogs knows who’s really the master of the house. You can, however, take back some control in your home by reining in all their stuff. Stepping on a soggy, drool-drenched tennis ball is no way to start your morning. Instead of letting your house go to the dogs, keep it together by keeping all their toys and treats in one tidy spot. All it takes are a few easy-to-install organizers from Command™ Brand.

When you start living in a small space, you quickly realize the value of furniture that does double duty. Whether it’s just a desk by day/dining table by night or a stuff-storing ottoman, finding just a few multifunctional pieces opens up so much cherished storage and living space. However — and this is important — creating a space that fulfills multiple functions doesn’t mean sacrificing style.

Living rooms do a lot. They’re spaces to chill alone, hang with friends, work on your laptop, binge-watch TV, read, write, meditate, practice your yoga, nap, and, you know, live. They should adapt to your life, even if your life happens in a 400-square-foot apartment. For those of us who need our furniture to pack the most possible function into the smallest possible footprint, Target’s new brand Project 62® does it with beauty and aplomb.

Let’s be real for a minute. Entryways are challenging — every day they’re a dumping ground for mail, phones, chargers, keys, and bags. Even if you’re the most organized person in the world, yours probably needs some love on the regular to keep it looking presentable. But here’s the good news: Even the smallest of spaces can be set up with everything you need to maintain a clean, clutter-free zone.

There’s a well-known paradox when it comes to wall decor: the smaller the home, the bigger the challenge. When you’re working with a tiny space, choosing the wrong paint color can make everything claustrophobic. Picking too many patterns makes it way too busy. Small spaces are surprisingly full of complications. Some of us have learned this the hard way, but you don’t have to.

You know when you look around and everything’s OK, but you can’t help but feeling a little blah? When you want an exclamation point, but all you see is a period? The exclamation points of home decor are pops of color, and the nice thing about them is that they’re made in single afternoons, not whole weekends. Take these chairs, for example. They were fine, mid-centuryish chairs and already had some nice style going on.

When we met them in June, Ariel and Dillon had just taken their five-year, long-distance love local and moved in together. With Ariel’s old apartment styled to her liking, they were both excited to move into a new space together, where they could work both their tastes into one cohesive design. A big part of that change — a queen-sized part, to be exact — was a new bed perfect for a pair.

Every little bit counts…especially when it comes to kitchens with limited storage space. Some people take it to the extreme with hacks like turning their oven into a bookshelf or storing sweaters in cutlery drawers. Creative as they may be, there are a few less extreme options you may not have thought of yet, that together add up to significant space savings. 1. Maximize cabinet space with stackable shelves. Open your cabinets and take a look.

Sometimes, it’s the little things in life that make the biggest difference. While big changes like a fancy thermostat or new solar panels can have a big impact on your home’s energy efficiency and thus sustainability, there are a few small changes you can easily make today that will add up to significant energy and money savings in the long run. 1. Grow houseplants. Besides literally making your space more green, houseplants have a number of health and energy benefits.

We gave two style experts one bed to create looks for: They're both cute, but which works for you?

We first met Meaghan and Eric during a super busy time in their life, but busy is what family does best: Meaghan runs two businesses (a daycare and McNamara Design, an interiors and installations firm), they are raising two adorable munchkins, Hadley (2) and Emmett (1), and they’re getting ready for baby no. 3! In all this happy chaos, Meaghan and Eric treasure their serene master bedroom, where the whole fam snuggles up for breakfast and a.m. cartoons.

Summer brunch is peak brunch. The meal’s whole purpose is to let it be lazy and rambling, and lazy and rambling feel so right in the languid summer months. We set out to plan a summer brunch menu that does exactly that by keeping the heat low and the work minimal. In doing so, we quickly realized the two things we needed to think about to pull it off: bold flavor and beautiful presentation. A little extra thought in these areas let us get away with a lot by doing less.

One outdoor space, one pair of outdoor lounge chairs…infinite possibilities for creativity! We asked two style experts to put their distinct personal touches on one patio setup using pieces from Ashley HomeStore, and the results are in. Each created a stylish summer escape and offered their own advice for styling your outdoor “room.” Check out their looks, then choose which one works best with your own style; everyone who votes will be entered to win the setup they voted for!

Brian and Tanika have always loved dogs, and both had four-legged best friends when they were children. Their problem is that, even though they’re dog people, they’d prefer that people couldn’t tell by looking at them, by seeing the dog hair on their pant legs, sofa cushions, or anywhere, frankly. That’s tough at the moment, because their new pup, Tanzie, has a serious shedding problem.

Although newly engaged couple Cecila and Jesse are good about splitting their chores, they have two distinctly different approaches to keeping their house clean. She admits that she’s the messy one and is more likely to throw things into a slightly chaotic heap during the week before tackling it over the weekend. Jesse, though, likes to organize as he goes along, making sure that their place is reasonably tidy at the end of each day.

When you’re a busy parent with young kids, sometimes it feels like the easiest way to clean the house is to burn it to the ground and just start over. That’s not exactly the most feasible solution – especially on a weekly basis. Clare is a mom who’s constantly on the go, so she’s looking for easy ways to keep her home slightly more organized.

The prospect of moving in together opens up a lot of questions. How soon is too soon? Who should pay for the new couch? Whose spaghetti strainer should we keep and whose do we toss? There are a million things to consider when putting both of your names on the mailbox for the first time. We rounded up a panel of seasoned cohabitators to share their moving-in stories and helpful cohabitating tips.

Homeowners: Jaime and Anjay Milestone: New house, new job, new baby Makeover: Add touches that say “welcome home, family!” There’s busy, and then there’s Jaime and Anjay: The couple just bought a new home near Culver City, California, and sold their old one. Anjay, who works in the entertainment industry, just started a new job. Oh, and Jaime, who works in finance, is just weeks away from giving birth to their second child, a little sister to two-year-old son Nolan.

Homeowners: Laura and Brandon Piety, Los Angeles Milestone: Bought their first home and launched a new business Makeover: Make the backyard more inviting for entertaining It’s been a big couple years for Laura and Brandon Piety. Last year, they checked a huge dream off their life list: buying a home in Los Angeles, where they’ve lived for the past six years. This is in addition to having recently completed another huge life list item, launching their new media business, Noble.

Whether you’ve just installed wood floors or they’ve been in your home for years, equal parts prevention and elbow grease will give you Pin-worthy hardwoods. Figuring out how to clean and maintain them may feel like a major #adulting moment, but once you learn some good habits it’s really just a matter of keeping up a routine.

We’re so used to shopping for furniture room-by-room that it’s hard to think outside the box when it comes to clever ways to create more storage and deciding what to put where. But sometimes, putting furniture in the “wrong” room turns out to be just the right way to get organized. If you’re starting to pre-plan your fall reorganization strategy, this may be just the new way of thinking that makes it all click.

Jenna is a mother to two kids — soon to be three — and two dogs. Her kids’ bathroom doubles as the guest bath, which means it has to work extra hard, but it’s also got to look good. Jenna describes her style as “on the modern side, but accessible. I don’t want to have rooms my kids aren’t allowed in and stuff they can’t touch.

It’s easy to overlook the bathroom. Renovations are expensive, and most of us will put up with a less-than-ideal space until we have the money for a makeover. Still, the lack of a renovation budget didn’t stop Jenna. With a full-time job, two dogs, two kids, and another on the way, she’s got more than enough to handle, but she and her husband knew they wanted a better bathroom before the baby arrived. Rather than remodel, Jenna decided to work with what she had.

With a full-time job, two kids, two huge dogs and a baby on the way, it’s an understatement to say that Jenna’s got a lot going on. She and her husband have renovated their home a little at a time. Their combination guest/kids’ bathroom isn’t bad, but it’s “tired,” to use Jenna’s words. As they prep for one more family member, the gray shower could use a colorful update, and a little tidying.

Most people have too many products in the bathroom, but Jenna has a good excuse. Actually…two good excuses, with a third on the way. When you’re a parent, at some point your bathroom will be overtaken by baby shampoo, tub toys, and washcloths, combs, barrettes, and cutesy toothbrushes, lotions and ointments and Band-Aids in every color. The list goes on. As Jenna and her husband prep for the arrival of their third child, they need to find ways to maximize the space in their bathroom.

We are leaning way into the joy of trading rain boots for flip-flops and sweaters for tank tops. So into it, that we want to keep those cheerful, flirty vibes going all year long. Structube’s summer collection captures that spirit exactly, with pieces that are airy and nonchalant and won’t break the bank. Here are some of favorite finds… 1. This Pretty-In-Pink Loveseat, $399 Peonies, coral, a summer sunset…nothing says summer like pink.

After five years of long-distance, New Yorkers Ariel and Dillon are co-habitating for the first time. The couple is always on the move, whether they’re shopping Brooklyn farmers’ markets on the weekends or escaping the city for slow weekends on the Jersey Shore. And life is about to get even more hectic: They’re moving!

Knowing where to start when you’re choosing a rug can be tricky. In the end, it will come down to personal taste, but when you’re just trying to jump in, there are a few standard starting points that will help you. Since it can be overwhelming to sort through all the options on the market, our friends at Macy’s have culled from their collections a few recommendations that demonstrate how each one works.

Every home should have a happy place. Whether it’s your reading nook, a meditation room, or a little creativity hub, you deserve a spot that’s devoted to keeping you healthy and joyful in your own home. Even if you’re renting, it’s possible to create a happy place that can move along with you and that makes your rental really feel like the home you want.

Meaghan and Eric’s family defines busy: Meaghan runs McNamara Design, a firm that specializes in interiors, installations, and furniture upcycling, as well as a daycare. The Maryland couple also has two little ones — with a third on the way in September! Amidst this “organized chaos,” as Meaghan calls it, her and Eric’s master bedroom is an oasis of peace.

Win: Your Complete Dream Bed Set From: Au Lit Fine Linens Value: $1,380 There are a lot of debates out there around bed linens. Percale vs. sateen; low thread count vs. high thread count; goose down vs. down-mimicking; Egyptian cotton vs. American cotton… It’s enough to keep you up at night. Au Lit Fine Linens is here to help, and with 35 years of experience changing the way people sleep and improving the quality of their lives, we’re happy to take their word for it.

Former New Yorkers Pablo, a photographer, and Sophie, a designer, are loving life in Los Angeles: sunshine, new chapters of their creative careers and, of course, new digs. All that action makes for hectic days, though. Between being in business for themselves and making their new house feel like home, the couple needs a bedroom that feels like a real respite. The centerpiece of their restful retreat? A dreamy new mattress suited to their summery new temps.

Prize: A gift card loaded with $500 From: Booking.com Value: $500 Thinking about summer vacay? Let’s make it easy. Booking.com is giving away a $500 gift card to spend either to spruce up your own home for traveling guests or on a dreamy stay in any destination. With over a million places to stay, from apartments to hotels to houseboats, it’s pretty easy to find one that suits your style. Booking.

One of the most fun parts about working at Apartment Therapy is flipping through all those pictures of real families’ beautiful homes. The downside is that we don’t always get to see the (literally) dirty truth. The toddler’s pasta sauce on the floor. The paw prints. The playdough. But psst…all these homes are full of that stuff! So, we called up some of our House Tour alumni and asked what their challenges are to keep clean floors, and how they deal with them.

We get it: A full-home cleaning is a big, exhausting project. But if you want to level up your life, you don’t have to do it all at once. It’s amazing what a difference little tweaks can make, tweaks like committing to a proper set of clothes hangers or setting up a bathroom that’s easy to keep clean. Here are four low-investment fixes that will bring surprisingly high-yield results to our continual quest to uplevel our lives.

It’s a lovely idea to have a dedicated home office to keep work and life things separate. But it’s rarely a reality. What that means is that our “offices” often have to be carved out of another common space like the living room. When that’s the setup, you can make it work by creating a separate space so that “office stuff” has a defined space to live in. Make the space creative and inspiring, and the whole thing will work.

A couple weeks ago, we met Julie, Victor, and Teo. The three of them live in an apartment that has great bones — light-filled rooms with beautiful ceiling beams. The problem was that their living room had both nothing and everything. The everything part was courtesy of Teo: His arrival was “the best thing ever,” Julie told us. “It seems like every day we accumulate more things and, in a small space, you really feel it.

And if I do, how do I do it right?

We’re helping Julie and her family freshen up their living room. The project involves de-cluttering her space — a special challenge when you have a one-year-old — and adding some travel-inspired pops of color and personality. We’ve set her up with three style experts, who will each build on what Julie has while adding some fresh inspiration from the TargetStyle Global Collection. Which brings us to design blogger Stacey Blake, editor of Design Addict Mom.

We’re helping Julie and her family freshen up their living room. The project involves de-cluttering her space — a special challenge when you have a one-year-old — and adding some travel-inspired pops of color and personality. We’ve set her up with three style experts, who will each build on what Julie has while adding some fresh inspiration from the TargetStyle Global Collection.

We’re helping Julie and her family freshen up their living room. The project involves de-cluttering her space — a special challenge when you have a one-year-old — and adding some travel-inspired pops of color and personality. We’ve set her up with three style experts, who will each build on what Julie has while adding some fresh inspiration from the TargetStyle Global Collection.

Say hello to Julie, a mom who is trying to balance…everything, really. But the part that we can help her with is making her already gorgeous, light-filled apartment reflect her wanderlusty family, including husband Victor and one-year-old son Teo. Although she loves the character and existing beauty of the space itself, she wishes it would reflect her personality and interests — like her love for world travel — without being too eclectic or chaotic.

When you’re selecting a new set of sheets, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Thread count, right? Fine. However, a luxurious thread count is a moot figure if those threads have been over-processed, pulled from questionable sources, or manufactured in a way that roughs up the planet. There’s a better way to get better sheets and it comes from Coyuchi, the pioneer of organic bedding and towels.

She's living on her own for the first time while keeping surrounded by her artistic family.

Her apartment doubles as home and design studio. And triples as her launchpad to world travel.

Hardwood floors are so easy to keep clean. That is, as long as your floors never come into contact with paw prints, soccer cleats, tracked-in mud, spills, or humans in general. If your hardwoods do come in contact with, you know, life, our friends at Bona® have made a gentle but powerful deep cleaner that’s designed for quick year-round cleaning whenever you can find a minute in between dog walks, picking cereal up off the floor, and/or just living your real life.

Have you ever stayed in a hotel and noticed that everything in the bathroom just felt so much better? I’m talking towels the size of bed sheets and softer than silk. Buttery tub mats and bath rugs that your feet melt right into. Bathrobes that would bring a whole new meaning to lazy Sunday. Well it’s high time to bring that luxe treatment to your own bathroom.

What’s the worst part about being a dog owner? Only every single minute you’re not with them. It’s a bummer that there are times in the day when you want cuddles and can’t have them, but it downright sucks when you just want to know everything’s OK and can’t get that. Well newsflash: It’s 2017 and there’s smart tech for your pet’s health and safety. (As for cuddles…not quite yet.

True style is all about personalization, and personalization is all about details. It’s like how that perfect little piece from Etsy turns a space into your space. And when it comes to the bathroom, what’s on the shelf is just as customizable as the room itself. Function of Beauty makes bespoke shampoos and conditioners that are as much “you” as your favorite piece of decor.

Prize: A $2,000 Blu Dot Gift Certificate From: Blu Dot Value: $2,000 Modern design is so sexy with its clean lines and economy of materials. But when things get too clean or too economic, it can get a little stuffy. Sure, we want a sofa to make a strong statement, but we also want it to invite us to plop down and get comfy. Blu Dot gets it, as seen in their cool modern furniture with a playful wink.

Whether you’re working with a huge living room or the nook of a studio, choosing the right way to situate your rug and your furniture can be tricky: too close and everything looks cramped; too spread out and the whole rhythm of the room is off. There are several strategies you can use to create a happy relationship between rug and sofa. Find the one that makes the most sense for your space and collection for a comfortable rug-to-sofa ratio.

Whether you’re working with a huge living room or the nook of a studio, choosing the right way to situate your rug and your furniture can be tricky: too close and everything looks cramped; too spread out and the whole rhythm of the room is off. There are several strategies you can use to create a happy relationship between rug and sofa. Find the one that makes the most sense for your space and collection for a comfortable rug-to-sofa ratio.

Prize: One CrossWave All-In-One Multi-Surface Cleaner From: Bissell Value: $249.99 Maybe 2016 turned out to be a messy year. But hey, there’s a brand new one right around the corner! Bissell is helping to kick it off with a clean start by giving two readers a CrossWave All-In-One Multi-Surface Cleaner. It’s basically a combined vacuum and mop that lets you deep clean all your floors (and rugs) in one quick swoosh.

Everyone wants to throw the hottest holiday party — just not literally. But between the oven crammed with deliciousness, the party guests filling your living room, and the heat cranked up against the snow outside, things can get toasty this time of year. Never fear: Whether you’re serving a feast for 12 or ringing in the New Year with 30 of your nearest and dearest, we’ve got one simple trick for keeping your house the perfect temp.

No tannenbaum? No problem. This DIY Christmas tree goes up easy, lays flat, and comes down easier.

You’ve sent out the Facebook invitation. You’ve come up with a theme. Now you have to actually host the holiday party. Eek! Hold on, though. You can boil any party down to three manageable ingredients. Broken down like this, good party architecture is nowhere near as overwhelming as when taken as a whole. Just scale each component according to the size, length, and vibe you’re going for. To illustrate our premise, we created an elegant, modern holiday in black-and-white.

By mid-November, our Saturday nights are booked until 2017. It’s wonderful, but also overwhelming. So, we love to pull out an entirely different trick this time of year: the midweek party. We know what you’re thinking: There is nothing festive about a Wednesday. All the more reason to throw a low-key Christmas fete! Just keep the emphasis on the “low-key.” You don’t need to deep clean your house or cover every surface with tinsel for a chill afterwork holiday hang.

Any pet owner will tell you that there’s nothing like having a furry friend around the house. But even the best-trained animal can be hard on your home, so it’s important to make smart but stylish decorating choices that meet your needs and theirs. Here are four easy tips you can apply to make sure that your décor is pet purrfect. 1. Pick a material you can trust. Not all upholstery is created equal.

Any pet owner will tell you that there’s nothing like having a furry friend around the house. But even the best-trained animal can be hard on your home, so it’s important to make smart but stylish decorating choices that meet your needs and theirs. Here are four easy tips you can apply to make sure that your décor is pet purrfect. 1. Pick a material you can trust. Not all upholstery is created equal.

No fireplace? No problem. Hang your stockings under a modernist “mantel.” It takes 10 minutes to make, and it’s a great way to step up your style this holiday season. (We checked with Santa, and he confirms this won’t impact his deliveries.) Our toolkit: Command™ Picture Ledges and Hooks. They’re easy to hang and even easier to take down when the holidays are over (although we think we’ll keep the ledges a little while longer).