Decor & Accessories

Before & After: DIY Rope Bench
Repurposing hand-me-downs or flea market finds is so incredibly fun and the options are endless. Sometimes giving a piece of furniture a face lift is as easy as visiting your local hardware store.Most of us have an item in the home that used to have a purpose but now it’s just sitting around with no particular place to go. For Sam, a broken down bench with no purpose was re-imagined into a beautiful rope bench.
Kristen Lubbe
Sep 1, 2011
Nickel Tile Floor! A DIY Bathroom Renovation
This project was completed by some regular readers from Seattle: “In March 2010, I came upon the ever-popular Penny Tile floor post on your site. At the time, we were in the process of renovating our 1950s rambler and I was unsuccessful in finding a contractor to complete a concrete overlay (thin-set concrete) design on our master bathroom floor.
Aaron Able
Aug 24, 2011
Kathryn & David’s Mix of Modern & Craftsman Apartment
Name: Kathryn Bentley & David ScheidLocation: Echo Park – Los Angeles, CaliforniaSize: 800 square feetYears lived in: 2 years Craftsman love! Every time Kathryn and David start the search for a new apartment with more space, they are reminded how lucky they are to live in a space with the original architectural details beautifully restored.
Marcia Prentice
Aug 18, 2011
Before & After: Fabulous DIY Reupholstery Project
Who among us can’t empathize with Joy, who found a fabulous pink chair at the thrift store and convinced her husband that of course she had the necessary skills for this reupholstery project? Though the initial chair is one anyone might easily bypass, the end result is a reminder that good things come to those who invest the time and energy to give new life to an old favorite.For only $35 (!), Joy bought this wonderful chair with slightly less than wonderful upholstery.
Colleen Quinn
Aug 10, 2011
Ryan’s Georgetown Vintage Americana
Name: Ryan ZagoneLocation: Georgetown — Washington, DCSize: 330 square feetYears lived in: 1.5 — Rented In a leafy corner of Georgetown that is also a quick walk to Dupont Circle, Ryan has made a studio apartment into an efficient home. He has drawn on some of the District’s best resources for vintage and antiques while adding contemporary pieces and travel finds. The result is distinctly masculine and simultaneously rustic and refined.
Kim R. McCormick
Jul 26, 2011
How To: Cut & Install FLOR Carpet Tiles
After years of perusing FLOR’s catalog and website, I finally bit the bullet and ordered the carpet tiles for my entryway and kitchen. The Problem: I have gone through about five different rugs in my entryway. With one pitiful rug pad and two overly-welcoming dogs that rush the front door every time they hear a noise — I was forever straightening, fixing and flattening the front rug.
Kimber Watson
Jun 16, 2011
How To Make Fireflies That Really Light Up
Remember when you were a kid how magical it was when the summer sun finally set at the end of the day and the fireflies came out and you never wanted to come inside even though your older sister told you your house was built on a graveyard and the zombies would come out at night? Well, here’s a super quick craft to help your kids feel a little bit of that magic. These fireflies are super easy to make. Just pop a flameless LED tealight into a plastic Easter egg.
Katie Steuernagle
May 31, 2011
Sarah &amp Craig’s Jamaica Plain Treetop Treasure
Name: Sarah, Craig, and son, Maceo Location: Jamaica Plain — Boston, MASize: 1099 square feetYears lived in: 8 — own It’s fun enough to be around one homeowner who beams with delight and pride for her home. But when it’s a couple and it’s apparent that they equally love their home and they genuinely share an aesthetic without much need for compromise, it’s even sweeter. Such is the case at Sarah and Craig’s delightful treetop home.
Kyle Freeman
May 24, 2011
Anna and AJ’s Modern T-Loft
Name: Anna Bautista & AJ CalomayLocation: West LA/T-Lofts &mdash Los Angeles,CASize: 1,000 square feetYears lived in: 1 year — Own Anna and AJ have are the first residents in this brand new loft apartment. They have taken on the task of giving it a full makeover with new decor and furnishings, and the brains behind the operation is the interior design duo of Natalie Younger and Sayre Ziskin.
Bethany Nauert
Apr 27, 2011
Layered Rugs
The other day we looked at a bunch of rooms that went unexpectedly without rugs or carpets, embracing a relaxed bare-floor look. Today let’s go in the opposite direction: what does it look like when one rug just isn’t enough. The most common look for layering rugs seems to be an animal hide (faux or no) over a sisal — this is probably the most neutral option. Other examples mix patterns and colors, sometimes creating a bohemian wonderland of textiles.
Anna Hoffman
Apr 22, 2011
Savannah’s Sophisticated Studio Apartment
Name: Savannah Farris-GilbertLocation:West Hollywood — Los Angeles, CaliforniaSize: Studio apartment Years lived in: 1 — rent Savannah, a Graduate student in the Architecture-Interior Design program at UCLA is perfecting her love of Interior Decorating. I think it must be a craft she honed in on very early — as she told me her mother often helps her hunt for new pieces for her apartment.
Bethany Nauert
Jan 19, 2011
Phil & Hali’s Quintessential Loft
Name: Hali & Philip DurhamProfession: Architect – www.studiodurham.comLocation: Soulard — St. Louis, MOSize: overall building 9,600 square feet, Residence 5,400 square feetYears lived in: 7 — owned It never hurts to be an award-winning architect. Most people in Saint Louis pass decrepit warehouses for years, writing them off as mere evidence of urban blight.
Ann Manubay & Dabney Frake
Dec 3, 2010
How To Make a DIY Grill Cover
Cold weather is right around the corner and that means the grill will be getting a lot less use. If, like me, you don’t have any place other than the balcony to store the grill over the winter months why not make a DIY cover for it? Oilcloth, which is available in an impressive array of patterns and colors, will make a cute little hideaway for your grill while it’s not in use. And with this how-to, you’ll have it together in no time!
Jason Loper
Nov 12, 2010
Mirror Images: Are There Really “Skinny Mirrors” and “Fat Mirrors”?
A girlfriend of mine recently referred to her “fat mirror” (one that made her look wider and shorter) and her “skinny mirror” (one that elongated her frame). Is this a red flag for some major body image dysmorphia or is she on to something? For me, buying a mirror has always been about its frame and its shape. It never occurred to me that some mirrored reflections could be more accurate than others. And, really, who cares? What matters is what is on the inside, right?
Catrin Morris
Nov 4, 2010
Annie & Paul Build a Home in Sync
Name: Annie and PaulLocation: Upper West Side — New York, New YorkSize: 390 square feet — 1 bedroom Years lived in: 2½ — rented “We both roll with the same taste,” explain Annie and Paul when I ask if it was hard to design their first home together. Architects who met while learning their trade, Annie and Paul had each lived, previously, with roommates whose priorities diverged from home making.
Jill Slater
Oct 6, 2010
Make Your Own Clouds
We spent a fair chunk of Labor Day weekend lazily stretched out on picnic blankets, engaged in imaginative cloud gazing with our son. There’s a hedgehog, a Lego guy, a banana. But yesterday we were in the mood for some more, and not a single patch of condensed water vapor to be seen. So we did the next best thing – we fashioned our own to hang indoors. They took literally minutes to put together, and the effect was surprisingly transporting.
Ben Partridge
Sep 8, 2010
How To: DIY a Faux Fireplace
Hi! My husband and I just made a faux fireplace on our new loft. The top piece is sustainable salvaged maple from our local re-use shop. We cut it in half (going to make a coffee table out of the other piece) and stained it with a clear coat for protection.
Aaron Able
Sep 29, 2009
Tech Myth: Holding the Car Remote to Your Head Increases Its Range
This entry comes to you courtesy of the fact that I’ve heard this maybe-myth told to me more than once in the past few weeks my friends and complete strangers alike. My car’s keyless entry remote, for lack of a better word, sucks. I practically have to be next to the car to get it to work. Alas, plenty of the aforementioned people have given me the tip to hold the remote to my chin with my mouth slightly open to increase the range of the remote signal.
Taryn Williford
May 4, 2009