Ideas Inspiration

We picked the brains of five purveyors of vintage goods to see what people can't stop buying.

It doesn’t matter how big or how small (or how mobile) a space is — when it works, it works (better yet if you get to see what it looked like before it got to its currently amazing state). Such is the case with Mandi from Vintage Revivals’ 1973 Bell Travel Trailer makeover: A sad, dated, basically uninhabitable “before” and it’s spot-on jealousy inducing “after”. Hello?!?

There was a lot to drool over, design-wise, in James and Kurt’s Chicago home. Contemporary art and cool furniture, and as a bonus, two homeowners that look like they must throw amazing parties. But there’s no denying it’s the color palette that really steals the show. Purple, yellow, blue, green — this vibrant home features a variety of hues that are unexpected and delightful.

Are you tired of minimalism? You've come to the right place.

Built in 1928, this Michigan house came with plenty of architectural charm when Justin bought it, but it needed updating. And that’s just what Justin did, transforming the dated interior into a modern, cozy abode. Every room packs in interior design inspiration, but the living room deserves a longer look. It’s a simple, elegant composition that looks sophisticated and high-end. But you can totally pull this look off on a budget.

If you find yourself constantly yearning for a Nancy Meyers-esque house swap to whisk you away to the English countryside, maybe it's time to bring the English countryside to you.

For most renters, all decorating efforts come to a screeching halt in the kitchen. Whether it’s dated countertops, offensive wood finishes, or lighting that you’re pretty sure was initially installed for a crime scene investigation, most kitchen eyesores require major permanent solutions — or so we thought.

Some rugs are so beautiful, banishing them to the floor seems like a tragedy. Filling your vertical space with texture, color and warmth, rugs are the perfect three-in-one design solution for any blank wall in need of a boost. Go big and bold or small and understated, just make sure you hang them properly so gravity doesn’t take its toll on your woven works of art (tips ahead). Jungalow maven Justina Blakeney is no stranger to using rugs in unconventional ways.

The canopy bed of your childhood dreams has grown up and looks spectacular.

Blogger and freelance stylist Ruth Matthews shares her beautifully designed London home with her husband Dan and son Ted. Each room is filled with an array of vintage and modern furniture, textured woods, clever art, energetic patterns and bold color. But it’s how she’s deftly arranged her home — each room and the vignettes within — that deserves extra attention.

As the bedroom is a place in which you want to be lulled to sleep, its design is typically tackled in ways that could be described as “soothing” and “serene”. Soft colors and delicate patterns are the norm for a “sophisticated” retreat. But what if you want something with more pizazz? A room that’ll get you excited about the day the second you peel your eyes open?

We’ve all heard it before: small but mighty, tiny house = big style. But, in this petite stunner it was all about lifestyle taking precedence over every design decision, which left this city dweller even foregoing a conventional sofa. The Williamsburg apartment belonging to Sarah Ashley Schiear, chef and founder of Salt House, is a strong lesson in style and function conveyed in just 635 square feet.

Whether fo' real or faux real, cowhide and cowhide-style rugs might just be what your interior needs.

Never underestimate the power of a good wall sconce. Not only will these beauties save you tons of space, they allow you to customize a unique lighting scheme to suit your specific needs. Unlike bulky table lamps, a properly placed sconce or two can offer loads of reading light without taking up any valuable nightstand space. Because we believe in showing and telling, here are nine of the chicest bedroom wall sconce scenes we could find on the web.

It’s a tale as old as time (well, as long as leasing agreements have been around): You find a rental apartment or house you LOVE…but you’re not allowed to paint the walls. Perhaps the walls are white or beige and you find them ho-hum. Or perhaps your rental walls do have color—but not color you like. What’s a rule-following tenant supposed to do?

Some trends stand the test of time for a reason. Case in point: cement tiles. Although they’ve been making waves in the decor scene for a looong while now (historians date some versions back to the 12th Century), these beautiful tiles started to pop up inside the most design-savvy contemporary homes across the globe in recent years in a big way. And it’s not difficult to see why. Along with creating artfully polished displays, cement tiles are crafted from natural materials (i.e.

I’m a big fan of vintage furniture: well-made and well-loved, the right piece can add a focal point to any space. But keeping in mind the old adage of having nothing in your home that isn’t beautiful or useful, you want to be sure that you aren’t just adding vintage pieces for the sake of them being, well, old. Check out the following for examples of vintage being brilliantly repurposed, reused, or just given the right surroundings.

Blank walls are BORING. To turn that situation around, don’t just stop after a coat of paint or a piece of art. Keep layering until you get a composition that adds visual excitement to the room. I recently saw a perfect example of a beautifully layered feature wall, and it’s a design formula anyone can use to turn a blank wall into a sensational statement wall.

Browsing through the photos of Rene’s Chicago studio, you’d never guess it was only 320 square feet. This little place has all the style and grandeur of a much larger home — and Rene has managed to fit a queen-sized bed, two seating areas, and tons of accessories (including a fish tank!) into a very small footprint. Here’s why it works. Maximalism isn’t a direction people often pursue for small spaces.

There's a powerful design element at your disposal for highlighting — and creating! — architectural features.

Vintage dressers are a bathroom renovator’s best friend, as they can lend a healthy dose of character to the old W.C. for a fraction of the price of most (boring) made-to-order vanities. What’s more is, if you know how to drill a hole into wood, you’re half way to repurposing your own vintage dresser into a vanity/ sink console.

It’s not just how you work, but also where you work that’s important. Here at Apartment Therapy, we understand the influence that your physical environment can have on your state of mind, and that’s particularly true for the place where you work—whether that work is writing, or catching up on business, or just composing a few emails.

Use a bedroom as a living room? An extra office space as a den? A closet as a bedroom?! Yes—though rooms come with “historical precedent” of how they were used in the past, it doesn’t mean you have to use a space in your home the way it was intended. Not only do you have permission to use your home any damn way you please—it just makes sense to do so. Why not craft a home that functions just the way you need?

What’s your style? Maybe you’re someone who has trouble encapsulating that in just a few words. You know what you like when you see it, but the things you’re drawn to are all across the decor spectrum, not fitting perfectly into any one aesthetic. You’re a mixer. You like the unexpectedness of bringing together disparate and contrasting styles.

Embrace the style of headboard that embraces you.

White is arguably the most versatile of paint colors, especially when it comes to that which surrounds us—walls. Would you agree? Although I love a pop of bold color (or a dramatic dark, or a well-considered neutral…), even I have to agree that white can be seen as one-size-fits-all, serving as a backdrop for spaces overflowing with interest and personality. It seems that no matter the style, from classic and cozy to clean and contemporary, white just works.

Rugs can be a royal pain. While they most definitely can pull a room together, deciding on the right one for your space can sometimes tear things apart (i.e. your cleaning routine, your finances, your chill about pets and kids). If you’re on the hunt for a rug that meets all of your indoor needs but doesn’t break the bank, listen up. Using outdoor rugs inside is a great option for a select group of people, and there’s a good chance you might be one of them. You like patterns.

When you spend all day, every day, looking at pictures of interiors, you pick up a few tricks. Here’s one of my favorites—something I’ve spotted in a few different interiors, and that always looks great. As an added bonus, it’s cheaper than buying new furniture—and a super easy DIY. The styling secret I’m referring to? A single long, low shelf. (You can also double or triple these up, as suits your needs and the architecture of the space.

For just under a year (as of last June, to be exact), I’ve had a serious crush on the Brooklyn home of Jae and Devin. The architecture alone of their brownstone, with those amazing moldings, ceilings and floors would make any design lover completely and totally jealous obsessed. Their lust-worthy abode is more than just really great bones, however, and I’m going to break down why their combo living room and dining room just plain works.

Having the blues isn’t always a bad thing. Just look at these awesome interiors. From Picasso’s Blue Period and Yves Klein’s invention of International Klein Blue to the modern-day fascination with indigo-dyed shibori fabrics and a revived appreciation for Chinese ginger jars, blue has proven to be a classic color that will never go out of style.

Showering, shaving, putting on makeup, removing makeup, brushing teeth, trimming beards—we spend a lot of our days in the bathroom. With all that time spent there, it should be a place where you feel comfortable and happy. It’s a room that should reflect your personality and aesthetic, but when two people share the same bathroom, it might be hard to keep them both happy if they have opposing styles.

Welcome to the maiden voyage of a new column we’re launching called Why It Works. Here at Apartment Therapy, we publish hundreds upon hundreds of amazing, lived in, real-life homes every year. And though they all are special in their own right, every now and then there comes along a super smart room within one of those homes. In Why It Works, we’re celebrating that notion, and breaking down all the elements that have come together to create a truly spectacular space.

Plus, price-conscious combos to get the layered look in your own home.

Bookshelves are a wonderful thing to have, because who doesn’t need more storage, especially the kind that takes advantage of vertical space. But as I’ve discussed with some of my colleagues here at Apartment Therapy, bookcases can also be particularly difficult to style.

It's like instantly adding more square footage without even trying.

Color (via paint) can be a very powerful design tool, especially when used in unexpected places. While most people don’t necessarily think to paint the inside of their window frames, it can be the difference between a run-of-the-mill room and a spectacular, and memorable interior. A few “pros” to painting your window frames: It’s not as big a time/money commitment as painting your walls.

I’ll be honest, when I got the brief for this article, I took one look at the title and thought: no way. I’ve gone on record around here as a rug-size militant, and one who believes that bigger is nearly always better. But before dismissing the idea completely, I decided to have a hunt for rooms breaking traditional rug rules and still managing to look good. Lo and behold, what I found was eye-opening to say the least.

Beyond satiating curiosity, getting to see how different people tackle the layout of homes with the same floor plan is also illuminating. Do the same people have the same design challenges? Do they use space in the same way? Does architecture have a strong affect on the furniture and accessories selected? Tirsh and Minky share a lovely North Oakland loft with their dog Arnie. As the owners of Hunter & Lew, a design studio, having a home that fosters creativity is clearly important to them.

Here's a reminder to us all that good things—including genius design ideas—really do come in small packages.

Have you got a spare room, a bit of hallway, the loft above a stairway—any particularly small sliver of space in your home that’s searching for its purpose? Narrow rooms can pose a special challenge, but this doesn’t mean that you can’t make the most of that space. Here’s a little inspiration for getting the most out of a (really, really) narrow room. Even the narrowest of rooms can make a great workspace, as evidenced by this interior from David Boyle.

Anastassia Nelson may still be in her twenties, but she owns her own stylish house and is excellent at navigating the intricacies of estate sales. Because estate sales aren’t like yard and garage sales, they can be a bit intimidating to those not in the know. That’s why I asked Ana to share some insider tips and unspoken rules to help guide someone who’s never been to an estate sale before. Estate sales can be kind of weird to a newcomer.

Sometime a few decades back, it seems that designers cottoned onto the fact that mirrors are (er, make that can be) fantastic for interiors. They reflect light, thus making a space look brighter and larger. There’s also a certain shiny-glam factor to them, owing to the fact that traditionally, glass is an expensive finish to splash about. That all being said, there can definitely be too much of a good thing, especially when mirrors are concerned.

Design by: Veronica Koltuniak of Verokolt Architect: Ben May Design Home Builder: Bryer Construction and Installation, LLC Location: Austin, Texas Scratch-n-sniff wallpaper isn’t usually the first jumping off point in a design plan, but when Veronica Koltuniak of Verokolt lucked out with such a cool client—a self-confirmed bachelor who prefers a home filled with friends, music and late night jam sessions—requesting such rarities, she couldn’t believe her luck.

While the thought of dividing a small studio into even smaller compartments may strike fear into the hearts of many apartment dwellers, there may come a time when the need for privacy and the longing for a “grownup” home wins out. If you’re caught between a studio in a city you love and the kind of multi-bedroom house suburban dreams are made of, these simple room dividers could be all the compromise you need. Hey, backyards are overrated anyway. Above: This hip loft in L.A.

My current apartment is housed in a building over 100 years old. And though it creaks and cracks a lot, nothing can replace the charm of tall ceilings, cove molding and other traditional building features. Yet I sometimes wonder if my furnishings do the space justice? Does my “Bohemian-meets-Maximalist-meets-Literally-Throw-Anything-Together” style really make the architectural details of this older building sing?

Tomorrow, IKEA is launching the official press site for the new STOCKHOLM 2017 collection. But today, I received an advance paper copy of the catalog in the mail and just had to share some favorites ASAP: there are some really strong designs (some classic, some more funky) at very good prices. The pieces in the collection will be available in the US starting in April and I can tell you, I’ve definitely got my eye on that rattan cabinet. I see a trip to Schaumburg in my future.

The homes we admire while flipping through magazines and scrolling through Pinterest are undeniably pretty, but do you ever look at an image of an impossibly pristine home and wonder, “Does anyone actually live there?” In celebration of quirky, personality-packed homes, we’ve rounded up house tours that definitely show signs of life—and that can teach us how to make our own homes shine. Boring doesn’t stand a chance.

No matter if your roommate is your soulmate or someone you found on Craigslist, co-decorating a home is likely going to require some compromises. Considering these 5 simple tips as you negotiate area rugs and couch colors with your roommate will help keep your home’s design—and your relationship—harmonious.

Why mix colors when just one will do? It might fly in the face of typical interior design advice, which advocates balance above all things, but sometimes a room that fully embraces a single color can be strangely delightful. Layering the same color in different shades—or a handful of colors in very similar hues—can create a rich, immersive design experience that’s as stylish as it is unexpected.

We love bookcases. We love color. Put them together and you have something even dreamier than the sum of its parts, worth looking at and lingering on for a long, long time. If you’re thinking about painting your bookshelves, you’ll find plenty to be inspired by in this collection of shelving in every color of the rainbow. Above: A set of gorgeous emerald green bookcases spotted on One Kings Lane.

Living in a tiny apartment? Short on closet space? Here’s a clever way to make a walk-in (yes, walk-in!) closet in your small apartment, and create a cozy spot for sleeping at the same time. You’ve probably guessed from the photo above that the solution is lofting your bed. If your ceilings are tall enough, you’ll wind up with plenty of space below for a closet and plenty of space for sleeping above.

Sure, there’s the requisite nativity scene, the ornaments that have been passed down from your great-grandparents, and the Griswold family inspired display of twinkling lights outside. But sometimes all you need is a trip to the grocery store to deck out your house for the holidays (especially if you’ve been procrastinating putting anything up!).