Rooms

Upper cabinets are starting to disappear from kitchens, and I’m not sure how to feel about it. It all started with the open-shelving phenomenon, and now, in some cases, it has morphed into this total lack of anything structural above the countertops. On the one hand, it is visually beautiful. You can really go to town with tile—think an uninterrupted, ceiling-high wall of subways or a bold geometric backsplash. But on the other hand, where exactly are you supposed to put your stuff?

And how to stop it from happening ever again.

By New York City standards, my bedroom is huge, which basically means it’s the size of a walk-in closet in the Midwest. But I’m a card-carrying member of the “fake it till you make it” club, and fortunately, it doesn’t take much to make a small sleep space look bigger. It’s all about fooling the eye and really is as simple as this: Don’t overcrowd your furniture, which should be appropriately-sized for your room in the first place.

Ah, to see the world through the turquoise-colored glasses of Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again. Where a practically abandoned farmhouse can become a chic boutique hotel with some elbow grease and plucky attitude. Where the house band at your favorite bar is always on call. Where a trio of suitors is ready to welcome you to a beautiful scarcely populated island. It’s not a bad place to kick off your sandals.

I have a small kitchen. And most days, it’s cool. I have accepted the fact that I’m not going to have a proper place to make meals (or eat them frankly) until I move out of New York City. That hasn’t stopped me from dreaming about the future—and looking at oodles of kitchen porn to serve as inspiration for my someday reno.

For all the talk around wood versus plastic, there’s very little talk about the SIZE of cutting boards. And this is one case where size really does matter. One of the biggest mistakes we see time and time again? People opting for cutting boards that are too small. A too-small cutting board is not only awkward to use, but it can also be unsafe! We’ve all done it before: You’ve pulled out a little guy, thinking you just have to mince some garlic.

#Ihavethisthingwithtiles, and it’s sort of unfortunate because I’ve never actually picked any of my own. I fell in love with subway tiles nearly a decade ago, and I was crushing hard on those matte patterned cement tiles that popped up a couple years ago. I’m even into faux “wood” larger scale ceramic tiles and teeny tiny, mesh-backed penny tiles. And I’m not mad at a fish scale or arabesque shape either.

As we inch closer and closer to 2019, the 2019 Color of the Year predictions have started steadily rolling in. The latest contender? Garden Patch, a grassy green from Dutch Boy Paints. While announcing the shade as their choice for Color of the Year, Dutch Boy described the hue as “not too deep and not too primary.

“Golden Girls” is a quintessential television show that aired during the ’80s but whose design influenced has lasted long into today. While the original sets of the show had definite ’80s vibes, it’s not hard to imagine what their home would look like today, considering the prevalence of boho style, rattan, and palm leaf prints.

Recently, we teamed up with Amazon to bring you some first apartment essentials. When you have to start from almost nothing, it’s hard not to look towards budget. But rather than going generic, we found useful, design-forward buys that are also budget-conscious. Of course, you don’t need to be moving, or even in your first apartment, to want some of these affordable buys. Here are some of our favorites perfect for your living room, or anywhere you might want to hang out.

I just upgraded to a king-size bed, and sadly, I think my nightstands are going to have to go. This is New York City after all. It’s all about compromising. There just isn’t enough room for everything you want. All is good on the lighting front—I have a floor lamp that’ll suffice for reading in bed. But what about all the stuff I jam into that tiny nightstand drawer?

The hype is the well-deserved; Netflix’s summer smash rom-com ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’ is sticky sweet, like cotton candy, perfect for when you’re in the mood for a burst of flavor—or color, as is the case for the design. Much like Lara Jean’s love life, her room is whimsical…and messy. A true romantic’s safe haven.

There’s no knocking the convenience and cost effectiveness of the bed-in-a-box phenomenon—no days off from work for fussy white glove delivery (or tipping!), an Instagrammable unboxing experience and a price point that’s generally under a thousand dollars for a queen. They’re a great solution for tons of folks and probably have made the entire mattress market better by introducing more competition.

When you want smart space-saving strategies, you can pretty much turn to IKEA. Almost all of their interior images are built sets, so they’re jam packed full of editorial ideas that someone has dreamt up and turned into reality. Inspiration abounds, and yet, these IKEA “homes” still feel like real homes with actionable ideas beyond just buying a table or a sofa or whatever.

Mattresses are not like makeup, people! They’re not an impulse buy you make after seeing an ad on Instagram or watching a YouTube video once. They’re pricey and not something you’re constantly adding to your cart, online or IRL. So when you hear about one that’s racking up Kylie Lip Kit or Glossier Boy Brow waitlist numbers—that is, thousands of people deep—home design enthusiasts like myself have no choice but to take notice.