Maxwell, Apartment Therapy’s founder, needed some occasional tables for his living room, so he took to the internet, checking the Classifieds for good options. He found two stools, versatile enough to be tables or extra seating. But while they were similar, they definitely didn’t match. Want to see how he spent a couple hours on a Saturday using Glidden paint to make them a matched set? Watch our quick video and see the How-To below!
All leathers are not created equal. Learning a few key facts about how it’s made will tell you a lot about the quality of leather upholstery and how it will wear over time. We took a look at the Grayson and Burnham Artisan Leather Collections, both collaborations between American Signature Furniture and Italian designer Modesto Scugliusi, to learn more about what to look for in quality leather upholstery. Top-grain or full-grain: which is the better leather?
As the design nerds we most unabashedly are, we get pretty excited for the big day each October when Benjamin Moore reveals their Color of the Year. This year, we admit, we were momentarily thrown by the reveal – it was not at all what we’d expected. But after a hot second of surprise and debate in the office, we’ve all gotten on board with this trendy non-trend. Do you agree? The Benjamin Moore Color of the Year for 2016 is….. The Color of the Year? Simply White OC-177.
White is sometimes underplayed as the default choice of colorphobes, but some of the boldest and most sophisticated rooms in the world have white walls. Maxwell loves decorating with white walls – as long as it’s the right kind of white. According to Maxwell, the best whites aren’t just a “blank canvas.” He says, “I like the ones with a bit of depth and color.” A good white wall never looks unfinished, “it looks intentional.
We may not always want our houseguests to stay super-long, but we do want them to be comfortable (and think we’re amazing hosts) while they’re here. The best way to ensure your guests are rested and happy? Getting a mattress good enough to accommodate all kinds of sleepers. We teamed up with Value City Furniture and the sleep experts from The Cleveland Clinic to bring you these #flawless tips for choosing the right mattress for your guests.
Have you ever bought a sofa, accent chair or table that looked wonderful in the store (or on Pinterest) but lost its charm once you brought it home? If the color and style were right, the problem may have been that the piece of furniture simply wasn’t the right scale for the room.
With so many weddings designed to reflect a couple’s personal style, why is there still this outdated expectation that a registry needs to include formal china? Many couples today live in small spaces where they can’t host huge parties or store a giant tureen. And people who are marrying later or for the second time are concerned with blending their stuff, not getting more.
With so many couples cohabiting, marrying later and merging their stuff, it’s only natural that modern registries should expand beyond your kitchen cabinets into every room. Who says you have to limit your wedding gifts to tabletop and kitchen tools? Maybe what you really need is a new table, some throw pillows or gallery frames. It’s time to think outside the salad spinner.
Thinking leather might be better? Keep in mind it’s not all created equal. The difference in quality between genuine, bonded, and flat-out fake leather is huge, and there are some easy tricks to spotting the good stuff. We looked at American Signature Furniture’s new line of genuine leather furniture to learn what to look for. OK, duh. But the label is going to say more than just “real” or “fake!
Hello, Apartment Therapy readers! I am beyond excited to share the results of our newly painted bedroom! First, I want to thank everyone who voted and commented on my before post. All of your ideas & help in deciding the perfect colour for our room were so inspiring. It was a close race, but in the end, Farrow & Ball’s Peignoir No. 286 won! See How It Looks Peignoir, the beautiful, muted pinkish hue, has turned out to be the perfect choice for this room!
Bethany, a family photographer in Los Angeles, is at the phase of parenting where she’s having to let go. She’s watched her two kids grow and learn, and she’s already nostalgic for their first, early days together. Childhood is marked by memories, and Bethany wanted to savor each one. And as a family photographer, she’s especially in touch with how a family’s home becomes the backdrop for these moments.
I’m on what I call a “fewer better” mission: an effort to say “no, thank you” to all the cheap goods of dubious origins that fill store shelves and “yes, please” to unique, quality items that reflect ethical practices and high standards. So if you’re getting a gift from me this holiday season, it’s coming from a brand that shares my mission and my aesthetic — like The Citizenry.
We’re not finger waggers here, so we will not start off by telling you you should be getting seven to eight hours of sleep most nights. We will, however, tell you that you need to be getting quality sleep, especially if it’s a little harder to get the right quantity. A simple sleep-quality test is if you’re getting close to the famous seven to eight hours but you’re still tired during the day, then you’re likely not getting a good night’s sleep.
We’re not finger waggers here, so we will not start off by telling you you should be getting seven to eight hours of sleep most nights. We will, however, tell you that you need to be getting quality sleep, especially if it’s a little harder to get the right quantity. A simple sleep-quality test is if you’re getting close to the famous seven to eight hours but you’re still tired during the day, then you’re likely not getting a good night’s sleep.
Imagine a Tetris game where every single shape was exactly the one you needed in that moment. In the game of living room layouts, that scenario exists, and we call it a sectional. This versatile superhero sets up a space for big parties and cozy Netflix binges alike. Add in a choice of fabrics and colors and you’ve got thousands of configurations to set up whatever living room you want to live in. So, where to begin?
Imagine a Tetris game where every single shape was exactly the one you needed in that moment. In the game of living room layouts, that scenario exists, and we call it a sectional. This versatile superhero sets up a space for big parties and cozy Netflix binges alike. Add in a choice of fabrics and colors and you’ve got thousands of configurations to set up whatever living room you want to live in. So, where to begin?
What do you call a plant that’s low-maintenance, affordable, and available in a stunning array of sculptural shapes and showstopping colors? The perfect gift. Our houseplant policy is simple—greenery on every available surface, please—and air plants oblige beautifully. These airborne beauties (Tillandsia, technically) thrive in hanging terrariums, atop windowsills, on slabs of driftwood, and most anywhere in between.
What if we said you could increase the size of your living space instantly? What would you do with your extra room? You can, but the trick isn’t to add more space to your home; it’s to subtract stuff.But not permanently! With MakeSpace, your stuff doesn’t disappear. It just relocates to a place where you won’t trip over it every time you walk into the living room…or bedroom, or garage.
It takes a real Apartment Therapy fan to appreciate the Starz hit series Outlander. We’ve been hooked on this series since Claire went shopping for a blue vase at the start of the first season. Now we’re counting down the days for the best eye-candy to come back to Starz on April 9th. Ready to throw your own Outlander-inspired dinner party?
Your home isn’t the same as everyone else’s, so why would you clean it as if it were? That’s the idea behind Miele’s HomeCare Collection. These aren’t just top-of-the-line vacuums; they’re top-of-the-line vacuums with features customized to fit your particular cleaning needs.
It’s true that not all of us are lucky enough to live in a place with beautiful hardwood floors and high ceilings and hundred-year-old moldings. The good news is that there are ways to add a little personality to your space, even if you’re renting — and even if you’re on a tight budget. When it comes to finding things that will make your apartment really shine, we’ve got a great source.Allow us to introduce you to Amazon Handmade.
Dyeing Easter eggs is a fun and easy craft – and it’s also a great way to decorate your home for the season. Piled on a platter or in a basket, dyed eggs make for an easy and festive centerpiece, or you can write guests’ names on them and use them as placecards (place eggs?) at an Easter brunch.
Even those of us who live lightly have storage issues now and then. Moving, downsizing, and just getting organized can bring our closeted collections out into the open. But don’t stress! It’s only clutter if you let it stick around too long. The key is finding realistic storage solutions that you’ll find easy to sustain. For us, that means outsourcing the hardest parts of storage, like the wrapping and the hauling back and forth (ugh).
Considering that most of us at Apartment Therapy consider spring cleaning our favorite national holiday, this may come as a surprise: Even we have some spots in our homes that we regularly miss, overlook, or just plain ignore. But this is the year we break the cycle! We’re keeping these seven little trouble spots on our mind as we set off on spring deep clean—which, fortunately, are all laughably easy tasks.
Prize: OXO Spring Cleaning Tool KitTotal Approximate Value: $1,000From: OXO It may sound odd to hear someone say they’re excited to do chores, but every year we truly look forward to our spring cleaning. We see it as a big welcome sign for the new season and a way to reenergize our homes — and we’re guessing you do, too.
Let’s talk about a secret cleaning weapon — one you’re probably already very familiar with and are probably underusing. If you’re only using your vacuum cleaner to clean your floors, you’re missing out on all the great things it can do for you. Here are seven hard-to-clean spots that the right vacuum (and the right attachments!) can make short work of. How do you clean a mattress, anyway? You can’t exactly pop it in the washing machine.
With a bustling lifestyle business—including a mega-popular Instagram account and a curated shop of vintage finds, Harper & Arrow—plus two little ones to chase after, Cynthia Harper knows that relaxation usually comes in small doses. Her trick is to create a home that’s immediately immersive so that when she does find a couple of minutes to herself she’s instantly at ease. Her trick for that? Think of more sense experiences than what you can see.
Whenever we talk about creating a sense of space, it seems like we’re always talking about its look. Yet, your home’s scent is such an important part of its DNA. (Perhaps the most important part! Smells go straight to the same part of the brain that processes memory, which is why certain scents can immediately conjure up specific places.
Buying new furniture is a big part of the fun of moving into a new place or redecorating the place you already have. But furniture (particularly living room furniture) is a significant purchase, and you want to get it right. The first step, before you get down to styles and fabrics and colors, is deciding what furniture you need. How do you get the right combination to make the most of your space?
Summer’s over (boo!). But there’s so much to look forward to in the fall and winter. Namely, one of our favorite pastimes: doing nothing. Human “hibernation” is totally a thing, and it may actually help us recover and recuperate. This is the time to start building your den of coziness, where your main activity will be telling Netflix you’re still watching from time to time.
Even if it feels like winter will never end, 2019 is already barreling along, and several of the year’s trends are beginning to crystallize. We’re seeing people work new texture, line, and scale into their spaces in ways that emphasize comfort just as much as style. In short, comfy is in. These three mood boards show some of the themes of what’s trending, and they’re shoppable so you can get the look.
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Amazon has evolved a lot since its inception. Once they sold only books, but their inventory has since expanded to include anything from potting soil to a pillowcase with Nicholas Cage’s face. And now, with the introduction of Amazon Handmade, you can buy things on Amazon that you can’t buy anywhere else.
Name: Rebecca Rosenfelt & Michael Yamartino Location: Bernal Heights, San Francisco, CA Size: 1,200 square feet Years lived in: 3 years; rented Years hosting on Airbnb: 6 years When Rebecca and Michael were apartment hunting, they never saw themselves in a big modern lofty space. So when they first saw this light-flooded Bernal Heights home, they couldn’t picture themselves living there.
Name: Nathan Michael Location: Chicago, Wicker Park, IL Size: 2,250 square feet Years lived in: 1 years; Rented Years hosting on Airbnb: Going on 1 year Situated on a quiet, tree-lined street in Chicago’s historic Ukrainian Village is Nathan’s bright and beautiful three-story home. On first entering his home, I was struck by the bold architectural elements (check out that staircase!) and gorgeous interior.
You don’t have to describe yourself as an artist in your Instagram bio to feel stifled and suffocated by “the rules” for decorating your own place. It’s past time to stop listening to designers and catalogs and retail chains that tell us what we should do, and start doing what we want to do.
Despite any residual chill, it is finally spring! Which means that now is the time to prep your garden. In warmer climates, you can start planting right away. In colder zones, start your plants indoors and transplant them outside when the weather warms up. And regardless of where you live, this is a great weekend to get started on some easy DIYs to pot your plants.
If you feel like you’ve been slogging through cold, rain, and slush for too long, we’ve got good news. Spring (officially) starts March 20, and the shift is in the air. Every week for the lead-up, we’re working with Lowe’s to share quick updates you can do in a weekend, including step-by-step instructions and a list of supplies. This week we’re at the gateway to your home, the front door.
Spring cleaning: It’s a big annual ritual that we actually kind of love, but it doesn’t have to become an overwhelming task that eats up an entire weekend. With little more than an all-purpose cleaner, a good spray mop, and 10 minutes a day, you can keep a mostly clean house year-round so that when the big weekend does come around…it won’t be so big.Making the bed is one of the most powerful things you can do first thing in the morning.
Good sleep is hard to come by. Most of us don’t get enough of it, and even when we do it’s not always high-quality, be it because of environmental factors (sound, light, temperature) or our temperamental body clocks. The first step to better sleep is understanding what kind of sleeper you are—and if you’re reading this at 3 a.m., you’re a Night Owl.
Most of us spend about a third of our lives in bed. But that doesn’t mean we’re really getting good sleep for those 8ish hours a day. That’s especially true for Slumber Partiers: those of us who have bedmates who stir, kids who seek refuge from scary monsters in the middle of the night, or pets who weirdly migrate from the foot of the bed to the top of our heads overnight. But no one wants to bust up a good party!
Some of us have to battle an army of external forces just to fall asleep: street noise, roommates, external light. We call these people Sleep Warriors, and sometimes it seems like the world is conspiring against them on their simple quest for eight hours of decent sleep. While these warriors have no control over environmental elements, they can arm themselves with several items within their own bedrooms to help keep out the distractions.
Spring may seem like it’s far away (especially if you live in the groundhog-hibernation zone) but its official start date is March 20. If you’re anxious to get outside after a long winter, we can’t promise good weather, but we can give you easy projects to prep your home so that when warm weather rolls around, you’ll be ready to enjoy it.
No one knows interior design better than interior designers, and no one knows small spaces better than students living in New York (#studioliving), so it makes sense that interior design students really know how to make small spaces sing.
What’s the secret to making a room feel just right? Furniture that works with the size and shape of your space—which, after all, is what determines the right piece. Start thinking about proportion, Goldilocks, and you’ll begin to notice how pieces feel too big, too small, or just right. These three shoppable infographics can help you find furniture to fit any measurement.
What’s the secret to making a room feel just right? Furniture that works with the size and shape of your space—which, after all, is what determines the right piece. Start thinking about proportion, Goldilocks, and you’ll begin to notice how pieces feel too big, too small, or just right. These three shoppable infographics can help you find furniture to fit any measurement.
Make 2019 the year you get the best sleep of your life. Lofty goal, we know, but it starts with one simple choice: the right mattress. If yours has seen better days (and nights), this is the perfect time to upgrade—Walmart is rolling back their already low prices on a huge selection of mattresses over Presidents’ Day weekend.
Few things make a bigger difference in your daily (and nightly) life than a quality mattress. And if you’re thinking about making an upgrade, now’s a great time to do it since Memorial Day mattress sales abound. Whether you want to sleep cooler, get more support, or find just-the-right feel, here’s a quick guide to mattress types from A to ZZZ. This mega-popular mattress style includes high-density polyurethane foam that adapts to your body.
We spend more than a third of our lives in bed, and that time should be as comfortable as possible—not easy when you’re sleeping on a lumpy, saggy or sinking mattress. If you’re yawning and nodding off as you read this, it might be time to reconsider your current sleep situation. And now’s the time to do it since we’re right in the middle of mattress sale season! Here’s how to know if you’re due for an upgrade.
Even if it feels like winter will never end, 2019 is already barreling along, and several of the year’s trends are beginning to crystallize. We’re seeing people work new texture, line, and scale into their spaces in ways that emphasize comfort just as much as style. In short, comfy is in. These three mood boards show some of the themes of what’s trending, and they’re shoppable so you can get the look.
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Prize: $1,000 credit plus one year of VIP service Total Value: $1,020 From: Grove Collaborative We hereby resolve to make 2019 the year of mindfulness: the year we become more intentional in every aspect of our lives, especially our homes. That’s why we’re so excited about Grove Collaborative. This subscription shopping service is a convenient way to stock up on responsible household and personal care brands that you can feel good using—brands we already love, like Mrs.
Every stylish space has some secret ingredient. Think of it as that spice a great dish you can’t really discern but makes the thing sing. In the same way, the rooms in your home have some ineffable energy—a vibe—that makes them more you. It’s the feeling that welcomes you home, whether that welcome looks colorful and energetic or calm and peaceful. The question is, what vibe do you want to cultivate? Let these mood boards lead the way.
Prize: Cricut Maker® + Everything Material Bundle Total Value: $592 From: Cricut® Are you the DIY pro in your circle? You know, the one whose wall art, sewing projects, and custom cards always have friends and family asking, “Can you make me one of those?” Yeah, us too. Consider the Cricut Maker® your new best friend: This slim and sleek machine uses a workshop’s worth of precision tools that can cut just about any pattern from almost any material.
There’s always a moment of surprise when you meet someone whose idea of a classic holiday is the exact opposite of your own. You grow up thinking that everybody puts up a [insert seasonal decoration] around which they drink [insert decadent tipple] and sing [badly—that one is universal]. There are two styles we love for holiday decor: One that’s more classic, and one that’s a bit more modern and colorful.
Between the elaborate feasts, the shopping sprees, and the endless parties, the holiday season can be exhilarating exhausting. That’s why we’re treating ourselves—and the folks on our gift list—to better and more beautiful sleep. They don’t call Lincove “the pillow people” for nothing: The heart of this luxe home brand is a comfy, cloud-like, precisely engineered pillow that just might be our fave for life.
Prize: The Bemz Slipcover of your choice & 4 Maxwell Ryan x Bemz legs Total Value: $499 From: Bemz Slipcovers are the tailored suits of the furniture world, and legs are the fancy shoes. Put them both on and you’ve got one chic sofa that cuts a dash!
Followers of DesignAddictMom Stacey Blake know that she’s never met a color she doesn’t love: The Fayetteville, North Carolina, blogger is all about them, and the brighter the better. Her home is a shrine to the whole Pantone wheel, but it’s also an ode to her family and her style—Stacey designed it herself!
“Where is one place that your cat can sit, but you can’t?” If you believe the answer to an old Highlights magazine joke, it’s your lap. If you own a cat, though, you know that there are dozens of places that your cat can and will sit, everywhere from shelving units and windowsills to the edge of an open drawer and the top of the refrigerator.
We know what you’re thinking right now: This is it, this is the year that you get a head start on the holidays. You’re gonna be finished with your shopping by lunchtime today, you’ll roll into every party with a made-from-scratch dessert, and you’ll even find a way to relax between now and the end of December. But this season never works like that, does it?
Getting your first apartment after college is a big step, and it can be both exciting and terrifying. On the bright side, you don’t have to suffer through a stranger’s Cardi B impression in the communal shower every morning. On the other side, having your own place means that you’re really on your own, you know? You’re adulting now, which means there are power and water bills to pay—and no cafeteria staff to wash your dishes.
Name: Stacey Blake and family Location: Fayetteville, North Carolina Size: 3,000 square feet Years lived in: 8 years There’s color, and then there’s color. Stacey Blake is a master of the latter. She mixes bold and bright oranges, greens, pinks, and more to ecstatic perfection in her Fayetteville, North Carolina, dream home. And we mean dream home: Stacey, who shares her colorful progress online as DesignAddictMom, designed the space herself.
Whether you spend the day chasing emails or toddlers (or both), we’re guessing that your 9–5 can get hectic. A calm morning can make all the difference for the rest of your day, and even though we can hear you laughing right now, “calm morning” doesn’t have to be an oxymoron. The trick? A 5–9 routine.
The whole idea of Black Friday is so ingrained in us now that it almost feels like a tradition. If lining up for doorbusters is your thing, by all means, do it. But our idea of a better tradition for the day after Thanksgiving is to spend the day at home with our families, putting up our holiday decor. This year, Lowe’s is breaking with tradition this year by offering Black Friday deals throughout the entire month of November, which includes their holiday decorations.
Prize: Samsung SmartThings Hub, Sensors, Outlet and Button Total Value: $199 From: Samsung The good thing about our homes getting smarter is that almost everything we use—security system, doorbell, thermostat, lighting—is one step closer to The Jetsons world we all imagined. The unexpected twist, though, is that all these systems became a lot to manage. We never knew we’d need a system for our systems, but here we are.
It’s fall. That means apple picking, pumpkins, cider, and falling leaves! It probably also means you’re about to be spending a lot of time inside. Now, more than ever, it’s important to set up a cozy space that you love coming home to. This stylish living room takes cues from the season itself and uses key pieces from Raymour & Flanigan to create a space that’s super inviting. Let’s look at the five tips that make it work and how we can use them all year round.
A change of season brings the opportunity to hit refresh on your closet: Even if you’re just swapping out sundresses for lightweight cashmere, this is a great moment to make sure your warm-weather clothes will have a happy hibernation and to move your sweater-weather wardrobe to first position. Show your pieces how much you love them with these three easy steps. Try The Laundress and get 30% off with the code ATREADERS through December 4, 2018, only!
