Decor & Accessories Decorating

"Keep Calm and Please STOP IT."

For a comprehensive reminder of just how wonderfully left field Snarkitecture has gone with its designs since its inception a decade ago, you’ll definitely want to check out the New York-based studio’s Fun House exhibit at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.

While we like shiny, new objects as much as the next design lover, we also have a soft spot for all things vintage. Mixing the old with new—be it a sofa from the sixties, art deco drinkware, or linens from the 19th century—can add a cool, one-of-a-kind flair to your home.

There’s no faster way to bring interest to a room than with texture—but there’s no reason to limit that design trick to fur rugs or velvet sofas. While an artfully placed knit throw on an armchair makes a space feel more “finished,” and a sheepskin rug underneath a planter lend sophistication, those same principals can now be applied to walls. There are plenty of genius ways to add texture to your walls, but be warned: they may not be for the faint of heart.

Artist Wassily Kandinsky once said, “Color is a power which directly influences the soul.” Yet, finding a color combination that’s cool, modern, sophisticated, and complementary is easier said than done. For years, yellow and gray fit the bill. Easy and unexpected, the two hues were an unstoppable duo for gender neutral nurseries and cheery rooms alike.

A well-styled coffee table can be a game changer for your home. Not only does it offer up a little extra space for stashing stuff, when thoughtfully organized, your coffee table can double as an artful living room centerpiece. To prove our point, we scoured our house tours high and low and rounded up nine of the most beautifully styled coffee tables we could find. From a full-blown bench display to an airy Scandi-style scene, here are some of the chicest ideas for organizing your coffee table.

It dates all the way back to ancient Egypt.

Feng shui is all about creating harmony between your inner self and the world around you, but if we’re being totally honest, incorporating it into your home is hard stuff. Similar to the latest trends in tech, fashion, or design, the definition of good feng shui is constantly evolving, which means your home should follow suit. Ugh. “It can be intimidating—even for us consultants,” says Laura Cerrano, founder and CEO of consulting firm Feng Shui Manhattan.

IKEA has been at the peak of their collab game lately, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they have another batch of design goodies up their sleeve. This time around, the retailer has announced their new social entrepreneurship collection, TILLTALANDE, which coincides with World Refugee Day (June 20).

IKEA is known for simple, staple rugs that can go with just about everything—like the classic black-and-white Stockholm that has graced many a first-apartment floor for under $200. But on Thursday, the retailer announced that they are majorly upping their rug game—with eight new designer collaborations for this year’s IKEA Art Event. The rugs will be available for a limited time in 2019.

Target fans rejoice! The Bullseye is launching another new home brand and this time it’s all about getting back to the basics (without sacrificing an ounce of style). We already know and love Target’s other home lines—Opalhouse, Hearth & Hand with Magnolia, Threshold, and Project 62—and their personality-filled aesthetics, but Target has always been known for its basics, so we are beyond excited for the new Made By Design line.

The first official day of summer won’t arrive for another few weeks, but as far as we’re concerned the sunny season is already in session. And what better way to ring in three glorious months of carefree fun than with an awesome summer blowout? Many hosts will tell you a well-stocked bar is key for a great party, which is why an outdoor bar cart is one of the best investments you can make this season.

If you weren’t already hip to German grocery store, Aldi, now’s the time to smarten up. Adored for its super low prices and wide range of products, the discount supermarket chain now boasts over 1,600 stores in the United States—making grocery shopping on the cheap easier than ever. But wait, it gets better. Turns out Aldi sells more than just inexpensive groceries.

When talking vintage, a fine line surely exists between the vintage item that makes you the envy of your design-eyed friends, and the vintage that makes you question an object’s actual hygienic repercussions on your home. When the conversation becomes about vintage and antique rugs, as most conversations do(!), a whole new myriad of myths, musts and maybes are called into question— questions that are left best to the experts.

That first cup of delicious morning coffee; that afternoon latte; a late night cup of tea [insert long blissfully happy sigh]—arguably the best part of your day, right? It’s those beautiful moments of peace, in the midst of emails and back-to-back meetings, and there’s just you and your caffeine (or decaf) du jour.

Tiny things are cute, right? Puppies, kittens, even babies. When something is little, we all can’t help but coo at it. Just look at how people react to micro pigs! We all squeal. Well, this doesn’t just apply to animals and tiny humans. Apparently, even decor can get the micro treatment and look even better. Nothing stinks more than trying to decorate your space, but you don’t really have any space to decorate.

It’s been 14 years (not a typo, sadly!) since we said goodbye to Monica, Chandler, Joey, Phoebe, Rachel, and Ross, and yet there are still a few lingering questions regarding their departure.

When I saw the pictures of this apartment I immediately knew who the designer was, because only one person could make an apartment this small look this good. Parisian designer Marianne Evennou specializes in turning tiny apartments into tiny, perfect jewel boxes, and this little space, measuring a mere 18 square meters (or 194 square feet) is no exception. When you walk in the apartment’s front door, the first space you enter is the hallway.

Whether you’re watching the latest television reboot or liking the latest retro #TBT on your timeline, nostalgia for the ’90s is at an all time high. While the pop culture love fest for the decade rages on, let’s take a look back at some of the craziest decorating trends that will give any 90s kid a truly rad blast from the past. Maybe the ’90s should have been known as the see-through decade. Transparency was totally in when it came to home decor.

Any way you slice it, 269 square feet is just not a lot of space. But thanks to a clever design, and lots of smart storage solutions, this small Japanese apartment manages to fit in everything that’s needed for living comfortably—and look good doing it. Here’s how. Open shelving can be a nice way to display your stuff, or keep things you need within easy reach, but it’s not always the best choice for small spaces.

If you’re a card-carrying Costco member, you probably already know the many benefits of the retailer. Of course, buying in bulk can be a huge saver, not to mention they have some exclusive products with cult-followings. But there’s one downside, at least for me, of frequenting the warehouse: FOMO.

Whether you’re unwinding after a long day at work or gearing up for a romantic night in, very few things can set the mood like lighting some candles. “It’s an easy and cost-effective way to transform your environment into something special,” says David Seth Moltz, co-founder of fragrance and candle company D.S. & Durga. In 2015, the U.S. retail sales of candles—not including accessories like hurricanes, matchboxes, and wick trimmers—were an estimated $3.

It’s no secret that we love IKEA here at Apartment Therapy, and regularly write about hacks and beloved products we can’t live without. I’m a huge fan of their everyday basics, and my own home is filled with their wine glasses, dishes, and napkins. I even have a what-is-now-vintage credenza that I’ve owned for almost twenty years and can’t seem to get rid of, even after a couple of moves. But there is one thing that I never buy from IKEA these days.

If you’ve swiped through Tinder (or any dating app really) you know there are as many profile clichés as there are users. The men with fish. The women who “love to laugh.” Those people who mysteriously pose with babies who aren’t their own. But behind every dating cliche is a place these suitors call home. And here’s the thing: we’ve found they can be pretty cliché too.

Of course, before mid-century modern there was shabby chic, and before that there was that awful oversize Tuscan villa-esque furniture that looked like it was made for giants, but no style has had quite the staying power that mid-century modern has. When I graduated college, in 2005, we were talking about it, and 13 years later, we still are. This, of course, means that people like me are always trying to predict what “the next” MCM is. Is it Italian Modernism? Is it Victoriana?

Manhattan has notoriously teeny apartments and I’m always fascinated by how people make them work. I mean, you have to be clever to figure out how to fit in a place to sleep, a place to eat, a place to hang out, a place to cook and a place to you know, store all of your stuff, all in about 300 square feet. Even more impressive? When someone figures out how to do it stylishly in about half of that footprint.

It may not feel like it on the East Coast yet, but spring is definitely on its way. And that means spring cleaning won’t be far behind. One little shortcut that doesn’t actually involve a bit of scrubbing or organizing: adding in a plant or two can make any space feel a tiny bit better and brighter. Plus, having fresh colorful flowers around always makes me feel like the weather is friendlier than it actually is.

I love maps. Our walls are littered with them; even our shower curtain was a world map for awhile. And one of my favorite pastimes as a kid was dreaming up and then mapping imaginary countries, inspired by the fictitious atlases in books like The Phantom Tollbooth and The Hobbit. So when my wife and I discovered “Jerry’s Map” at the American Folk Art Museum in New York City last month, I was giddy.

This week, domestic doyenne and Hamptons entertaining heroine Ina Garten shared her latest home decor acquisition on Instagram, but the reception wasn’t nearly as warm and inviting as her famous kitchen. The contemporary art piece from a French antiques dealer is getting seriously mixed reviews — including from many who wondered: Where was Geoffrey on this?

How many unique chair designs can you come up with? That’s a question we’d love to ask designer Joyce Lin because we’re currently obsessing over her super creative chair designs. A graduate of Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University, Lin’s signature chairs are imaginative enough to spruce up any living space. The San Francisco-based designer works with a variety of mediums, including clay, foam, metal, paint, plaster, vinyl and wood.

It’s no surprise that people love tiny things. The Japanese art of origami is objectively already tiny, where square sheets of paper get folded into palm-sized cranes, boats, cups, and other items. But one artist is taking the form to a whole new (miniscule) level.

We love a good castle as much as the next person. But what we love even more is a really good tiny home. So much so that we started to wonder what would happen if we took the grandest castle dwellers of them all—six of Disney’s princesses—and reimagined their lives in modern day smaller spaces. It’s proof that living light can bring about a whole new world of possibilities for adventure in the great wide somewhere. (So, so, so many more puns to come.

Big news, Disney fans: now you can deck out your whole house, courtesy of the mouse. That’s right, a new store dedicated exclusively to housewares has opened at Disneyland in Southern California. Located in the Downtown Disney District, Disney Home sells (you guessed it) Disney-themed home goods from glassware to linens, kitchen accessories and more, according to a Disney Parks blog post about the opening. The curated assortment will also change seasonally.

While the end of Fixer Upper may have dashed our dreams of getting our very own shiplap makeover courtesy of Chip and Joanna, their collection with Target has been one way we can emulate the duo’s farmhouse chic aesthetic. Their collaboration with Target was first announced in September of last year, and this is the second time the line has undergone a “refresh” with seasonally-pegged items.

Looking for some artsy inspiration? Whether a city, a mountain, or a beach, hit the road and check out these destinations that are sure to spark your creativity. You might even bring home something new for your walls.

A divider doesn't need to be just a wall, or just a screen—it can be so much more.

Tired of doing the same-old, same-old? Here are some super personal out-of-the-box ideas.

New year, new you, new home! While you’re busy thinking of resolutions for the new year, slip a few home-related ones onto the list. From promising to hack your organization to giving yourself room to take bolder design risks, ahead are a few ideas to get you brainstorming. Every year we collect a mountain of clutter, usually without realizing it.

The ocean has a well-deserved reputation as an instant mood calmer, so it’s no surprise that these ethereal glass and concrete sea sculptures by artist Ben Young have us feeling especially centered and relaxed. Young used bronze, concrete and laminated float glass to create the hand-cut pieces, which look like super realistic three-dimensional ocean topography diagrams. Each sculpture offers a unique perspective of the water’s surface as well as features of the ocean floor.

Laurel Kinney more than helps people look their best; she helps them look more like themselves! As a professional personal stylist, a big part of her job is also helping clients organize and sort their closets. Before, she’s shared the four biggest ways you get in the way of looking your best and questions you should ask yourself now (so your closet doesn’t end up full of clothes you never wear).

A classic circular wreath is pretty much the physical manifestation of infinite holiday joy, so why limit it to your front door? The possibilities for indoor wreaths are as infinite as their iconic shape, so today we’ve rounded up 6 of our favorite wreath locations that don’t require front door real estate. No mantel? No problem. Hang a wreath (or two, or three) on a blank wall for a celebratory look.

Decking your halls with holiday decor can be tricky when you’re on a budget. That’s why it pays to be resourceful when it comes to spreading holiday cheer throughout your home. Luckily, some of our most humdrum home essentials actually offer ample decorating opportunity. With a little imagination, you can turn everyday items—like puzzle pieces, newspaper, and houseplants—into seriously stylish trimmings.

In a day and age when social media and inspiration-heavy sites like Pinterest make you feel like everything you create for your home or how you decorate for the holidays has to be (literally) picture perfect and super chic, there are rays of hope that sometimes the internet is up for something slightly ridiculous. Case in point: the recent obsession with not-the-least-bit-elegant-but-maybe-pretty-great giant balloon Christmas lights.

For anyone who’s ever excitedly bought a tree that turned out to be a serious needle dropper/too heavy to carry up the stairs/completely devoid of any festive scents — this buying guide is for you. Aesthetics are one thing, but there is so, so much more to consider. You know the deal: you walk onto a Christmas tree lot, find a tree that seems like it’ll fit in your home for the right price and boom, you’re done.

Say goodbye to the tree skirt and hello to this unexpected accessory.

The very essence of a bohemian lifestyle tends to go pretty firmly against big-brand commercialism, but if you’re more about the style and less about the ideals—and also looking for some cheap(ish) ways to round out your aesthetic—IKEA is, quite surprisingly, a great place to hunt. The brand’s minimal Swedish vibes might make you think eclectic decor is not to be found in the blue-and-yellow corridors of the retailer, but that’s where you’d be wrong.

What do you think of that wallpaper pattern? It’s got a fun ’70s vibe going on, kicky color combo, oh, and it’s made of bacteria. A team of scientists from Imperial College London, the University of Cambridge, and Central Saint Martins have developed a way to print bacteria (the good kind) on to paper, and here’s how it could benefit your home.

As someone who used to work as an architect and now writes about small spaces, I love seeing how a clever design can completely transform a tiny space. At first glance, this little Italian apartment did not seem very promising. Its 317 square feet (29.5 square meters) were awkwardly chopped up into a tiny bedroom, barely large enough for a bed, an oddly placed bathroom, and a combination living room/dining room/kitchen that was strangely shaped and a bit cavernous.

Anthropologie is set up in a way that it’s not just a “store” but a “shopping experience.” It’s a place you stroll through, linger around, dream of living in. Part of that magical experience? The just-strong-enough aroma that fills the air, luring you across the impeccably styled threshold. I always thought the retailer’s sweet smell was a perfect marriage of all the candles they were burning throughout the store.

To dig into the heads of our most loyal followers, we surveyed readers last month on a bevy of topics. They revealed their favorite cleaning shortcuts, their most hated chore, even the Apartment Therapy advice that has been a game-changer for their home life. We also asked them about trends. We learned that readers are still pretty much into the whole boho look and really love colored doors (and color, in general).

The fireplace might have been an ignored home feature during the warm days of summer, but fall gives us a very good excuse to turn our attention to the mantel, and beyond. Though some heartily embrace fun Halloween decor here, there are other ways to say “fall” besides black-and-orange accents. The easiest? Adding a few small pumpkins and a festive wreath to your current mantel accessories, like the fireplace of Chris from Just a Girl.

As a person who writes content for the internet, I am uncomfortably familiar with the lengths people will go to to entice people to click on their content. “X is the new Y” is a well-trod and reliable formula. Because who wouldn’t want to know what’s new? So when I saw the first flurry of articles crowning something called “Gen Z Yellow” the new Millennial Pink, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes a little bit. Another day, another trend piece.

Right? “Hustle” pillows and “I Can’t Adult Today” blankets, “Live, Love, Gymnastics” tea towels and “The Snuggle is Real”…At this point, it’s like, okay okay, I get it. The world is filled with cute sayings, always has been. There were some real zippy zingers back in the mid 19th-century. I mean “bully for you!” or “acknowledge the corn!” That is some first-class slang.

You’ve probably noticed that Halloween decorations have seen a definite uptick in recent years. When I was a kid, the decorations in our neighborhood were limited to jack-o-lanterns on front porches, and maybe the occasional skeleton or creepy spider web. Now, it’s not unusual to see entire neighborhoods decked out in black, with witches, faux graveyards, and even Halloween lights. How did we get here?

Let me start this by just saying: this is about to get a little uncomfortable, because there’s really no way to write a toilet paper review without it feeling a little strange —for both of us. But hey, you clicked on this, which means you’re either morbidly curious or you’re really interested in a more sustainable toilet paper option—either way, totally valid. So, let’s get started, shall we?

Before getting down to business, I would like to say no disrespect to any of the prints featured in this article. They are all wonderful motifs in their own right, but for reasons ranging from over saturation to too many knock-off versions, 2017 may be the year to put down the palms. What do you think? I reached out to a couple of well-known designers to get their take on prints they think are too trendy or tired.

Over the years I’ve come to realize that one of the keys to a well-functioning, uncluttered home is having an entryway that works well. It’s a spot to gather up all the things that you’ll need when you go out into the world, and also a sort of buffer zone to keep unwanted clutter from entering your home. Maxwell has really explored this with his idea of the landing strip, which is worth checking out.

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

I’ve long been fascinated by toile. Toile, if you’re not familiar, is the name first given to the cotton fabric produced in the town of Jouy, in France, and then to the pattern of charming vignettes, usually printed in a single color, that covered its surface. Traditional toile, like the wallpaper that covered the walls of our bathroom in the house where I grew up, features scenes of provincial life: shepherds driving sheep, lovers meeting beneath trees.

If you suffer from decision fatigue, these time-tested tips could serve as a jumping-off point for designing your home with confidence.

Vintage art always feels unique, personal and it carries a lot of history and whimsy — which is what makes it so fun to hunt down. One of our go-to sources? Etsy, though it takes a lot of sifting. To get you started on where to look, we gathered some great sellers of vintage art; they carry everything from maps and oils to old-school movie posters.

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.

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.

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.

Traditionally, an interior designer’s job is to help you find out what you want from a space and then work with you to create a personal decor solution that suits your room, style and budget. But in years to come, will interior designers be replaced by clever robots who can conjure up our dream schemes and know us better than we even know ourselves? Maybe — if the decorating tech that’s on the horizon (or already here) is any indication.

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.

Forty square meters (or 430 square feet) is not a lot of space to work with, but the architects of this tiny German apartment managed to squeeze a lot of living—and a lot of personality—into a very small home. Another thing they managed to fit in? Room for lots and lots of books. The centerpiece of the apartment is the so-called “inhabitable wall”, a bookcase that stretches the length of one wall of the living room, and all the way to the ceiling.

Some days I’m a boss lady beast, working from sunrise to sunrise getting shit done with perfect posture while I eat three square meals. Other days, I’m amazed if I can even get out of bed and remember to wash off my makeup at the end of the day. All that is to say: Sometimes life gets away from you. Accomplishment keeps you going on those days when you have it together.

Anyone who lives, breathes, dreams design will understand the following: sometimes, you become fixated on something design-y, and then —like learning a new word that you start to hear everywhere — you start to see that design-y thing everywhere (much to your delight, but also much to your chagrin because you WANT.IT.) Well, that is me currently with colored glass and mirrors.

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.