Decorating

Behr announced their choice for 2019's Color of the Year, and it's a lovely and livable shade.

I’m all for pale, creamy walls, but surely every home needs at least one room painted in a color that’s deep, dramatic, and just a little bit dangerous? Here are 10 gorgeously, glamorously dark colors available from Behr. Dark blues like Behr’s Evening Hush (770F-6), above, have the lovely ability to make rich, warm materials like wood, bronze, and cowhide look even richer and warmer.

While most of us are welcoming summer, PPG Paints is looking into the future with their 2020 Color of the Year announcement. And being color addicts ourselves, we’re fully on board with this breaking news that fuels our hue-filled lives. Ready to find out what the popular shade is six months in advance? Say hello to Chinese Porcelain, a mix of cobalt and moody ink blue. Why this color, you ask?

When “Big Little Lies” premiered last year, we immediately got sucked into the intrigue, the LIES, the depictions of female friendship, and that insanely good soundtrack, but what’s stayed with us ever since are the gorgeous interiors of those drop-dead gorgeous Monterey homes that populated the HBO series.

Time to really own your morning coffee routine.

How to style a vanity or getting ready station to make it both functional and stylish.

I personally can’t get enough of reusable totes — they’re compact, eco-friendly, and handy for every task imaginable. Whether you’re transporting a stack of library books to loading up on fruits and veggies at the farmer’s market, reusable totes are lifesavers. Luckily, there seem to currently be more amazing options for sale than ever before. We’re sharing five of our favorites for every task under the sun.

Writing words in floor tiles is now popping up everywhere.

Forget houses, these stylish RVs and campers will make you rethink living in a van.

With IKEA’s annual Democratic Design Days happening in Sweden last week, information on all the new collections and collaborations are rolling out quicker than this robot can assemble an IKEA chair. The Scandinavian retailer has good news for folks who are constantly on the move: RÅVAROR, a new line of items that briskly transforms small spaces into smart spaces, and packs up just as easily.

A few months ago, we asked you to share your fave small space design tips and there were some great ideas! We loved your suggestions and enthusiasm and definitely picked up some fab tips for our own small space. After the jump, check out the compiled list and pick up a tip or two.4 Tips For Making a Small Office Feel Big 1) If you have a small space use small pieces that fit the scale of the apartment. Your space will feel bigger.2) Keep it clean!3) Get rid of the clutter.

Let’s go on a journey, shall we? We’re going to pretend we’re having an outing at the movies together. Now let’s pretend the movie theater we choose is some hip and innovative spot that has double beds instead of chairs. That’s exactly how date nights can go now at the new “VIP Bedroom” theater located in the Cinema Pathe movies compound in Spreitenbach, Switzerland.

The brand is best known for its colorful, retro 1950s-style refrigerators.

We have those classic “bang head here” desk signs and tension balls to help people relieve stress on the job, but Georgia-based design studio studio dtttww (an acronym for don’t take this the wrong way)  recently came up with an invention that encourages humans to blow off some steam in public—in a healthy and (presumably) safe way.

Matching dining room sets are overrated.

These galactic-inspired home items will add to any decor.

Thank you for being a friend, ladies.

Ideally, our furniture can reveal something about how we live and what we value. But in reality, other factors like cost, space and what is available in the marketplace ends up limiting us or diverting us from our true values. We might believe that form should follow function, but own an uncomfortably lumpy hand-me-down desk chair. Or we might fantasize about a huge snuggly sofa, but only be able to haul a spindly loveseat up the stairs.

Do you roll your eyes at those staged closets in catalogs with their 4 dresses and 2 pairs of shoes? If you don’t have enough closets — or any — you can still create a tidy exposed closet without getting rid of your wardrobe.Matchy, matchy. When your closet is exposed for all to see, the easiest way to create a seamless look is to have matching storage solutions. Shoe boxes, hangers, shelves, etc, should match each other, if not follow one color scheme.

True confession: I’ve been keeping something – a deep dark decorating secret – from you lovely people. Last week, IKEA sent me an advance copy of the new 2018 catalog. I’ve been carrying it from my desk to my bedside table and back again each day, sneaking peeks whenever I could.

Affordable and easy-to-install, removable wallpaper is a goof-proof way to revamp your space without committing to something permanent. And good news: Amazon offers an array of stylish peel-and-stick wallpaper options so you can upgrade your place in a pinch — for cheap.

Yes, even tiny bathrooms can benefit from a storage cart.

Ok, sure, sure. It’ll work well as a storage solution just about anywhere, but we all know where and how this would really shine: as a room divider! Buildable-to-size with a variable mix of open and closed storage, the adjustable heights will make it a possibility for all sorts of studios, apartments and homes that could use some more definition to their space.

During an incredible visit last week to the White House (for a sneak peek at the new Obama state china service), I swung by the kitchen and snapped all the photos I could manage while hearing about the upcoming State Dinner from the two talented women who are in charge of all things culinary for the Obamas. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the kitchen of most famous family in the nation (which was much more compact than expected!

Name: Kim & ScottLocation: Logan Square, ChicagoSize: An itty bitty 650 square feetYears lived in: 2.5 happy years A perfect tour for small spaces month, here is an expanded look at the colorful condo that is the inspiration behind the blog Yellow Brick Home. Located in Chicago in a nearly 100 year old building, this recently renovated Logan Square space got a strong dose of individuality from its owners.

Tis The Gift To Be SimpleFrom a religious and social standpoint, Shakers were radicals when they arrived in New York from England just before the American Revolution, in 1774. Like Quakers, they are pacifists. In contrast to the Quakers and most other religions, the Shakers, officially the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Coming, began with a woman leader.

Bonus: it's all on Amazon.

Because your books deserve to be housed in style.

Psst… reds, blues, and yellows are making a comeback in home decor.

Name: Faith Location: Arlington, VA Room: Dining Room Size: about 140 square feet Own or Rent: Own This is an update from the #MakeoverAmerica road trip! We’re traveling across the United States to tell people about Complete + Happy Home, and while we’re at it, we’re saving the country, one room at a time! Design Prescriptions are hour-long visits where Maxwell offers advice on what readers can do to improve their homes.

Let’s face it: For as much as we depend on table lamps for bedside lighting, they tend to take up a lot of valuable nightstand space. Fortunately, there are plenty of other ways to create a superior bedside lighting scheme without employing a bulky table lamp. We did some digging around Amazon and discovered an assortment of sleek bedside lights that will streamline your bedroom in seconds.

IKEA has always been a go-to retailer for small space dwellers. Now, the inventors of flat pack furniture have revealed their next innovation, and it might just change everything about how we live. At their annual Democratic Design Days event on Tuesday, IKEA announced ROGNAN, an automated furniture system that is basically a Murphy bed on steroids. The unit is basically a movable wall, and can contain a combination of beds, closets, sofas, or desks.

How to create a proper sleeping zone in your small living space.

One can never have enough closet space, but those small nooks aren’t just for storage. If you take out all of your coats and piles of shoes, those spaces can transform into micro rooms, like offices and nurseries.

Summer is here and there’s no better way to celebrate than having a little fun in the sun. So to help jumpstart your sunny season shenanigans, we rounded up some playful summer finds that will take your summer from humdrum to “so much fun” in seconds.

Look, interior designers are professionals and more than happy to answer your questions, but there are a few they really wish we all would stop asking.

Here at Apartment Therapy, we’re big fans of Man Repeller, the online destination for smart, quirky fashion and smart, addictive writing about life, culture, and everything else. Last year, founder Leandra Medine partnered with Decorist to redesign her NYC home — and this year, she worked with Decorist designer Chloe Redmond Warner to transform Man Repeller’s New York offices.

Navy is the new neutral. While dark tones often make a room feel dim and gloomy, navy blue offers a richness that can actually warm up a space.

“I really don’t like to travel,” is not something you hear too often.Most of us can agree that traveling is the gift that keeps on giving. You can immerse yourself in a new culture, experience delicious foreign food, take stellar photos of the coolest places on Earth, and buy some beautiful home decor from all around the world. But filling your home with pieces that exude wanderlust is easier said than done.

Mid-Century Walnut Dresser or Credenza – $650 – Mid-Century Modern double dresser in walnut with six deep drawers. Features figural walnut grain, carved pulls and tapered legs. In excellent vintage condition, showing minor wear consistent with age and use. Height — 31.5 inches Width — 58.25 inches Depth — 17.75 inches. – BROOKLYN From Maxwell:Dear Readers, What are you looking for?

You want the workstation to flow with the rest of the decor of the room, but you also want the area to feel professional enough so you can pull up a chair and get into a business frame of mind.

You'll never think your toothbrush is boring again.

Summer is almost here and for some of us, that means having a little extra free time to revamp our home interiors. But what to do when our budgets aren’t as generous as our schedules? Fret not my redecorating-deprived friends. We put our thinking caps on and uncovered a slew of simple ways to refresh your space—completely free of charge. Don’t believe us? Read ahead for six clever decorating ideas you can do today for free.

To be entirely honest, many of the home accessories I normally love don’t have a real purpose other than, well, to look cute (which, in my opinion, is entirely ok). That said, it’s always rewarding to be able to find pieces for your space that look nice but are also super functional—like a blanket ladder.

It's the perfect blend of contemporary, traditional, and eclectic.

Imagine the possibilities.

If there’s one room you should consider refreshing regularly, it would definitely be your living room. Whether you’re Netflix and chilling with your significant other or having a bunch of friends over for wine and cheese, your living room is probably one of the most trafficked places in your home.

It might not be fun to talk about, but with winter approaching you know it's necessary

“We have to go to a party tonight,” Beanie Feldstein declares to her best friend, Kaitlyn Dever, in “Booksmart.” “Nobody knows that we are fun. We didn’t party because we wanted to focus on school and get into good colleges.” To prove just how fun they are, the dynamic duo decide to live it up for one evening.

You know when you see an accessory in house tour after house tour and just know it has to be good? I’ve seen the Serena & Lily La Jolla basket pop up all over the blogs I read, plus my Instagram and Pinterest feeds, and I’m now majorly in lust. What seems to make this basket so great? For one, it’s quite large–it comes in three sizes to meet your needs, but a medium is 25 inches tall. It’s also extremely versatile.

Tile floors are a welcome addition to just about any room of the home. But more often than not, people opt for plain white. And sure, it’s a safe bet, but one of the best parts about tile flooring is that pattern play is completely acceptable and encouraged. Need some guidance as you pick a tile pattern for your new home or decorate around an existing floor design? Check out these show-stopping tile floors at the top of our inspiration board. Talk about a warm welcome!

A good-looking mirror can upgrade any area of your home in seconds. But what to do when you want to be able to check your lipstick in something with a little more pizazz than a traditional wall mirror? Good news: we did our research and discovered that the web is brimming with beautifully designed mirrors that look more like artwork than functional decor. From a lip-shaped stunner to a woven starburst style, here are seven artsy mirrors that will instantly liven up your space.

As much as we love bold paint colors and artful wallpaper, there’s something just so good about plain black walls. They’re luxe-looking, moody in the best way possible, and work in both minimalist and maximalist spaces. Better yet, dark walls are less likely to show wear and tear (does anyone else feel like they spend way too much time purchasing and repurchasing Magic Erasers?!). Here are 16 black rooms that might convince you to join the dark side.

These aren't your favorite dive bar's stools.

Whether you’re buying something new or updating the old, pairing a new shade with a lamp can be tricky. We’ve got a few tips for you to keep in mind while you shop for that perfect shade. Measuring tape Lamp Remember these five things: The bottom edge of the lampshade should fall midway on the neck of the lamp. You don’t want the socket or the switch to be visible. When shade shopping, the shade size refers to the width across the bottom of the shade.

Welcome to UnReal Estate, where we take characters from pop culture and reimagine their fantasy spaces into homes fit for the “real world.”After eight years, more than 70 episodes, and innumerable fan theories, the grand finale of HBO’s epic fantasy series “Game of Thrones” is finally here. Now that our watch is officially ended—and after this, let’s just say, controversial final season—we thought it would be fun to have some lighthearted GOT fun.

Name: Maxwell Location: Austin, Texas Room Size: 200 square feet My favorite nurseries include a mix of old and new, handmade pieces and family heirlooms. Baby Maxwell’s nursery is a perfect example. With a trendy triangle accent wall, a classic Jenny Lind crib, vintage dresser/changing table, and loads of DIY projects throughout the space, the space feels like it was put together over time rather than lifted from a showroom floor. How would you describe the look and feel of this room?

If picking out a paint color was easy, we’d all do it a lot faster. Instead, we agonize over paint chips and swatches, hoping that we don’t make a mistake. Paint may not cost a ton, especially if you’re DIYing the job. But who wants to waste time putting the wrong color up on their walls? That’s why I went straight to the pros to bring you a handful of go-to, no-fail living room colors. Spoiler alert: There are a lot of white and gray shades in the mix.

Summer entertaining is the best. Getting everyone together, enjoying the weather, throwing something on the grill or just bringing some potluck dishes—it’s sociable and just makes you feel good. But what’s perhaps even better? Some libations added to the mix.

Despite all of the technological developments of the past several decades, typewriters are still a staple in many of our homes. Whether we inherited one from a relative or picked one up at a favorite vintage shop, many of us just can’t get enough of them.

Moving apartments is often bittersweet, no matter the occasion—adjusting to a new neighborhood, routine, and floor plan can be both inspiring and challenging. Relocating to your first adult place—whether it’s post-college, post-gap year, post-high school, or just when you feel ready—comes with its own level of excitement and ambiguity, and often, no two newly-minted adults are exactly the same.

When it comes to shopping for art, the potential purchasing conundrums are endless. From getting a piece home only to notice that it doesn’t work with your overall aesthetic to obsessing over a print that’s too far out of your design budget, art lovers can all attest that choosing that perfect print isn’t always the simplest task.

In the interior design world, trends come and go faster than you can say, “mid-century modern”—but you can bet they’ll eventually make a comeback.Take cane furniture, for example. Wickered furniture has been around since ancient Egyptian civilizations, and caning has been having small resurgences since the 1600s (psst… you can check its entire history here). Now in 2019, centuries after cane furniture burst onto the design scene, we’re seeing it everywhere.

Dresser styling can definitely pose a bit of challenge. It’s easy to plop a TV on top and call it a day, but that isn’t the most visually exciting option, not to mention, there’s generally not much space left when it comes to actually getting ready. Dresser tops can hold a mix of practical and whimsical items, but the key is to not crowd the area too much.

Within the past year and a half, I’ve become an even more active thrift shopper, having found some amazing scores on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and even at the local Goodwill. While searching through someone else’s old stuff with the hope of finding treasure can certainly require some time and patience, it’s so worth it—especially when it comes to lamps.

We’re cutting down the confusion once and for all.

Hello AT, I’m looking for a solution to hide really ugly security bars on my living room window.I need a solution that still allows light to enter the room because the room is dark.Any suggestions are appreciated!Thanks! Emily(Note: Include a pic of your problem and your question gets posted first.)Dear Emily,This is a perennial NYC question and one that we wish was answerable by simply saying TAKE THE BARS DOWN, but we know that is not reasonable for everyone.

Okay, so here’s the skinny. A friend of ours told us that she r e a l l y w a n t e d one of these for her and her husband, but they were pricey, so they built one. Then we opened the New York Times and found out about a couple that ordered “The Sex Chair.

You can never truly own too many throw pillows, right? I mean, just scroll through these pillow-filled rooms and take a look at how comfortable and stylish they seem! But for those who are short on space or prefer a more minimalist look, I maintain that purchasing a few great inserts and then swapping out covers from time to time is the best bet.

Name & Age: Zadie, 4 months old Location: West Virginia Zadie’s mom, Beth, channeled Tim Gunn while creating her daughter’s bedroom: I see the space as a mix of modern and “make it work” because we really just had to use the resources available to us here in West Virginia with our limited budget.

Far too many of us have had unfortunate encounters with bed sheets. From searching high and low for soft sheets that don’t pill to finding an affordable high thread count set that doesn’t force you to shell out more money than the actual bed, the sheet struggle is real. But for those of you who are thisclose to sleeping on a bare mattress with a blanket and a pillow, an innovative new bed sheet named Beddingo hopes to put an end to all of your bedding nightmares.

If nothing excites you more than a brand new IKEA haul, then prepare to empty your wallet now. The Swedish retailer recently announced a new limited collection called TÄNKVÄRD, and it is a feast for the eyes. It’s also got a pretty interesting story behind it, too. According to IKEA, the new line is all about self-care and “bringing beauty and calm to your home.” (I mean, who wouldn’t want that?