Decorating

There are plenty of reasons to decorate your house key. Like if you need to tell it apart from other keys. Or maybe it’s just because you just love a little something extra. Either way, I wouldn’t say these DIY projects are for everyone, but if you’re so inclined, here are 10 easy ways you can jazz up a boring house key. Grab some nail polish and lets get started.

If you’re lucky enough to have an extra bedroom in your home, you might be getting some familial pressure to have a guest room always at the ready for out-of-towners. An extra bed is never a bad idea, but letting an empty room go to waste the other 51 weeks of the year seems like a shame. Maximize your space by turning that room into one of these things that you can appreciate all the time. Your guests will understand!

Dread your upcoming move all you want, but it’s going to happen. Make moving day less painful with this series of clever and easy tips and hacks that are simple, but will make the whole process faster and easier. And then maybe, just maybe, you won’t go insane after packing your 99th box, and will enjoy the first night in your new home.

You’ve probably heard it a million times: for the best results, test your paint colors in your room to see how they work with the light sources before committing to a full room (or even a full wall) paint job.

Name: Echo Kao Location: Toy District; Los Angeles, CA Size: 870 square feet Years lived in: 1 years; Owned I knew that Echo was a talented industrial designer, but I was still surprised to learn that every night when she went home she was carefully crafting her own furniture. Her life and her work go hand-in-hand, which is reflected perfectly in the fact that her home has three(!) work spaces for her to spread out in.

When you live life in only a few hundred square feet, a home must become a very fluid thing. Tiny apartments actually exist in four dimensions, and without capturing “time,” it’s impossible to truly reveal what it’s like to live small. Thankfully for all of us, the internet has adopted GIFs as a form of animated photo currency, and we can all see how real people make small homes work.

When you’re feeling like the rooms of your home are design islands — lovely spaces by themselves but not necessarily connected to the architecture of your home or the entire home itself — you might want to try out this trick in the designer’s toolbox. This idea of echoing elements is NOT putting two of the same pieces of something in two different rooms. It’s not having carbon copies of the same art adorning walls in all your rooms.

A few months ago I decided to paint my laminate countertops as a temporary solution to a very ugly, very burnt orange problem in my kitchen. I was a little hesitant to do so since our actual counter space is minimal and sees a fair amount of traffic, but forged ahead because the price and risk (those countertops are coming out this fall either way!) were low. Here’s how they’ve fared… They have unfortunately acquired quite a few battle wounds!

Name: Timothy Location: Bed-Stuy; Brooklyn, NY Size: 1,680 square feet Years lived in: 3 years; Owned A home with global flair doesn’t necessarily have to mean a visually noisy space or an overwhelming, over-the-top collection of knick-knacks. Nomad-inspired homes can be tidy and effortless, and I can tell you that after this house tour you’ll want to book an around-the-world ticket to source beautiful material and wander in some faraway markets.

Name: Ricky & McCary Location: Carroll Gardens/Gowanus; Brooklyn, New York Size: 800 square feet Years lived in: 6 years; Rented What do you get when two people with great taste move in together? A beautiful apartment like this one, where two design sensibilities (she loves prints and patterns, while he’s a bit more minimal) merge seamlessly to create a new, completely unique style. Ricky and McCary are also the stars of the sixth episode of Apartment Therapy’s A Line video series.

Name: Amanda Holstein and her dog, Auggie Location: Greenwich Village; New York, NY Size: 400-450 square feet Years lived in: 1 year; Rented Amanda lives on a great street in Manhattan, full of life and energy. When you walk into her apartment, you are immediately transported from the iconic Greenwich Village neighborhood to somewhere calm and relaxing. She has fit her colorful, laid-back style into a classic New York apartment beautifully.

Name: Max Shay and Emily Billings Location: Western Massachusetts Size: 3,200 square feet Years lived in: 9 months; Rented Max and I moved to Western Massachusetts on a whim after deciding to close the book on our city-dwelling life in Boston. We stumbled upon the 1930s stone farmhouse set up on a steep hill through Craigslist. After hearing about the history of the property through the homeowners, we were sold.

Big or small. Traditional or modern. All homes have different styles, but they all have similarities at the heart of them, too. And these four pieces of universal advice can be applied to just about any home you’ve lived in or will live in. So print them out and keep them around. This works for just about any decision you’ve got to make. From which home to choose when you’re on the search, to which sofa to buy, to what color to paint the walls and more. Decisions are tough.

Living in a small living room, like living in a small home, is a delicate balance of aesthetics and sacrifice. Your living room is often the central hub of your home, and so should have special attention paid to it, particularly if it’s on the small side. Instead of (or in addition to) a wall collage of art, use mirrors to expand the space, reflect light and make the space feel livelier. → 10 Ways To Use Mirrors To Make Your Space Look Larger.

Name: Kaelie, Andrew, and Zootie the cat Location: Top of the Tower, Heritage Hill; Grand Rapids, MI Size: 1,000 square feet Years lived in: 2 years; Rented Tyler from the Musical Chairs House Tour texts me on a random Saturday: “I have a referral for you!” His friend Kaelie and her husband live in a “sweet Heritage Hill apartment.” I email Kaelie and once we determine a day, she suggests I photograph their home in the early evening to capture the best light.

Even if your home is full of lovely things, you might, occasionally, feel the urge for newness. It’s only human to crave a little variety. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s time to buy new things. You can get the feeling of a new home, without buying anything at all, by mixing up the things you already have. Here are seven ways to do just that. 1. Pull your furniture away from the wall.

Q: My husband and I are planning our guest bathroom renovation and we are at an impasse as to what type of bathtub to choose. I’m all-in on a clawfoot tub. He is not. My argument is based mainly on aesthetics, his on functionality.

Name: Lindsey Grissom Location: Andersonville; Chicago, IL Size: 1,400 square feet Years lived in: 5 years; Rented Lindsey has lived in her 3rd floor apartment for 5 years, but she’s lived in this same building, in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood for a good chunk of her life. She grew up in the 1st floor apartment where her parents still live, and now shares the 3rd floor with her two tortoises, Yurtle and Olive.

Location: Los Angeles, CA Size: 2,000 square feet Years lived in: 7 months; Owned Nestled in the winding hills of Hollywood, this mid-century modern post and beam home was recently snatched up by two art-lovers and transformed into a striking minimalist masterpiece. Natural sunlight flooding in through large, unobstructed windows and skylights reflects brilliantly off the white walls, white cement flooring, and blonde wood furniture inside. Needless to say, this place is seriously dreamy.

Name: Sanja Kerr Location: East Lakeview, Chicago, Illinois Years lived in: 2 years; Rented Size: 550 square feet Clean lines and a feast for the eyes are what you get when you combine cool mid-century simplicity and an eclectic art collection. Sanja Kerr’s charming one bedroom Chicago apartment in the Lakeview neighborhood is full of striking, well-executed design decisions that took careful planning and multiple attempts to get perfect- you can’t use black paint on just any wall!

Decorating a rental home can often seem like a minefield of decisions, forcing you to weigh the financial risk and aesthetic payoff at every turn. How much time and money to invest in a temporary home? Which areas to focus on and which to learn to live with? Read on for 10 Commandments to decorating your rental home. 1. Thou Shalt Decorate First things first- you should actually decorate your rental, even if it’s in small, temporary ways.

In most of the glamorous homes you see on decorating websites, the living room, dining room, kitchen, and bedroom are all separate spaces. So what are you to do when you’ve living in an apartment that is really just a single room with a stove and a sink on one end? Take inspiration from this collection of super stylish studio apartments. As these spaces prove, living in one room doesn’t have to mean sacrificing style.

We talk a lot about streamlining. Minimizing. Cutting back. Paring down. And we really think that’s good. But it’s not always best (for you or your style). Sometimes “busy” decor, rooms bursting with things you love and that inspire you, is the right choice for your home. Take a page from these “busy” living rooms to learn lessons on how to make a full, exciting living room work for your style, without overwhelming everyone who spends time in it.

Name: Kay Rozynski Location: Lower East Side, NYC Size: 300 square feet Years lived in: Under 1 year; Rent Location is everything, and Kay’s location is the bustling Lower East Side of Manhattan, home to some of the world’s best places to eat, drink, and be entertained.

You’ve all been saying it for years in the Apartment Therapy commenting community: “curate” is overused. I’ll admit I was ambivalent, but after hearing someone put down their own lovely, charming home because they think it’s not “well curated”, I’m ready to join the cool-it-with-curate-club. Who’s with me? I’ll curate some signs.

Remember Paula and Paul’s fantastic house tour from a few weeks ago which showed off their enviable art and collectables in various areas of the house? We’re focusing on the crowning glory of that amazing gallery wall to give the rest of us some pointers on how to keep a staid feature alive with new possibilities. 1.

Sometimes, when it comes to decorating, it’s helpful to think outside the box. But maybe the box is one you didn’t even realize you were in. Maybe you’re laboring under some assumptions that are so insidious, you never really thought about them at all. Here are a few unspoken rules that couldn’t be more untrue — and that might be holding your space back from being all it can be. Furniture has to be placed against a wall.

Name: Jason & John of Madcap Cottage Location: Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn Size: 2,800 square feet, Tudor-style single family home Years lived in: 4 years “Green is our neutral,” explains Jason, as my jaw drops. Everything in Jason and John’s house that can have color does. And every color is saturated. I can’t stop smiling and sometimes I have to laugh out loud for the sheer joy of it. John and Jason have a long history and familiarity with design.

It’s that time of year when a lot of people are graduating, and striking out on their own, and moving into their first real ‘adult’ home or apartment. It’s an exciting, and maybe also a little intimidating, time, full of possibilities and pitfalls. Here are a few of the things that I wish I had known when I was a fledgling decorator, all those years ago. 1. Don’t buy everything all at once.

In the digital era, even with Pinterest and what have you, there’s still something so comforting about having images and ideas that you love on actual pieces of paper. Maybe this is why more and more people are creating inspiration boards — delightful little assemblages of art and ideas and whatever catches your eye. Here are ten of our favorites. Go ahead, grab some pushpins and dig in.

Living rooms are like living, breathing things that constantly evolve along with their inhabitants. We watch them change over time, as tastes and moods shift. Where are they today? If you’re thinking of redecorating or renovating, here are four of the top trends for modern living rooms. We’ve seen a lot of light wood and Scandinavian pastels in recent years, but lately there’s been a shift — perhaps ushered in by Abigail Ahern — towards dark walls and moody decor.

Name: Kerry Maloney Location: French Quarter — New Orleans, Louisiana Size: 800 square feet Years lived in: 6 years; Rented Six rows of neatly displayed wigs decorate a brick wall in Kerry Maloney’s French Quarter apartment. They’ve been collected from Mardi Gras costumes throughout the years. They’re decked out with stars and plumes, birds and elaborate handmade crowns. There’s the French aristocrat, the drum major, the conehead, and the wizard.

Want to be rolling around in creative inspiration on the regular at home? You need only put effort into cultivating creativity with your decor choices. Yes, a little thought into how you arrange your home and what you put in it can affect how creative you feel as you live in it — and we’ve got some tips that could help you design a space that boosts your creative levels high. Pick out furniture that can take a beating. That you can dance on. Put coffee cups on without a coaster.

Either by choice or by the vagaries of fate, you have found yourself living in a studio apartment. That’s it. Just one room. And maybe you’re cool with that, but you don’t feel like looking at your bed all day long. Or you need a little privacy for when houseguests stay, or you just want to create a little separation between the parts of your apartment devoted to sleeping and waking. Apartment Therapy has a few ideas.

Now we know you all hate it when we say you SHOULD follow this or that rule, so call this post the Guideline of Threes in your mind if you must. Because there’s a good reason that sitcom wasn’t called Four’s Company, or there weren’t six blind mice. And that same reason can help you create an interesting home that’s not just functional, but also has visual depth and satisfaction.

Name: Mark, Levi, + Theo Location: Upper East Side; New York City Size: 400 square feet Years lived in: 1.5 years; Rented Mark and Levi both share a love for beautiful things. With Mark working for Artsy, an online destination for the art world, and Levi for the luxury American jewelry brand David Webb, they both spend their days surrounded by beauty. Stepping into their Upper East Side home, their creative perspective is evident as is the harmony with which they decorate their space.

My friend’s newly purchased apartment includes a short interior staircase and I suggested she paint the stair rails the same color as the (blue) wall behind them. Will she do it? She’s thinking about it. There are many good reasons to try this painting technique; here are seven along with pictures to illustrate the strategy. 1.

Name: Candace Soriano and Jason Rein Location: Hancock Park, Los Angeles, California Size: 800 square feet Years lived in: 7 months; Rented Candace is an interior designer by trade and when you walk into her home in the heart of Los Angeles, it exudes a beautiful, relaxed, grown up feel. She lives here with her boyfriend, Jason, and they chose this part of town because of its historical charm.

One sure-fire way to make your home memorable? Take advantage of every opportunity to layer in a little personal style to your space. Adding (or replacing) a door knocker is a great example of exactly this type of decor-enhancing opportunity; they set the tone for a personality-packed interior, are usually VERY affordable and the install process is a quick, easy DIY project for a half hour on the weekend. Why have a same-old, same-old conservative – or even worse!

Windowless bathrooms have the potential to be very dark and dreary places. Without natural light pouring in, they can turn into caves you don’t want to spend a lot of time in. But they don’t have to be unpleasant. There are some things you can do — design-wise — to make your bathroom lovely despite the lack of a view. Here are nine windowless bathrooms doing it right — inspiration for your own home!

Name: Emily Quinton and Stef Location: East Dulwich; London, United Kingdom Size: 1,500 square feet Years lived in: 6 months; Rented “Create something every day,” reads the brightly-colored motto that adorns the living room wall of the vibrant, inspiring family home of writer, photographer and maker Emily Quinton, her technologist and artist husband Stef Lewandowski, and their four young children.

If you’re stuck with lower-than-you’d-like ceilings and can’t renovate, you’re not necessarily stuck with the look or feel of low ceilings; there are some ideas you can try. We’ve gathered the most effective tricks for making your ceilings feel higher than they are. Creating a faux crown molding area that matches the color of your ceiling will make it feel like your ceiling is taller than it actually is.

Name: Lisa Price Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan Size: 936 square feet Years lived in: 10 years; owned Imagine a house where the best of the best vintage and thrift store finds are arranged by color. Imagine really cool vintage furniture in really good condition. Imagine that almost every accessory and piece of furniture comes with a story (from a family member, a stranger at a flea market or a previous owner at a yard sale).

There are a few things that are transformative—things that go beyond decorating and get to the very core of what makes you happy at home.

Name: Chris Tuttle Location: Boystown; Chicago, Illinois Size: Studio Years lived in: 1 year; rented From the moment I walked into Chris Tuttle’s space, I felt like I had escaped city life. Dark walls and rich décor set the warm mood. The snug studio is peppered with charming and colorful vintage finds. And when I say snug I mean snug – you can practically see the entire thing from the front door.

Name: Marlowe Clementine Location: Echo Park; Los Angeles, California Room Size: 17.5 ft x 9 ft Last time we visited the home of Amy Pigliacampo and her husband Corey Szopinksi, they had been living there a mere 2 months. Now three years later, with their daughter on the way, Amy has completely redesigned their spare bedroom. Marlowe Clementine is due in March, soon to be welcomed home to one of the most creative and original nurseries I’ve ever seen.

Are you struggling with how to fit your furniture in the living room, and can’t for the life of you come up with a good layout? You might need to “float” your furniture — or pull everything out from the wall and create an island of sorts comprising your sofa, chairs and tables — and anchor it all with an area rug. What decorating magic is this do you ask? And how will you know if this is the answer?

It’s always interesting when homeowners make an unexpected choice in their spaces. In these nine rooms, one might expect to see a rug, yet these decorators have chosen to forgo one. It’s a slightly more subtle, sparse look that really lets the rest of the room shine. Take a look. So, tell us. What do you think about this look? Would you (do you) sport a bare floor?

Today, we continue our collaborative series curated by Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason of Aphrochic for Apartment Therapy. They handpick homes from around the world to share that capture the culture and style that they celebrate in their book, Remix: Decorating with Culture, Objects, and Soul.

Armor Lux teamed up with Madewell to produce these really nice versions of their classic slipper. With temperatures dropping like they are, a solid pair of house slippers is a great thing to have. I’ve been gifted sheepskin slippers a few times in my life, but they don’t have any structure and quickly become uncomfortable to use every day. We rounded up four sturdy house slipper brands to keep you warm all winter long.

I’ve been living in London for nearly a decade now, having moved here from Canada as a bright-eyed university graduate, in search of tea and adventure. Through my friendships and work as an interior designer (not to mention my work for Apartment Therapy— I love a good House Tour snoop), I’ve been lucky enough to have been invited into countless English homes over the years, from Cornwall to Yorkshire and nearly every county in between.

Living in a small space can be quite a design challenge (which is why we’re here, right?). But you embrace it, settle in, and before long, you’re a small-space-living expert! You know just how to entertain guests in a studio, make an office double as a nursery, or carve storage out of just about anything. So what’s one to do when you move out of the charming little apartment and into a house?

Name: Jennifer Laskey + Hunter Hall (and Kitty Capone + Niblet) Jennifer is the Creator/ Owner of RedLight Special Events, Weddings by Jennifer Laskey & Salvage Beauty Design Co. and Hunter is the Creator/Managing Partner of Archetype Hospitality & Development, LLC. Location: Los Feliz; Los Angeles, California Size: 1,300 square feet Years lived in: 6.

Hard butter when you want to spread it on hot piping toast or pancakes, or even when you want to slather it on top of a roast chicken is one of life’s little annoyances. It’s SO wonderful to work with soft butter in the kitchen and butter keepers or butter bells make it easy. This stunning one up top is Melissa Clark’s own and solid marble.

Bookcases don’t have to be boring. After you see these 8 designs, you may never be satisfied with plain old, run-of-the-mill bookcases ever again. Sorry about that. The SCALA bookcase by Faktura, with its asymmetrical shelves, is more visually interesting than your average bookcase. It’s quite lovely — and is available to purchase for $1,400, no DIYing required. This beauty is the Gerald Bookcase, available from Made Goods.

I never fail to be impressed by the ingenuity of city dwellers living in itty bitty teeny tiny spaces. Especially now that I’m shopping for apartments in New York, and all I can think is… where do you put the furniture? Here are five apartments belonging to real New Yorkers who have solved that problem in creative ways, and managed to squeeze a lot of living out of a little space. I really like what Linsey’s done with a fairly typical New York studio layout.

IKEA’s new kitchen cabinet system hits the stores on February 2nd. To help you plan your dream kitchen, as promised in our earlier inside scoop post, we’ve got need-to-know details ahead of time. Here’s inside info on everything from price to measurements, features to finishes, along with plenty of photos. Let the new kitchen designing and dreaming begin!

Of the many things you might be on the lookout for when searching for your next apartment to live in — hardwood floors, big windows, a lot of space — don’t neglect the odd but useful items on this list. They might save you a lot of future pain and make sure you enjoy your next home! We spotted these ideas from a thread on Reddit asking for what to look out for and what to asking when looking for an apartment.

Name: Alana Biagioli & Taylor Gulbins Location: Hoboken, New Jersey Size: 900 square feet Years lived in: 6 months; Rented You may recall Taylor’s house call post a couple months ago, and the apartment in Hoboken that lured him and his girlfriend, Alana, out of Manhattan. The square footage and daylight in their home definitely seems worth the move. They have created a fresh and modern space that has plenty of character and craft. Decorating this apartment was clearly a labor of love.

When you live in the close quarters of an apartment or condo, a little bit of consideration can go a long way towards happy neighbors. Sharing a wall can get awkward, so think about these tips before problems arise. If you can prevent or nip little squabbles in the bud, you can potentially save yourself massive amounts of misery and stress for years to come. Consider these keep-the-peace ideas: Think about your shared wall when planning the layout of your room.

Your shower may have been designed purely for washing your skin and hair — but that doesn’t mean that’s all that goes on there. For the sake of science, and for the sake of writing an Apartment Therapy post about weird things people do in the shower, I took an informal survey of co-workers and friends (and did some cursory internet searches), which turned up all kinds of showertime activities that have nothing to do with bathing. Here are seven of the most unusual. Do laundry.

Let’s face it, as cozy and sweet as a small space can feel, it can also sometimes feel like the walls are closing in. With winter on the way, you’ll be spending a lot more time indoors, so you might consider investing in proven ways you can make your small space feel less claustrophobic. We’ve got seven ideas! In a small space, sometimes sacrifices have to be made to make a space feel more airy.

When the budget is tight and you don’t have tons of time to spend shopping, sometimes purchasing a lot of your home’s design elements from the same few places is just the easy thing to do. So then what can you do to make sure your living room doesn’t look like a catalog spread and that your home feels like “you?” Find the answer in a few simple steps.

Black and white is a great color combination: it’s classic, it’s sophisticated, you don’t have to worry about whether things match. But sometimes the combo of black and white can be a bit stark. How do you create a monochromatic interior that feels elegant without being forbidding? Here are some ideas to make your rooms look sophisticated with this classic color scheme, but still livable and comfortable.

People have used corn husks for fall crafts and DIY projects since long before the original Thanksgiving dinner. And here’s a tip: you don’t need to shuck a bunch of corn either— just use tamale wrappers from the grocery store. They are inexpensive, easy to work with, and can produce a wide variety of classic, long-lasting decorations. Here are ten to consider: Above, how to make basic corn husk flowers from The House That Lars Built.

I did it. Probably everyone you know has done it. But if you’re reading this, and you’re currently working on decorating your first apartment (or home), you can avoid making this classic blunder. The biggest mistake most first-time decorators makes is: buying too much stuff all at once. It’s easy to imagine, when you find yourself in a brand-new, completely empty, apartment or home that you need to fill every nook and cranny right away.

It’s funny how sometimes a phrase can change its meaning as you change your mindset. That is, its definition and significance remain the same and suddenly you realize that you’re the one who has come to better understand it. Such was the case recently when I was reminded of a French term I learned and thought I understood long ago: jolie laide.

Staring all day at photos of enviable bathrooms full of bold tile floors, brand new fixtures, dreamy cabinets and claw foot tubs made for soaking in, it can be easy to get discouraged and focus on what you can’t do when you rent (or if you own but don’t have a huge budget for renovations). But just because you can’t tear everything out and start over doesn’t mean you can’t make your bathroom more beautiful.

Name: Julia Vallelunga & Bruno Gariépy Location: Montréal, Québec Size: 1,000 square feet Years Lived In: 1.5 years; Owned Julia is the founder and editor of À la Mode Montréal, a blog about décor, fashion, trends, travel and day-to-day life. Since the beginning of 2014, À la Mode Montréal has its own online store that offers a selection of beautiful handmade objects by international designers.

Today’s tour is the newest in a collaborative series curated by Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason of Aphrochic for Apartment Therapy. They handpicked homes from around the world to share that capture the culture and style that they celebrate in their book, Remix: Decorating with Culture, Objects, and Soul.

Welcome to my parent’s spare room, soon to be Man Cave for Snoring Father, or Respite for Tired Mother, depending on which way you look at it. Dad’s official take on the room’s “before” status? “Too much basket.” There’s not really that much “basket,” just a woven chair, laundry basket and tiny basket on the bedside. For a mother and daughter team who love all things woven, is that really too much?

(Image credit: Andrew Forcier) From The Kitchn → October Maker Talk: Kelsey Nixon’s Kitchen Confidence