Decorating

There are many reasons to buy faux leather furniture. It’s cheaper and animal friendly. And, there are many reason not to buy faux leather furniture. Real leather ages well and looks more expensive (because it is). If you’re thinking about buying new furniture and you’re torn between faux and real leather, here are a list of some of the pros and cons. Faux leather comes in many forms and some are better than others.

Name: Savannah Farris-GilbertLocation:West Hollywood — Los Angeles, CaliforniaSize: Studio apartment Years lived in: 1 — rent Savannah, a Graduate student in the Architecture-Interior Design program at UCLA is perfecting her love of Interior Decorating. I think it must be a craft she honed in on very early — as she told me her mother often helps her hunt for new pieces for her apartment.

That’s me. And that’s my credenza. which probably weighs in somewhere around 300 pounds, maybe more. I’m not kidding — it’s a monster. And I weigh about 105 wet. But I was able to move it from one end of the room to the other without breaking much of a sweat and without ending up in the hospital or with residual back pain. How’d I do it? I have a few tricks up my skinny arms.

Names: Jeremiah, Samuel, and Augustine Ages: 6, 4, 2 Location: Texas Awhile back we featured a room that took all of us here at Ohdeedoh by surprise. Jaws were dropping, we were forwarding the link as fast as we could to friends and family — we were flat out amazed. We’ve since gone behind the scenes and today you can see more of this room filled with color, hanging bunk beds and the opportunity for extreme fun!

Name: Hali & Philip DurhamProfession: Architect – www.studiodurham.comLocation: Soulard — St. Louis, MOSize: overall building 9,600 square feet, Residence 5,400 square feetYears lived in: 7 — owned It never hurts to be an award-winning architect. Most people in Saint Louis pass decrepit warehouses for years, writing them off as mere evidence of urban blight.

It’s a proven fact that our home plays a significant part in how we feel emotionally. Although if not kept up it can make us physically sick, it can also make you a little down in the dumps. Having a healthy space is key and aside from participating in the Apartment Therapy Home Cure, you can check out these ideas on lightening the mood at home!

A girlfriend of mine recently referred to her “fat mirror” (one that made her look wider and shorter) and her “skinny mirror” (one that elongated her frame). Is this a red flag for some major body image dysmorphia or is she on to something? For me, buying a mirror has always been about its frame and its shape. It never occurred to me that some mirrored reflections could be more accurate than others. And, really, who cares? What matters is what is on the inside, right?

Name: Darian DarlingLocation: Queens, New YorkSize: 800 square feetYears lived in: 2½ — rented Taking a break from her busy and glamourous entourage duties on Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball tour, lifestyle blogger, makeup artist and nightlife hostess, Darian Darling, graciously gave us a peek into her glittering abode. A direct reflection of her glitzy and engaging personality, Darian’s unique and inspirational home is full of eye-candy in every corner.

Name: Mike of Unplggd & Other Communications and Sadie the cat.Location: Rittenhouse Square — Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaSize: 360 square feetYears lived in: 1.75 years Studio apartments are common in a city like Philadelphia. The thing that sets them apart are the fantastic bare bones of the spaces that studio dwellers are given to work with. Original architectural details are a gem, but when you’ve got a knack for design like Mike does — they hold their weight in gold.

Name: Annie and PaulLocation: Upper West Side — New York, New YorkSize: 390 square feet — 1 bedroom Years lived in: 2½ — rented “We both roll with the same taste,” explain Annie and Paul when I ask if it was hard to design their first home together. Architects who met while learning their trade, Annie and Paul had each lived, previously, with roommates whose priorities diverged from home making.

We spent a fair chunk of Labor Day weekend lazily stretched out on picnic blankets, engaged in imaginative cloud gazing with our son. There’s a hedgehog, a Lego guy, a banana. But yesterday we were in the mood for some more, and not a single patch of condensed water vapor to be seen. So we did the next best thing – we fashioned our own to hang indoors. They took literally minutes to put together, and the effect was surprisingly transporting.

Repairs are expensive. New microwaves are cheap. But you don’t have to spend a dime on either. If your microwave turntable stopped spinning, here’s an easy way to try and fix it. And all you need is some warm, soapy water and your own two hands.You don’t have to be an appliance expert to troubleshoot a seemingly broken microwave turntable. You might find that all your little Zappy needs is a checkup and a good, thorough cleaning.

Name: Graham Age: 7 weeks Location: Michigan Room size: 10’x10′ At first glance you might not guess that this creative, colorful space is primarily a mix of Ikea and diy projects, but it’s true. Amy and her husband Andy transformed a guest bedroom into a bright, perky, modern space for their newborn son, Graham, and we’re entranced by the results.

Metal framed beds often get a bad wrap, and not without due cause. Pillows are always slouching through the headboard bars, and metal is certainly no match in comfort with its plush upholstered counterparts. Thankfully there are a few easy ways to work around their flaws or change their look without breaking the bank.

Name: HarperAge: 18 monthsLocation: Gig Harbor, Wa. “Choose things that you love, and it will come together,” says Harper’s mom. And this room certainly has come together- not in a forced, overly planned way, but in an organic way with lots of special touches from mom and dad.

With the city festooned in red and green for the holiday season, it seemed like an appropriate time to wonder how these colors came to be associated with Christmas, how blue and white became the official colors of Hanukkah, and what symbolism black, green, and red have during Kwanzaa. The Christmastime significance of the color green is partly related to the evergreen tree, seen as a symbol of Christ’s resurrection and eternal life.

Name: Andrew FlynnLocation: Chandler, ArizonaType: Home office When we saw Andrew Flynn’s amazing home office, we knew that we had to do a tech tour of his place. The great DIY features really set this home office apart from all of the rest. A faux-wall to hide cables and wires, a Mission Control center console to hide and store peripherals, and three floating monitors are what makes this home office quite ingenious.

Name: Chris NguyenLocation: Houston, TexasSize: 500 square feetYears lived in: 2 months There’s big and then there’s Houston BIG. In a city known for embodying the idea of gigantic Texan proportions, Chris Nguyen’s extremely modest sized 500 square foot apartment is an anomaly.

MANSTAD packs a lot of punch — it’s a (1) small scale sectional sofa that’s also a (2) bed and (3) storage. While there are options for sectionals with built in beds, few are this small, this inexpensive and few are designed to take advantage of the full footprint.

Name: Adam SelwoodLocation: Melbourne, Australia Now here’s inspiration to clean out that basement or attic and make better use of the space. Adam was kind enough to share his work-in-progress renovation, a DIY conversions of a basement once stuffed to the brim with typical “stuff” into a sleek and multi-use home office for both him and his wife.

This entry comes to you courtesy of the fact that I’ve heard this maybe-myth told to me more than once in the past few weeks my friends and complete strangers alike. My car’s keyless entry remote, for lack of a better word, sucks. I practically have to be next to the car to get it to work. Alas, plenty of the aforementioned people have given me the tip to hold the remote to my chin with my mouth slightly open to increase the range of the remote signal.

My husband and I decided we’d allow ourselves one splurge purchase for our baby. We had admired the Stokke Sleepi crib, but decided it was just too expensive – not just for our budget, but in principle. But when we started trying to figure out how to incorporate a crib into our home office space, the smaller Stokke started looking better and better.

click for more picsCrafty IntentionsShe painted the space from a harsh purple to Jamaican Sea from Behr, then installed Ikea Lack shelves to hold all her crafty goods including, rhinestones, sequins, little fabric trim, beads, metal and wood accessories, etc. pom poms, tools and glitter.The bottom shelf includes stair-like levels Megan got at Lowes. These allow her to store more small jars in the space.

Look at this simply lovely farmhouse kitchen from Lori in Long Island. She just finished renovating this old farmhouse kitchen on a budget, using a mixture of modern, serene colors and old-fashioned industrial fittings. • Click here for full post: Kitchen Spotlight: Lori’s Serene Farmhouse

We were having girls night at our friend Alexis’ house last week when we spotted her DIY version of a spice rack. Her kitchen occupies quite a small space, not to mention her husband is a chef (meaning they have every spice and cooking utensil known to man). Since they were out of space but needed a handy spice rack, Alexis to matters into her own hands.Picking up a handful of drawer dividers from The Container Store, Alexis went to town.

Bo Concept recently let us test drive one of their more popular sofa beds to see what we thought of it. After 2 weeks of giving it our all, we have our verdict:Bo Concept is a European Furniture maker that falls somewhere between West Elm and Design Within Reach. Marketed as affordable luxury, their furniture is modern, sleek and often perfect for small spaces.

Hello AT,After repainting our apartment, my wife and I are trying to figure out what color to paint our interior doors (the doorknobs are going to be stainless steel). The obvious answer is white, but this isn’t going to work.