Decorating

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.

In all of our travels across the country and all of our rental apartments and homes I’ve only had the chance to paint in a few spaces. The problem is, by the time you’ve spent enough time in your space to get the feel for light and how it effects color — it’s time to move! We’ve lived with some of the uuuugliest walls ever for most of our lives and we’ve learned a few tricks to work around them.

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.

So we’re just going to get right to the point with this post, because no graceful intro or set up can counterbalance the idea behind this new product. It’s called the “Better Marriage Blanket” and that’s only because calling it “The Fart Trapping Blanket” seems well… too obvious.The Better Marriage Blanket retails between $29.99 and $59.99 (Twin-King) and is available in white and beige shades.

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.

If you are lucky enough to have a dishwasher, well, aren’t you spiffy. I, on the other hand, can’t remember the last time a machine did my dishes for me. I guess living in an old San Francisco apartment has its sacrifices. Since some of you undoubtedly share this plight, here’s a roundup of dish racks that should meet a wide ranging set of needs.System Dishrack by simplehuman.

Many of us are all for composting, even if we don’t have a lick of outdoor space to call our own. Some have the luxury of slightly larger kitchens of cabinet space, but others are doing good if they can open their oven and refrigerator doors at the same time. If your kitchen feels a little small, here’s 5 places to place a compost bin and a few of our favorite resources for making it happen!1.

Normally we offer a variety of options or techniques to hide the eyesore of cable/wire clutter. But what if you’ve got an awkwardly positioned outlet and a cable or wire is just something you have to live with? Instead of hiding it, why not make it something more visually amusing/pleasant, as shown here with this adornment by PA-Design.The design also reminds us of Shunsuke Umiyama’s vine inspired Midori AC Adaptor.

If you are taking on some small projects around the house but don’t necessarily have a shop full of tools, it might come in handy to have a few alternatives if you find yourself in need of clamps.Clamps can be useful for holding things in place while your hands are busy with other parts of a project. They’re also handy when you’re gluing something that needs to be held together for an extended period while the glue sets up.

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.

The monthly club is an old-school approach to gift giving that’s usually associated with fruit baskets or popcorn tins, but the Internet has advanced beyond the Harry and David catalog and into the 21st century. Subscription gifts are available now for everything from artwork to movies and, if it’s what you want, you can still sign up for the scented candle of the month club, too. 1) 25 Colored Pencils for 25 Months. That’s 500 pencils! In 500 different colors!

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.

We recently gathered some ideas for 5 Small Nightstands Under $5. The solutions were for small budgets. But what about small spaces? We’re now gathering four more nightstand ideas that will fit into a 12″ wide space next to the bed… Many of us with small bedrooms have just enough space at the bedside to squeeze in and make the bed. What are some nightstand ideas for those slender spaces?

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 past weekend, we hosted a barbecue/ping pong tournament at our home to celebrate a birthday in addition to Memorial Day. None of our guests showed up empty-handed either–we have enough beer, booze, and chips for the next barbecue! However, one couple brought over a gift bag full of fun and functional things that we could definitely use over and over again for future summer parties which inspired us to create our own shortlist of barbecue-themed gifts…1.

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.

During our apartment search last spring, we were surprised by the number of small spaces with a major (and easily avoidable) flaw: in almost every tiny bedroom, the door opened into the small room rather than swinging out into the larger space. The area required for the door to swing in significantly reduced the bedroom’s footprint and in many cases made it tough to fit a full-sized bed inside.

Dwell magazine recently released a slideshow of their favorite barstools. The list has some beauties in it, most of which were over $500 a pop. We decided to focus in on their picks for under $500…Clockwise from top: Onda Barstool by Jesus Casca – $358 – Design Within Reach Sebastian Bar Stool – $49.99 – IKEA Real Good stool – $199 – Blu Dot Viona Barstool – $169.

In a small space, figuring out where to put the sofa is key, but figuring out what to put behind it is equally important. That space behind your couch can be used for shelving, storage, and more if you plan your layout well…Shelving, whether wall-mounted or freestanding, creates a dramatic backdrop behind the sofa. In the middle of a room, you can use open shelving to divide a space and anchor your couch. (This photo is from our old apartment.

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.

A sectional sofa is a big investment. Once you add a chaise or additional modular parts onto your sofa, it’s extra hard to find anything under $1,000. Still, there are lots of good options at both the low and high ends of the spectrum. We rounded up 15 sectionals in a range of prices, colors, and configurations.

When designing the look of a room, deciding on the color palette can sometimes seem overwhelming. The task of coordinating the decor to the furniture to the flooring to the walls in just the right way can seem challenging. Thoughts of “Where to begin?” or “How” to begin?” can easily takeover.One place to begin is understanding a bit about color theory and how different color harmonies can create the feeling, look and overall tone of space.

AT reader Jessica inherited the decor decisions of a previous tenant and is having problems trying to remove it:“My bathroom downstairs has aluminum foil applied to the walls and I can’t get it off. I think the people who lived here before me applied it with glue and it’s proving to be impossible to remove. Can you tell me the best way to remove it? Thank you.”We think you’ve got several options. The first being the easiest to try, but possibly time consuming.

Reader Courtney Chelo asks:After 5 years with my freshman year standard issue Dell laptop (which is dying a slow, painful death) I’m ready to leave the PC world for a Mac. I don’t need anything fancy… I’m going with the MacBook 2.4GHz… the question is: if I get the white one, will it turn yellow? Some say “YES!” some say “GOD, NO!” and others say “I don’t want to learn to use a Mac and you shouldn’t either!

While most of the time, we just want to chuck our dirty clothes on the floor it’s probably a better idea to put contain the grubbies in a hamper. Here are a few hampers that tickle our fancy. LaMont Bamboo Hamper, $40 White Two Hamper Set, $59.95 Canvas Two-Drawer Hamper by Badger, $33.95 Spongebob Hamper, $14.99Blomus Laundry Bin with Black Wooden Lid, $180Sea Grass Hamper, $99 Korall Skoldpadda, $5.99Jax Organic Hamper, $68Bamboo Lattice Storage Stool, $89Which hamper do you recommend?

If you want to lay down a new floor and want to go cheap, we’ve known quite a few people to reach for IKEA’s Tundra click-lock laminated flooring. At $1.19 per square foot, it beats Home Depots super popular TrafficMaster Allure Vinyl Flooring, but the jury is still out as to which is best.

We can part with our CDs, thin out our closets of clothing, stop coming home with curbside finds… but we must find more room for more books [wild eyed]. Laure’s Book in the Rafters idea and this wrap around ceiling shelving are both efficient uses of overhead space. Corners, stairways, closets and even doorways can be converted into additional storage.

Revisiting this ever-popular post about Home Depot’s Trafficmaster Allure vinyl flooring, we noticed a Home Depot employee left extensive additional comments and details about the product, so we thought we’d repost this with updated information for the many visitors who come to this particular post specifically for TrafficMaster Allure information.Have you ever wanted wood floors in your bathroom but thought otherwise because of concern about moisture?

…besides the bedroom. Dressers are super-versatile pieces that provide a lot of storage, and they don’t have to be relegated to clothes-keeping. In the dining room they can store napkins and silverware, in the family room they can store DVDs, and in a hallway they can store linens. Click below for 8 spots to put a dresser.In a hallway, a dresser can store out-of-season clothes or extra linens.

Seems like the last thing we need to do right now is accumulate anything. But if you relish in post-holiday deals, take a look at CB2 outlet sales, including this great Merimekko cotton sheet set for $14.95-$79.95 (down from $29.95-$109). A few more items shown below (and available online only).Havana pillows, $9.95 each (reg. $24.95) Intersection print, $24.95 (reg. $99.95) Gumball paper lantern, $2.95 (reg. $6.95)More CB2 sales here.

This consumer reports rant is from the lovely, Gari. It is too good not to post: “WEST ELM———you’ve been there. We’ve all been there….walking around in DUMBO trying to find the place …….anxiously waiting for the Chelsea store to open. Well, I’d like to give you fellow West Elmer’s a heads-up on some lame furniture construction and even lamer customer service. I purchased their wood frame bed in August of ’04.

Ever since the outdoor room concept became a phenomenon big enough to spawn countless backyard makeover segments on HGTV, the market for these rugs has exploded. Indoor/outdoor rugs are generally woven from water and stain-resistant plastics and can be cleaned with a hose-down. They’re also increasingly made to be soft underfoot and the designs are attractive enough to be used outdoors — or in — without apology.

We hate dish racks. They take up space that we’d rather use for other things, and they usually look bad. If we had all the money in the world, we’d have one of those Italian kitchens with the dish rack built into the back of the sink area, but that’s never going to happen…– To All Top 10 Lists –Valcucine Equipped Back SectionIn our house we found a tiny dishrack (the Polder, below) that we use for daily use. We use the dishtowel upon the counter for overflow.

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.

Hello AT,I have a tap water purifer for my kitchen sink, and a shower head filter for my shower. do you know of anything similar for the bathroom sink? i have a feeling the unclean water is what’s causing my face to break out. thanks! Telephasik(Pic: WaterPik mini Filter) (Note: Include a pic of your problem and your question gets posted first.)Link To All Good QuestionsDear Telephasik,You must have very sensitive skin. We wonder how much people worry about their water in this town.

When buying sheets, we pretty much exclusively shop at (drum roll, please) Ross Dress for Less. They have a huge selection of sheet sets from great designers. You have to go with an open mind and be willing to dig around, but oh, the treasures you’ll find. Although we were once exclusively white bedding only, we found stunning, high-end chocolate brown and smoky blue sheet separates and it changed our life and the look of our bedroom forever.