Get answers, advice, and solutions to your biggest lifestyle questions — like where to buy the best candles, how to get a great night’s sleep, and tips to nail your next WFH job interview — to level up your life at home.
Perfect Night In is a series where we ask actors, artists, entrepreneurs, and beyond how they’d spend the ultimate luxury—a blissful evening at home. “Charlie’s Angels,””The Wedding Singer,””Never Been Kissed,” “Ever After”—the list of iconic Drew Barrymore classics goes on and on (and on). As it’s known, however, Barrymore’s success goes well beyond the big screen.
There have been so many milestones to celebrate in the world of grooming expert-turned-figure skater Jonathan Van Ness. First, as we already know and have binged, the third season of Netflix’s “Queer Eye” premiered this month. Second, the Fab Five member turned 32 today (happy birthday, JVN!). And third, Van Ness’s beloved podcast “Getting Curious” aired over one-hundred episodes. Can you believe?!
For as relaxing as taking a long, hot shower can be everyday, are they really all that good for your skin? We hit up skincare experts Rhea Souhleris Grous, Director of Aesthetics at Union Square Laser Dermatology and celeb-esthetician Renee Rouleau to help us break down the effects—both good and bad—that regularly indulging in hot showers can have on your body.
Perfect Night In is a series where we ask actors, artists, entrepreneurs, and beyond how they’d spend the ultimate luxury—a blissful evening at home.If you’re a fan of “The Big Bang Theory,” you’ll recognize Melissa Rauch, who plays Howard’s wife Bernadette. She was introduced in the show during the third season and quickly became a regular—and 10 seasons later, this will be her last as the beloved TV sitcom comes to an end.
Perfect Night In is a series where we ask actors, artists, entrepreneurs, and beyond how they’d spend the ultimate luxury—a blissful evening at home.I’m putting this truth out into the universe: my life changed for the better after watching the first episode of TV Land’s “Younger” (season 6 premieres tonight, June 12).
Make room in your official collection of all things Harry Potter for a new wizardly addition: Board game and puzzle manufacturer USAopoly recently announced the forthcoming release of a new collaborative game. HARRY POTTER: Death Eaters Rising is based on the fifth book/film, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.” The game, which will be available in Fall 2019, pits players against the infamous Death Eaters on a quest to ultimately corral and conquer Lord Voldemort.
New York’s Metropolitan Opera House has thought of a unique way to bring opera to the masses without putting anyone’s health at risk. Met stars will be performing audience-free recitals via live stream from incredible locations worldwide, and anyone can attend.
Dimmer switches are great, not only do they provide opportunity for mood lighting and ambiance, but also save money due to reduced power usage. Almost all the lights in my home are on a dimmer switch, except for the bedrooms, where we’d actually like to have them the most.
Ellen is back (and so are our recaps)! We’re super excited that the furniture design competition returns tonight (Monday, January 18), so here’s a look back at the New Year’s Day casting special. We get a taste of what’s to come on season 2 of Ellen’s Design Challenge, we meet the cast, and two people are gone before they got the chance to really compete. Too bad, so sad. Want to meet the cast?
In a modern world currently intrigued by minimalism, there’s something that all three adult generations can agree on: the problem of dealing with the collections curated (hoarded?) by our family members. From younger boomers and Gen X’ers sandwiched between their aging/dying parents and their own children to millennials trying to gently manage expectations (and their own limited budgets and storage space) without hurt feelings, the message is crystal clear.
You know who I'm talking about. The people who show up at the office bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, every day, like clockwork, eating the kind of food you made resolutions about.
You see a chair on the curb. It’s sitting right in front of your building and it’s free. Or, you’re at the thrift store and spy a cheap sofa. But something holds you back. You’re just. not. quite. sure. If only there were guidelines — holy reminders if you will — of things to keep in mind while looking at used furniture. How do you decide if it’s the right thing to re-do? Or if you should run in the other direction?
If I had a dollar for every time I justified skipping a workout because I couldn’t find the time, well, I’d probably have enough money to cover my woefully neglected gym membership for a year. But the reality is it can seem impossible to devote a decent chunk of the day to exercise. Still, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t. Happily, there are about a million sneaky ways to fit in a workout—even when time is scarce.
If we could live in any Disney fairytale, it would be “Beauty and the Beast.” Gorgeous architecture, a library filled with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, and a kitchen staff well-versed in French cuisine sound like a dream to us. Mild hostage situation aside, Beast’s castle is pretty much our dream. If you’ve ever watched the movie and thought, yep, I’d like to drink a glass of wine and take a selfie in here, you’re in luck.
Ssh! We’re putting together a dress up box for my kids this year for Christmas! To aid in my quest for putting together the best dress up box ever, I have made this handy “Ultimate Dress Up Box Checklist”. How many of these do you have in yours? Or, even better, waiting to add to yours, currently lying around your house? Used adult clothes: short dresses (they will become full length on a child) bridesmaid dresses (possibly cut short?
If you love to hate goop, then we’ve got a perfect summer read for you: Gabrielle Moss’ “Glop,” a hilarious, satirical take on Paltrow’s wellness dynasty.Moss, who’s also an editor at Bustle, said the idea for the book was born in 2015, after Paltrow posted on goop about vaginal steaming. “I decided I would also steam my vagina and report it to see how closely my experience mirrored Gwyneth’s,” she says.
Using data from Google Maps, Google News Lab has figured out where we’re going, what we’re looking for and when we’re getting there around Thanksgiving. So, if you’re trying to eat Chinese food on the way to the plant nursery on Black Friday, you’re not alone—but you should probably avoid driving at 9am. So how’d they figure out that folks in Texas are particularly interested in bicycle sharing locations?
In our largely cashless society, it’s easy to go days without touching an actual dollar bill. While there’s tons of convenience that comes with credit and debit cards, the downside is that money seems less real and it’s easier to overspend when payments appear in the distant future. The cash envelope system is one way to counter that. 1. Create Your Household Budget: Sit down and figure out your income and expenses each month.
If you’ve ever lusted over Italy’s gorgeous architecture (who hasn’t?), we’ve got some news for you. The government is accepting proposals for 103 historic sites, and in exchange, they’re yours, rent free. Most of the historic buildings are old homes, inns, and monasteries, but some of the properties up for grabs are literal castles.
Your middle school dreams have come true—the intensely rainbow universe of Lisa Frank will be coming to a theater near you. The feature film, which will be a live action/animation hybrid, is currently in development. If it’s anything like classic hybrids Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Paula Abdul’s Opposites Attract video, count us in.
Name: Bradley L Bowers City: Miami, FL Style: I use the term “future-monk” to describe my style. I avoid decoration and I love to let the purity of materials merge with really funky and exciting shapes & forms. Carpenter paired with: Matt Muenster What are your design strengths? Follow-through; I think it is an underrated quality and one of my greatest assets and strengths. What are your design weaknesses? I am insistent.
Q: What is a safe, nontoxic sealant for a wooden highchair? We have an old wooden highchair that has a tray with all the finish worn off. The tray had also broken in half where it was seamed together. I glued it together again, but I’d like to refinish it to make it easier to clean. It is in otherwise perfect condition and we want to use it for our grandchildren.
Professional Organizer Amelia Meena helps clients get their homes in order and, as we all know, that often involves getting rid of things no longer needed. To help us all out as we work to declutter our homes (one less thing to think about!), I asked her to share her list of great places to donate; because if you’re clearing out, you just may be able to help out as well.
Are you an introvert who’s sworn off entertaining after too many exhausting events? Not everyone is cut out for every kind of hosting, but just because you’re not a social butterfly doesn’t mean you can’t have a good time with guests; you just have to do it the right way and play to your strengths. Here’s how.
Have you ever wandered the massive aisles of your local warehouse store, wondering why you can’t easily ask your friends and family to buy you a 120-pack of coffee pods or a 36-pack of water pitcher replacement filters? Well, now it’s only a click away, because Costco has recently announced its new gift registry.
People love LEGO. They also love Gilmore Girls. Now the two have come together in an idea so pure and beautiful that we can’t help but love it. Behold, a replica Luke’s Diner made from the toy blocks. While we’re waiting for Netflix, the showrunners, and cast to figure out if there will be more episodes of the revival or not, GG fans now have something else to possibly look forward to.
With Valentine’s Day this week, we’ve all got love on the brain. And if you’re sitting in your apartment, lost for words to express how you feel to your loved one, maybe it’s time to figure out your IKEA love language. Do you love your partner like a BEKVAM or a MALM? Take this super scientific, highly romantic quiz to find out. A. Knowing someone is serious about our relationship B. Being one half of an “it” couple C.
It’s Apartment Therapy reader month! Join us every Thursday afternoon for Homebody Happy Hour—it’s your chance to unwind with fellow design fans and unload your thoughts on some fun conversation topics. You can judge my very television-centric living room layout all you want, but I’m not ashamed to say that TV and movies play a huge role in my house.
Do you know what’s in your closet? Like, way in there? Do you ever find two or three of the (nearly or exactly) same clothing items because you didn’t realize you had already bought one? Do you not buy items you really like because you know you already have something — even though you don’t really love it? A closet inventory is more than just a cleverly disguised way to declutter your closet (though it is that, too).
No matter which side of the bed you got up on this morning, chances are, you could probably use a little more shut eye. Today is the tenth annual World Sleep Day, an event intended to be a celebration of sleep and a call to action on important sleep related issues. We do our fair share of talking about snoozing around here, so today, we’ve rounded up our best tips for a better night’s sleep. Don’t let your space steal your sleep.
We’re not all #blessed enough to have a home office or a designated space that’s only for working, but if you have the kind of job that lets you work from your apartment, you still need some sort of workspace. Maybe you have a space you can easily transform into a desk on work days, maybe you’re one purchase or DIY project away from having the perfect telecommuting solution, or maybe you need a little help from your neighborhood coffee shop.
It can sometimes be easy to mindlessly move through your home, just going through the motions of your daily routine. Are you just existing in your home? Or are you enjoying your home to its fullest every day? There are a few ideas I’m re-reading these days to help me remember to really live in my home. 1. Laugh in it What really makes you laugh? Is it the latest viral pet video? Watch a bit before you jet off to work. Love stand-up comedy?
It came as a major blow to my ego that despite twice-weekly yoga sessions and thrice-weekly weightlifting, my left shoulder was defeated by my recent dabbling in wall painting. All this pain, just from painting! Granted, it was 8 solid hours of painting, a few days each week… Still, one doesn’t like to think that a low-impact activity can do such damage to one’s relatively young and decently strong body.
It doesn’t look like much in its stock photograph, but IKEA’s SNIGLAR crib has been turning up all over the place in our tours lately – everywhere from Sydney, Australia to Pennsylvania, USA. The crib’s airy, simple design and raw wood aesthetic work well with eclectic, modern, Scandinavian, and minimalist decor. Don’t believe us? Click through to those nurseries that feature the one-and-only SNIGLAR. 1. Elke’s Sweet As Honey Space 2.
When you’re pregnant you hear a lot of old wives’ tales, maternity myths and “what to expect while expectings”. My first pregnancy was relatively easy and uneventful and the first trimester I spent, like most women, sleepy and tired. So I was really looking forward to the “nesting stage” which is supposed to kick in during the second trimester and peak in the third.
Do you have goals for your home? I think it’s really effective–in all areas of life–to write down your goals and share them with others. And your home should be no exception. Whether you rent or own, whether you plan to be there for seven more months or seven more years (or forever!), you should keep a list of things you’d like to get done for a happy life at home. To get the most out of your list, make it a good mix of goals.
It can be a challenge to host more people than your guest room can handle. Instead of turning on your No Vacancy light, consider some creative options to offer your friends and family when your guest room is full to capacity. During our first month in Denver, my husband and I hosted 13 people (singles and families) in our 700 square-foot 1 bedroom shotgun. We were always happy to take in our friends but made sure to let them know about the size of our accommodations ahead of time.
Bigger, bolder, faster, brighter. December’s cosmic climate sends us speeding into Sagittarius energies, and the zodiac’s megawatt My-Little-Pony invites us to embrace the wild, wide open roads before us. Think voyages of all flavors, dancing ’til the break of dawn, and reinvesting in the radical, luck-be-a-lady faith that life is absolutely on your side. So roll the dice and pack up your rollerboards for flights far beyond the known.
In response to my recent post, Trying To Cut Down On Heating Costs? Go Gradually, a commenter wrote, “If I feel a little cold, I just tell myself that I am burning more calories when I am chilly… because that’s true.
Now that winter’s here, my reluctance to get out of bed in the morning has mounted exponentially. It’s much easier to snuggle deep into the covers when my alarm goes off, and I’m constantly oversleeping when I know that I should get up. In an attempt to curb this bad habit, I’ve compiled some tips for making waking up a bit more manageable. Drinking water as soon as you wake up will help stimulate the body and help you stay awake.
This is a “get off my lawn” type of post, when I curmudgeonly grouse about how much things cost, and how we’re being swindled by young punks who don’t know how easy they’ve got it in today’s world. My pet peeve of the day is products that are very inexpensive (or in some cases free) at the outset, but require expensive refills or supplies to keep them item working. Don’t get me wrong: I love some of these things.
Being an adult isn’t easy. The demands of balancing bills, budgets, and a busy schedule can often be downright exhausting and trying at times, to say the least. That’s why like all things related to personal growth, acting like a grownup requires a lot of patience and practice. Needless to say, the art of maturity is a difficult one to master. To help, we’re taking a closer look at the seven basic skillsets of adulting and providing some useful resources along the way.
I’m one of those visitors that cat owners probably dread: I can smell a litter box a block away, and I’m not charmed by a cat doing its business in plain sight of the dinner table. Any of these attempts at making the litter box more discreet will go a long way towards endearing your darling cat to guests like me… TOP ROW: 1. Here’s the first of my three favorite IKEA hacks, this time from Bella Pop. IKEA should really get into the litter box game. 2.
These days I live in mild San Francisco, but I spent the first 23 years of my life in Chicago, a city where a windchill of -20ºF (that’s -29ºC) turns waiting for the bus into an extreme sport. I’ve learned a few things over the years… I like to keep my apartment as cold as possible while I’m sleeping, but even if you don’t, the transition from under-the-covers to real world can be a brutal one.
When that luxurious velvet sofa catches your gaze for the first time, it’s easy to think, “I can totally do this, Fido will learn that he is not allowed up. Simple as that.” We’ve all been there, but let’s get real. Even if you become the dog whisperer and are indeed successful in keeping him off the sofa, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will stay clean.
Pallet projects, in every possible form, were early guests to the DIY party and have stayed around ever since. Using them for the reclaimed wood certainly has its risks (more on that later), but you can’t beat the price (which is usually free). Here’s a guide to everything you need to know: finding, choosing, cleaning, and breaking down one for use. Once you know the what’s what, you can decide for yourself if they are worth the effort.
During the first half of my life growing up in New York, snow days meant waking up early, gripping the radio in hope that my school’s name would be called out so I would get to spend the day playing in the snow with my friends.The second half of my life has been on the West Coast where snow and winter became foreign words. Until last year that is when I moved to the Pacific Northwest and entered the world of seasons once more.
Old apartments have so much character, don’t they? The solid walls, the carefully crafted architectural details, the two power outlets in the whole place… yikes! If you’re loving your pre-war apartment, but hating having no place to plug in your hair dryer, check out if one of these five solutions can help.1. Install New OutletsYeah, this might not work for everybody—especially renters.
A day off is a gift and in today’s hard-working world, a thing to be savored. For some of us, that means a recuperating and revitalizing opportunity — a day without any goals beyond recharging batteries. For others, the idea of an “extra” day to accomplish a home-based goal, whether crafting, cleaning, decorating or renovating is simply too good to let pass by.
