At least I think you can, based on this Tiny Patio Ideas – 9 Inspiring Small Patios
Plenty of ideas to steal from there, including from Igor Josifovic. (He has a blog and a book on the topic, so you can should check that out for even more good ideas. The photo is a link to the one on the Food52 site)
For some people, the first response is going to be: “great idea, but I need some bootstrap inspiration”. Totally understandable response. So here are seven boards to get you going on making your own: Peek at the Inspiration Boards of These 7 Female Designers
If you first response was something the opposite of “great idea”, then all I would say is try to find 3 or 4 items that represent things you value and have them in a space that you can see often. Maybe they are awards, or pictures of people you love, or items from trips you’ve been on. A cluster of things to remind you of what you have and what you accomplished. They may sit on a shelf instead of a board, but they will inspire you nonetheless. Whatever works.
One thing I would recommend is set the board up so you can change it often. I find if the board is inflexible, you end up not seeing it any more. If you have a dozen images or items you want to post, perhaps post a fraction of them, then switch them around with the unposted ones. It will keep it fresh that way.
It is a slog being locked down during this pandemic. Anything that lifts your spirits help. Inspiration boards can be one of those things. Make yours today.
If you are thinking of improving your home by adding some artwork, this piece can be helpful: How to Choose Artwork for Your Home – Decorology
Among other things, there’s some offbeat examples of how to do gallery walls. Sure, you can do strict grid patterns for your gallery wall, but why not try something different, like that wall shown above?
Also, if you are interested in getting great affordable art, check out the works for sale at Art Interiors. They have gallery wall ideas, too.
May 1, 2020 in decor, new!
Tagged advice, art, decor, gallerywalls, interiordecorating
That is actual floor tile you can buy! The floor is flat underneath, but the different shaped tiles trick your eye into thinking otherwise.
For more on this trompe d’oeil, see: An Optical Illusion Tile System Designed by Casa Ceramica via Colossal
Many of you have been working from home for several weeks now due to the pandemic. You may be getting fatigue for a number of reasons with your environment. Worse, you might have to keep doing it for some time to come.
Don’t fret. Here’s 10 Home Office Ideas That Will Make You Want to Work All Day from Real Simple magazine. Lots of good ideas in that piece, and nice photos to offer up some inspiration. Best of all, most of the ideas are affordable. If you can’t get out to shop and don’t want to shop online, consider “shopping your house” (i.e. take pictures, rugs, clocks, etc from other parts of your home and put them in your work space. Hey, you are there most of the time, why not make it shine). Also Google things like “home office gallery wall” or “home office decor ideas” for more visual ideas.
April 26, 2020 in advice, new!
Tagged advice, decor, decorating, interiordecorating, wfh, workingfromhome
It’s tulip time. If you love them and buy them often too, here’s some advice on how to better take care of them: Tulips – Flower Care via Apartment Therapy
For example, if you have space, do what good hotels do and make a lounging area, like this:
Let’s face it we all have more time these days to lounge.
For more such tips, see: 25 ways to make your master bedroom feel like a boutique hotel
So yesterday I highlighted that fast furniture is low cost and not great. Is it possible to have low cost furniture that is also good and stylish? I think you can, if you stick to the products listed here: The 13 Most Popular IKEA Products | Architectural Digest
If you mix them in with other furniture, or style them well, you can have a well furnished home that looks great and doesn’t cost much.
This piece outlines how “fast-furniture” manufacturers have take a page from the book of fast fashion manufacturers and have gone on to make visually appealing but physically awful furniture. It says:
Fast-furniture manufacturers (are) giving shoppers an opportunity to buy trend-informed furniture at a price that doesn’t force them to pretend they’re investing in the future. Wasteful though it may be, it doesn’t necessarily make sense to buy an expensive sofa if you don’t know where you’ll be living in a year.
So it should come as little surprise that much of this furniture isn’t great.
People want new furniture. They want to transition from stuff they find on the side of the road, or from IKEA, or even hand me downs from their family. But they don’t have the money or the patience to buy better pieces. This creates the fast furniture market.
File under “you get what you paid for”. Worth a read. Especially if you are attracted to the look and the price of some of these pieces.
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Yesterday I showed you how to cry in New York. Today I want to show you how to enjoy New York when the weather is less than ideal. The best way to do that is to be indoors. And the best way to enjoy the indoors in New York is to visit the most beautiful interiors in New York City
P.S. If you are a fan of New York like I am, then ny.curbed.com might be for you too.
If you are terrible with plants, like me, and want to get some plants regardless, then check this out: Houseplants You Can’t Kill – Dwell.
The plants are:
Relatedly, my office recent had plants added, and the plants added were from this list. So far they are doing fine. Let’s see if I (and you) have similar results.
Not yet, but clearly it is in trouble, based on this: Why Muji Is Struggling | News & Analysis | BoF.
My feeling is they have expanded past the point it is sustainable, and now they are going to have to adjust. Hopefully they can adjust: they are a good company and they could be as big as IKEA or H&M. Or they could go bankrupt. The next few years will show which direction they go.
Thanks to Jeff Smith for sending me this link!
Then consider this idea from Apartment Therapy: Fresh Christmas Garland Home Decor Idea.
Basically just get some garland (and a tree) and keep it simple. If you have a bit more energy, candles are a good idea. Or small LED light chains in a vase with some Christmas balls.
But the garland (and the tree) signify the holiday season quite nicely.
December 8, 2019 in decor, new!
Tagged apartmenttherapy, Christmas, decor, minimalism
To me, it’s this one:
Image via the great blog Lottie + Doof. Go see it. They have a great gift giving guide too. (Top of the blog.)
It’s a very simple idea:
“It’s all about the procession,” said Andrew Franz, an architect and interior designer in New York. As soon as you enter a home, he believes, your eye should be led to another visual destination, “because the activity between rooms is what creates a successful, comfortable design.”
via This Decorating Technique Separates the Pros from the Amateurs – WSJ
It doesn’t have to be color either: it could be pattern, style, material…anything that links the rooms. In linking rooms, you make each room appear stronger while making the space feel unified.
Image from the article, where the colors in each of the rooms are linked to each other.
November 13, 2019 in decor, new!
Tagged decor, decorating, interiordecorating, style, WSJ
I recommend this site and this section of it: Poppytalk – do it yourself
Lots of good projects here. And there’s also a part of the site dedicated to Ikea hacks. Worth checking out.
According to this, the interest in this style of furniture may be slowly fading:
Is Interest in Midcentury Modern Design Declining?
I’m not surprised. Revivals all have their rise and falls, and this style of furniture is overdue. Likely it won’t totally fade, since so many pieces of that era really blend in well with other styles of furnishing. It’s just likely you won’t see whole rooms dedicated to the style.
Can be found here: Modern Brazilian Apartment for a Young Couple – Design Milk.
From black walls to black accents, this apartment has black everywhere, and it does so in a way that makes a strong visual contrast while still keeping the apartment bring.
Smart.
Is this home featured here: This Cozy Minnesota Home Will Make You Want a Candelabra | A Cup of Jo
You really out to go to the site and check it out. Meanwhile, here’s a peek to show you what I mean:
Some thoughts on this:
I highly recommend you go to Cup of Jo linked to above and see the rest of it. It’s inspiring for maximalists like myself. 🙂
Meanwhile a bold maximalism is achieved here, not so much by the amount of items as by the amount of bold colours and prints used throughout the place. It’s still not a big place, but it feels right. I guess that is all relative, but I love this.
For more, see This Manhattan Home Feels Like a Jewel Box | A Cup of Jo
(Image a link from the above article in A Cup of Jo)
August 31, 2019 in homes, new!
Tagged colour, cupofjo, decor, design, homes, Manhattan, newyork, smallspace, smallspaces, tinyhomes
For fans of maximalism, you can get some good ideas on how to pull it off and still make your place feel orderly by checking out this post: A Book-Filled Manhattan Apartment Where Everything Tells a Story | A Cup of Jo.
If you love small spaces AND stuff, you need to learn to be a good maximalist. (Or buy storage.) That post in A Cup of Jo can help.
I am fascinated by living in a small space. Here are some of the better links I’ve found on how to live well in such confines.
(Picture from the Cup of Jo piece.)
Part bookshelf, part seat, this bookshelf is not like any other.
For more information on how you can get your own, see Bookworm – The only cocoon shaped bookshelf in the world | Atelier 010 Rotterdam
There’s a little bit of everything here for those who aspire to a minimalist lifestyle, from fitness to decor to cooking. Enjoy.
July 21, 2019 in advice, decor, new!
Tagged advice, cooking, decor, fitness, minimalism
I recommend this piece on a family that had to do extreme decluttering because of a move. There’s lots of good advice in the piece, and worth reading if you are feeling the need to declutter. You may not feel you need to do it in an extreme way, but does this sound familiar?
Decluttering was an item on my to-do list for years. One I kept putting off.
Yep. Never a fun thing to do. But in their case, they had added pressure:
… we decided to sell our house and downsize to an apartment less than half the size. Then, getting rid of stuff became priority number one. It was an essential step in selling our home fast and for top dollar and critical for surviving a long distance move on a shoestring budget.
When I brought in professional movers to estimate our long distance move, I was shocked by estimates that we’d have 90+ boxes of stuff to move, which did not include existing storage totes. My first thought was How could four people possibly need that much stuff? The short answer is we didn’t, and I made it my mission to get that box number down.
In fact, not only did we want less stuff but we also wanted to move it ourselves on just one rental moving truck.
Needless to say, once you have such goals, extreme decluttering becomes mandatory.
We started extreme decluttering. We ended up moving across the country with one 26 ft. moving truck that was only about three-quarters of the way full. And no, we didn’t get rid of everything. We kept enough to furnish our new apartment fully.
With half of our stuff gone, we were able to downsize from a 4500 sq ft home to a 1768 sq ft townhouse-style apartment. Now we are living comfortably in 61% less space.
A good piece. Recommended, regardless of whether or not you are downsizing.
(Bold emphasis added by me. Image from here.)
July 20, 2019 in advice, decor, new!
Tagged advice, declutter, decor, downsizing, mariekondo, moving
Your home office may never get near to any of the ones in this piece,
25 Home Office Designs & Decorating Ideas — Dwell – Dwell, but it’s nice to dream and get inspiration, and that article can help there. The image above is one of the more modest ones. But hey, go check it out and steal some ideas.
This, a Simple Lamp that Requires No Hardware by Emmanuel Gonzalez, is really as beautiful as it is simple.
Great design.
May 28, 2019 in decor, design, new!
Tagged decor, decorating, design, designmilk, interiordecorating, LAMP, lighting, minimalism
Marie Kondo and her method of cleaning up are very hot now, likely due to her TV show. This hotness sparked a number of discussions about her, such as this: “Tokimeku” Means So Much More Than “Spark Joy” in Japanese | Apartment Therapy. It also sparked other, more extreme discussions, such as how it is racist to not account for the deeper Shinto meaning in her works.
I read her book when it first came out and I admired it. I didn’t agree with all of it, but I liked her approach to life and the things we own. I got the Shinto aspect of the book, but I don’t recall that it was emphasized, so criticizing people of missing that who are unaware of Shintoism is a ridiculous criticism.
There have been shows like Marie Kondo on before. It makes sense. We are driven in North American culture to accumulate, and shows like hers provide us with an antidote to this. When Marie Kondo is forgotten, another home organizer will come along.
I have read more extreme versions of Marie Kondo, like “Goodbye, Things”, which promotes a very minimal life style. I bought it the way I buy other books that have subjects to aspire to but will never achieve. I guess others have too.
There is something to be said for a minimalist lifestyle, a maximalist life style, and something in between. In the end, what counts is that you have positive feelings towards the place you inhabit, however much you have.
One thing Marie Kondo misses is the notion of a room as a workshop. If you have a hobby, be it cooking or woodworking or gardening or reading, you likely have a room where all your tools and supplies are. If you are good at your hobby, you likely have alot of them. That makes sense. It doesn’t make sense to get rid of them just because you want to have less things. Have what you need to do the job when you want to. You could still trim back: do you really need 10 cutting boards or 3 screwdrivers that are exactly the same? But otherwise keep the tools you need or may need.
I think Marie Kondo is great because she encourages us to live better with some simple guidelines. Even if you don’t follow them all, you will live better if you consider her message and try to apply it. In the end you’ll have a better home, and you will have a better idea of what you consider a better home.
Image from the NYTimes article on her, here.
February 13, 2019 in decor, thoughts
Tagged decor, design, essays, home, mariekondo, maximalism, minimalism
Can be found here: Why I Love Benjamin Moore’s Tundra Paint Color | Architectural Digest, as well as here and here.
Then you need this. Top 40 Tricks and DIY Projects to Organize Your Office. Quite a few good set ups and tips there.
I thought this was clever:
I have not stayed at the William, but I don’t need to in order to appreciate the beauty of the place (shown above). Regardless of your travel plans, if you have decorating plans, it’s a great place that illustrates how to effectively use bold colour in your home. For many, using bold colours can be both desirable and intimidating. Some concrete examples can help you achieve your bold colour dreams and overcome your bold colour fears.
For more, see this: A Bold, Colorful Hotel in the Heart of Manhattan – Design Milk
If you ever thought about living in a Tiny Home, here’s your chance to try them out before you buy one. Simply rent one of the ones listed here: Tiny House Rentals for Your Next Getaway (Apartment Therapy). There is a range of places and styles and prices for them.
I have thought of living in one myself, but wondered if I could manage. This could be one way to find out.
Photo courtesy HomeAway
October 24, 2018 in design, new!
Tagged apartmenttherapy, decor, design, living, retirement, tinyhomes
If you want an off white paint for your interiors, you can’t beat Cloud White from Benjamin Moore. However, if you do want to consider alternatives then these two articles agree that you want to look at either White Dove or Simply White, also by Benjamin Moore. These two pieces also go into detail as to when you want to use them (e.g. trim, kitchen cabinets). Before you start painting, check them out:
Tagged benjaminmoore, decor, decorating, design, paint, painting, style
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This is a really good study put out by IKEA: IKEA Feeling Of Home Study – Emotional Needs At Home | Apartment Therapy.
According to the summary piece in Apartment Therapy, what makes a place feel like home are:
It makes sense. Sadly, those are feelings that people may not have towards the place they live. People struggling to pay rent, or sharing with others, may not feel like they have privacy or ownership or security. People always moving lose that sense of belonging.
It’s a good thing to read, and a good thing to contemplate about your own living space. Here’s hoping you have all those feelings about where you live right now.
If that describes you, then you want to read this: Low Maintenance House Plants – How Often Should You Water | Apartment Therapy as well as this this.
Those two pieces are also good for people that travel alot, but want to still have indoor plants.
It’s rare to see a maximalist approach to decorating, but an exception is to be found here: House Tour: A Maximalist Apartment in Vicenza, Italy | Apartment Therapy.
If you are a fan of maximalism, like I tend to be, then this is exciting. If you are a minimalist, then this likely caused you some discomfort! 🙂 To each their own.
For those with the motto: More is More, click on the link for more ideas of how to fill up your space with beauty and the things you love. Minimalists will want to move on (unless they want to hate read it).
Tagged apartmenttherapy, decor, design, maximalism, minimalism
If you struggle to declutter your places, then Apartment Therapy has two good guides on how to make some progress on it:
Decluttering is always a good idea. You can live easier, and you can appreciate the things you have better.
This title is a bit harsh, Last-Minute Holiday Decorating Ideas For the Truly Lazy | Apartment Therapy, because if you are like me and you still needing to decorate, it’s likely you aren’t so much lazy as you are too busy. Either way, lazy or busy, read that article and you’ll have lots of ideas to get your place looking more festive right away.
As for me, I find grabbing 3 or 4 small poinsettia plants and filling up a few cheap glass vases with Christmas tree ornaments gets the place looking quickly more seasonal.
Sunday is a perfect time to go out and get that done. So get off the Internet and get started on this. 🙂
The folks at Apartment Therapy have put together a nice compilation of Christmastime decorating ideas that are simple as it is beautiful. For example, this:
from here. And this
from here.
What all the images have in common is the use of natural decoration, from boughs to wood to wreaths to baskets to lanterns. It’s seasonal, but timeless.
If you find it too austere, mix in some holly or some ribbon.
Enjoy the season, and the beauty of this time.
Over at Fubiz they have some remarkable furniture made with cork, like this:
and this:
Not a relative, but a fine designer with a good last name 🙂 Check out this link for more: Minimalist Cork Made Furniture by Daniel Michalik – Fubiz Media
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