Apartment Therapy Archive: May 2012

Imagine the automotive show TopGear, except based in Hong Kong and focused on the subject of photography instead of cars. That’s a close approximation of the site DigitalRev, aka “the most subscribed and viewed photography show on the interweb, presented by an asian dude with British accent.

Most bathrooms are small, wet places, so choosing appropriate furniture is often a challenge. Learn from Jenny, who took a flea market lucite stool and fixed it up to work in her bathroom.Jenny from Little Green Notebook spotted this scratched up stool at a flea market and decided to use it as a seat for when she’s bathing her kids.For wet or messy locales, laminated fabric is a great alternative.

I had no idea that my little kitchen overhaul would yield such a response, ranging from “awful” to “amazeballs.” Thanks for all the great comments, both good and bad. By the way, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Dr. Kevorkian, and stem cell research combined have nothing on the “brass knobs with stainless appliances” debate. I’m not sure which issue will take longer to resolve. And that brings us to the bathroom.

The instant I spotted the front porch of my Austin apartment, I knew I wanted to live here. I love Texas, but I miss my home state of Louisiana, and the front porch of this duplex evoked a bit of a Louisiana architecture-feel. But it needed some work to get it to be the perfect place for sitting out every morning and evening with a friend and iced tea.

Name: Cheyenne WeaverLocation: Austin, TexasSize: 960 square feetYears lived in: 5 months Join us today for dinner and a house tour with Cheyenne Weaver and The Girls Guild. Cheyenne has only been living in the quaint 2-1 for a few months, but she’s already managed to put her artistic touch on the overall aesthetic. I toured the home while she and her boyfriend prepare a kick-off dinner for The Girls Guild — a collaborative arts club for girls, by girls, in Austin.

Renters don’t get a lot of leeway when it comes to the details that make a home feel updated and modern, like countertops, appliances and light fixtures. There’s not much you can do to change most of it, but there are a few easy and inexpensive landlord-friendly fixes for ugly ceiling-mounted light fixtures.If you can’t change it, hide it.

After spending the long weekend in a small cabin in Wisconsin, I’m beginning to reconsider my urban life. Or, at least, I’m reconsidering whether I’d like to someday have a small weekend home in a rural setting. I went in search of kit houses for inspiration and, like a good blogger, I’m sharing the information with you, dear reader. Start dreaming of your tiny vacation home now!

DIY design blog, See That There, has been putting out a great series of printable template designs for iPhone users looking to customize their favorite phone using their unique colorful patterns with a clear phone case…These custom case design templates were inspired by Craft and Creativity’s project (shown below) and designed specifically to fit cases from iLuv and also Incase’s Snap Case.

当我们结束的报道Kitchn汤,we thought we’d share some of our best reviewed slow cookers and dutch ovens. While both make for great ways to create soups and stews, there are certain benefits that are unique to the different cooking processes offered in each. With a dutch oven, you are able to place the system directly on the stovetop, making it ideal for browning meats before beginning cooking foods at low temperatures.

Chicagoans Veronica & Keith love design and they love DIY. Both are evident in their home including their dark-walled kitchen with handpainted rugs and vintage shutters. • Veronica & Keith’s Home Apartment Therapy

Name: Alec (the first Apartment Therapy LA editor!) & DavidLocation: New York, New York This is the apartment I share with my fiance David. It’s a one bedroom (about 550 square feet) in Hell’s Kitchen. The apartment has a few amazing aspects (a little back yard! Really tall ceilings!) and some not so great ones (a tiny bedroom that can only fit a double bed! No closets!) Luckily, the amazing aspects far outweigh the not so great ones.

If you missed our Design Evening in NYC with Tina Roth Eisenberg, you can read the full transcript to learn about how she got started and the 8 things she really believes in.. • An Evening with SwissMiss Apartment Therapy

This month our contributors have been fantasizing about their dream kitchens. This one represents a mashup of Regina and her husband who started in very different places. • Marital Mashup Kitchen Apartment Therapy

Sometimes being bold and taking risks in home projects pays off — you improve the look of your home, save some money, and even have some fun! But what’s the other side of the coin? Disaster, of course! Sometimes the best laid plans for a seemingly simple project around the house can implode right before your eyes…One of (yes, I said one of; there have been others!) my worst project failures was the idea to take off the cast iron door that sealed up our fireplace.

Name: Erin & RobLocation: Old City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania The biggest challenge in our apartment was figuring out how to break up one very long room into discrete dining, working, and living areas. Since we both work in publishing, we also had to figure out storage for a lot of books. (Ikea bookcases to the rescue!)Most of our furnishings are sourced from flea markets, country auctions, and Ikea — as inexpensively as possible.

Worried that you missed the spring planting season? Fear not. Carmen DeVito from Groundworks says there are many plants that shine when the sun hits its highest — you just have to be savvy when shopping for them. Below are 10 of her favorites for the procrastinating gardener.TOP ROW: For Sun1. Dahlias: when the rest of the garden plants are tired, these beauties come into their glory; you will get tons of cut flowers to boot, in every shade of the rainbow!2.

When Josh, Lauren and their twins moved into their new townhouse in Washington DC’s historic Mount Pleasant neighborhood, they knew right away they had to change the bathroom. The retro pink, peach and black tiled bathroom, while quaint and vintage, was not their style. And in a smallish townhouse the room felt too busy and crowded. (Perhaps they also knew that once their daughters got old enough to talk they would fall in love with the bathroom’s perky pink: time was of the essence!

Americans kicked off summer this weekend, but the Brits are preparing to kick it off during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebration. Here’s a round up of essentials for celebrating stateside. • Diamond Jubilee Essentials Apartment Therapy

Q: I currently live in a rental with no soundproofing at all (no exaggeration). I didn’t realize how bad it was until after I moved in. While I’ve lived in other apartments with varying levels of soundproofing, this apartment is far worse than anything I thought possible.

Short on space and lack a headboard? Pegboard, our favorite kitchen and workshop workhorse, may just be the solution you’ve been looking for. Carmel from Our Fifth House transforms her boy’s bedroom from bland to brilliant with a Union Jack paint job and inexpensive material.Carmel’s 8 year old son needed some easy access storage, so when she planned to DIY a headboard, pegboard won.

I’m a big fan of armoires, shelves and cabinets that also function as desks. They offer a great way to hide away all your work mess and tech when guests are over, and are also ideal for small spaces. On top of that, I think it’s just fun to have things hidden spaces at home!Hemnes: This bureau from IKEA was made to function as a desk and is equipped with cable management to keep your cords neat and hidden. The shelves are adjustable so you can customize your workstation accordingly.

My philosophy about technology in the home is akin to a strict private school headmaster’s opinion about children: technology should neither be seen nor heard until required/requested. Even though Apple’s Airport router is fairly benign aesthetically, I prefer to keep the wireless router tucked inside a floating shelf, next to other blinking light culprits like the cable modem and home security system, a trio of otherwise mismatched clutter if left out all together.

Do you remember that excited feeling you’d get around Memorial Day when you were a kid? With the school year wrapping up, a child’s summer is an endless series of lazy days at the swimming pool and late nights goofing off. Too bad we all have to grow. But wait! I’m here to say it’s time to take back summer – and these 5 tips can help.• Hop off the people mover.

My parents always shooed us outside in the summertime. We’d come in for lunch and the occasional popsicle, but we otherwise lived outside. If you’re planning the same for your kids, here are ten ideas for making your outside space more appealing, more fun and more memorable.Sandbox: Even if you can’t get to the beach this summer, you can still have the sun and the sand. Buy one or build one to your specifications. Show here is a terrific shaded sandbox.

Feel that? Brisk spring temperatures are beginning to give way to warmer summer weather, and that means opportunities for balcony dinners, picnics in the park, and BBQs in the backyard. And even though outdoor entertaining means different things to different people, depending upon the amount of space you call your own, almost any party benefits from adding music to the mix.

By now, we all know the drill: wear sunscreen every day, reapply often, and use common sense when outside in the sun. Gone are the blissfully ignorant days of deep tans and aluminum foil reflectors. Now there’s SPF and guilt about our sun exposure. But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy gardening and barbecues. In order to live a healthy and happy life this summer, it’s so important to protect your skin while outdoors. How do you avoid being sidelined by a sunburn?

A recent transplant from a 400-square-foot apartment in Brooklyn to a single family home in the midwest, I’m on a hunt for something I haven’t given much thought in my adult life: garden hose storage. And it ain’t pretty:It turns out that it’s not so simple to just walk into the local hardware store and pick up something simple, modern(ish), and elegant for storing the garden hose.

Name: Matt and Leah (and eight furry cat children)Location: Austin, TexasSize: 2055 square feetYears lived in: Owned 2 years Let’s just get this out of the way: Matt and Leah have eight cats. They also have a gorgeous modern Austin home and enviable tastes, but you’re about to experience a lot of adorable photos of cats perched on modern furniture.

Ah, Memorial Day weekend … the unofficial beginning of summer. You know what that means? It’s time to set up the grill and start cooking outdoors! Check out these options for small space and balcony grilling and get set to fire up the barbecue!1. The HotSpot Notebook Charcoal Grill from Brookstone is a portable option that, when folded flat, will take up minimal space when not in use. $39.992.

Renovating any room can be costly and especially the kitchen. I have a few ideas for where you can find a bargain when you’re building something better. • Where To Skimp in the Kitchen Apartment Therapy

Miki is a creative problem solver. Her son was winding up in her bed every night so to entice him to stay in his own, she made him a bed tent. Not only was her son, Uri, thrilled with it, she cleverly devised a super simple way to put it up and take it down – using a single table leg.It might seem a little wacky, but Miki bought an office table leg at IKEA (a screw-able one like for the Vika Amon) and mounted the plate for it onto the wall above her son’s bed.

There’s nothing more annoying than going for a run or being out during an errand with your favorite pair of earphones, and having to constantly fiddle with them so they stay put. In my experience, specific types of earbud covers are needed to prevent earbuds from popping out. Here are some easy ways to making them stay put from a DIY perspective…1.

Over the past two years I have been working on my kitchen. It’s the most expensive room to remodel in the house, so I’ve been doing it piece by piece as I can afford it. • Two Year Kitchen Redo Apartment Therapy

Name: MarinaLocation: Upper West Side, NYCSize: 650 sqft. rentalYears Lived In: 2+ years During an eighteen-month stint in Boston, Marina acquired 95% of her current furnishings and nearly 100% of her design awareness, knowledge, and inspiration. She lived in the South End and spent most of her free time in the design shops, where she got to know the inventory and the owners very well. When she moved back to NYC two years ago, Marina had just one weekend to find an apartment!

Despite the not-always-glowing reviews that British cooking sometimes evokes (or at least used to evoke), British kitchens are something to take inspiration from. Here’s a gallery of them to peruse… • British Kitchens Apartment Therapy

Spreading bills out on the coffee table will only work for so long. Eventually, you may need to find a spot in your living room for a proper desk. Here are some location options to get your gears turning and inspire you to fit a real desk into your living room.In a Side TableGroup your office supplies into organizing boxes (as shown above) and stash them into a shelving unit by the sofa to use as a side table. Keep at least a little space on the table clear to work on.

It’s hard to find a bathroom vanity that doesn’t scream “bathroom vanity”. Vanity is one of the Seven Deadly Sins, after all. We are redoing our bathroom and I really want a pedestal sink but it just isn’t practical for a bathroom shared by four people. But it’s hard to find a vanity that doesn’t look cheap and cheesy– or completely space-age (though I do love many of those; they’re just not going to work in my particular bathroom).

Art in the kitchen can be fun to play around with. If you’re looking for something a little tongue-in-cheek and literal to add to the place where you make food, you might be searching for a clear directive to hang on your wall: Eat. • “Eat” Art for the Kitchen Apartment Therapy

The first in our series of One Minute Tips comes from Fay Wolf, with a tip on organizing your shirts. Click above and enjoy the show! • The Star: Fay Wolf is a singer-songwriter, actor and professional organizer. She’s acted on shows like 2 Broke Girls and Bones, and her songs have been heard on shows like Grey’s Anatomy and Pretty Little Liars.

When Kalie and Travis moved into their house a year ago, they knew they had a lot of things to change to make it feel like home. Thrilled to finally have an outlet for their passion for decorating, they have been gradually implementing their big plans in their self-defined little house.They changed out the light wood floors for dark, and installed new custom cabinets built by a friend.

Q: Apartment Therapy has posts about damping sound coming from external sources like street noise, but my concern is within an apartment I share with others. How can we reduce noise from an open space like the living room that is at the end of a long hallway that we all share?

One of the design trends we noticed at ICFF this year: rich materials, like gold and marble, used in new, unexpected ways, for a look that’s clean but luxurious like this glass mortar and pestle. • Modern Luxe at ICFF Apartment Therapy

上面的照片是我们的天才contribut拍摄的or Bethany Nauert and was the winner of last year’s first photo contest. I think we were all attracted to it not only because it’s an amazing photo, but a wonderfully dreamy place. The photo is a great example of why pergolas are so awesome: the open structures help define space and create an outdoor room that is shaded during the day, and with a few vines and twinkle lights, can be romantic or festive at night.

A few weeks ago I went to Palm Springs, California for a wedding and I found myself in an architectural time warp. Because my husband was the best man, we were invited to stay with the bride and groom in the home they had rented, which also served as wedding venue. It was a glorious experience to live for three long sunny days inside a true mid-century modern time warp.

Most of the time when we feature a furniture makeover, it’s been transformed by applying something new to the surface — paint, fabric, paneling, etc. But designer William Dohman shows us that a really impressive project is when a vintage piece has been restored to its former glory.Architect William Dohman, the designer behind Oh Dier, restored this classic mid-century Lane dresser by removing the multiple layers of paint and weird tape that mysteriously stuck to most of the edges.

This is the story of Runaround Sue, the name given to a 1961 Airstream Safari that was lovingly renovated by Prairie Construction. The vintage trailer’s original beauty was carefully restored while making it leaner (more efficient) and greener. This time of year already makes me long to head out for the open roads, and now I’m filled with daydreams of spending the summer traversing the country in Runaround Sue.

的一个关键要素是知道当翻新一个房间to say when. If you have a limited budget or limited time then the most helpful thing you can do is to be realistic about what you can achieve. This is especially true when you purchase a house that is a ‘fixer-upper,’ because then you are in danger of succumbing to project fatigue, when there is so much to do in every direction that it is difficult to focus on just one thing.

It’s a sad fact of life that trash cans are necessary. It would be so much better to just never accumulate trash at all. But until we gain another three levels in Wizard, we’re just going to have to have trash cans. On the plus side, people out there are getting really creative with garbage cans. Check out these quirky options, and let us know what crazy things you’ve found.• R2-D2 Trash Can — $375Yes, he’s $375. But be honest, part of you wants him anyway.