Home Projects

The good news: we just came back home with a heavily discounted Smith & Hawken Biostack Composter bin from the City of LA Bureau of Sanitation/Griffith Park Composting Education Facility. The bad news: the inside of my car smells like earthworm burps…We purchased the Biostack, the square model above, which normally sells for $129 from Smith & Hawken. But if you make it to one of the workshop/sales events sponsored by the city, you can nab one for a reasonable $45.

With the recent onslaught of hot weather, we’ve been scarfing the guacamole and thought it a shame to just chuck the avocado pits. We grabbed a couple of our trusty Spega yogurt glasses and did our best to recall the glory days of elementary school science class. Jump below for a refresher on how to turn your seed in to a little tree…. Straight from the official avocado website: 1. Wash the seed.

Two years ago Sara Kate and I took a sweet trip to Paris in March. It was delectable, like jumping into a design chocolate box, and I chronicled a number of our finds in posts like these:>> Paris Design Notes: Trees, Chairs & Chairs>> Paris Design Notes: Bonpoint>> Paris Design Notes: Perriand & BottlesOne thing that really surprised me, however, was a new park chair design we saw in the Luxembourg Gardens.

这已经不是什么秘密,我们为肉质植物。他们easy to take care of, cheap, easily propagate, don’t need much water and come in tons of beautiful colors and textures. Looking for some fresh succulent inspiration? Want to expand your succulent knowledge and find a new love? Discover our favorite succulents for ground and container planting after the jump. The beauty of succulents is that they can take full sun and can live in a container or in the ground.

Living with three cats means living with three sets of turds, sometimes twice a day. Now put that in a studio (we know – crazy cat lady = us) and you may as well have a cot within the sewer system.It’s truly amazing how long we, as a culture, have had cats as pets and how little the litter box has advanced. It’s only been of late that some high tech solutions have shown themselves.

Tassels are a great way to add color and texture to absolutely anything. Beautiful additions to gift wrap, home decor, and fashion —they are a project you should absolutely add to your DIY repertoire. Tassels can be made out of an array of materials, from silk and wool yarns to basic cotton embroidery threads. While there are a number of ways you can construct a tassel, we chose a basic method you can use on any material. Yarn or Thread Scissors 1.

Over at ATNY today, Aaron posted about an interesting New York Times article discussing local and federal laws governing VOCs and insight about various “green” paint products. A serendipitous discussion, as I spent a good part of late last evening discussing eco-friendly interior paints with a friend who is moving into her first apartment.

Going vertical isn’t just for organization, try using wall-mounted and hanging plant containers to create a garden in a small space like a deck or a balcony:Using the walls and the spaces at eye level, you can create a garden in even the tiniest balcony or corner.

Privacy and light are big issues when choosing bathroom window treatments. Natural light is really important in a small space, but bathroom windows need some serious cover-up. Click below for 8 solutions for bathroom windows, whether you rent or you’re planning a renovation… Top: Wooden blinds are a popular choice for bathrooms because they go with a wide range of decors, they’re simple to clean, and they let in light while obscuring the view.

paperwhites by Adam Graham via flickrA recent writing in Old House Garden’s Bulb Gazette said what we have been thinking – Narcissus can be stinky: “Spring Starts with Stinky Narcissus Spring has sprung for many of you (we’re jealous!), and your tazettas may already be blooming. These cluster-flowered narcissus include paperwhites which are often forced on pebbles for winter bloom.

Last week, I had a discussion with an architect friend about the prevalence of separate bathtubs and showers in new housing and condo developments. While I think they are a huge waste of space (especially in New York City), she agreed but knew most developers wouldn’t stray from this “new standard of luxury.” Here is a solution!

Some people will reply what we’ve got is not so much a problem, but a blessing: over the weekend we hosted a holiday white elephant gift exchange party (you know, the game known as “I steal, you squeal”), and we cooked up a storm to accompany the festivities, including my signature bacon wrapped tenderloin with a balsamic pomegranate rosemary glaze and some bacon wrapped dates.

Product: Jig-A-Loo All Around LubricantPrice: $14 Rating: Recommend*(This is from our guest tester, Jenny G., who won a bottle of Jig-A-Loo in this post. Thanks, Jenny!)Short version:The incredible squeak of the front door still exists, but we still really like this can of Jig-A-Loo. Long version:The first test was, of course, the squeaky front door hinges. The squeak won’t stop–apparently, as one of the original commentators said, we need to get inside the hinge to stop this squeak.

Great for floors outdoor and in. Starting in 1949, Bolon, a Swedish company began manufacturing this vinyl “sisal” for use as kitchen mats. Four years ago it came to the states and has been slowly finding more use both indoor and outdoor as a colorful, durable, easy to clean rug replacement.Ideal on decks, in summer houses, or in the kitchen (we’ve used it numerous times in hallways and kitchens), Bolon is warm underfoot and a great way to wake up or cover a drab floor.

We never liked stainless steel so much. With the bright shine of high nickel stainless steel, Alpes Inox kitchen elements are the most beautiful, high end, small kitchen solution we’ve seen. Are small and high end mutually exclusive? Not in NYC (sorry for the pics, we had to scan them all).Alpes Inox is an Italian company with one distributor in NYC: DOM showroom on Crosby street.

Welcome again to Ann, one of the writers vying for a blogging position at the upcoming AT:Home Tech. Comment away. I love the moment on the decorating makeover shows when they bring out the 40″ LCD display and show how much more style-friendly it is than that clunky 50″ box-television that had been looming over everything. It gets even better when the display is cleverly hidden beneath a framed old master on hinges.

Product: The Monkey Hook picture hanger Designer: A Monkey & A Marketer Price: $11.25/30 hooks (10 original, 10 gorilla grade, 10 flush mount) Rating: Recommend* Like trying to reinvent the mousetrap, a product comes along every now and then that DOES make a significant improvement in an ancient field. The Monkey Hook is one of them. An ingenious and simple design, The Monkey Hook uses one rigid piece of wire to replace the need for a hammer, pin and hook.

This is an oldie, but a goodie. We thought that this would be hard. It wasn’t. And yet it has totally changed the rusty, scalding pipe in our bathroom into a *decor moment* that we are very happy with. If you ever want to cover up a pipe and provide some minimal insulation, this is a far nicer fix than insulation foam.

Product: The Sonno MattressDesigner: UnknownPrice: from $1,098 Rating: Strong Recommend*We made the leap! After thinking about it for a few years, we bought a DWR Sonno memory foam mattress two months ago and have been testing it every night. The verdict? After a funky, stinky, off gassing beginning, we couldn’t be happier. It just sucks you in when it is time to sleep, and you can feel all of your muscles relaxing the second you lie down.

I bought a lovely blue wool rug for my kids’ room from Ikea. It’s bright, the wool is soft and warm and, importantly, quiets the stompity-stomp of little feet– however, there’s a problem: it stinks. It took a while for us to nail down what the smell was but then realized, it’s the jute or hemp or whatever on the underside. It smells like wet musty hay in their room on nights when we close the window.