I’ve been slowly moving into my new studio over the past couple weeks. Piles of stuff are, I’m sad to say, everywhere. It’s been an enjoying the chaos, however, because the sight of certain materials thrown together on the floor has inspired a few recent projects. Such is the case with today’s two DIY…
Whenever I have a vision for changing something, I become very impatient to see it completed. This amazing dining room transformation from Ava Roth reminds me how wonderful it can be to tackle slow, epic projects, working bit by bit when you have a spare moment and watching your work grow from one little section…
Raw, open spaces like this can be exciting but also overwhelming, especially if they arrive in this kind of chaotic condition. How do you fill the space and make it welcoming but stay within a modest budget? The answer in Renee’s case was lots of fresh, white paint and cleverly repurposed materials to create storage…
I keep hearing about cool design and small business-related happenings in Detroit, and consequently, the city has rocketed to the top of my must-visit list. It’s a city with many beautiful old buildings, and designers are flocking there to turn neglected, empty spaces into thriving creative communities. This is one such space, and I love…
We’re huge fans of Skinny La Minx — you may remember this lovely new “wildflowers” print from Grace’s post earlier this week. I love fabric, but sometimes I resist buying it because I have no idea how to use it if I’m not doing huge projects like curtains or couches. Luckily, Heather had this awesome…
I know we’re headed into a paperless age, but I’m going to hold on to a few special paper items for a while longer, and a thoughtfully designed, well-crafted business card is definitely one of them. A tangible item adds a lovely personal touch to your first impressions, and as so many creative people have…
This bathroom renovation from interior designer Lori Pepe-Lunché is the most dramatic transformation to come our way in a long time. The dark, heavy, cavelike “before” is my idea of a bathroom nightmare. Even if this room were spic n’ span, it would feel unpleasant. Now that doesn’t mean a bathroom needs to be white…
I wasn’t aware the mirrored tile existed, but when I saw Grace’s post last week, I found myself instantly drawn to it, as well. You achieve the shimmery quality of a mirror but so much more texture and interest because of the many angled reflections off the tile edges. I was thrilled to see this…
After creating many projects for the site, I’ve noticed a DIY spectrum emerging. Some projects can be instructed down to the last inch, every material sized and sourced. Others are much looser, with a large element of chance and personal touch involved, and entirely dependent on what you can find and how the materials mold…
Around this time last year, Grace, Amy and I went to check out the “McMasterpieces” show curated by Sight Unseen as part of NY Design Week. We loved these pieces by Alissia Melka-Teichroew; they not only inspired one of our projects for last year’s summer newspaper, but they’ve been haunting me ever since. I love the…
Considering how much I depend on my laptop, I must admit that I am horrible at taking care of it. At four years old, my device has scratches, dents and dings galore, and I don’t even want to think about the cat hairs under the keyboard. Yikes. In a last-ditch effort to extend the life…
I have bathrooms on my mind after sharing not one but two awesome renovated bathrooms today. Though they have vastly different styles, both Kim’s bathroom from earlier and this elegant bathroom makeover from Katherine use similarly brilliant techniques, which are worth listing: They both kept things light and airy with a mix of light, neutral…
We have two incredible bathroom makeovers for you today. First up is this pattern-filled guest bathroom renovation from Kim Gray. Kim was working with a very small space, but she managed to bring a lovely sense of airiness and light to this bathroom with some smart design decisions. Swapping out the chunky blinds for a…
After seeing so many awesomely altered cabinets and hutches over the years, I’m convinced that anyone, regardless of his or her craft skills or experience, can transform a piece of furniture to suit their tastes— with a little creativity, of course. I know I suffer from procrastination when it comes to larger pieces of furniture,…
Tights, furniture, hair — ombre fades are everywhere! I hope the trend continues; I think everything could benefit from a little ombre experimentation. I love the three-tone fade on this ombre dining chair tutorial from Jesse Dresbach of Nine Red Design. Jesse has a knack for brining modern techniques to found pieces of furniture — you may…
I’ve always loved exposed brick walls inside homes, but it can be difficult to bring warmth and coziness to these industrial spaces. I love so many elements in this apartment renovation from Cassidy Hughes, an interior designer living in London: the open shelving in the kitchen, the minimal new bathroom layout and the eye-catching citron-colored…
Ugly built-in furniture can be a real thorn in one’s side when trying to design a room layout. The attempts I’ve made to open up our living room have been foiled, again and again, by an obtrusively bulky and poorly stained built-in cabinet, which I am not allowed to paint or remove. Argh! If I…
Lately, we’ve been really into metals here at D*S, but there are a few instances where metals can go wrong, and no metal walks that thin line between beautiful and tacky quite like brass. I’m sure we’ve all seen examples of good brass and bad brass. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what throws off the…
2012 is the year of travel for me, mostly to NYC to visit the ladies (and ride the library ladder!), but I also have trips scheduled to LA, Boston and Maine, among others. Before I began traveling so much, I had romantic notions of what it would be like to jaunt off and explore these…
Spring is finally here, and with it comes an influx of outdoor renovation projects, which are my favorites. Do I love them best because I have no backyard? Probably, but I see no harm in enjoying the vicarious thrill of watching people weed, plant and build their dream gardens. If the time comes for me…
