Category: décor

Buying a designer knockoff rug on Etsy

I’m not real proud of this post title, but it’s honest. I was hot to trot about a beautiful rug I’d discovered by an amazing visual artist at a fancy rug store in Shoreditch, called Floor Story. I worked with them to figure out a bespoke palette, dimensions, and design (bigger than a runner, to… Continue reading Buying a designer knockoff rug on Etsy

Ergonomorama

I swear that's an expression of approval.

I have hardcore tennis elbow. I’ve spent a couple grand accommodating this. Maybe you can learn from my ergonomic expenditures. My ergonomic backstory In 2008, the job market was not so hot. I had worked my first ever tech contract, which felt kind of terrifying to me since I was basically guaranteeing future unemployment by… Continue reading Ergonomorama

Quit lying about cords and cables

Something has really been bugging me lately. As I’ve become increasingly obsessed with fancy shelter magazines and blogs in my quest to beautify our home, I’ve come to realize that those publications totally bullshit their readers. The glossing over of cables and heaters and vents is as maddeningly deceptive to me as celebrities Photoshopping out… Continue reading Quit lying about cords and cables

Help me make a closet look cool

Recently, all our closet shelving came crashing down in the middle of the night. It sucked. But I’m taking the opportunity to install a way better system than the cheap janky poorly-installed one that the previous owners had put in. And I need help! After some useful Facebook input, I opted for The Container Store’s… Continue reading Help me make a closet look cool

TV above the fireplace

Ever since flat screen TVs took over the old cathode ray tube models, people have been mounting them on the wall, causing the earth’s interior design community to have a collective cow. Wall-mounting is so practical, though! It saves valuable floor and furniture space since TVs no longer have to rest atop a bulky media… Continue reading TV above the fireplace

The Karlstad leather collection from Ikea

A lovely lady named Madeline recently tweeted at me to learn more about my Karlstad leather sofa collection research, and she found my lengthy email reply helpful. I’ve been eyeing this sofa collection from Ikea for a couple years now, I have a special Pinterest board devoted just to this couch and its many stylings,… Continue reading The Karlstad leather collection from Ikea

Farrow & Ball gray paints

Even though I’ve been mostly stuck on bedrest lately, I was so giddy to finally choose a paint color for our living/dining room that I sucked it up and painted all six of my Farrow & Ball samples. I cut three big posterboards in half, and I used the fourth one as a makeshift dropcloth… Continue reading Farrow & Ball gray paints

Style Cure Day 10: Success and failure

Well, today is Style Cure Day 10, and the task is to make a shopping list and a budget. I basically already have that done, except that I’m still waiting on window treatment quotes. But I had a bit of a finances scare nothing truly outlandish, but because I’ve been under the weather for so… Continue reading Style Cure Day 10: Success and failure

Screw Paint Plus Pairing; let’s look at antiques!

I can’t believe how premature/naive I think it is for AT to recommend that people pick their paint color, just like that, without having gone out and bought new furniture or at least obtained swatches for comparison. I guess I’m a bit of a snob about this process after reading Maria Killam’s book, and also… Continue reading Screw Paint Plus Pairing; let’s look at antiques!