apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Last week on our vacation we spent some time camping with friends—a wonderful experience that we hope to repeat soon. There are things we love about camping (s'mores, campfires, being able to see stars at night, the smell of the woods) and things that are less enjoyable (less-than-comfy sleeping mats, fear of bears), but one of the best things is the perspective it gives you on your everyday life at home. We were reminded of a few key points...

A basic desk offers lots of possibilities. As technology changes, as your home decor shifts, a simple desk can stand in for a console table, sofa table, vanity, or even a kitchen table. We've rounded up a few options under $200, ranging from small space solutions to traditional student desks...

White china is a perennial favorite on Apartment Therapy for its simplicity and versatility. It also looks good stacked on open shelving - it can give a mismatched collection a sense of cohesiveness or it can serve as a nice contrast to painted or dark wood shelves...

One of the great things about traveling is the sense that you're constantly stumbling across pockets of unexpected beauty. In Northampton, Massachusetts we found the Green Street Cafe just beyond the edge of the Smith College campus, and we enjoyed some homemade sorbet in this room...

Yesterday, we found ourselves in the middle of one of those conversations where people start talking about their recurring dreams. A friend who showed up late to an appointment mentioned that he'd overslept, dreaming that he and his girlfriend shared a 5,000 square foot loft in the city. Another friend had recurring dreams about finding a hidden door in his home that led to a huge extra room he'd never known about. Turns out, dreams like these are pretty common for city dwellers...

Painting furniture is one of the cheapest and simplest ways to upgrade an old or oddly colored piece. We've seen some great makeover examples on Apartment Therapy, including curbside finds that have been elevated to favorite furniture through a little sanding and painting. In case you've got a project waiting in the wings, we've rounded up a few "before and after" examples for inspiration and motivation...

Product: Sofa Bed
Designer: BoConcept
Price: $949
Rating: Recommend*

We're always on the lookout for good sleeper sofas to recommend to apartment dwellers, so when we had the chance last week to spend three nights trying out BoConcept's Sofa Bed, we were thrilled...

Last week, we had the chance to visit Hancock Shaker Village in Massachusetts. Among the many instances of good design and beautifully crafted furniture, what stood out most was the sense that there was a place for everything and everything was in its place...

In the right context, neutrals can be as rich as bright colors. Classic combinations like black and white stand the test of time thanks to their ability to adapt and evolve in relation to other colors. For a warmer take on a high-contrast pairing, dark brown looks great against a crisp, true white. It's a sophisticated combo that stands on its own, deepens when you add a range of neutrals, and looks equally good with a bold accent like orange or red...

Looking at Tracy Kendall's Buttons wallpaper the other day, we started thinking about how beautiful it would look in our home, and how it might not be too hard to create our own wall of real buttons...

Named for its utilitarianism, the multi-purpose utility cart has always been a flexible piece of furniture. It's not hard to find one at hardware, industrial, medical, and kitchen supply stores, and it has a wide range of functions...

Browsing the European Real Estate Network, we came across this two-bedroom apartment in Valencia, Spain. At first, we thought it looked like a nice enough space, but on closer inspection we noticed some beautiful details...

Martha Stewart's website remains one of our favorite resources for DIY projects. We recently found a gallery of ideas from past issues that included 60 (as if we didn't have enough trouble finishing one or two) projects for the garden, including some simple and cheap strategies for smaller spaces...

When setting up a home, people sometimes overlook things for themselves that might seem like essentials for others. This is especially true in the bedroom, the most personal space in the home but often the most overlooked. To create a supportive bedroom, it helps to look to hotels for a few lessons in hospitality...