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Clever Bookcases Made of Stacked Boxes

We love the idea of these NOT built-in bookshelves at a Swedish design store. They are composed of a series of volumes — rectangles and squares of various sizes — into which books are stacked. Then we figured out a way to make them.

Karl Lagerfeld’s Inspired Ideas

After legendary designer Karl Lagerfeld passed away in February, we looked back into our archive for good ideas any of us might steal and employ…

Please Take Your Shoes Off! What’s Really On the Bottom of Your Shoes

Beyond notions of “better vibe”, there are some very good reasons to impose a “shoes-off policy” at home, including the mighty scary ones we’ve just discovered…

Henry Miller’s Bathroom “A Voyage of Ideas”

This clip from a 1975 documentary of Henry Miller takes place mostly in the writer’s remarkable bathroom and transports you WAY beyond the little room…

Ephemeral Curtains and Room Dividers Strung on Wires Are Easy to Do

In these images of gauzy curtains hung on simple wires via Clothier Aurelie Lecuyer, the lack of an imposing curtain rod achieves a pleasingly minimalist and ephemeral quality that’s easy and inexpensive…

Cool, Graphical Masking Tape Decorations for Walls, Cards, Wrapping

“I haven’t done a thing to get ready for the holidays” is an echo I’ve heared from many people I know. No matter. There’s always ways to festive things up at the last minute, with whatever is on hand.

How to Print Poems on Your Wall Like the Odes to Calder and Kelly at Lévy Gorvy Gallery

Specially commissioned poems on some walls at the Calder / Kelly show at the Levy Gorvy gallery made me wish for poems on my own walls. So I found out how…

Endlessly Useful, Morphable, Stylish Photographer’s Apple Boxes

When I worked as a food stylist in photo studios, I came to appreciate the endless ways apple boxes could be used. They are just as useful at home. Witness Le Courbusier.

A Clever Solution to Low Bookshelves That Minimizes Visual Clutter

In a house-tour of a mid-century apartment in São Paulo we spotted a clever iteration of low bookshelves that too often look cluttered and domineering.

Life Lesson on The Ordinary State of Affairs

During my recent week off to recover from moving house and getting repairs underway to my leak-damaged home, I continued the work of embracing a big life lesson…

Outdoor Rooms in the Natural World, Inspired by Russel Wright

The Moss Room mid-century designer Russel Wright created near Manitoga, his home in upstate New York got us thinking about outdoor space in a new way…

Otto Zitko Makes Me Want to Paint on the Walls

Even though I will never have the mastery of Otto Zitko’s wondrous scribble-scrabble, I wanted some of the experience of it, so I figured out how and when…

The How and Why of Donald Judd’s Brilliant Plywood Tables

Artist Donald Judd’s iconic plywood tables are made with materials you can get anywhere, with methods just about anybody can do: his response to the lack of useful, well-designed furniture he was unable to find.

Tsundoku, The Wonder of Books Stacked High Around You

After years of enjoying the stacks of books piled by my sofa for the random discoveries they afford, I’ve discovered there is a word for them…

Solar Lanterns Make Lunar Magic, Sensual Bubbles and, in the end, Stars

One of the best ways we know to create outdoor lighting magic in warm months are with Shoji Solar Lanterns…

2 Ideas To Evoke Charming Wabi-Sabi in Your Space

Tiny Japanese restaurant Davelle employs inspired tricks to create a “bright and thoughtful little world” and a lovely feeling of wabi-sabi.

Maira Kalman’s NYC Home Laboratory and Her Dream Place

Taking a virtual house tour of designer Maira Kalman’s apartment “laboratory” gave us some great ideas, including a way to discover our dream house.

Simple Ways to Create Private Space with Fabric Room Dividers and ‘Slung Cloths’

The quest for a calming, private space can feel like an impossible dream, particularly for those who share tight living quarters. Here are some ideas…

Hunting Art in Apartment Galleries and Salons We Found Amezkua’s Women with Power Tools

Living room galleries provide community meeting places for artists and alternative ways to exhibit their work, and continue the salon tradition.

Hidden Bricks and Paving Stones Inscribed with Poems (Alison Hawthorne Deming)

Walking along the overgrown path near the Snow Leopard’s lair in the Central Park Zoo, I found two bricks inscribed with a poem, nestled into the dirt …

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