A boxy, white, open-plan interior space with a large opening facing the sea is dotted with only white, cream, and beige minimalist furnishings. Beige modern chairs and sofas are topped with terracotta pillows and sit on a seagrass rug with a round wicker table in foreground. In the background is a simple minimalist dining table and chairs below pendant lights that end in flat wicker shades. A few black metal frames, light fixtures, and a black and white folding chair provide the only dark elements in the room.
Q&A Style, Decor & Design

Stylish and Serene Vacation Home Decor

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Q: I inherited my folks’ 1970s beach house. It’s full of furniture my parents bought when I was a kid. I love the place, but Mom covered everything with ocean-related stuff. The bathroom has whale tiles and an octopus toilet seat! The curtains have an anchor pattern, the kitchen chair backs look like boat wheels, […]

A single very rustic looking barn door of reused pale wood planks crossed diagonaly by another plant is suspended from black rail and rests on black metal wheels in a very industrial looking home. The floors are poured grey concrete; the walls appear to be concrete as well. There are two plans on the floor, but otherwise the only things in the room are three bare-bulb pendant lights, a black and grey artwork in an industrial style framed and hanging next to the barn door, a small table with some books, and more books and rocks on the floor in the room beyond the door. There is a multipaned industrial-looking window at the back of the room seen through the door.
Q&A Style, Decor & Design

Barn Doors—Yes or No?

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Q: I like rustic design elements like basketry and wrought iron, neutral pottery, and raw wood. I don’t want a lot of small stuff filling up my house, though. My place is a friendly house in the country. It should look put together over time, with things made and collected by hand. I don’t want […]

A large wearhouse-like space, perhaps an antique store or an auction house, contains antique furniture
Collecting Q&A Style, Decor & Design

Local Online Auctions: A Bargain Wonderland

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Q: I keep hearing that auctions can be a great source of bargain furniture and collectibles. The thing is, I don’t like the idea of going to an auction house and bidding against a bunch of other people in person. I’ve tried eBay for collectible items, but so many people around the country see those […]

A detail of a garden with boxwood trimmed in to precise, long, rectangular hedges. At rear are several fine brick houses with steep roofs, probably from the 18th century.
Outdoor Living Q&A

Great Alternatives to Boxwood in Your Garden

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Q: I like the look of boxwood hedges, but mine have gotten pretty ratty. What’s worse, they have a powerful cat-pee like odor during the summer months. It’s gross, and it keeps me from wanting to have friends over in my back yard. I’m thinking of trying some other trimmable shrubs. Can you point me […]

A close-up of pale blue, lavender, and clear antique bottles clustered together shows cloudiness and some iridescence inside the bottles. Bottles are embossed with images and names of their former contents.
Care & Cleaning Q&A

Cleaning Cloudy Glass and “Sick Glass”

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Q: A few of my favorite vases are cloudy below the waterline, and some have white horizontal lines. I also have a collection of antique bottles—most have patches that look like they’re coated with a white film. I’ve tried soaking them in soapy water and using bottle brushes to clean them inside. Nothing works! Can […]

An assortment of instruments in the lute family plus a long brass horn and a large gourd shaker hang from hooks on a wall
Collecting Q&A Style, Decor & Design

Musical Instruments Make Great Home Decor

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Q: Everyone in my house is a musician. That means we have instruments, cases, and music all over the place. I’d love to put our instruments on display instead of having all this musical stuff get in the way. Any ideas on how to make our love of music into a decorating feature, instead of […]

An array of 45 RPM records, record covers, and sheet music that overlap as if spread out on a floor.
Collecting Q&A Style, Decor & Design

Decorate with Music—Display What You Love

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Q: I’m looking for style on a budget. Being a jazz musician, I sometimes host musical parties and gigs at my place. I don’t have a lot of cash,but I’d like to have jazz-related art on my walls. I want something more stylish than the posters I had up in college. How can I decorate […]

15 hanging and dozens of folded examples of colorfully patterned Indonesian batik fabrics are displayed on wooden shelves
Care & Cleaning Q&A

Caring for Batik and Other Deeply Dyed Fabrics

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Q: On my travels, I’ve picked up some amazing hand-dyed fabrics around Asia, the Americas, Africa, and Australia. I’ve found colors and patterns outside of the US that were like nothing I’d ever seen. I want to use some of them to decorate my home. But when I prewashed them before sewing, thd lost so […]

Brightly colored and heavily patterned embroidered Indian fabric. Small round mirrors and pom-poms are also stitched onto the fabric.
Care & Cleaning Q&A

Caring for Textile Arts

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Q: My dad was a costume designer who loved textile arts. He collected fabrics and needlework from all over the world. I have boxes full of amazing textiles now, but some are pretty delicate. I’d love to enjoy them and put them up around my house, but I don’t want to hurt them, and could […]