A man and a woman wearing work clothes review something on a tablet while standing in a room undergoing renovation. A bare bulb hangs from the ceiling over their heads.
Accessibility Design 101

Home Remodeling for Accessibility: A Success Story

by Laura Grey
A woman sits in a wheelchair in front of a computer sitting on a counter. Her smiling young daughter stands next to her pointing at something on the screen. A son sits in a chair behind her facing away from her toward a window.
Accessibility Design 101

Home Remodeling for Accessibility: The Planning Stage

by Laura Grey No Comments Share this  

This is the first of three articles on how to remodel your home for greater accessibility. This one focuses on the first stage: planning an accessible renovation. Article two features a success story about a real-life renovation undertaken by Jody and Drew Yarborough, a Californian couple who renovated their Silicon Valley home to make it […]

A large loft apartment with exposed beams, ducts and brick is decorated with midcentury modern (MCM) dining furniture, a Persian carpet, and a dark leather sofa, mixing industrial and MCM styles
Design 101

Decorating with Texture

by Laura Grey No Comments Share this  

Texture is one of the elements of design that does the most to make a room feel welcoming and comfortable. We notice and remember colors and patterns, but textures really make a room feel interesting. They invite us to let our eyes and hands explore a space. Decorating with texture and three-dimensionality can bring warmth, […]

Many fabrics are draped all over walls in a bazaar in Central or South Asia
Q&A Style, Decor & Design

Decorate Your Home with Fabric

by Laura Grey No Comments Share this  

Q: I love the idea of using more patterned fabrics as decor, but so far all I can think to make with them is curtains, pillows, or quilts. How else can I decorate with fabric around my home? I’d like to try something more interesting and unusual. A: There are many ways to add variety […]

Wooden lounge chairs and dining tables on patio with many palms and a cat drinking from the in-ground spa
Outdoor Living Q&A

Caring for Outdoor Furniture

by Laura Grey No Comments Share this  

Q: I’m planning to buy some good-quality wooden outdoor furniture for my deck. My neighbor’s outdoor table and chairs are looking pretty sad already, and they’re only a couple of years old. How should I go about caring for outdoor furniture so that it looks good over the long haul? A: Having a lovely outdoor […]

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A shadowy dining room with very high ceilings features dramatic dark colors and lighting. Gold caged metal light fixtures give an industrial touch as they hang from the high white ceiling over a gunmetal grey round table with a thick, ridged matching round base. Around the table are low lounge chairs in soft grey velvet on dark wood legs. At the back is a wall of tall grey flat-front kitchen cabinets against a black wall. Below those is another bank of cabinets in white. A grey island stands in front of the countertops. Flanking the tall entrance to the kitchen behind the dining area are a pair of wooden wall treatments, each featuring about a dozen very high, thin, matching vertical planks of darkly stained wood affixed to the wall, like a small area of dramatic paneling.
Q&A Style, Decor & Design

Kitchen and Dining Room Furniture

by Laura Grey No Comments Share this  

Q: I need new dining furniture, and I’m getting overwhelmed by all the seating options. I thought I knew what I wanted, but then I noticed some great benches and banquettes, and now my fiancé wants to have a concrete-topped eat-in kitchen. What should we know before we choose our kitchen and dining room furniture? […]

A detail of a room with a white painted chair rail papered with a busy large floral featuring passionflowers, ivy, yellow poppies, and various other flowers on a medium teal background. The flowers are dark blue, yellow, pink, and soft pinky white, and the leaves are mostly olive green. A modern geometric floor lamp with gold cylinders and a white disc is at left; a touch of a curved navy chair can be seen at lower left. A green plant is at lower right.
Q&A Style, Decor & Design

Bold Floral Wallpaper

by Laura Grey No Comments Share this  

Q: I’ve been looking for a wallpaper pattern for my entryway. Now that bold floral wallpaper is trending, I’m tempted to go with one—I think an oversized floral could look amazing. But is it just too loud a statement to greet people with as soon as they walk through the door? And is it likely […]

A low, wide teak armchair with a caned back sits on a tiled verandah surrounded by a white painted rail on spindle posts supported by a tall white column. Blue and grey pillows sit on a grey rug on the tile floor. An Indian-style hexagonal side table topped with books and a coffee cup sits net to the teak chair, which is topped with a white pillow. White planters filled with tall green palms sit behind the chair on the verandah. Tall green trees surround the porch.
Feature Outdoor Living

Can Teak Wood Be Sustainably, Ethically Sourced?

by Laura Grey No Comments Share this  

Teak is a long-wearing hardwood that resists water and rot. It has long been the wood of choice for top-quality outdoor furniture and yacht decking. However, much of the teak wood on the US furniture market is illicitly sourced from Myanmar, the Southeast Asian country once known as Burma. In 2021, Myanmar’s democratically elected government […]