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
A minimalist room featuring a cute black Scottie dog sitting on a knitted pouf next to a beige sofa with a large white knot-shaped pillow
What's Your Style?

Japandi Interior Design

by Laura Grey No Comments Share this  

Japandi interior design is a popular recent hybrid style incorporating elements of Japanese and Scandinavian (Scandi) style. Japandi is all about enjoying simple, functional, beautifully made items that make your life both more comfortable and more beautiful. Danshari, the Art of Letting Go Both Japanese and Nordic cultures are known for their love of fine […]

Highlights from the IKEA Nytillverkad collection are displayed in a room-like set. The set has a back wall that looks like a white tile wall. The floor is mint green. The wall at right is pale pink and has a bold orange window frame. The baseboard on the back wall is bright red. Furnishings displayed on the floor and on a plywood platform at the center include a round royal blue rug; end tables in mint green, dark blue, orange, lavender, and black; coat racks in yellow, black, and lavender; stools with pale wood seats and lavender, mint, or tangerine legs; blue and white diagonal striped fabric and pillows, yellow and white striped pillow; and a length of fabric with swirly Matisse-like leaf patterns in various bright colors from the collection on a pale blue background. This pattern also appears in pillows and on a tray.
Feature

IKEA’s Colorful New Nytillverkad Collection

by Laura Grey No Comments Share this  

When a brand with IKEA’s enormous worldwide influence makes a big design statement, the world listens. At Milan Design Week in April, IKEA announced Nytillverkad, the company’s newest range of furnishings. With the IKEA Nytillverkad collection, the Swedish design giant celebrates its 80th anniversary by reimagining an assortment of its iconic designs. The range of […]

A monochromatic room with only beige and white elements: white walls, beige textured rug on a pale parquet wood floor, a sheepskin throw rug, a beige knitted pouf footstool with a beige boucle chair and sofa (both in MCM shapes), and woven wicker round mirrors over the sofa. A low marble-topped tripod table acts as coffee table. All furnishings are low and textured but colorless.
What's Your Style?

Midcentury Modern Interior Design

by Laura Grey No Comments Share this  

Because of its versatility, simplicity, lack of pretension, and relaxed quality, midcentury modern (MCM) is one of the most popular interior design styles. MCM was popular from the late 1940s to the early 1970s. It reached the height of its popularity in the 1950s and 1960s. The serene and organic shapes and neutral colors used […]

A teal, rectangular, wide chest of three drawers on slender legs features a lively floral patterned wallpaper on the drawer fronts. The wallpaper features branches of a lemon tree on a white background. In addition to lemons and leaves are turquoise hummingbirds and occasional fantastical stylized flowers. Gold horizontal drawer pulls match the chest's brass rolling feet. A brass swan sits on the chest and is filled with a small topiary plant. A white modern lamp rests on the left side of the chest. To the left is a vintage dining chair over which a softly textured cream-colored throw is draped. The background is a white-painted wood-paneled wall. The floor is covered in grey ceramic tiles with a faux woodgrain finish.
Feature

Off-the-Wall Wallpaper Projects

by Laura Grey No Comments Share this  

Decorative wallpapers can add beauty to your home in a variety of ways. Sure, you can paper a wall with them. But have you considered the other surfaces in your home that would look marvelous covered in fun, elegant, or soothing wallpaper? Here are a few of our favorite off-the-wall wallpaper ideas. Wallpaper the Ceiling […]

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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

by Laura Grey No Comments Share this  

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

by Laura Grey No Comments Share this  

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

by Laura Grey No Comments Share this  

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 […]