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

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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, […]

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

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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 close-up of a cluster of swirling decorative art glass pieces by glass artist Dale Chihuly. The glass vessels have uneven shapes and swirls of color mixed into the glass and creating patterns that look much like large jellyfish, but in bright colors—orange, green, yellow, brown, and black.
Design 101

2023 Interior Design Color Trends

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After nearly a decade of grey upholstery, pale woods, and all-white kitchens, color and warmth are returning to home interiors in a big way. We’ve reviewed the color forecasts of dozens of interior designers, style journalists, paint retailers, color consultancies, and furniture companies to learn about the big color trends of 2023 (as well as […]

Swatches of paint, fabric, and wood trims are fanned out and and overlap each other on a pale desktop
Design 101

Do Interior Design Trends Matter?

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People can’t help but be intrigued by novelty. In the world of interior design, new and unusual materials, styles, and fabrications drive sales. Changes in color, pattern, or finish grab our attention, and we hunger for something new. What was out of style comes back around; colors we once found annoying pique our interest. We […]

A rustic, lumpy cement pot holds a branch of eucalyptus leaves and sits on a rustic wooden chest. Also on the chest is a brass tray with two books, a bronze bell resting on the books, and a wrought iron candleholder with five lit votives. A linen-covered sofa sits behind covered with several textural pillows, one that looks like a section from a Turkish or Southwestern brown and cream rug, the other a woven rust and white texture.
What's Your Style?

Modern Farmhouse Interior Design

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Contemporary, rustic, yet bright and clean—modern farmhouse style is one of today’s most popular decorating options. It combines reclaimed woods, neutral colors, natural materials, and rich textures to create open, homey, serene spaces. While it has some similarities to country, cottage, or earlier versions of farmhouse style, it largely replaces color and pattern with texture […]

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 well-dressed woman with carefully curled hair and a lace collar over her yellow dress, focuses on the making of lace. She handles several wooden bobbins of thread over a lace pillow that rests on a wooden stand.
Feature

Decorating with Lace and Macrame

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Lace, a textile used mainly to decorate clothing or home furnishings, was traditionally created by hand by highly skilled girls and women. Technically an openwork fabric, lace was invented around the 15th century in Europe. Though usually considered a clothing adornment, especially for wedding dresses and lingerie, lace often appeared in curtains, on pillows, and […]