Pairing Floor Lamps: Matched or Mixed?
I was vacuuming around the arc lamp in my living room on a Sunday afternoon, the kind of Sunday where you tell yourself you’re just tidying and then four hours…
Concrete Under a Fire Pit: The Marks It Leaves
I have scorched concrete under my patio table right now. Actual permanent black moon shaped shadow, about eighteen inches across, exactly where the base of my fire pit sat for…
Two Coffee Tables, One Room
I own five coffee tables. Not in one room, to be clear, I’m not running a furniture showroom out of a one bedroom in Somerville, but five, spread across a…
Patio Heaters and Canopies: Heat Rises Right Into the Fabric
The reputation here is that this is a nothing question. Ask anyone with a covered patio and they’ll wave a hand and say “of course you can put a heater…
Signs on Light Poles: Who Actually Owns the Pole?
I was standing on the corner of my own street with a roll of packing tape and a stack of flyers for a lost cat that was, as it turned…
Wardrobe Against a Radiator: Warmth Stolen
I own six wardrobes. Not six wardrobes’ worth of clothes, six actual pieces of furniture, three of which are currently doing absolutely nothing except taking up space in a storage…
Fire Pit on the Lawn: The Brown Circle Problem
I own three fire pits. Three. For one Boston backyard that is, and I am not exaggerating for effect here, twenty two feet by fourteen feet. That is not a…
Is a Fire Pit on a Deck Actually Safe?
I have measured the distance between my fire pit and my deck railing four separate times this summer, with an actual tape measure, standing there in my socks like a…
Where I Would Shop for Table Lamps
I was standing in my living room at eleven at night, barefoot on the rug, holding a lamp up against the wall like I was trying to guess its weight.…
Real Flowers in a Ceramic Vase: The Glaze Question
The internet’s whole vibe on ceramic vases is that they’re basically foolproof. You buy a vase, you fill it with water, you jam some tulips in, done, this is the…