A TV Stand Without a TV: Turning It Into Something Else
I got rid of the television in the den in 2019 and left the stand exactly where it was for four months, empty, because I genuinely did not know what…
Using the Lower Shelf of a Coffee Table
I was on my knees Tuesday morning, vacuum attachment in one hand, phone flashlight in the other, trying to work out what exactly had colonized the space under my coffee…
Wall Sconces: Bulbs, Shades and Placement
I count them properly maybe twice a year, usually right before my husband asks why the hall closet won’t shut, and the number currently sits at fourteen. Fourteen wall sconces,…
Protecting a Coffee Table Without Hiding It
My sister walked into the living room, looked at the ring already sitting on the coffee table from somebody’s iced tea, looked at me, and said, “You wrote a whole…
Living Room Side Table: What Should Be Within Reach
Side tables have a reputation as the furniture equivalent of an afterthought. You buy the sofa first, you agonize over the rug, you spend actual weeks deciding on curtains, and…
Dining Room Display Cabinet Ideas
I was standing on a kitchen chair at seven this morning, in my robe, holding a gravy boat I hadn’t touched since Thanksgiving 2019, trying to figure out if it…
Living Room Display Cabinet Ideas
I bought my first proper display cabinet in 1994, a monstrous oak thing with brass hardware that the delivery men hated me for, and I filled it, within about a…
Putting Together a Fire Pit Gift Basket
My sister walked into my kitchen back in November, saw the counter covered in birch bark bundles, a box of long fireplace matches, two flasks, and a wool blanket still…
What to Hang Above a Bed Frame
The space above a bed frame has a reputation for being the wall nobody actually plans, the one you deal with last, after the mattress and the frame and the…
White Wardrobes: What to Put Around Them So They Dont Look Flat
I was standing in the doorway of the spare room on a Tuesday afternoon with an armful of flat sheets I hadn’t folded properly in maybe four years, trying to…