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…
Wardrobe Colors for a Room With Gray Carpet
I painted a wardrobe door swatch on a Sunday afternoon, propped it against the wall of my bedroom, decided it looked “elevated and moody” in the four minutes of northern…
Choosing a Wardrobe for Plain White Walls
I was standing in the middle of my own spare room with a pencil behind my ear and a roll of blue tape in my hand, marking out where things…
Beds With No Headboard: What to Put Behind Instead
I’ve slept in a bed with no headboard for going on six years now, ever since the actual headboard I owned, a sad particleboard thing from a big box store,…
Curtains That Suit a Persian Rug
I was on my knees at eight in the morning, tugging the corner of my rug back into place because the vacuum cord had dragged it sideways for the hundredth…
Stopping a Headboard From Banging the Wall
I used to think the fix for a banging headboard was a folded up moving blanket, duct taped to the wall at exactly headboard height, because that’s what my buddy…
Filling a Tall Floor Vase Without It Looking Sparse
My mom walked into my apartment in October, took one look at the vase in the corner, and said, “Did something die in there?” Not unkind, just accurate. It was…
What to Put in a Dresser, Drawer by Drawer
I bought a dresser off Craigslist for sixty bucks back when I first moved out on my own in Milwaukee, and within about three weeks I’d loaded every heavy wool…
Matching Pillows to a Gray Sofa Without Playing It Safe
The received wisdom on gray sofa pillows is that you play it safe: white, ivory, maybe a “brave” charcoal if you’re feeling reckless, and you call the room finished. I…
What to Add to Vase Water, and What to Skip
I was standing at the kitchen sink on a Tuesday in February, doing the thing I do every couple of weeks, trimming a bunch of grocery store tulips down to…