Dressing Table Top: Keeping It From Turning Into a Junk Pile
I own six trays whose entire job, their entire professional purpose in my home, is to sit on top of one dressing table and hold things. Six. I counted them…
Accent Wall Colors for a Light Gray Room
Odette stood in my dining room doorway with her coat still on, looked at the strip of blue green paint I’d rolled onto one wall, and said, “Isla, did you…
Top of a Sideboard: A Simple Formula That Works
I once spent four hundred and ten dollars building what I can only describe as a shrine. Not to anything in particular. Just three white ceramic somethings, evenly spaced, on…
On Top of a Bed Frame: Ledges, Canopies and Storage Frames
I built a platform bed with an integrated ledge for my own bedroom about six years ago, back when I thought I knew everything about building things because I’d been…
Top of a Console Table: Fewer Objects, Better Result
My sister walked into my condo two Saturdays ago, took one look at my console table, and said, “Aisha, this looks like a garage sale that got promoted.” She wasn’t…
Ideas for the Top of a Wardrobe: Baskets, Boxes and Plants
I was up on a step stool in my own bedroom on a Sunday morning, not doing anything productive, just finally dealing with the top of my wardrobe because my…
The Top Shelf of a Bookcase: Display Space, Not Reach Space
I own eleven objects whose entire job is to sit on top of a bookcase and be looked at. Eleven. I counted them last week while standing on a dining…
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…
The Wall Above a Sideboard: Mirrors, Art and Shelves
My wife walked into the dining room, took one look at the wall above our sideboard, and just said, “Ben. What is happening up there.” Which was fair, because at…
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,…