Flowers to Mix With Peonies in a Vase
I was standing at the kitchen sink on a Sunday morning with the water running too hot, snipping the ends off a five dollar bunch of grocery store carnations because…
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…
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…
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…
Wardrobes That Work With an Ikea Malm Bed
Everybody with an opinion on flat pack furniture will tell you the same thing about the Malm. Stick to the family. Buy the Malm dresser, the Malm nightstands, maybe even…
What to Put on a Coffee Table: Height, Texture and Restraint
Coffee tables have a reputation problem, and it’s the same one that ruins pantries and closets and every other surface that gets photographed for design blogs: they’re supposed to look…
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…
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…
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 Sits Beside Light Gray Kitchen Cabinets Without Feeling Cold
Okay so I need to tell you about the time I painted my kitchen wall a color called “Silver Fern” at eleven o’clock at night because I’d just watched approximately…