Goth taste, Disco nostalgia, a need for intimate drama, or an overabundance of natural light would be reasons for creating a black bathroom. The effect is stunning but using an all-black bath is an experience you don’t forget.
Recently, black rooms have been making a comeback. Over the past year or two we’ve seen a series [...]

Gardens and plants always look brilliant to me, especially views from my 12th Floor apartment window of beautifully landscaped terraces, or photos of amazing gardenscapes online. For many years, I lived on 20, with south and eastern exposures, and managed to keep an orchid plant alive and blooming plus a pot of basil going (thought [...]

Know how it is when you’re clearing out piles of old magazines and suddenly something looks so familiar it stops and makes you think? That’s what happened when I spotted the charming, big jade-green shelving unit over the sink of Laura Robinson’s “back kitchen” a wall housing a sink, dishwasher, dish cabinets, refrigerator drawers, and [...]

The gifted artists within Galbraith & Paul Philadelphia studio workshop must ooze with creativity when designing their bold graphic patterns. Their organic designs are transferred onto textiles using the ancient technique of hand block printing. The simplest but slowest method of textile printing allows spectacular results. The photographs (above) seem to make work look more [...]

Watching the Academy Awards last night underscored the power of black and white. I know that mimosa yellow is newer and the hoi polloi are painting their dining rooms purple. But like the best of the Oscar gowns (Angelina Jolie in black Elie Saab and Taraji Henson in white Roberto Cavalli) black and white is [...]

The only thing that would trump my passion for rugs is my passionate obsession for pearls. For me, those creamy white colored gems, so basic and unassuming, ooze glamour and sophistication. Forget about diamonds, pearls are the way to this girl’s heart. With that in mind, you can imagine how my heart [...]

A good carpenter can easily adapt a vintage chest for use as a bathroom vanity. This charmingly painted, country style two-door commode lent itself especially well to the task because the paneled apron above the doors eliminated reworking drawer fronts. The painted rim on the top frames the sink, and ties into the black diamond [...]

Not long ago, finding purple paint in a house was one of those “what were they thinking?” moments – a remnant (sometimes hidden behind wallpaper) of the psychedelic Sixties and the last time violet (as the hue is properly named) was seen extensively. Though plum made a brief appearance in 2001, purples are shown frequently [...]

I often see rugs that are too threadbare to warrant investing time or money in to repair. Flat woven rugs like kilims are particularly susceptible to wear because they do not have a pile, thus the warps are subjected to a lot of abrasion. Due to the placement of a rug, sometimes it [...]

Decorative trays come in a variety of sizes, styles and designs. I often use them as serving pieces or place on our ottoman so guest have a spot for their drinks. The striking multicolor Candy Stripe Serving Tray (above, $315) is available from Artful Home and would make a bold statement in any location. [...]

Light reflecting surfaces–white and brushed stainless steel–help a space-challenged kitchen look large and cool even when a staircase occupies valuable real estate.
It’s also clear that every inch matters when a Wolf wall oven gets installed under the stairs as a supplement to a 48-inch range just a few steps away. The presence of two [...]

Clean, serene and cerebral, the architectural bedroom is a clear expression of a “less is more” modernist aesthetic. These two rooms by up and coming New York designer Andy Goldsborough are studies in spare symmetry – the paring down to essentials while depending on shapes, surfaces and textures to carry the design. Neutral color [...]