Kristy Bowen

Rattan furniture can be a beautiful addition to your space, both inside and outdoors. Ever-popular on patios and porches, furniture made of bamboo, sisal, jute, and other woven materials is also having a moment in popular interior trends like boho and cottagecore. Such pieces, which range from chairs and settees to bureaus, shelves, and ottomans, bring an instant sense of texture, casualness, and a tropical, earthy vibe to any room.
However, rattan and other woven materials, particularly when...

Room dividers can fill a number of décor needs, including space designation and privacy. They can also be largely decorative, adding a focal point or architectural interest that can entirely change the shape of a room. Available in several materials, there is a room divider for every kind of design scheme and price point ranging from simple, lightweight Japanese-inspired paper screens to heavy, ornate wood-carved pieces. They also can serve as a solution to one of decorating's most difficult ...

Refrigerators are typically the largest appliance in any kitchen, and they are often noticed immediately when entering the room. This can be a good or a bad thing. While a shiny stainless steel model can look sleek and modern, it may not work with some decorating schemes. In addition, wear and tear, like dents, scratches, and constant fingerprints, may have you looking to make a change. Many rental units, in particular, harbor older fridges in various finishes that may send you looking for a ...

Backyards and gardens come in all shapes and sizes. Some of them are sprawling and lush, while others are tighter and infinitely more of a challenge to make into liveable areas that are a natural extension of our homes. While there are many approaches to making a small backyard look larger, including designating zones, adding levels, and keeping it clutter-free, another successful tactic involves employing mirrors and reflective surfaces to amplify and manipulate your space as desired.

Reflec...

The ragging paint method is a perfect way to add dimension and texture to any room, offering a great inexpensive alternative to permanently textured walls. Painting is easily one of the swiftest ways to try out trends and refresh your space. This technique is particularly ideal for creating a more antiqued, shabby aesthetic on walls for an old-world European feel of grandeur and dilapidated glamor — think Italian villas and estates in the French countryside. The results often resemble parchme...

The art of feng shui can have an enormous impact on decorating and planning our spaces. When confronting a new home and a blank canvas, the principles of feng shui can often offer a guide for how to set up your home in an attractive, stylish, and harmonious way that instills a room with good vibes. Too often, however, in a rush of excitement to fill a new space, we don't allow rooms to bloom and unfold naturally, filling them with brand-new furniture and belongings that actually work to count...

French-girl chic is often described as an ephemeral style, regularly changing as fashion and interior design trends shift and transform at the drop of a hat. At once fresh and young but also mired in centuries of tradition, the French are always the most fashionable and adept at setting the bar for unique and surprising interiors. Paris apartments are often housed in beautiful antique buildings crowned with high ceilings, enviable balconies, ample fireplaces, gilt mirrors, and chandeliers. Th...

The idea of California design may evoke the old standby of a distinctly boho or surfer-inspired feel that is as laid back as its always sunny locale. Or perhaps a cleaner, modern style tinged with ocean vibes in line with modernist and art deco influences that dot the landscape. While you wouldn't necessarily be wrong, a dynamic new style, which designers have coined as LA retro eclectic, is cropping up everywhere from homes to restaurants and trendy bars, finding its origins not only in Holl...

The principles of feng shui are a great way to achieve balance, harmony, and energy flow (known as chi) in any home, but there can be a danger in too much of a good thing. Feng shui experts warn that one of the chief ways to actually impede good feng shui is by adding too much of a focus on elemental properties and placements. Too many and the combined effect will not only lead to clutter and awkward spaces but also to letting the ancient Eastern philosophy run roughshod over personal express...

Antiques are a beautiful way to fill your home with a sense of history and style. While the thrill of the hunt is sometimes the point, identifying whether or not your antique is the real thing, by definition at least 100 years or older, can be challenging. While many beautiful and well-crafted reproductions exist, including high-end/high-quality pieces, they can sometimes be difficult to identify from the antique originals on which they're based, leading to confusion among both buyers and dea...

Studio and efficiency apartments are the perfect options for small-space living. Often greatly in demand in more crowded and popular urban areas, they can also be found in various locales for those looking for more budget-friendly renting alternatives or a crash pad that's not a hotel or Airbnb. Both studios and efficiencies share a number of similar qualities, including multi-use space living, no formal bedroom, and more compact sizing than their one-bedroom counterparts. They are also often...

Hosts of HGTV's "Fixer to Fabulous," husband and wife duo Dave and Jenny Marrs have been remodeling homes into stylish, modern homes with vintage country flair in Bentonville, Arkansas for nearly two decades. Since 2018, their efforts have been the focus of their popular HGTV show, which features both major construction overhauls and detailed design and décor choices made by the couple, alongside stories of the historic abodes and their owners.
The couple's recent endeavors also include a new...

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Very often, accent chairs take on a supporting role to other, more substantial pieces of furniture like sofas and entertainment consoles, which can easily dominate a room's visuals. Ample, stylish, and comfortable seating options are a must, and accent chairs often offer comfortable and versatile seats in the house. Not only that, accent chairs are often one of the most affordable, high-impact pieces you can add to a room to immediatel...

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From antiquity to the present, landscape paintings are a beautiful addition to the walls of a home, evoking vistas and panoramic views while bringing the outdoors into even the most closed-off rooms. Artists throughout time have favored the landscape, from the masters of impressionism like Monet and Cézanne to the artists who emerged from the famous Hudson River Valley School, all of whom made vivid renderings of what was in their own backyards. Not merely for centuries past, landsc...

Creating a productive, useful, and aesthetically pleasing workspace is a challenge. And while a desk is the centerpiece of most any home office or study, it's nonetheless an element that can be slightly overlooked when creating an optimal space in favor of other important issues like seating and storage.
Since it's one of the things you spend a great amount of time looking at and working on, however, a desk is perhaps the most important element in helping you to form both harmony and balance ...