When examining size, you’ll also want to keep in mind scale. “Scale is the most important consideration, because you want your new furniture piece to feel right at home and not be oversized or undersized,” Miller notes. “If you aren’t working with a designer who draws a furniture plan for you, you can easily take blue painters tape and a tape measure, and tape out different furniture sizes on your floor....

An accent wall (also known as a feature wall) is a single wall that has been given special emphasis, setting it apart from the rest of the space. These bold beauties bring energy and focus to a design, using color, pattern, and even texture to amp up the drama. They can also save you money, offering plenty of bang for the buck and allowing for easy and inexpensive updates down the line....

Check out these stylish, compact, space-saving kitchens in a range of styles that have everything you need to cook for yourself or a crowd.

Another great thing about herbs is that generally, the more you pick, the fuller and better the plant will look. That said, you want to be careful not to pick so much that you leave a giant hole in your arrangement. Many herbs also have beautiful flowers and some are edible and delicious. However, some herbs, like basil, become bitter once they flower. Here are six especially attractive herbs to grow....

Mistake #1: Not Keeping Your Recipient’s Travel Needs in Mind When gathering together for the holidays, travel is often involved and may limit what types of objects a recipient can easily take back home, notes etiquette expert Mariah Grumet of Old Soul Etiquette. “Take into account how your friend or family member traveled to get to the holiday festivities,” she notes. “If they came via plane, there will be restrictions of what they can travel back home with....

Here are some tips for decorating an open concept house. Use Area Rugs to Define Spaces One of the best ways to define a space is with an area rug. When there’s no natural division between rooms, area rugs can be used to create them. For instance, place a rug in an area where you’d like to have a dining room table and then place another nearby where you’d like to ground the living room....

At the center of the kitchen is the kitchen island, the part of the room that provides an extra spot for meal prepping, cooking, gathering for casual meals or coffee breaks, and even extra storage space. Aside from all its practical uses, the island can also serve as a decorative focal point of the room. We’ve gathered our top kitchen island ideas, from big to small and simple to over-the-top to help inspire your kitchen design....

Benefits of Changing Your Lawn Mowing Pattern When you mow the lawn, the weight of the mower compacts the soil where the tires touch the ground. To minimize impact, it is important to cut the grass so the tires travel in a different track each time. Mowing the lawn in the same pattern every time also wears out the grass in the tire tracks. This leads to bare spots in which weeds will quickly grow....

While it may seem like some pattern-happy designers have never met a print they don’t love, there are definitely some looks that the pros have grown a bit weary of over the years. This is only natural, given that styles are constantly emerging and evolving, and certain prints can quite quickly become associated with a particular moment in time and soon appear too trendy. So what prints are no longer making interior designers swoon?...

Here are eight before-and-after closet makeovers that might inspire you. Real Closet Makeover from The Spruce Linen Closet Organization from Liz Marie Blog Read more about our Diversity and Inclusion Pledge to make The Spruce a site where all feel welcome. I Stole My Three-Year-Old’s Closet from Ramshackle Glam Organized Linen Closet Makeover from The Weathered Fox via Remodelaholic Closet Makeover from Erin Spain How a Girl Built Her Closet from Confessions of a Serial Do-It-Yourselfer

Because we’re always curious about the features that the pros crave in their own dream spaces, we spoke with eight interior designers who shared everything from the practical (a mudroom) to the less common (a steel wall). Perhaps your own home already offers one or more of the fabulous features listed below—lucky you! Designer Elizabeth Stamos agreed. “We are currently house hunting, and I think a dealbreaker is a home without a mudroom,” she explained in an email....

1. Not Mixing Materials Not everything modern needs to be ultra sleek and firm. Instead, designer Alexandra Aquadro of AGA Interior Design suggests pairing natural fibers with cozy mohairs and chunky linens, juxtaposed with sleek metals, hardwoods, and glass. “This will create a soft, welcoming space without taking away from clean modern lines,” she explains. Sara Malek Barney of BANDD/DESIGN expresses similar sentiments, noting that mixing manmade elements with natural elements like wood and stone is paramount....

Why Are Plants Used in Feng Shui? You’ve probably noticed that feng shui practitioners tend to love plants. Houseplants are helpful feng shui adjustments for a few reasons. First, having plants inside our homes helps reconnect us to nature. In our current world, we spend so much time inside that we can feel disconnected from the natural world around us. Indoor plants are a great way to remedy this and help bring nature inside our spaces....

But because not everyone lives in a blank box, experienced interior design pros have developed an arsenal of tips and tricks to cheat the eye and smooth out the rough edges of even the oddest of spaces. Here they share some expert advice on how to arrange furniture and decorate your very own awkward living space, helping you to take the focus off its flaws and turn it into the comfortable, functional, and beautiful room it was meant to be....

Like other curtains, tie-backs are long and loose when they’re blocking light, but as the name suggests, they’re tied back in the middle when you don’t need to block light. They’re a versatile window treatment option and what you use to tie back the curtain, from fabric to a horseshoe holder to corded ribbon, is entirely up to you. Read on for tie back curtain ideas you’ll love for creative ways to tie back your curtains, for those times when you want a little extra light....

Many bromeliads are epiphytic plants (air plants), which attach themselves to tree trunks or fallen logs, absorbing moisture and nutrients from the air. When grown as houseplants, they can be mounted on pieces of bark or potted in a growing medium consisting mostly of bark chips and peat moss. Other popular bromeliad houseplants are terrestrial species that can be grown in ordinary potting mix. Still others are more like desert succulents, requiring a sandy, porous potting mix, such as cactus potting soil....

While it is not an extremely complicated process to install an above ground pool, it does help to have a few people to help out with the heavier components. Doing it yourself can save money on installation costs. Here’s an overview of the above-ground pool installation process so you know what to expect. Prepare the Ground First you must get the ground ready for the pool to rest on top of....

Why Fertilize? Turf grasses need high amounts of nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorous, to support strong growth. New lawns are often started in soil that has been compacted, damaged and is low on nutrients, and few soils have the high levels of nitrogen needed to grow grass. If you sow seed or sod in soil lacking primary nutrients, you are likely to end up with a patchy lawn vulnerable to invading weeds and insects....