Hi Everyone,
Thanks, guys, for your sweet messages! As some of you know, I’m still recovering from a broken wrist, and things are a little rough pain-wise, so I thought today might be a good opportunity to open up the floor and hear what y’all would most like help with– Your biggest decorating problems.
Over the past 14 years, we’ve covered just about everything from paint colors and furniture layouts to renovation disasters, awkward rooms, lighting mistakes, and dozens of decorating boo-boos. haha.
But I’d love to hear from YOU.
What are your biggest decorating challenges right now?
What kinds of posts would be the most helpful to you at this point?
Are there topics you’d like me to revisit or explain in more depth?
For example:
* paint color dilemma
* furniture placement
* window treatments
* decorating mistakes
* kitchen and bath decisions
* renovation frustrations
* awkward layouts
* scale and proportion
* lighting
* mixing styles
* storage problems
* “Help, my house feels blah, and I don’t know why.”
Or anything else that’s driving you crazy.
I always find these conversations incredibly helpful because they often spark ideas for future posts and discussions.
So please let us know in the comments what you’d most like help with these days.
And yes, you may absolutely rant about your builder, contractor, bad lighting, or ugly black sofa if necessary. haha.
Did anyone else see these two meshugennehs?
(AKA Kray-Kray Dudes!)
I think as soon as my wrist heals, I should give this a try.
😂 😂 😂
xo,
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Thank you so much!
I very much appreciate your help and support!
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49 Responses
What the heck do I do with this?
There is no good place to put the bed.
The room is 12×12 and was my daughter’s childhood room. She lives across the country now, but I need to keep the bed for visits.
We looked past the bed in front of the window for 20 years but it’s really bothering me now. What would you do Laurel?
The budget is very small. I can sew.
Hi Laurel!
I hope this finds you (and your wrist) improved with better pain management.
Thank you for the content you share; I have avoided some mistakes thanks to you 😊.
One “mistake” I am grappling with is not of my making. We bought our 1998 build five years ago and I am STUCK with two issues in the living room. They are, literally, connected.
The former owners built the house and a shipment of wrong-sized floor joists intended for the second floor were delivered. Instead of holding up progress and making it right, they agreed to use them, creating a 20″ boxed-in ledge in the vaulted ceilinged living room that spans the entire width of the room. The projection is similar in appearance to the soffit commonly found over kitchen cupboards to span the gap between cabinet tops and the ceiling.
The bottom of this projection is 8′ high and it extends about 18-20″ into the room. Too high to “stage” and leaving a giant vaulted bare wall above the extension.
Part 2 of this hideous problem is the awkward location of the nearest window as a result of the ledge.
I want to place curtains high and wide with natural wood blinds underneath but I cannot do both with this window. If window treatments are placed 12″ above the frame, they can only extend 6″ to the left side of the frame before The Ledge interfere. I would love nothing more than to disappear The Ledge but I have no ideas and would hate to make a costly decision only to bring more attention to, rather than minimize The Ledge.
P.S. My Better Half will not understand if carpentry $kill$ must be hired as part of the solution. Sigh.
Speedy recovery, Laurel. I would most grateful if you could suggest a design solution for my trapezoidal living room. The two parallel walls are entries; the side walls are slanted. The lack of right angles is so disorienting! Any help would be SO appreciated.
Adding architectural elements to a basic builder open floor plan. If you could help us determine how to bring an elevated look to open floor plans that are basic and open- that would be great!
Hi Laurel
I love your blog and wish you better soon!
My problem is my entryway/hall/stairwell. It’s lovely but getting a little tatty. We live in an Edwardian house with a fair amount of decorative detail. The floor boards are an original slow growing pine which is orange-ish.
We need to pick a colour- one that won’t clash with the rooms coming off it (living room is BM Bainbridge blue, dinning room is BM Clay beige, upstairs bedrooms have William Morris wallpaper, clay biege, BM Swiss Coffee, and Little & Green Rolling Fog Light.)
We also need to decide how to paint the trim. We have skirting boards, chair rail, picture rail and coving. It could look quite busy if we paint it all off white to match trim in the rest of the house. Colour drenching might lack longevity and this will be a lot of work or a lot of money.
Finally my husband fancies a statement stair runner along with stair furniture.
https://www.rogeroates.com/galleries/stair-runner-gallery/
It’s a lovely hall/entryway, but this is not a grand house, and I worry it will look too busy. On the other hand we don’t want it to fall flat.
Any counsel, advice, inspiration would be greatly appreciated.
How can I update brown wood French and English furniture?
I so appreciate your Blog! I am starting at the beginning of all of this. I am currently working on color and am struggling to incorporate cohesiveness. Not wanting to use a neutral paint on all walls. Choosing colors that work and when to make changes is difficult. My home has many windows. I have chosen some light and dark contrasts. I have one small bathroom, no windows, that I cannot determine which direction would work. Not the end of the world stuff. But important to me.
Best wishes with your recovery!
I’ve never seen the issue addressed regarding how to decorate with pets, especially cats (perhaps it would also apply to households with young children). There are innumerable photos of designer rooms, but so many will not survive when one has cats. A post giving suggestions would be informative and most likely be entertaining.
Honestly, Laurel, I struggle with the little details. For example, I am giving my kitchen a refresh, and I’ve painted my cabinets and replaced the microwave with a vent hood from Hoodsly. It looks pretty good, and I took off the natural stone backsplash and replaced that with beadboard painted the same color as the cabinets. That looks good, too. There is a small space–30 inches by 34–behind my range top that needs tile.
I found a cute tile that I like, now I’m having kittens over grout color and pencil tile. I don’t want to get that wrong because it’s a pain to re-do. See? It’s those pesky little design details that I don’t have the background to choose for myself.
Laurel,
What are your thoughts on vintage hardwood red oak finishes that are the golden oak with a slight orange tint.
I am removing carpet and adding hardwood that matches the profile, 2.25 inch, in a family room that is seen from the dining room with this existing flooring.
Here’s my question. I feel the stain color of the new flooring should somewhat match the existing color in the dining room yet although I like it, that golden, orange cast color is not all that popular right now.
Am I on the right track to match the new flooring to the old or is it acceptable to go a bit lighter or darker on the new stuff. My stairs and entire second floor all match the old color.
Thanks for any thought on adding new hardwood in another room to match old flooring.
Hope your recovery is quick!
I have an open concept 1958 boring box ranch with 8’ ceilings. I have added architectural interest by replacing baseboards and adding crown moldings. I like wall moldings and have added board and batten type in two bathrooms and my bedroom. I wonder if it has to be the same throughout the other rooms? Such as can there be picture frame wall molding in one room and board and batten in another? My house also has bullnose corners going from the entry, hallway, dining room, living and family rooms, so I feel stuck on if there’s a way to do anything in these rooms. Thanks for the opportunity to ask for help.
Laurel — I have been following you for years, and your colour advice has helped me paint and decorate two great homes. The home I’m in now hasn’t been repainted since the previous owners–and we’ve been there almost six years (they actually picked some pretty good colours, except the bedroom which is terrifically depressing). The reason is I love ALL colours, and enjoy every shade and nuanced undertone of every neutral, and while I prefer to decorate my home(s) in mostly neutrals, I feel stuck this time, a combination of having a partly open concept living/dining area, beautifully finished counters, tiles etc in kitchens and bathrooms that I don’t want to replace, and a very colourful and varied art collection on top of it. I’m paralysed by indecision and fear of making a (costly) mistake (we wouldn’t be painting ourselves) and fear that I won’t be able to find a colour that works with all the other things I own that will pull it all together and at the same time not be really boring. And I want a nice cohesive flow from room to room. I just can’t find my “red thread” this time. I know you probably feel as though you’ve posted enough times on these topics that there’s nothing else to say but I honestly have read them all many times over and cannot get a grip. Please, please…..just a little more help?
Dear Laurel, I was fortunate to find your blog many years ago. I was nursing my heart dog who was near the end of his life from cancer and it was the only way I found to forget about my woes for a little while. Thank you for your question about our questions! What an incredible job you did on your historic condo. I love your aesthetic and there is much to admire.
My question relates to kitchen decision paralysis. I live in a circa-1900 Victoria and walls were removed, so it is semi-open. The kitchen is fully open to the DR and is partially visible from a huge foyer (that I don’t know what to do with, but that’s another question). The kitchen was renovated in the 00’s by someone stuck in the (faux) Tuscan trend and doesn’t relate to the Victorian coastal vibe at all. It has yellowy oak cabinets of moderate quality and that speckly pink granite on the island that doesn’t relate to the black-ish soapstone perimeter counters. I don’t want to bear the costs of a full reno and also hesitate to put cabinets and granite in a landfill if I could figure out how to work with/around it. I enjoyed your kitchen botox post and LOVE your unkitchen concept. My questions:
– If I paint the island a neutral color in the speckly pink granite, say charcoal gray or mid-tone taupe, will it attract the eye LESS to the granite?
– If I paint the upper perimeter cabinets a warm white and the lower perimeter cabinets a color (thinking the dark burgundy that’s come back in lately as it relates to the neighboring rooms), is that a trendy look I will end up hating?
– Finally, is it worth the expense and mess tearing out my 18″ pink-beige floor tile that is also totally out of date? Cover with a seagrass rug instead? I know there is old hardwood under there that would then blend with the adjacent DR floors, but those could require a lot of work.
Ugh I hope this is not sounding beyond botoxing my kitchen. I am looking to do one or two of these things, not three and trying to choose what’s most impactful. By the way, your new kitchen is droolworthy and I do love a classic white kitchen, but other than trim, I have very little white in my adjacent rooms. My best wishes for your speedy healing!
Hi Laurel,
My latest decorating issue is my little sunroom off my kitchen that looks out onto my backyard. I’ve been trying to use it as an eating area. I don’t have a dining room, nor an eat-in kitchen.
It’s 13’ x 7’. So it’s cozy.
The problem is the door to the backyard opens into the room. And the door is right in the middle of the longer wall. A table would need to seat 4 people.
A floor plan & table size recommendation would be very helpful.
I hope you’re able to sleep with your injury. I broke my arm when I was a kid & I still remember how difficult it was to sleep.
I’d love a little more advice on exterior/backyard/curb appeal. Your design eye is so fabulous and I’m sure that applies to outside decor as well.
All my furniture has been collected over the years for various houses. Now I am trying to refresh with vibrant colors, reupholstering old favorites. Refinishing wood pieces.
I moved a rug from my living room into the dining room, and purchased a larger rug that is more fitting to this living room.
I am reupholstering a small side chair that everyone who has ever had the pleasure of sitting in it immediately falls in love. Because our large shedding dog likes to use this chair as a lookout, I chose a clean red leather over the existing rusty red velvet. I am still trying to decide if I need to replace the tacks that gave the chair so much character. I was concerned that if they weren’t placed properly by the upholsterer, it would mar the leather and then I would be stuck with them. So, no tacks, but if I think it would be better with them I could just add them myself.
So now I am moving from earth tones to jewel tones. Searching for fabric is so time consuming!!! And I need a visual to pull it all together. Maybe painting some of the wood that needs refreshing instead? End tables, coffee table, etc?
You have a number of pieces you have refreshed as opposed to replacing.
It seems as if the cost to refinish or reupholster is almost as much as replacing, but if you have pieces you love, then isn’t it worth it?
I would love to see series on refreshing as opposed to replacing, with some new decor pieces thrown in to liven things up?
I have a 1300 sq ft ranch Home I would like to renovate my attic to make it a bedroom for my grandchildren with a half bathI have a three bedroom house and a finished basement, two bathrooms,but I would also like to finish the attic which will also add to my property.
I own two old houses, both rather style mutts but with good bones and in small towns. My greatest problem is finding handymen/contractors who know how to work with old houses. The old-timers I finally found are retiring, and even the best of these guys didn’t always do things as I specified because I want it done the old way, not like on a new house.
Even simple stuff, like making a shower enclosure square (I discussed that the framing wasn’t square and needed squaring before he started), Not mitering exterior trim, sloping all exterior horizontal surfaces, centering a new door on existing trim, don’t throw away the old tile and trim, ect, ect… have fallen on deaf ears. I have made drawings and printed out instructions with illustrations.
I try to listen to their viewpoint and experience to come up with a reasonable solution, but time and time again, they just do what they want and I end up paying them extra to make it right or i just live with it, or live with it a while and eventually redo it. No one will make a bid because old houses always have surprises, so I pay everyone by the hour.
Half the time, I can hardly get anyone to look, and if they do I never hear back, or they say they will come and don’t show up. I made arrangements with four guys last week to take a look at spot painting my upper floor windows and storms, and not a one has shown up and only one called the day after he was supposed to come. We are trying to get the house ready to sell and my regular guys who were doing work can’t do it now (injury, sick wife, messy divorce), I can’t do a lot of it myself. Plus the going rate these days in around $50 an hour. I’m at wit’s end.
We just bought a 1970s condo in Iowa as a second home. We bought it to have a base to visit with our grandchildren, ages 4 and 2, more. The ceilings are only 8′ and textured. At some point, the basic trim was painted white. I want to bring it into the 2020s. The problem is a limited budget as this is a second home. Besides new paint what are some other options??
I need help with many things, and window coverings top the list, especially in the dining area and living room. The dining area has a peaked ceiling with a wall of windows topped by a half-circle window centered in the room. Side walls have double flat-topped windows on one wall and a sliding glass door opposite it. The problem: That half-circle window won’t allow drapery. They must be hung below that top window where it meets the windows below. That will press the room down, and the point of the high ceiling, to make a small space look bigger, would be lost. What to do? The living room has a similar window design. However, that room needs the slimmest of window coverings owing to an addition I made. I’ve attached a carved wooden panel where the half-circle top meets the windows below it. The panel’s mate tops the flat-topped double windows. I like it. The panels are Thai. The problem: No room or need for drapery. Instead, some sort of shade is needed that’s thin enough to rest unseen under the panels when pulled up. I’ll try to find a way to send pictures.
Hi Laurel,
If you were needing to baby step through a full kitchen or bathroom renovation but not moving any utility lines (i.e. plumbing, electric gas), how would you do that? We can’t afford to just rip everything out and do it all at once, but I want to be smart about doing it in stages. And I can’t wrap my brain around how to do that, because it seems like there isn’t a way to do it in stages and have it turn out well. Am I wrong?
So sorry about your wrist! Don’t do anything Kray Kray after it heals! 😂
My issue is updating a builder grade fireplace with a TV above it (it’s the only possible place for it and we do watch TV regularly). We renovated the adjacent kitchen and it’s kind of grand compared to the fireplace wall. The family room kitchen combo is not particularly large and separating the rooms is not desirable for the way we live nor possible with the layout. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and your fantastic sense of humor!
I already posted some ideas for you to address. I would like to second Katherine’s request for help with universal design. My mother is in her late 80s and I should renovate her bathroom to incorporate universal design. I have read elsewhere that small format tiles, like your pennytiles, are more slip resistant. Your thoughts on how to make a bath safer but also beautiful would be very helpful.
I agree with Ms Hammer on the PT. I hope your wrist heals well and quickly.
I have a dining room across the hall from a living room. It has a mural source wallpaper above wainscot
panels in a sky blue. can you advise on what to do with the living room(colors, window treatments, etc.). I don’t want it to look like I did it. I love traditional design and Chinoiserie. ANY help would be appreciated.
Hi Laurel. By pure luck I found your blog a decade or so ago, and I’ve learned more from you than I ever thought possible. I adore your style! My townhouse living/dining room presents a considerable dilemma: no symmetry, odd room size and shape, and potential for disastrous window treatments. To top those flaws off, the ceiling is two stories high in part of the area, complete with very high windows and a balcony. It would be delightful to have your expert design opinion address one or more issues of this odd situation. Best wishes for rapid wrist recovery.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery! Breaking anything is a huge pain and I hope you are on the mend. With this little spill in mind, I would love a post about accessible design/accessible features that do not scream hospital room. My dad, who is 94, is moving in with me and I need to renovate a bathroom that will meet his limited mobility needs but not look clinical. It should also be something that does not have to be redone if we sell the house. Universal design for aging? There are very few good resources for designing rooms like this. Thank you!
I need some guidelines or rules or suggestions on HOW TO STYLE A ROOM once you have the paint, flooring, furniture etc. in place. Why does a designer’s stack of books on the coffee table look like decor and mine looks like I just didn’t put the books away? What should the components of a bookcase be if you want more than books and how do you decide where to place everything? How do you know where to put art or a mirror on the walls and what size? Do you have guidelines for selecting and arranging decor on mantelpieces?
Four years ago, we completed an almost gut renovation of our 100 year old (large) English cottage style home, and tbh, I referred to your blog and guides almost every step of the way. I think all of your blog posts about proportion and scale are the reason our renovation turned out so well.
I would love more information about “finishing.” For instance, once you’ve picked the moulding, paint colors, and even wallpaper and textiles, what are the other elements? Right now, I need to hang mirrors, buy and hang art, and also, figure out how to tastefully display pictures (candids and old fashioned professional) of our family of six (in classic frames, without words!). It’s the personal elements that I find hard — I don’t want to display things that merely look good (see, scalloped edge bowls filled with decorative balls), but things that feel like us. It takes so much time, so I think some sort of guide might be helpful.
Thank you and hope you feel much better, soon!
Here is a link to a home that is for sale on the street on which I spent my youth: https://redf.in/aArxP2 It is beautifully decorated, but it has no personal style that reflects the owners. (This could be for the purpose of selling it, of course.) My own style is very ethnic-eclectic. How do I blend classic styling with decorative treasures and graphic textiles from around the world? I want a classy, classic look, not a hippie pad.
Hello! I think this is a long the same lines as a lot of the other questions. We live in an ’80s Boston suburb split level. There is nothing remotely interesting about this home except the massive vegas-style chandelier the previous owners hung above the entry. I love colorful interiors, with beautiful moldings, high ceilings and large sweeping windows. Since my home has none of this, how do I decorate it? Am I allowed to paint this massive boring living room/ hallway a fun color? And should I leave the ugly red brick fireplace with the mantel that is much too high? Or do I lime wash it? I do not see this as our forever home, but I would love to entertain and feel good about it until we transition to something a bit more interesting. Feel free to come over and help anytime. I’m about 15 minutes west of Boston:)
First, best wishes for a full and speedy recovery!
I wonder if you could post about how to decorate above a buffet and fireplace.
We built a brick colonial on a farm. Thanks to you we hired both an architect and a designer. Now that we’ve moved in I cannot figure out what to do with the spaces over the dining room buffet (5′ wide centered on a 9′ wall between windows) and above the fireplace (7′ wide centered on a 10′ wall centered between windows.) If we made a mistake it was putting too many windows (yeah, right?) because there is nowhere to put the TV but over the fireplace. I know you have written some about TVs – I’d love a frame TV but it is not in the budget right now. The ceilings are 10′ so we have room to do something – I just cannot figure out what.
I love your decorating style and writing style (you make me laugh) and look forward to your posts each week.
Please get well soon.
I am a maximalist. I need help to know what is too much. I need help with layering. IMO there is a very thin line between maximalist and clutter bug !
I would love your advice on how to mix styles the right way so it looks beautiful and intentional. I love traditional design, but also clean lines and even modern pieces thrown in, especially art.
I hope a successful healing of your wrist is just around the corner.
My wish would be… “how to decorate with a hodge-podge of left-over furniture.” Or how eclectic is too eclectic? I’ve just painted the whole interior of a Federal-style 1990 house in Cloud White, and the floors are Provincial stain. Maybe another tutorial of the merits of AI might help?
Be well!
I have a mid-century middle class modern condo in Florida with a lanai that has three sliding glass doors leading onto it. None of the doors have enough wall space on either side to provide space for curtain pull-backs. The unit originally had vertical blinds, which I thought were awful. Any ideas for window treatments that can provide privacy? Also, if I could get light-blocking for the set of doors in the master bedroom that would be a bonus.
Hope your wrist is on the mend.
I have been following you for years and now that my son bought a house, he follows you too.
How about furniture placement and design for outdoor decks?
Help! Redecorated our house in the 90’s. Primary bathroom has a true green ( somewhat deep) marble and that doesn’t go with any other part of house, and I can’t change it. How to blend, or ignore that color?
Laurel,
The image of the kray krays made me laugh. Thank you.
I am interested in your take on the following topics:
1. How to use the color red in a home. I borrowed several coffee table books from my library that are written by decorators in the UK. I live in Massachusetts but I love how the English embrace the color red. In particular I purchased a double roll of Zoffany Malmaison wallpaper in the color Faded Rose. I want to frame it in millwork painted BM White Dove in my stairway and upstairs hallway. My question is what would Laurel do (WWLD)?
2. Laundry Rooms. I have a sample of Isidore Leroy Nunavut wallpaper mural in the grisaille golden colorway in my laundry room. I plan to paint the current contractor grade cabinets off white on the uppers and a dark sage green on the bottom. What are your thoughts on wood countertops vs. Quartzite and marble in a laundry room? Or perhaps you could do an entire post on laundry rooms.
3. Lighting for a Craftsman and Spanish Revival Homes. I own a circa 1929 craftsman/Spanish Revival home. I want to update the exterior and interior lighting. How can I update this with vintage and contemporary lighting options without it looking like a museum? There are a few companies (California craftsman, Arroyo, Steven Handelsmann, and Hubbarton Forge) that sell new lighting and some sellers on Chairish and Etsy. What would you do?
I love it when you take a blah boring box and turn it into something special. Or places with weird or bad design and make them timeless. Thanks for asking!
I am currently living in a town home that has a really long wall in the “great” room that also serves as the dining area. One part of it has a lower wall and that is the dining area. I have tried to think of a solution to try to separate the wall visually but have not come up with anything. Right now I used two bookcases flanking a center skirted rectangular table that has the Samsung frame tv above it. Ive thought of using a screen, or using curtain panels like Susan Ferrier does in a lot of her installs but that would not work in this situation. I actually have grown to hate open plans bc they really are so difficult to deal with both in design as well as noise.
Last summer I broke my foot. It was the type of injury that athletes sometimes sustain but I am no athlete!! Missed a step…sigh. It was painful for quite a while and very inconvenient. So I can relate but only somewhat. At least I had use of my hands and arms! Hoping you soon start feeling more comfortable as things heal.
I love reading your content and am interested in the topics you discuss. I appreciate that you go into detail to thoroughly explain things. At present I am quite interested in color — how to decide on how many colors in a room, what percentages (like 70% of one color, 20% of another, 10% accent), how to achieve balance between colors — placement so the eye moves, how to choose an accent color, topics like these.
Also, would love tips on how to make a less desirable hard surface color recede. For instance, there is ceramic tile in the hallway from the garage to the fireplace room – open kitchen area. The tile extends to rooms on both sides of the hallway (powder room, coat closet, laundry room). It it a nice softly mottled grayish turquoise I guess, but it does not relate to anything else beyond the hallway, such as the green walls in the fireplace room, natural oak floors (kind of orange-ish) and the cherry cabinets. I have no clue about possible paint colors for the hallway or how to use color in accessories in the fireplace room that is open to the kitchen so there is some flow from the hallway into the living spaces,
Your posts that discuss possible decorating improvements and solutions for real life situations are always very interesting as well as educational. If you need material, I would be happy to lend some photos of real life decorating dilemmas…(shy grin).
I would love to know more about combining fabrics
and mixing that with painted furniture. U.K designers pull that look together so well but might be a little much for a tropical condo.
My suggestion is for your poor ailing wrist. If physical therapy is prescribed later, do it as if your life depends on it. Work hard, do more repetitions if you think you can. And always take the icing afterwards. I broke my elbow in september. Because i worked hard , my surgeon told me he hasn’t seen such good results ever. I have full range of motion. Best wishes to you and hope you are getting lots of support in your recovery.
I would love to hear about 1 story homes that follow a classic design, especially floor plan. Bonus if the houses have more than 2 bedrooms.
I’d love to learn more about decorating with different wood colors in an open floor plan, how to to do it well, when to match woods and when to contrast, light vs dark. Interested in both furnishings and hard finishes.
I’d love to see more about scale and proportion, as well as what to look for in furniture/decor that denotes quality. Sometimes I’m really hesitant to pull the trigger on something that I know I like aesthetically because I’m unsure if the material quality of the piece will hold up to it’s price tag. It’s especially nerve wracking if it’s a vendor I haven’t used before!
I have a cute cape cod cottage in Chatham, MA. There are 4 windows in a nice open floor plan living room. When I bought it there were blue valances on each window. Boring but
served the purpose. Now that I’m buying a new sofa for the room, I want to replace the valances. Should I buy floor length panels on each side or do you have any coastal looking ideas? I don’t want shutters, as I love the light filled room. Thank you Laurel. I’d appreciate the help 😊
Hi Laurel
Hope you are doing well with your wrist and health. Always enjoy reading your posts.
Scale and proportion and storage furniture solutions that blend into the background are the two topics that most interest me.
My Best
Mel
I am interested and involved in higher class DIY. I often will first look at upper class design with the question “How can I, with my skill set, replicate this?” (A round zig zag edge CB2 coffee table, a tiered art deco fireplace surround, for example) On the other hand, I will then peruse some DIY material for inspiration of what others do, but with a the goal of a better, less homemade looking outcome. I wonder if this is a topic that interests others as well. I feel like you are excellent at providing guidance as to what is higher class design altogether. Maybe a post exploring the intersection of skilled DIY with upper class design is one many would appreciate?