Home Ideas

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What’s under your feet (or however you get around) is as important as anything when it comes to home. That’s why this fall, we collaborated with The Home Depot on an A to Z guide that’ll give you the confidence to make flooring choices you’ll love. Check out the A to Z handbook here.

Think of wall-to-wall carpet, and you’ll likely remember the orange shag your aunt had in her basement growing up; the florescent space-themed flooring of an old bowling alley; the impersonal grey carpet in your first rental apartment. It’s all a little dated.
Fortunately, carpet is making a comeback in a big way, and The Home Depot stocks it all, whether you are looking for a specific color, texture, or feel.
“In years past, carpet was always seen as this plain, neutral flooring underfoot,” says Carisha Swanson, Market Director for House Beautiful. “But if you actually think about why you like standalone rugs, more than likely it’s because it has a great pattern in it. You can also get that great pattern now in a wall-to-wall carpet.”
Let us change your mind about just how refined the material can look—no shag required.

Get your footing with terminology
You wanna talk carpet, the first thing to understand is pile. The pile of a carpet—another word for the height of the carpet fibers—are typically categorized as either low, medium, or high.

Home Decorators Collection Gemini II-Color Artisan Hue Textured 12 ft. Carpet
Home Depot
$22.41

Low-pile carpet has short, dense fibers, which makes it difficult for dirt to get trapped, and is ideal for high-traffic spaces that might require frequent cleaning, like a living room, playroom or entryway.
Often a popular choice for bedrooms, medium-pile carpet has slightly taller, less dense fibers, adding to under-foot comfort while maintaining a relative ease-of-cleaning factor.
And then there’s high-pile carpet—the most lavish, with tall, loose fibers—that works best for less busy parts of the house, or for a smaller space that’s aching for a little bit of luxury.
Next up: choose the carpet construction that’s right for you, which will generally fall into the categories of cut pile or loop pile.

Cut pile refers to carpet where loops of yarn have been cut or shorn after being attached to the backing. The result is soft, and its fibers move more freely, which creates an underfoot experience perfect for a bedroom or family room where you’ll often hang out, sans socks and shoes. Within this category, you’ll find cut pile carpet types like “plush” (extremely soft, but shows footprints), “twist” (in which the yarn pieces are twisted for greater resiliency—currently extremely popular) and “frieze” (in which longer piles are twisted tightly several times so that they create a dense texture—soft and comfortable, but can be hard to clean).
Loop pile carpet, on the other hand, means that a carpet’s yarn loops are not cut after being attached to the backing, making it generally less gentle on feet and better suited to a heavily-trod area like an entryway or staircase. Level loop refers to when the loops are all one height, and “pattern” carpet means the loops form intricate patterns within the carpet’s design. One of the most common loop pile carpets is Berber carpet (which Swanson recommends), a style often made out of nylon and based on the traditional handwoven carpets of Berber peoples in North Africa.

Carpet according to room use

As with most flooring, using your space as a guide to dictate your carpet-of-choice can ensure that you’ll find just the right combination of pile height and construction to meet your needs.

LifeProof Evocative Color Silence Pattern 12 ft. Carpet
Home Depot
$44.00

For example, carpet works well for creating cozy warmth for a child’s playroom—but that isn’t the place for a plush, all-white carpet that’s just asking for a slice of pizza land on it.
For busier spaces that require durability, go with something lower pile that’s built for rough-and-tumble energy, like Lifeproof carpet that has a lifetime warranty against stains and a 25 year warranty against wear. For a more elegant, natural look, explore a higher-pile, yarn-dyed carpet (where the fibers are dyed before being attached to the backing) that will set the mood and provide a touch of low-key sophistication, like many of the options from the Home Decorators Collection.
“Some people think that when they’re making an investment in wall-to-wall carpet that it’s something that they can’t ever change out,” says Swanson. “But if you’re making an investment in a really good area rug, you’re not going to change that either, and wall-to-wall prevents any awkward layouts within a space or rug slippage.”

Leave installation to the professionals
After you’ve landed on the dream carpet for your space, next comes installation. General contractor Mark Clements of My FixItUp Life recommends calling a professional, a far safer bet than trying to measure, cut, and stretch the carpet on your own. “It’s the kind of thing where you’ll say to yourself, ‘Why am I doing this myself, exactly?’” he says, noting that a person tackling the project themselves would have to rent, among other things, a carpet stretcher and install tack stripping—the strips along the edges of a room into which carpet is tacked—to ensure the carpet doesn’t wrinkle.

He does, however, recommend taking up the old carpet on your own, which will save money in the long run. “The trick there is to cut it up into manageable squares—I usually recommend two by three. You use a sharp knife, you cut it into squares, stack them up and carry them out.”

Foss Peel and Stick Hobnail Gunmetal Texture 18 in. x 18 in. Residential Carpet Tile (16 Tiles/Case)
Home Depot
$42.99

Clements also suggests exploring carpet tiles to create the wall-to-wall carpet look with a little bit more flexibility—and if you want to try your hand at a DIY installation. “Carpet tiles are very easy to deal with, they’re beautiful and long-lasting,” Clements says. “Some are solid, some have really cool patterns in them, and you can create any designer pattern you want. They’re easy to cut, to carry, to transport. If one gets stained, you just peel it up and stick down another one.”

And whether your carpeted room becomes the snuggle-on-the-floor, well-loved center of your children’s life, or the high-end bedroom oasis of your dreams, one thing’s for sure: this isn’t your grandma’s carpet. More

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What’s under your feet (or however you get around) is as important as anything when it comes to home. That’s why this fall, we collaborated with The Home Depot on an A to Z guide that’ll give you the confidence to make flooring choices you’ll love. Check out the A to Z handbook here.

While its likely not the first detail you think of when embarking on a flooring project, molding—whether for walls, floors, windows, or doors—helps a room become the most polished version of itself. Shoe molding and baseboard, two types of molding, secure the perimeter of a room and help create a clean, finished look between the floor and walls.

But there are a dizzying number of options that can cause choice paralysis if you’re not careful. So here’s a quick guide all about the role molding plays when it comes to flooring, and how to select a style that’s right for you from the collection at The Home Depot. Read up now, and you’re less likely to be stuck fretting over these final steps when the time comes.

Shoe molding: Mind the “expansion gap”

Shoe molding is the simplest (and most foundational) base molding type out there. It acts as a seam between flooring and a wall and covers the all-important “expansion gap”: a small vertical space which allows for the floor to inhale and exhale — relatively speaking — without buckling up against the wall and damaging itself. (For more information on hardwood floors, see letter H!)

WM129 7/16 in. x 11/16 in x 96 in. Base Shoe Moulding
Finished Elegance homedepot.com
$4.54

Also called “base shoe” because of its position at (you guessed it!) shoe level, this functional and flexible wood trim is found in most rooms with a hard flooring surface, whether that’s laminate, hardwood, tile, or luxury vinyl.

In addition to filling in the expansion gap and providing a buffer for any furniture that might bump up into the walls, shoe molding fills in the spaces where baseboard and floor don’t quite match up. (And since baseboards can be fairly ornate and sometimes lack straight lines on the bottom, this happens more often than you might think.)
Shoe molding, which is usually nailed into a baseboard using finishing nails and never into the wall, comes in a wide range of styles, shapes, and sizes. The style that works best for you depends on your home’s overall design aesthetic. Plain and simple quarter-round base shoe (named because it looks like a quarter cut of a dowel rod) will get the job done, but more ornate forms of pre-cut shoe molding are sleeker, and can range from arts-and-crafts-style to colonial and beyond. Most importantly, base shoe is taller than it is wide which ensures it doesn’t jut out into the room too far while still filling the expansion gap. On average, it clocks in at about ¾” to 1” in height and ½” in width.

The molding style that works best in your home depends on the overall design aesthetic.

Molding material also plays a big part in the overall finished look of a room. Molding that’s made from medium-density fiberboard (MDF) is an inexpensive solid-wood alternative that comes primed, but should be painted (and not stained) to give your space a complete look. It’s extra flexible, so if there are uneven spots on your baseboard, or even the flooring itself, it could be a smart choice.
Solid wood molding typically comes in two camps: pine (a softwood), which is relatively inexpensive and can be stained or painted, and hardwood (ash, oak, or walnut are common choices), which can also be stained or painted. If you’re feeling funky, try an unexpected finish, like painting the trim to match the walls instead of painting it traditional white, or stain it to match the floors.
But whatever you choose, don’t forget to paint or stain your shoe molding (and trim of any kind) prior to installing it.

Baseboards: They bring the drama

If shoe molding is the subtle element, quietly adding a protective finishing touch to your space, baseboards are the attention-grabbers that can completely change the feel of a room. Baseboard serves a similar purpose to shoe molding (tying together the floor-meets-wall area), but it is much taller and often more decorative. Often working in tandem with shoe molding (but occasionally standing alone), baseboards not only can add character to a room but help tie it to the design identity of other parts of the house.

5523 29/64 in. x 3-1/4 in. x 8 ft. PVC Composite White Colonial Base Moulding
Royal Building Products homedepot.com
$8.57

LWM 163E 9/16 in. x 5-1/4 in. Solid Pine Base Moulding
Woodgrain Millwork homedepot.com
$2.64

Timeless Craftsman 55E1 5-1/2 in. x 11/16 in. x 96 in. Primed MDF Base Moulding
Woodgrain Millwork homedepot.com
$11.27

WM 631 9/16 in. x 3-1/4 in. x 96 in. Primed Finger-Jointed Base Moulding
Woodgrain Millwork homedepot.com
$13.11

The most important factor to take into consideration with your baseboards is how they will feel in conjunction with other elements of the space. For example, if you have high ceilings in an older home and want to match that grandiose feel, go for an equally tall baseboard with a colonial design. Do you live in a more modern space? Flat baseboards are all the rage, adding a polished look without drawing too much attention. More

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For our September 2020 issue, Good Housekeeping teamed up with Chatbooks, an app-based photo-book company, to scour the U.S. and Canada for the smartest and most beautiful home office setups. What we found, done by both apartment dwellers and homeowners, just may inspire you to take your own work-from-home space to the next level.
Add a Cozy Sofa
Kari Bancroft, a stay-at-home mom in South Jordan, UT, decided to think beyond hard, uncomfortable chairs in her home office. Instead, she outfitted the space with a plush emerald green sofa that pairs well with her beloved animal prints and global-inspired pottery. The sofa works for her lifestyle too: She is mom to eight kids, ages 4 to 20, and uses her office space to read and to organize her many family photos. “My overall home office decorating approach is to showcase an eclectic mix of the things I love and make sure it functions as a versatile space,” she says.

FOR SIMILAR: TIMBLIN ÉTAGÈRE BOOKCASE, $270, WAYFAIR.COM
Courtesy of Chatbooks

Hang a Desk on the Wall
Rachel Mae Smith, whose blog is The Crafted Life, created her low-profile New York City office with a wall-mounted desk for two supported by a track shelving system. Pops of color, including brackets spray-painted in bright hues and dyed fabric swatches, pull the fun look together.

FOR SIMILAR: INDUSTRIAL RUSTIC WALL-MOUNTED TABLE, $100, AMAZON.COM
Courtesy of Chatbooks

Consider High Shelves
Graphic designer and new mom Ashley Smith transformed a cedar-lined closet with white paint and high shelving for books and decorative storage. Ashley elevated the look with DIY display boards made from wood scraps. “I added some stain, wire and clips, and they became the perfect spot to hang anything important, like bills, invites and children’s artwork,” she says. Plus, she made a simple built-in desk for her large desktop. “We used inexpensive 1″ x 2″ common boards as supports underneath, then added a nice maple 3/4″ plywood top and 1″ x 3″ trim board to the front,” she says of the desk design in her Pittsburg, KS, home.

FOR SIMILAR: ART LEON 360-DEGREE SWIVEL HOME OFFICE CHAIR WITH CASTERS, $141, OVERSTOCK.COM
Courtesy of Chatbooks

Take Advantage of a Chic Nook
Kaitlyn Fast of Birmingham, AL, let a large mirror set the foundation for her minimalist office nook. “It reflects all the natural light we have in this room and makes it easy to switch out the decor and flowers as each new season arrives,” she says.

FOR SIMILAR: RICHARDS ACCENT MIRROR, $198, BIRCHLANE.COM
Courtesy of Chatbooks

Put Your Office by the Stairs
With the help of her husband, Russel, Lindi Vanderschaaf turned an empty wall next to the stairs on the first floor of their Grande Prairie, Canada, home into a functional workspace. Russel made the desktop and shelves from stained plywood, which balances the design’s black-and-white color scheme. “The white of the desk drawers and walls really helps define the space,” Lindi says. “It almost feels like its own room now.”

FOR SIMILAR: GELLER DINING CHAIR, $120, TARGET.COM
Courtesy of Chatbooks

Paint a Brick Wall
Megan Leonard of the lifestyle brand Our City Nest lives in Baltimore, a city known for row homes with exposed brick walls. So it only made sense to showcase this detail in her office space. “It provides an instant texture throughout my home that I love to pair with wood accents,” she says.

FOR SIMILAR: CHANTRELL DESK, $330, WAYFAIR.COM
Courtesy of Chatbooks

Make a Desk Out of Two Basic Dressers
After Sara Johnston’s 5-year-old son began feeling left out with her and her husband working from their Ontario, Canada, home, they decided to make an office for him right in the living room. “We painted two old IKEA dressers with leftover white paint and asked a local lumber provider for the top, which just happened to be shelving cut down to this specific size,” she says.

FOR SIMILAR: HEMNES 3-DRAWER CHEST, $179, IKEA.COM
Courtesy of Chatbooks

Turn Your Closet into an Office
Party stylist Kelsey Klos, who lives in Petaluma, CA, with her husband and three daughters under 5, transformed a closet into a simple but vibrant workstation. She used clear refrigerator organization bins to store supplies, cake stands to stack work projects, and playful accessories, like a rainbow garland, to show off her style.

FOR SIMILAR: SIMPLIFY HERRINGBONE LARGE STORAGE TOTE, $16, STAPLES.COM
Courtesy of Chatbooks

Set Up a Workspace in Your Kitchen
Heather Keeling and her family of five decided to turn a corner of the kitchen in their Portland, OR, home into a bright and comfy work area. They opted for contemporary touches to achieve contrast. “The baby-blue penny tile is the perfect bridge between the 1960s and the modern day,” Heather says. Custom shelving, inspired by a mid-century modern credenza, completes the look.

FOR SIMILAR: PYRAMID BLACK DINING SIDE CHAIR BY MODWAY, $81, HOMEDEPOT.COM. NIRVANA BLISS RIMMED 1″ CIRCLES CERAMIC TILE, $9 PER SQ. FT., TILEBAR.COM.
Courtesy of Chatbooks

Capture Your Home Office and More!

Courtesy of Chatbooks

To find the standout home offices showcased in this feature, Good Housekeeping joined forces with Chatbooks, a company that makes affordable, high-quality photo books. These albums are great for displaying your favorite family photos or even before-and-after shots of a recent home project — think of them as personalized coffee table books. Just download the Chatbooks app and create an Ongoing Photo Book Series, and then for every 60 photos uploaded from your Instagram or camera roll it automatically creates a new book (starting at $10). More

Does your space feel a little… drab? Switching up your wall color in a trendy shade is the one of the quickest ways to rehab a tired space. And since it’s a project most homeowners can tackle themselves, it’s one of the most affordable, too.
But as easy as painting sounds, there are some tricks to the trade. Take prep work, for example. If you skip this important step, you could end up with a real problem on your hands — an undercoat that shows through or peeling paint. If you’re painting latex over oil, for example, you’ll likely get cracking, says Rachel Rothman, chief technologist and director of engineering at the Good Housekeeping Institute. These types of mistakes not only take time to remedy, but can also cost a significant amount of money if you have to hire a professional to fix your errors.
Don’t fret, though: As long as you’re using the right supplies and have a handle on the basics, you’ll be painting like a pro in no time at all. Here, we’ll break it all down for you, covering everything from supplies, to necessary prep, to rolling evenly, and even cleaning your brushes so you can move on to the next project on your list. Follow these tips for professional-looking results:
1. Make a plan.
Before you ever pick up a paint brush, you need a plan of attack. Think of it sort of like cooking: You want to read the recipe all the way through before you start blindly throwing ingredients into the pot, otherwise, you might get halfway through and realize you’re missing an important component.
Look up: Does the ceiling need a refresh, too? What about the trim? Consider your options on the walls as well. Will you be using one color — or do you want to try painting with two colors (an accent wall, perhaps)?
2. Select the perfect color.
When it comes to paint shades, the options are boundless. It’s a fortunate problem: While you’ll inevitably find just what your’e looking for, landing on the right hue can be quite the process. To guide your search, start by thinking about what you ultimately want. Do you envision a warm or a cool shade? Does your space warrant a bold color, or would a neutral be more appropriate? Once you have a general idea of the direction you want to go in, you can begin sifting through paint chips.
But don’t rely on the little square to make a final decision: Once on the wall, paint can look very different than it does on the sample card! Colors often look brighter once on the wall, and the light in your room can have a dramatic impact on the way the color reads. Pick a few finalists, then purchase sample cans.
3. Paint a sample swatch.
Once you have sample cans in hand, paint swatches on the wall. To give you a good idea of how the color will look in your space, paint two coats of color in a 12-inch-by-12-inch square. If your room has both sunny and shady spots, it’s smart to put swatches in both areas, as this can affect the final look.
Alternatively, you can paint two coats onto a foam board (available at any craft or office supply store) and tape it to the wall. This is a great option for those who don’t intend to get started right away, as you won’t have to live with random color streaks on your walls.
Pro tip: Use an inexpensive foam brush for this type of sample painting. This way, you won’t dirty a ton of brushes or waste money.
4. Calculate how much paint you need.
When determining how much paint to buy, many retailers have helpful calculators you can use. Always double check packaging, but in general, a gallon is roughly good for 250 to 400 square feet, says Rothman. And don’t forget: You’ll need a little extra for touch-ups and mistakes.
5. Gather the right materials.
Though the surface and size of what your painting will directly influence the exact list of supplies you need, it’s a good idea to stock your toolkit with some combination of the following items:
Painter’s tape
Drop cloths
Paint brushes (both angled and straight)
Paint roller
Paint tray
Stir stick
Paint
Other worthy investments: An extension pole, so you can stash away the ladder after the edging step; a paint-can opener; and a pour spout to lessen mess.
6. Prep the room for painting.
First, dry-dust the walls floor to ceiling and scrub any extra-grimy parts with a wet sponge or cloth; paint won’t adhere as well to a dirty surface (think fingerprints, soot, dust, cobwebs). Let dry before you paint.
Protect the floor and any furniture you can’t (or don’t want to) move, from paint splatters and spills. For the floor, choose fabric drop cloths instead of plastic ones, as plastic can be slick under your feet or, worse, the ladder.
Remove outlet and light switch plates and tape around any areas you don’t want painted (such as moldings, baseboards, or window frames) with painter’s masking tape or Frog Tape. The Good Housekeeping Institute tried the latter on a smooth wall and found that it makes a crisp line and doesn’t let paint bleed through.
7. Prime the wall (or don’t with our handy trick).
A bit of a hinderance when you’re trying to paint a room in one day: Painting over a dark wall with a light color (or covering stains) requires a coat of primer and two coats of paint — and at least six hours of drying time. (If you’re in a super humid room or painting the exterior on a humid day it will take a much longer, notes Rothman.)
That’s why GHI recommends Benjamin Moore Aura, a self-priming paint (it’s a cost-effective option if you were planning on buying primer). Going from light to light? You can get away with two coats of good-quality regular paint.
8. Mix the paint.
Though the store generally shakes the paint for you, a decent stir will ensure your paint is properly mixed. This is particularly important if the can has been sitting on a shelf for any length of time. Though an optional step, you can also strain the paint, says Rothman. “It’s easier to get rid of impurities from the paint can, rather than having them on your wall and having to fix it later.”
9. Get rolling!
Now you’re ready for the main event. If you’re painting a room with two colors — stripes, for example — start with the lighter color first, says Rothman. Once it’s dry, run painter’s tape over the divider, then paint the darker color.
If you’re painting a room one color, here’s how with a roller and a brush, according to the pros:
Use an angled brush or a sponge tool to “cut in,” or paint a two-inch swath around the edges of woodwork and the ceiling. (Don’t forget: These areas should be taped off, as explained in step five.)
Grab your paint tray and a roller. Use 1/4-inch nap for smooth surfaces, 3/8-inch nap for semi-smooth, or 5/8-inch nap for rough — the wrong tool will apply too much or too little paint. If using a latex paint, pre-wet the roller first, says Rothman.
Fill the well of the paint tray about ¼ of the way. Then, when loading the paint, roll the roller back and forth in the well until it is uniformly covered. Finally, move the roller back and forth in the upper portion to remove any excess.
Fill in the central unpainted space using the roller. Paint the wall in overlapping W- or M-shaped strokes for the most even paint distribution.
Let the first coat dry at least a couple of hours, then coat again. Between coats, cover the tray and brush with plastic wrap touching the paint surface, and refrigerate.
Pro tip: Have a moist rag handy to wipe fresh splatters. Scrape off dried drips with a credit card or plastic spatula.
10. Finish and clean up.
Rinse your paintbrush and roller (if you don’t toss it) under a faucet until the water runs clear.
Decant the tray’s leftover paint back into the can; seal the can tightly by placing a paper towel over the lid and tapping the lid edges with a hammer. Rinse the tray.
Once the brush’s bristles are totally dry, slip the brush back into its original paper wrapper to keep the bristles from fanning out, or try this DIY fix: Fold a thick piece of paper around the bristles; tape to secure.
Remove masking tape before you call it a night, pulling it off at a 45-degree angle to avoid tearing the finish.

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