Home Ideas

Teaching your little one to sew has never been easier (or more fun!). More

We’ve got apple. We’ve got pumpkin. We’ve got cinnamon. More

Maintaining an organized home just makes life easier. When everything is in its place, you can move through your day with ease. Who wouldn’t want that? That’s why we’re taking you inside some of the most organized — and stylish — spaces crafted by some of our favorite design influencers and tastemakers. Get ready to take inspiration from the Organization Chronicles.
The kitchen is the heart of the home, and when you’re a mom of five, this is even more true. Consider the case of Atlanta-based interior designer Erika Ward, who admits it was imperative for her recent kitchen renovation to be conducive to her active lifestyle, especially now that she and her husband are working more from home.
Ward craved a comfortable yet stylish cooking space that would make it easy to prepare meals but also encourage her kids to assist with the clean-up afterwards (a.k.a. every parent’s dream). “My main concerns were how to control the clutter so the kids can help, how to make the surfaces easy to clean, and how to make it look pretty,” Ward says of her practical design vision.
Ward got her wish, thanks to a timeless design scheme with brilliant storage solutions. Here’s how she created her well-organized kitchen:
Maximize Cabinet Space

Rustic White Interiors

Rather than replacing the kitchen cabinets, Ward took the sustainable route and opted to salvage them. She enlisted a professional to give them a new look with a hard coat finish that complemented the overall design scheme, which Ward says “takes inspiration from the Caribbean” with its watery blue backsplash. Once the aesthetic part of the job was handled, pull-out drawer systems to store large pots and pans were installed in the kitchen’s lower cabinets. Concealing them in drawers was also a simple way to free up visual space in her kitchen.
Make Use of Under-the-Sink Storage
Under Ward’s sink is a drip tray to protect the cabinets from leaks and spills, as well as a pull-out drawer for garbage and recycling. A trash system of this nature is especially great for kids who are beginning to learn the value of self-reliance and accountability. “As you are encouraging your children to take on more responsibility at home and help out with chores, having this organization system helps them to know where things go,” Ward says.
Minimal Floating Shelves

Rustic White Interiors

There’s more than enough cabinetry in Ward’s kitchen, but there are a select number of frequently used items that made sense to keep within reach. The perfect solution? A pair of open shelves on either side of the range hood for a canister of lemons, a few of her favorite cookbooks, and a collection of dishes. But this sleek shelving solution doesn’t just serve a functional purpose—introducing this form of symmetry in the design scheme is visually appealing, too.
A Mounted Spice Rack

Courtesy of Erika Ward

Regardless of your design aesthetic, mounting your spice rack might work well for your kitchen setup. Ward loves nothing more than experimenting with recipes and testing different spices, so she made the decision to mount her assortment right on a cabinet door. “When you don’t take advantage of that interior door space—especially if you are lacking storage—it is a missed opportunity,” she says.
Having a well-organized kitchen can not only help you to make the most of your space—it’s also a great way to include the entire family in maintaining it and find more joy in cooking, even if you consider yourself an amateur chef.
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William Hereford

Spare rooms often become catchalls: They might house your WFH setup, your home gym yoga mat and weights, boxes of Halloween decorations that don’t fit anywhere else and, crammed in the middle, a bed for guests. While there’s no shame in getting the most out of your square footage, there’s so much to be said for offering a thoughtful, well-appointed room for overnight (or longer) visitors.
You only need a few pieces of furniture, great bedding, and charming accents, and you can have some fun with it. Think of it even as an opportunity to deploy an aesthetic that differs from the rest of the house, to make it feel like a special destination.
With on-trend decor and furniture in a range of styles, The Home Depot makes it easy to overhaul this room on a budget. For an extra homey feel, channel a stately bed and breakfast with vintage-inspired pieces — here’s how.
Look for furniture that calls to mind the past — you can’t go wrong with rich wood tones.

William Hereford

William Hereford

Bright white walls and low-profile furnishings have enjoyed time in the spotlight recently, with minimalist décor superseding moodier, more intimate settings. But the tide is turning toward a richer palette, with layers of the past and present mingling together.
To cultivate a look that reads vintage but not old, lean into darker tones that add extra character and warmth to a space. Try wood furniture with a heritage vibe: a gracious bed with a carved headboard in a deep ebony finish, a chest of drawers with antique-like bronze hardware and a sturdy side table that could pass for being built by a grandparent. Think sophisticated bungalow or chic country cottage, without any of the ruffles.

Bellmore Ebony Queen Bed
homedepot.com
$699.00

Daytona Regal Walnut Rectangular End Table
homedepot.com
$167.16

Cambridge Brown 3-Drawer Dresser
homedepot.com
$409.45

Cooper Mixed Material Luggage Rack
homedepot.com
$91.60

Layer neutral pillows and blankets over crisp white sheets (the combination never fails).

William Hereford

The easiest way to make a bed feel like it’s from a five-star hotel is to outfit it with crisp, white percale sheets and a matching blanket. Instead of a duvet, opt for a quilt to add texture and heft. Layer on a cashmere blanket for a subtle color contrast, and choose a variety of throw pillows in the same palette.
In order to create a pillowscape that doesn’t overwhelm the bed, limit yourself to four colors or patterns and don’t go overboard with numbers. For example, on top of the standard pillows on a Queen-size bed, layer two larger square Euro-style pillows in a stripe print that mirror the texture of the quilt, and then pop in two accent pillows in a dusty rose. Finish the look, if you’d like to add more, with two one-offs: an extra-long, soft grey lumbar with a leather strap detail and a grey and white stripe.

300 Thread Count Wrinkle Resistant American Cotton Sateen 4-Piece Queen Sheet Set in White
homedepot.com
$39.98

Legends Paloma Cotton Textured Queen Quilt in White
homedepot.com
$429.00

Oversized Faux Cashmere Stone Plaid Acrylic Fireside Throw Blanket
homedepot.com
$27.99

Alternate Blocks Grey and White Geometric Hypoallergenic Polyester 18 in. x 18 in. Throw Pillow
homedepot.com
$30.69

Edinburgh Mid-Century Modern Gray Pillow
homedepot.com
$21.10

Add a lounge chair for wake-ups and wind-downs.

William Hereford

Boulevard Cafe Camel Leather-Like Metal Chair
homedepot.com
$136.92

A place to sit — that is not the bed! — is a must in a guest room. It offers an element of separation between sleeping and daily life, and provides a spot to relax (plus a separate seat keeps “outside clothes” off the bed).For a classic Americana look, choose a leather piece that complements the wood furniture and adds warmth to the room. Avoid chunky club chairs; while comfy, they can take up too much space and crowd the room.
Instead, look for a chair with a slimmer silhouette, like this option with a blackened metal frame and burnt orange cushions. Not only does the plump seat make for the perfect reading nook, but it’s an ideal place to drape a jacket or set your handbag.
Frame up art in a mix of sizes for a collected feel.

Hanging art is the quickest way to make a space feel homey and lived-in. For maximum impact, go for a gallery wall. If the idea of finding and organizing enough pieces for a whole wall may seem intimidating, never fear: the best part of a gallery wall is that it doesn’t have to be perfect. With multiple pieces in varying sizes, you don’t have to fret about perfectly centering every single frame. Choose a starting point, be it the center of the wall or one side, and build from there.

Antiqued Bronze Framed Acrylic Painting
homedepot.com
$89.00

“Simple Fern IV” Framed Giclee Print
homedepot.com
$126.36

“Divided Horizon I” by Jennifer Goldberger
homedepot.com
$48.99

“Aged Paper Vintage Feather Identification Print” by Daphne Polselli
homedepot.com
$32.99

To keep with the old-but-new aesthetic, seek out a variety of portraits and botanical prints that masquerade as if they were salvaged from an old library or estate sale. Use color cues from elsewhere in the room — the bedding, perhaps — to inspire a cohesive art palette, and keep things simple with matless frames.
Dot the space with vintage (or vintage-inspired!) accessories.

William Hereford

In a hotel, it’s the small details that make a room feel special — the custom soap dispenser, the hand-painted light pendant, smart-looking cabinet pulls — so don’t skimp when it comes to the finishing touches. Now is the time to hit the flea markets or dig into your grandma’s attic for fun and quirky additions, like a carved teak tray repurposed as a catchall for jewelry and coins, a ceramic vase filled with fresh-picked wildflowers, or a crate of thrift-store vinyls.

Parker Bluetooth Suitcase Record Player with 3-Speed Turntable
homedepot.com
$52.66

Wooden Record Crate
homedepot.com
$33.07

Brown Square Wood Trays
homedepot.com
$17.47

Oil Rubbed Bronze Counter Balance Desk Lamp
homedepot.com
$44.97

Round Quartz Metal Alarm Clock
homedepot.com
$13.05

If you’re not one for thrifting, or prefer new to old, The Home Depot has a surprisingly deep collection of vintage-inspired decor, like this cute mint green table clock, a bluetooth speaker disguised as a record player, or an industrial elbow desk lamp.
Prop styling by Olga Grigorenko. More

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.

The spectrum of tools needed for different flooring projects can undoubtedly seem intimidating at first (so many saws! so many applicators!) but using the right ones can be the difference between a finished project and a flop. You wouldn’t try to paint a watercolor masterpiece with a kitchen whisk or dig in the garden with measuring spoons, would you?
Fortunately, following a few guiding principles, as well as consulting with professionals like those at The Home Depot, will help ensure you have all the right instruments for the job.

Materials dictate the tools
Not surprisingly, the flooring material you’ve selected is the single biggest determining factor when it comes to what tools you’ll need to get the job done. (For example, the trowels necessary for installing tile have nothing in common with the pneumatic nailer you’ll need for hardwood.) The difficulty level of installation and the number of tools needed to complete the job properly should play into the decision-making process for anyone planning to DIY their own flooring installation or project. For example, renting a drum sander for refinishing your hardwood floors is only a worthwhile endeavor if you’re confident you can successfully use one.

Should you rent vs. buy?

Tools can be a smart investment if you plan on future projects, but when it comes to flooring, how many do you need to actually take home with you forever? To ensure your budget doesn’t take a major hit, you should carefully weigh cost versus return on investment and frequency of use when considering whether to rent flooring tools or buy them. Joe Truini, general contractor and weekly host of Today’s Homeowner Radio, advises homeowners to be honest with themselves about this kind of purchase.
“Some of the tools can be relatively affordable, but are you ever going to use them again?” he inquires. “How many floors is the average person going to install in their lifetime? It may make financial sense to add tools to your garage if you’re building a new house and want to install all of the floors yourself, but otherwise, it’s likely renting is the way to go.”

There’s a saw for that

Saws are integral to so many different types of flooring that you’re bound to use one during a DIY flooring installation. Even with the seriously easy-to-install floating floors like laminate, you still have to cut the boards precisely with a circular saw or jigsaw for where they meet the wall.
And when it comes to actual hardwood? Miter saws, jamb and undercut saws and table saws will become your close personal friends. Tile even takes its own type of saw, the wet saw. If you’re feeling uncertain about which will work best for your project and level of expertise, make sure to ask an expert for guidance.

Spring for an all-in-one installation kit

Pro Flooring Installation Kit for Vinyl, Laminate and Hardwood Flooring
Roberts homedepot.com
$32.55

A useful new development in recent years has been the arrival of flooring toolkits, which package together many of the basic instruments needed to install flooring material properly. Most often made for the installation of luxury vinyl planks, laminate and engineered hardwood, these affordable kits provide items like expansion spacers, tapping blocks and pull bars into a single, ready-to-go bundle, taking the guesswork out of your tool-gathering process. (Bonus: all the items are reusable if you plan to tackle another flooring project.)

Take your room’s temperature

Contractors may use a moisture meter or hygrometer to take an accurate reading of the moisture levels in a home’s substrate and general environment, which can inform material decisions. (For more on waterproofing, visit letter W.) Once your materials have been delivered, it is important to store them in the space they’ll be used so they can adjust or expand to the present moisture level.

Yes, math skills are an essential tool

There’s no getting around that math is one of the most-used tools in flooring projects. A measuring tape, speed square, pencil and more are just a few of the instruments that you’ll need on hand in order to ensure proper installation. Don’t be afraid to use the backs of floor boards or even underlayment to do a bit of addition, and nobody said you couldn’t use a calculator. More

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.

High-end design has leaned toward minimalism for the past several decades, evangelizing a streamlined life and home. (Think: the International Style championed by midcentury architect Mies van der Rohe; the black-and-chrome interiors typified by upmarket 1980s apartments; or Scandinavian-inspired white and wood that rose to popularity in the 2010s.) Fortunately for the more maximalist among us, the tide is beginning to turn—and kitsch is here to help.
A little over-the-top and a whole lot retro, playful kitsch flooring is making a comeback as homeowners liven up their indoor spaces with a winking nod to the past. The Home Depot offers several options that will read fresh, not fusty, when it comes to injecting a little design nostalgia into your home—four of which are delved into below.
“There’s this move currently towards more of the kitschy, weird, almost campy-looking design, particularly among a lot of up and coming edgier designers,” says Hadley Mendelsohn, House Beautiful’s design editor.
The key to kitsch is embracing the idiosyncrasies of your space, and learning to figure out the unique way that seemingly off-beat pieces, colors, or textures might actually work well side-by-side.

The key to kitsch is embracing the idiosyncrasies of your space.

“If you inherit a room with really old-fashioned wallpaper—like toile or something that’s just not your style—but then you mix it with flooring that’s really funky, like an over-dyed Persian rug, the room can actually end up looking more modern,” Mendelsohn says. “It’s taking that wallpaper out of its initial intended context and making it fresh and more useful again.” Read on to learn more about a few of our favorite retro flooring trends.

Terrazzo

Terrazzo is a durable, statement-making type of retro flooring that, in the U.S., hit peak popularity in the 1960s. It’s eye-catching while remaining subtle enough to serve as a foundation for a variety of interior stylings.

Rizzo Gray 24 in. x 24 in. x 9mm Semi Polished Porcelain Floor and Wall Tile (3 pieces / 11.62 sq. ft. / box)
Ivy Hill Tile homedepot.com
$82.39

Terrazzo features chips of marble, glass, or quartz flecked into a cement or epoxy-resin base, allowing for an infinite number of color combinations and a range of size options for the chips themselves. The tiles become individual, shimmering, but understated, works of art.

Terrazzo can be poured like concrete in situ, but most often it’s purchased and installed in tile form, making it ideal for any high-traffic area such as entryways, hallways, or laundry rooms. If you’re looking to ease into a kitschier lifestyle, terrazzo hits that sweet spot between contemporary and vintage.

Parquet
Parquet floors provide the same “everything old is new again” vibe for a home, particularly for those who are interested in installing hardwood but want a little bit more pizzazz.
Select a parquet square and see it populate below

Gothic Engineered Parquet Hardwood Flooring (17.22 sq. ft./case)
Islander homedepot.com
$186.91

A mid-century modern favorite, parquet flooring tiles are made by arranging pieces of hardwood in a repeating geometric pattern (the most popular is herringbone). Parquet floors already come pre-stained, can typically withstand one refinishing, and are far easier to install than traditional hardwood planks: simply glue the tiles to the level, above-grade subfloor.

Much like hardwood floors, parquet can buckle, so it shouldn’t be laid in bathrooms or other moisture-dense areas. But parquet is perfect for adding a throwback foundation to a den or living room.

Concrete or Linoleum
Kitsch also encourages a great deal of creative license, including using more basic forms of flooring in a space and adding the funky elements yourself.
“If you have concrete floors—for example, in a warehouse loft—you could repaint the floors and do something wacky with splatter painting,” Mendelsohn suggests. Concrete floors can also be successfully stained, either in a solid color or variety of colors. “Or, if you’re using a material like a linoleum, take a giant brush and do random abstract swirls. That can end up making it look like a gallery!”
And then there’s the practical side of kitsch: it’s more sustainable.
As an alternative to buying or replacing every element of a room when remodeling—new wallpaper, new hardware, new lighting fixtures—kitsch encourages repurposing and thinking outside the box to create a one-of-a-kind, mix-and-match space that’s yours, and yours alone. More

How to choose the right one for your space. (Hint: go big on personality and style.) More