Young House Love Celebrates the DIY Life (and Halloween)

Irwin Weiner ASID - It's really wonderful to see the variety of interior design and decorating blogs online! You can find snarky, funny takes on design, inspirational posts from top designers, and amateur "I love to decorate!" folks who blog about the evolution of their home building or remodeling or decorating. Young House Love is a great blog, and if you haven't seen it, click on the link and experience it now. Sherry and John Petersik share their DIY adventures in Richmond, VA, turning a ranch home from bland to hip, fab, West Elm-y cool.

They shop at Michaels and Target and other stores, and they get inspiration from home decor gurus like Martha Stewart (just like the rest of us). And they put out some fun videos, like today's featured duo of vids where they share some original Halloween decorating ideas, tricking out their home in black and white, and then paint pumpkins in a very artistic and creepy-crawlie way. Click here to learn more about their new book, too: Young House Love book.

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6 Multi-Purpose Furnishings for Small Rooms

(Altea Relax sofa-bed unit, from Resource Furniture)Janet Ramin - Are you pressed for space? Looking for additional storage? Feeling cramped where you live? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this post can help you. I’m very tough on my furniture – I not only expect them to look good, but I expect them to work really hard for me. How, you ask? I make sure they fulfill a function, preferably several functions. I want them to multi-task!

If you have a small room or live in a cramped city apartment like I do, each piece of furniture I place has to do more than one thing. For instance, this bed from Bo Concept lifts up and doubles as storage space for blankets, sheets, etc. You can even store old design magazines in there. I can then free up my dresser from storing linens to just house only my clothes. If you’re a clotheshorse like me, this is essential!

(Storage bed from Bo Concept)If you have a studio that functions as a bedroom and a living space, then you know Murphy beds are a wonderful solution to store away your bed. Resource Furniture goes one step further – they add a sofa or a desk so that their Murphy unit houses multiple furniture.  The Swing unit below shows a sofa and a bookcase but hidden behind it is the bed which swings out and over the sofa when in use.

(Swing unit from Resource Furniture)

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Handy Hidden Leaf in Expanding Dining Table

Irwin Weiner ASID - I'm always looking for a good dining room table for my clients. I prefer round or oval tables - just because I like putting a round shape into a squared-off or rectangular-shaped room and it's great to sit around a table and be able to see everyone around "the pie." Check out this lovely round expanding table: the DB Fletcher Capstan Table, for instance.

But some families and their entertaining needs require a longer table in the traditional rectangular shape. The new Omnia Wood Dining Table demonstrated in this video exhibits clean lines, and I love the way the side leg and side details present a beveled picture frame molding appearance. It adds a nice tailored twist. Extend the table and you've got much more seating room, but you'll need a tablecloth to hide the sliding metal track that borders the stored leaf. It would have been better to extend the side molding to provide an "edging leaf" when the table is extended so you wouldn't have to use a cloth. Calligaris, keep this in mind for a revised reissue of this otherwise elegant wood dining table.

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Expanding Table

Irwin Weiner ASID - There is nothing more useful than having a round dining table that expands in seconds. First, the round design is versatile and easy to decorate around. The shape is nicer to sit around and more engaging for conversation. We loved the DB Fletcher Capstan Table, which unlocks from underneath and rotates to a more open, larger tabletop surface! It easily folds back down to its smaller round area, too. Watch the demo video and check out the DB Fletcher website (a great UK bespoke furniture maker) for more information. 

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