The Journal

Decorating

Choosing a Rug Around Your Seating

Measure the seating arrangement you use, not an empty rectangle in the middle of the floor.

Room by Room

Open Kitchen Shelves You Can Maintain

Open shelves work best when the visible contents are useful, reachable, and realistic to maintain.

French Country

Decorate Around a Stone-Look Floor

A floor with visible variation is already a palette. Use its quieter tones to guide the room above it.

Seasonal Living

Fall Color Beyond Bright Orange

Plum, olive, brown, and warm cream can create an autumn palette that relates to the room you already have.

Organizing

What belongs in a bedside drawer

Keep the drawer useful in the dark, when searching through a mixed collection is least appealing.

Entertaining

Make borrowed chairs work around one table

Different chairs can share a table comfortably when seat height and movement come before appearance.

Furniture & Finishes

A gentler daily routine for a wood table

Begin with the finish and the maker’s instructions, then keep the everyday routine modest.

Decorating

Editing a Sofa Full of Pillows

Keep the pillows that make the sofa more comfortable, then decide which of the remaining ones add anything.

Room by Room

A Small Eating Corner in the Kitchen

A compact table needs enough room for the chairs in use and for the kitchen to keep working around them.

French Country

Let Exposed Beams Do Some of the Decorating

Strong overhead lines give a room character before any accessories arrive. The furniture below can be quieter.

Seasonal Living

A Fall Mantel with Fewer Objects

A mantel can carry the season with one clear arrangement instead of a row of every autumn object you own.

Organizing

Keep bathroom backups from filling every cupboard

Make the reserve supply visible enough that buying another bottle becomes a deliberate decision.