My sister has been on the hunt for a new apartment in NYC, and has been regaling me with the horror stories one naturally encounters along the way. I was privy to a tour of one place via facetime which revealed a "living room" that I very seriously mistook for a closet; my sister extended her arms and easily made contact with both opposing walls and my sister is smaller than me. And I was ...

Collections of clutter may vary by the person, but the underlying behaviors and motivations towards stuff is what unites every pack rat, hoarder, and saver. Here, then, are the 7 habits of highly effective clutterers. 1. Live in the past In order to be the best clutterer you can, it's essential that you linger in the past. Forget what's happening here and now, and concentrate your thoughts on those good old days. Highly effective clutterers ...

Last week we discussed the ideal set up for pet food bowls. Thereafter, the subject came up in conversation with a client, commenting as we both were on how often all of us trip over the damn dog bowl. He mentioned that perhaps he would be more apt to keep the bowls in a more obvious spot if they weren't so dumb to look at. Now there's a notion I must admit I had previously ...

It felt like spring the other day in Seattle, one of those perfect early spring days, when the shade is still cool enough to make you shiver, but the sun beams down in this perfectly gorgeous way, and when you stand in it you feel your whole body start to thaw right out. Birds chirp in the distance--a sound you realize had been absent only upon hearing it again-- and after months of hibernation, groups ...

Oh hey, it's Friday and that's cool. What's cooler? Ice cold and also Abby Wolf-Weiss. A.W.W. spent some twenty odd years in the film industry before heeding the siren call of design. When a person embarks on an endeavor all Julia Child style (that is, not in infancy but rather more like three decades past it), it's clear the career choice is not that at all, but an innate skill. Take this kitchen, for instance. ...