Life

Chris Phillips is one of six people tracking their resolutions with Apartment Therapy in real time. People don’t even agree on how this thing is spelled—Drynuary, Dryuary—so I’m not going into it thinking everyone will agree with my choice. Some experts say Dryuary, as we’ll be spelling it here, encourages binge drinking. Others say it’s one of the best ways to kick off a healthy new year. I’m sure the truth is somewhere in between.

Kenya Foy is one of six people tracking their resolutions with Apartment Therapy in real time. A few years ago, a particularly rough emotional patch forced me to face the fact that I become utterly depressed during the fall and winter seasons, a condition otherwise known as Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD.

If the calendar had subtitles, January’s would be “The month of reinvention.” New Year’s Resolutions are top of mind for everyone, and the ripples are showing everywhere—from our Facebook feeds to the newly crowded gyms. The new year promises a chance to start fresh with whatever you’ve been struggling with. Because that’s the thing, isn’t it? We all have areas where we’d like to improve.

The end of the first two weeks of the new year is a tipping point for resolutions: By now, either you’ve already quit on your goals, or you’re solidly living them. I’m happy to say that our Real-Life Resolutions writers—each one taking on a four-week challenge in the name of wellness—are all holding steady.

If you had asked me how I felt about crop tops two years ago, I probably would’ve said something like, “They’re super cute, but I could never pull them off.” (A few months later I’d be eating my words, but we’ll get to that later.

Candace Bryan is one of six people tracking their resolutions with Apartment Therapy in real time. You can read her first installment here. Quitting coffee cold turkey after a decade of high-quantity consumption was a bold, perhaps foolish, decision on my part. The commenters on the first post about my challenge all agreed: the withdrawal would be horrible and I’d be better off easing off caffeine slowly. But I’m an all-or-nothing kind of girl.

Chris Phillips is one of six people tracking their resolutions with Apartment Therapy in real time. You can read his first installment here. Let’s play a word game: If I say “gay” and ask you what word comes next, you’d probably say “bar” right? And if I said “British”—my husband is British—you might think “pub.

Anne Momber is one of six people tracking their resolutions with Apartment Therapy in real time. You can read her first installment here. When I set out to complete my resolution of giving up sugar for the month of January, part of me thought it was going to be easy. Cutting out sugar? No problem. I’d done it once before and I could do it again.

Candace Bryan is one of six people tracking their resolutions with Apartment Therapy in real time. You can read her earlier installments here and here. Three weeks into my month-long no-coffee challenge, something unimaginably horrific happened: I drank a latte. OK, so it wasn’t the end of the world. But it did mark the end of my total caffeine abstinence. Since then, I have begun to regularly drink coffee again. Oops! However, I don’t see my challenge as a failure.

I’ve been thinking about getting a projector. The thought of curling up on my couch and recreating the movie theater experience in my own home is very appealing. But I don’t know where to start. I don’t know what to buy. And I sure as heck don’t know how to get the most bang for my buck. Thankfully, three real people in real homes were more than happy to share why they’re #teamprojector for life—and it just might inspire you to make the switch.

Hello and welcome to the new year. Let’s talk fitness. Particularly, fitness and resolutions. This year I hit the ground running (lol. But also no, that’s too high impact) by trying out four different types of fitness classes. I wanted to actually find something new that I could maybe stick with for the whole of 2017 and there’s nothing like a New Year’s resolution to push you past the “first class jitters”.

Have you ever browsed the Instagram Explore page to find cool accounts to follow, only to fall totally head over heels for one? Some Instagrammers—be they bloggers or brands—are just so good you can’t help but double tap on every single beautiful, creative photo they post. Here are 14 Instagram accounts the Apartment Therapy editors are totally crushing on this Valentine’s Day. (Seriously, these are the ultimate in aesthetic goals, and you should go follow them all.

At the end of a long, stressful day, what do you most look forward to? Everyone has a different way of unwinding—for some people it’s plopping down on the couch to watch their favorite show on Netflix, for others, it’s going to the gym or taking a long hot shower. There’s pretty much no limit to how you can relax and de-stress.

Given the events of the past couple of months, and today in particular, I was really happy to hear new music from Ani DiFranco this week. The DIY folk hero and acoustic activist released a video for “Deferred Gratification,” a song off her upcoming album “Binary,” due out in March. When you consider the tenor of political discourse lately, and DiFranco’s legendary feisty streak, it’s a surprisingly gentle song.

In case you missed it, NBC’s The Good Place wrapped up its first season last week with a pretty unexpected finale. If you’ve been sleeping on this new comedy, now’s the time to catch up—even if it’s just to check out the set design. Come for the aesthetics, stay for the surprisingly solid philosophy jokes! The Good Place is about Eleanor (Kristen Bell), a bad person who’s mistakenly sent to a section of the afterlife intended only for humanity’s best.

Mary Tyler Moore just passed away at the age of 80. While she accomplished much in her decades-long career, many will remember her best as Mary Richards, the single, never-married career woman that was the center of Moore’s eponymous show. We’ll also never forget that sweet, sweet apartment.

When you announced your engagement, odds are that you were flooded with questions about the planning process faster than you could get through the congratulatory comments on your ring selfie. Have you decided on a date? What about your venue? What colors are you thinking? Checking off the big ticket to-dos is a feat in itself, but when you factor how many traditional “wedding rules” there are to honor, it can get overwhelming—and quick.

Navigating the world of registry etiquette is tough work. To put together The Registry Rule Book, we asked some industry experts to weigh in and answer some of the hardest questions engaged couples might have. The reason wedding registries can be such tricky territory is that the whole process is a delicate dance.

So you want to fit more fitness time into your day, but you also value your TV time and don’t want to miss out on your favorite shows. Rather than sacrifice your relationship with Netflix, why not incorporate some exercise into your watch schedule? Try swapping out the couch (and by swapping out, we mean more like sliding the coffee table out of the way to make room) and watching from your yoga mat instead.

If you’re anything like me, you probably continually promise yourself that tonight’s the night you’re finally going to start going to bed earlier, and then midnight rolls around and you’re still wide awake, intently reading some article you saw on Twitter (or watching “okay, just one more!” episode of your new favorite Netflix show and suddenly it’s 2 AM).

I’m the first to get ridiculously excited about a good reading list, but Black History Month is something special—not to mention a time to honor the history of black Americans and further your education about past and present issues. From biographies to historical fiction to memoirs (and even a classic children’s book), here’s a starting point for what you should be reading during Black History Month and beyond.

Say you woke up with flu symptoms this morning—fever, aches, a bad case of the sniffles and a cough that won’t quit. Would you call out sick from work so you could have a day to rest and help yourself feel better? We often take sick days when we’re feeling under the weather, but what about when we’re otherwise exhausted and drained or have been super stressed out lately?

If you’ve ever poured cups of Epsom salt into your bath while wondering, “What is this stuff, and why am I doing this?

Try not to think about it too hard, but you’re currently flying through the universe at a million miles an hour. Your balance—a skill finely tuned since you were a toddler—is keeping you upright, allowing you to maintain control when everything around you is moving faster than you could imagine. Balance is no less important outside of the body.

If you’ve ever needed further encouragement to stay in and binge on animal documentaries (I have not), they’ve now been shown to be scientifically good for you: Research from BBC Earth and the University of California has found that watching nature programmes [such as Planet Earth II] … increased people’s feelings of awe, contentedness, and joy. The nature programs also “acted to reduce feelings of tiredness, anger and stress.

Long live indie magazines for smart content, innovative style, and an often fearless approach to navigating the editorial waters. Whether its art, design, travel, fashion, or lifestyle, these magazines explore topics in ways that are exciting, honest and a little sexy (because to me, being original is sexy). And these magazines are very original.

When your alarm goes off in the morning, how do you feel? If the answer is “dreadful,” you’re not alone—a new study from Sleep Junkie found that more than half (53.86 percent!) of people feel the same way upon hearing their alarm. In addition, 27.12 percent of people feel anxious when they’re alarm goes off, while only 11.24 percent feel energized, 2.32 percent feel excited, and a mere 0.

Whether you read your horoscope every day or you don’t fully buy into the idea of astrology, it’s interesting to see what your sign says about your personality. And those traits may also be the key to a healthier, happier life. Progress happens one step at a time. You need to start with something super doable — something so “you” that it becomes part of your new routine without even trying.

Are you familiar with the 50/20/30 rule?

Bride & Groom: Margarita Passione + Byron Zinonos Wedding Date: September 3, 2016 Venue: Greenpoint Loft in Brooklyn, NY Number of guests: 120 This couple of high school friends turned into lovebirds some (ten-ish) years later—safe to say they knew each other pretty well by the time they decided to get married in Brooklyn last year.

Think about your morning routine—you probably get up out of bed (possibly after pressing snooze a few times), brush your teeth, maybe make breakfast or coffee, and start getting ready for work. If that sounds about right, there’s one thing you might be leaving out: stretching. For those of you who aren’t serial stretchers, the whole practice might seem pointless, but there are actually quite a few benefits you can get out of incorporating an AM stretch session into your day.

There’s never enough time given to understanding the past, and to how it’s shaped and influenced our thinking now. In “The Specimen Jar”, we’ll try to correct that deficiency by considering a variety of designers and their works, from many different periods. Because a beautiful and intelligently designed home is a living response to not just our own moment, but to history and to our hopes for the future.

I often fall asleep listening to YouTube videos of a stranger speaking softly while she pretends to braid my hair (or make me tea, or massage my scalp). Or while she whispers about the candles she’s making, the starchy shirts she’s crinkling slowly, or the towels she’s folding. What matters most to me about these videos isn’t what she says but rather the quality of her voice (calm, soothing) and the attitude she projects (do I trust her? does she seem genuine?

Hoarding is more like a spectrum than a binary classification, and most of us fall somewhere between KonMari and get this person a TLC special. In fact, collecting needless things is such a common human experience that the Japanese have developed a very specific word for my particular favorite flavor: hoarding books. Yep, it’s true: The Japanese word “tsundoku” originated as a slang term to define the habit of buying books and letting them pile up without reading them.

There’s nothing plain, boring, or basic about modern wedding bands for the minimalist bride. Whether you’re after something beautifully crafted, ethically sourced, or perfectly embellished, we’ve got you covered. From simple silver bands to more sophisticated, and dare we say, even a bit sparkly options, there are terrific rings across the minimalist spectrum.

If you haven’t laced up those running shoes since January (hey, no judgement), this news might motivate you. New research has calculated just how much time a jog adds to your life. A paper published last month in Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases takes a look at just how much running increases longevity. The study states that in general, “runners have a 25-40% reduced risk of premature mortality and live approximately three years longer than non-runners.

On Sunday, Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel were on a panel together, and naturally, all anyone wanted to talk about was Gilmore Girls. The actors behind everyone’s favorite verbose mother-daughter duo chatted about the Netflix revival and the possibility of more episodes.

Children of the ’90s, the nostalgia hits keep coming. Japanese electronic toy company Bandai has re-released everyone’s favorite pixelated pet, the Tamagotchi. Here is what we currently know about it: Bandai’s exciting news coincides with the 20th anniversary of the OG Tamagotchi, which was launched worldwide in May 1997 (it was available in Japan earlier, in 1996). There are a few differences from the original.

Forget the Wheel of Life (and our home-oriented Life Balance Wheel) — or, don’t forget them, but after you maximize those wheels’ utility, there’s a new wheel in town: the Historic Paper Odor Wheel, developed by a team out of the University of London to more precisely describe and categorize the smell of old books.

While fitness trackers help count your steps and sometimes make for chic wrist candy, they actually do a lot more than people give them credit for. If you’ve grown bored with yours and thrown it into a junk drawer, the reason might just be that you haven’t used it to its fullest potential. Read on to learn about the cool and not-so-obvious ways you can use your fitness tracker. Every activity is more fun when you have the chance to kick butt, including your daily steps.

First there was Downown Abbey. Then there was Sherlock. Now you can add another British television import to your list, America. Rejoice, design lovers! Britain’s favorite home design show is on Netflix. Grand Designs, which features wacky and ambitious builds and renovation projects, is one of Britain’s longest running property shows (17 seasons!).

While natural beauty guru Rachel Winard (of the cult-favorite brand Soapwalla) and I were talking about good, easy facials to make with food that might currently be in your kitchen, I also asked her for pointers on how to start an essential oil collection. Essentially: What are the essential essential oils? She suggested these five (for which you could come up with your own mnemonic, too — my first attempt is “let little ponies eat … tea trees.

Everyone needs a nap now and again, but if you’re feeling sleepy and you’ve got things to do, you definitely want to maximize your time, right? Naps work in different ways, and the truth is, it’s all about timing and understanding how the body’s sleep cycles work. Before you doze off for 45 minutes and hope for the best, you should know how they work and what kinds there are—here’s what you need to know.

If you’re obsessed with watching charming and talented amateur contestants compete on The Great British Baking Show, it’s not a stretch to say you’ll enjoy another UK export—and starting in May, you’ll be able to stream it here in the US. Now that Mary Berry has left and Mel and Sue have been replaced, I know I’m going to need a new addictive, yet soothing British competition show.

Debt-slaying and money-saving posts are rife with suggestions for how to shave a little here, trim a little there, not spend, not spend, not spend. But you can’t say you’re saving money just because you’re packing your own lunch and drinking the coffee you brewed at home.

Ordinarily, city trash cans are strictly regarded as pungent eyesores, but an artistic beautification initiative led by New York designer Lewis Miller aims to change that perception. Instead of bins overflowing with garbage, Miller has filled NYC trash cans with huge colorful bouquets, creating one of the most beautiful and unique flower arranging ideas we’ve ever seen.

Since I was a young girl, I’ve always loved shopping. Back in the day, I may have had more…extravagant takes (I gravitated toward everything pink, sequined handbags, feather boas and kitten heels…topped off with plastic clip-on earrings), but the love for style was already there, albeit it a little misguided. Nowadays I’ve updated a few things here and there, but I can’t say the road to the aesthetic I have now has always been smooth.

Want to be more mindful of your screen time and lead a more active lifestyle? There’s one simple formula to remember that can help you achieve both, and it’s called the 2/30 rule. It’s simple, really—the goal is to limit yourself to 2 hours of TV watching time per day, and to also get at least 30 minutes of exercise every day. It’s about spending less time sitting in front of a screen and spending a little more time working on your fitness.

You dream of having a smart home the way others dream of having a closet full of designer shoes. The only problem? You’re on a budget, and smart home solutions are way beyond your means… Or are they? It’s true that just like designer shoes, many smart home devices and systems come with a high price tag. Truth: High-end connected appliances and kits costing thousands of dollars are nice, but they aren’t essential to creating a smart home experience.

The art of forgetting isn’t hard to master. No matter how organized and prepared we attempt to be, sometimes well, it happens. We forget stuff. But what if there was an iPhone app designed to ensure you don’t ever walk out the door without everything you need? Don’t Leave It! is a location-based reminder app that helps you keep track of your everyday necessities, so you always remember to take them with you when you leave. And best of all: it’s free.

If you feel like you can stand to become more centered and relaxed throughout your day, then take a look at the guided meditations free on YouTube – there are hundreds of videos to choose from that take you from a stressed, anxious state, and back down to a zen attitude. No one’s weekday is an absolute breeze, and it’s easy to get caught up in stress when your responsibilities and to-do lists pile up mile high.

Netflix giveth and Netflix taketh away. While we’re excited about what’s returning to the streaming service next month, that means some things have to go. So to prioritize your watch list for the remainder of June, here is everything that’s leaving Netflix in July. Sorry, Sandra Bullock fans: Two of the actor’s classic rom coms starring floppy haired leading men are giving their notice.

There's a way to turn a vice into a virtue—just listen to these brilliant tips by self-admittedly awful emailers.

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to work at IKEA? With stores that resemble mazes and tons of products everywhere you turn, it’s sure to be just as much of an experience working there as it is shopping there. And of course, those who do work there just may be able to give us IKEA civilians a little helpful shopping advice.

We’re [insert new emoji face with star eyes] about the news that 56 brand-spankin’ new emojis will be hitting our keyboards this year, thanks the preview of Emoji 5.0 released this week. According to Emojipedia, Emoji version 5.0 “includes 56 new emojis from Unicode 10.0, as well as 183 emoji sequences used for gender and skin-tone variants and subdivision flags.

The antithesis of a digital detox, this pop-up glamping experience encourages Londoners to literally Netflix and chill while binging on their favorite shows. With hundreds of their friends, in public. The “Bed ‘N’ Binge Retreat” is a first for Netflix, with 15 themed “glamping” bunk room suites and communal spaces popping up on a National Trust park property in West London now through Sunday July 9th, with the last guests checking out on Monday July 10th.

Here’s the thing: I used to be a very productive person in the morning. I used to be a wake up early, make myself breakfast, get out the door and make it into the office before everyone else kind of person, but lately I’ve fallen into a very slow and tired routine. My recent mornings have been kind of a struggle, so I decided to try something new to get me out of my AM slump: getting up and going for a walk outside before doing anything else.

Some words become a part of our collective lexicon with such zeitgeist that it’s hard to believe there was ever a time when they weren’t part of the English language. And some are so definitive of an era that simply seeing them listed next to a year immediately brings you back to that time and a place — and the movies and songs that then dominated pop culture.

Color lovers, you might want to book a trip to San Francisco ASAP: The latest must-visit destination is The Color Factory, and it’s probably already infiltrating your Instagram feed. Inside the can’t miss it striped exterior, you’ll find a 12,000 square foot, pop-up “color experience.” Color Factory just opened on August 1, and tickets are selling out faster than you can say (or take a) Boomerang.

They say that if you want to know what the future will hold, then you should study history. But it might be more accurate to substitute the word “history” for movies and television shows. For decade after decade, movies and television shows like “Back to the Future” and “The Jetsons” have depicted their take on what day-to-day living would be like in the future.

As much fun as shopping can be, having to buy the same item over and over again is no bueno. That’s why it pays to know which products are actually worth the investment, especially when it comes to hardworking items for the kitchen. The commenters at Reddit know all about the importance of buying quality appliances up front. They started multiple “Buy It for Life” threads for this very reason.

Being more mindful of your health doesn’t necessarily mean overhauling your entire diet or hitting the gym for an hour every day—there are a lot of little things you can do to help you feel like your happiest, healthiest self. Things like staying hydrated, getting in extra steps, trying new things and taking breaks are all important, and it all starts with challenging yourself to pay attention to them.

99 Percent Invisible is not a new podcast, and The SoHo Effect is not even a new episode. But on a recent re-listen during a long car trip, I realized that there’s a whole lot of overlap in the Venn diagram of Apartment Therapy readers and people who would probably find this story fascinating. So here we are. I’m writing, and you’re reading, a very forthright recommendation: Go listen to this 19 minute, 38 second podcast.

IKEA is a many-splendored place. Along with rows and rows of inexpensive but stylish furnishings, the mega-retailer also boasts a pretty impressive “as-is” section—filled with broken items, custom returns, and of course major markdowns. However, the only problem (like most hassles related to shopping at IKEA) is timing: figuring out the best day to show up to peruse these oft-ransacked shelves.

The scientist who brought us future paint colors named by artificial intelligence like Bank Butt and Snowbonk is at it again, this time using her research and software to dream up new My Little Pony characters.

We bet the sheer mention of some of these shows from the classic era of Saturday morning cartoons will bring their theme songs back to earworm status. The good news is, many of them are now available to watch again — this time digitally remastered, sans commercials — thanks to the magic of streaming TV.

There’s no faster way to look more put together and elegant than having a closet full of well-tailored clothes. But if you have a hard time finding pieces that fit you properly—from struggling with long pant hems or boxy blazers—know that there’s an easy fix for that: A tailor! Bringing your clothes into a trusted seamstress to be nipped and tucked can make all the difference, especially considering you can change the details that you don’t find flattering.

Ashlee Gadd is the founder of Coffee + Crumbs and the author of “The Magic of Motherhood: The Good Stuff, the Hard Stuff, and Everything In Between.” We ordered bunk beds yesterday. It was an inevitable purchase, I suppose, after having two boys in two and a half years. When we found out our second baby was another boy, I remember thinking: Someday they’ll share a room, probably bunk beds.

Although I was the grown age of 22 by the time my parents split up, I was still hoping for a fabulous Parent Trap ending. Not the one where my parents reunite, but the one where I get to live on a California vineyard AND in a London townhouse. If you don’t remember, in the 1998 remake of the Parent Trap, Lindsay Lohan plays Annie James and Hallie Parker, twins separated at birth and fortuitously reunited at summer camp.

Sad news for Fixer Upper fans: The HGTV renovation show’s fifth season will be its last. Chip and Joanna announced the news this morning on their blog, citing the need to “catch our breath for a moment.” The couple have been going full force with the show, its spinoff, books, and new products, including a line for Target called Hearth & Hand that debuts in at the store in November.

A woman opened the door to her office. Powerful, successful, creative, she seemingly had it all. But something was missing. Love? No, with millions of adoring fans she had that in spades. Family? No, she was a mother of nine, the matriarch of a warm and happy home. She leaned back into her 4 inch high heels and took stock of the room. As she cast her eyes over her writing desk she knew in an instant what she needed. She scrolled through her Rolodex, “yes, artisans?

Oh, American Horror Story. You have such campy, spooky promise, and when you deliver, you really deliver. The scenery was always a draw: even when the plot flailed, the sets gave your eyeballs a treat. Now that AHS is gradually leaving Netflix, queue up your television and relive the architectural highlights, before the episodes disappear like so many bodies. Begin with Hotel, arguably the weakest season and the first to get the axe.