apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

We woke up this morning with lovely little ice cubes where our toes were supposed to be, but we decided to make the best of it and search out some handmade and vintage house wares and artwork to celebrate — rather than curse — the autumn chill in the air...

Dutch design group Platform21 (remember their IKEA hack contest?) recently held a remarkable repairs competition and posted a Repair Manifesto that opposes throwaway culture, encourages people to view repairs as a creative challenge, and seeks to make repairing cool again...

Both the New York Times and CNN have reported the rising popularity of hotels in Germany and other parts of Europe that offer a night's sleep on a bed of hay. While these heuhotels do have a certain ick-factor, the rustic simplicity of sleeping in a barn does have its appeal and who can say no to a good, old fashioned, roll in the hay?

You might not expect a Catholic high school founded by Benedictine Monks to be at the forefront of green technology, but in 2006 Portsmouth Abbey School built a 164-foot-tall wind turbine on its campus and in October of 2008 it became the site of this house designed by RISD architecture students to run entirely on solar energy...

We’ve written about David Ellison of Lorimer Workshop’s tables on Apartment Therapy before, but he's actually located right here in Rhode Island and we saw an excellent example of his handiwork in Jason Thompson’s loft a few weeks ago...

It’s an icky reality, but with the muggy late summer heat comes fleas … sometimes LOTS of fleas. Here are a few (mostly) chemical-free tips for keeping an infestation at bay...

We appreciate every little green gesture that hotels make, but we’re especially impressed by the Topia Inn of Adams, Massachusetts which boasts a near zero carbon impact by utilizing solar panels and 100% biodiesel vegetable oil power. Every detail of the artist-designed rooms is aimed at being environmentally friendly: from the organic bedding and bath products to the dual flush water saving designer toilets and air filtration system that changes and circulates fresh air once per hour...

A couple of weeks ago we took a weekend getaway to a small town in Vermont with a population of 1,000 and not a chain store to be found for miles and miles … and miles. We absolutely loved the painted signs that were everywhere, and would kill to find a few prime pieces of handmade typography for our home. So we were excited to discover these reproduction signs from Staples Cabinet Makers that are made from discarded wooden panels, boards, and moldings. Not only do they look like authentic vintage signs, but they can be customized to say whatever the heck you want…

Now that the sun has finally decided to grace the east coast with its presence for more than a few hours, we’re on the lookout for porch décor in honor of some outdoor parties we hope to be having in the near future. This mobile by Western Art Glass is looking kind of cool and even modern — in that funky crafty way — and we’re always happy to see a an empty beer bottle put to good use...

One of the best things about living in Rhode Island — the smallest state with 400 miles of coastline — is that you are hardly ever more than an hour’s drive from some pretty darn glorious beaches. But for anyone not lucky enough to live nearby, get very excited about the opening of the historic Stone House hotel, located in one of our favorite seaside getaways, the town of Little Compton. The landmark estate, built in 1854 was extensively renovated with the aim of preserving the property’s history while incorporating green technology like Integrated Photovoltaic Panels that provide 100% of the property’s lighting requirements when the sun is shining...