designerandthediyer - Designer and the DIYer

Design Dilemma: How Do I Make a Basic Patio Feel Like an Outdoor Room?

A plain patio is often treated as a pass-through: a practical patch of paving between the house and the garden,

You love your home, you like the sunlight, and you may even enjoy being outside until a neighbor opens a

A well-planned exterior can make a modest home feel intentional: a front walk framed by planting, a tidy side yard,

You walk into your living room, coffee in hand, ready to sink into that gorgeous velvet sofa you spent months

The disappointment often arrives after the curtains are hung and the cushions are fluffed. Individually, everything is lovely: the striped

A gallery wall is supposed to make a room feel more like you: collected, layered, and a little bit storied.

The wall behind a sofa has an outsized effect on a living room. It is often the first big vertical

A staircase is more than a route from one floor to another. It is a moving sightline: a place you

I’ll say it first: an awkwardly shaped backyard can make even a generous amount of outdoor space feel frustratingly small.

A front yard can make a house feel either welcoming or strangely unfinished. Sometimes the problem is obvious: bare soil,