It’s clear. The mood for January is: declutter and reset. I just spent all weekend assessing countless piles of accumulated clutter and the bountiful re-organization needs of my house. How ’bout you? If you’re following Em over on Instagram, there’s a good chance you saw her doing just the same, and I’m impressed. She’s been crossing off one cluttered area at a time (nightstands, kitchen drawers, kids’ closets), slaying the chaos with vigor and determination. Maybe you caught the awesome storage round-up Jess just shared last week, highlighting some of the best organization solutions out there for just about every spot in your home (my personal faves being the over-the-door storage and this perfectly narrow shoe cabinet).

In many cases, buying new, specific solutions for your organizing needs makes perfect sense. This post isn’t meant to discourage you from seeking out a ready-made system to get you going. If your linen cabinet is exploding and your sheets refuse to stick together, I think these sheet organizers are an incredible, affordable, EASY solve. But this weekend, as I began to take down my Christmas decorations (yeahhh I’ve been procrastinating that one), piling it all next to my “must take to recycling” heap of cardboard boxes, I wondered about what I needed to buy in order to properly store it all ’til next year…and then a lightbulb went off. Did I really need to purchase a new, plastic tote to keep it all together? Or could I just make the most of the Amazon boxes in front of me? I DIY’d my Christmas decorations from brown paper bags and old magazines; what was stopping me from giving these boxes a similar facelift? And what other items do I (or you) have at home already that could be repurposed or reimagined for storage? Well, here are a few organization DIY-deas that I (and the internet) came up with:

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Reorganize With Cardboard:

Cardboard, to me, is such an underrated material. And it’s one I know we ALL have in our homes. My plan for my big pile of empty boxes is to paint or cover them in patterned paper or fabric to give them a new, slightly more aesthetic life. Painting feels like the easiest and most playful method for me, but how cute are these fabric boxes if you wanted to spend a little more time? I’ll store my holiday decorations in them, so I think I’ll paint them to reflect what’s inside, with big snowflakes or little collections of trees and stars. Are they going to be perfect? Probably not! And that’s fine with me.

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Boxes of smaller sizes could be decorated similarly (or not, just leave ’em as is!) to be used as drawer organizers. Are you one of those people that holds onto their iPhone box for years and years just in case? Use that perfect box in your bathroom drawer to store your hair ties or bobby pins! OR you can follow this tutorial (so easy) to make a custom cardboard drawer divider, just by cutting strips of cardboard to interlock with one another, adding tape to finish the edges. Totally customizable to fit whatever you like 🙂

@thecardboardqueen My Top 5 tips for Cardboard crafting!! 📦📦📦🤎🤎👸 #cardboardboxes #cardboard #crafting #crafts #crafttutorial #craftvideos ♬ original sound – Sherri Madison

More easy cardboard ideas? Use toilet paper rolls to group and organize loose cords. Take cereal boxes, cut them diagonally, and cover them to make magazine holders. OR cut out one side, stack, adhere, and decorate to make a paper organizer. A milk carton can be cut down and decorated to make a great pencil holder (or use a tin can or glass jar wrapped in fun paper, or not!). An empty tissue box is a great way to store loose plastic bags that can be easily pulled from the top. A shoe box is lidded storage just waiting to be customized! Cut a hole in the side, and you have a cable/cord organizer. You can really let your imagination run wild. This woman’s video has some great tips to keep in mind when working with cardboard. I think I’ll try the inside-out method for my Christmas storage to avoid all the labels!

Level Up With Wood Crafts:

@paige.falk I love a good shelf 🫶🏼 #diy #shelvesdecor #shelvesidea #roomdecor #newhomeSLAY ♬ Let's Have Some Fun Alt – The Desperados

I hope I’m not the only one with random wood scraps scattered around. If you’re like me in this way and you’re not afraid of a little sawing, there are plenty of easy DIY storage builds to make. I’ve made a “floating shelf” like this before. A little paint or stain could take this to the next level, but a narrow plank of wood and a few L brackets/screws make a perfect little storage ledge.

@allstylelife My thermostat just got promoted to wall art 🖼️🙌🏼. I love this easy DIY for hiding those little eyesores around the home. All you need are two @IKEA Rödalm picture frames, a couple of hinges, and magnets to keep the frames closed. I used @Command Brand strips to hang mine—so simple! Would you try this DIY? #ikeahack #diypictureframe #torontolife #torontocreator #diypictureframehack ♬ Man I Need – Olivia Dean

This fun idea takes a couple of simple picture frames and some small hinges to create hidden wall storage! A great place to hang up your keys or the perfect way to hide an ugly wall electronic behind a nice piece of “art”. Take it up a notch using a vintage frame and some scrap wood to build it out from the wall a bit and hide shelves inside, like this girl did here.

@tinalemac After moving into this apartment from living in a house, I quickly realized that I needed to add more storage. I got creative with these DIYs and hacks to maximize these small spaces and they are still some of my fave projects to this day ☺️ Can’t wait to see what else we will create in the new place!! #diyideas #diyhome #diyproject #apartmentideas #apartmenthacks #renterfriendly #kitchenideas #diyhomeprojects ♬ After Midnight – Chappell Roan

This girl is making DIYs that are a little more advanced, but I TOTALLY want to steal the sofa sleeve/table idea! Essentially, just attaching three pieces of wood with either L brackets again or pocket holes if you have a jig, then decorating how you like! If you can build that, you could easily build some custom shelf risers using the same method. Or, similar to the cardboard drawer dividers, you could make an interlocking X-shaped, wooden organizer (great for magazines or books), and this tutorial shows you just how easy it is to build. Even easier? Cut small boards to the depth of your dresser drawers to create sturdy dividers to be attached with wood glue, nails, or little screws.

Re-Imagine Existing Storage Solutions:

@purrfecthomee Ikea hack #home #kitchen #organize #homeimprovement #favourite #ikea #organization #decoration ♬ Come Inside Of My Heart – IV Of Spades

Now, let’s say you don’t want permanent drawer dividers, and you’d rather not spend the money on the classic expandable drawer dividers. One of the most versatile, pre-existing storage solutions is this plate holder from IKEA. Look how this person uses them to organize a drawer! So clever. You could also place them out on your desk and store mail, loose papers, art, or, of course, use them as they were intended–for organizing plates (or pans, etc) in the kitchen!

@kylenct At $10 per rack (I got 2!), this is a super affordable and beautiful way to display your books! I’m also downsizing my book collection bc I am not really a maximalist in that way, so it’s fun to highlight a more curated selection in a way that doubles as decor. Original idea by @Grillodesigns ! #diybookshelf #bookshelfhack #livingroomdecor #bookstorageideas ♬ RUNAWAY – pluko

But did you know you could ALSO hang these on your wall as a floating bookshelf?? How cool is this? And again, your creative options are endless with paint or stain. Alternatively, you could take the pieces apart, turn them 90 degrees, and only hang up the doweled sides to function as a peg rail to hang jewelry, hats, scarves–you name it!

@thedoerandthedreamer I have a full blog post about the mudroom too if you want more details! . This is the easier DIY though and can be so customizable! #diyproject #organizationhacks #mudroomideas #shoestorage ♬ original sound – Tara – slow DIY & home ideas

Speaking of wooden dowels, another great idea I came across was using a closet rod as shoe storage! This girl installs it just as you would a normal closet rod, but super low, so you can tuck shoes in between it and the wall. But if you don’t have two walls to hang between, you could always hang a curtain rod low to the ground to use in the same way. An easy way to get your shoes off the ground (but maybe put some contact paper or a back it with a piece of wood to protect your walls from excess dirt).

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We can’t talk rods without talking hangers. You might already have some of your kid’s hangers hanging around, and if you do, they’re perfect for hanging pants or jeans in the closet because they’re a way more efficient size for draping clothing over the bottom. Great for slinky tops or skirts too! Another great idea for jeans is to hang them in your closet using S hooks on the rod. Just hook the belt loops onto the S hooks and you have a super simple way to store your pants.

I’m having a bit of a jean storage issue at the moment, and have actually been thinking about using the shoe rod storage technique on the wall behind my bedroom door, but for pants. Think about it, a few small rods stacked and hung up on the wall with just enough space between them to fold and drape my jeans along them? I’m still workshopping this idea, but for now, I don’t hate it.

There are SOOOO many more DIYs I have saved and could share here, but I’m running out of time and don’t want to keep dragging on. So I’ll end with this. Storage is something I think we alllll have to deal with, some more aesthetically than others. In the past, I found it absolutely necessary to buy all matching bins and boxes from IKEA or The Container Store and would go HAM on the plastic drawer organizers. And if that’s your jam, more power to you! But as I take this time to sort through and declutter, I realize just how much STUFF I have lying around. Stuff I need to purge, stuff I need to store, stuff I could repurpose to stuff my stuff away. Of course, it’s so tempting to just buy it fresh and new, and for some things, I still do. If you’re less DIY-inclined, I highly encourage you to check out your local thrift store or Facebook Marketplace for storage solutions. There are so many baskets and bins out there already that might just be the perfect fit for your space. But if you have the time and are craving the creative flex, maybe give one of these storage ideas a try or let one of them inspire a completely new solution! And if it does, please, feel free to share your clever ideas in the comments 🙂

Sincerely, Gretch

Opening Image Credits: Photo by Kaitlin Green | From: Finally Organizing Four Huge Problem Areas (…And My Case For Loving January)

On a scale of 1-10, I love decorating for the Christmas/holiday season about a 7–generally enthusiastic about the idea of adding a fresh hit of festive decor to my home for a special few months, but often discouraged by the price tag or appearance of in-store offerings (you will simply NEVER catch me with a blow-up lawn ornament. I REFUSE). There’s still plenty I love to shop for…all of the twinkly lights, greenery, and glittery swag (minus the clean-up), a cute Christmas pillow or two. I love the festive colors and warm whimsy that come along with the season, and I have no problem leaning in each year. But whenever I can involve some kind of crafty decor element in my holiday home, that original spirit rating cranks to an 11. Off the charts! If you’re like me and want to make some DIY holiday decorations, but don’t know where to start, keep reading for some fun and easy ideas to bring a little bit of that crafty charm to your own space this winter season.

The “need-to-handmake” trait is one I was either born with or was drilled into me too early on to choose otherwise. I learned my ABCs (always be crafting) and never forgot their power. My mom and I spent countless hours of my childhood coming up with new ways to be creative. One year in particular, we made this Halloween art piece from a piece of scrap wood and about a million little magazine cut-outs.

We spent a good while cutting and separating tons of colors from a magazine into little triangles to glue them into the mosaic Jack-O-Lantern you see here. She still puts it out every year, and it’s a project that has inspired me 20 years later to make the first DIY of this year’s Christmas decor! Let me show you what I made:

Collage Christmas Trees

I love to collage, the EHD team can vouch. When we made our vision boards on our last retreat, I stayed up an extra few hours to keep working on mine. It’s a kind of flow state you just can’t disrupt, even if it’s 2 am. The cutting, the pasting, the admiring of images…it’s meditation for me. A few years ago, I decided to make some silly little collage Christmas trees that I could hang from my curtains using old magazines, chipboard, glue, a handful of brads, and some clothespins. It was so incredibly easy, and it’s a project I still bring out each year to display.

To make them, I started by collecting a variety of greens and festive, colored textures, patterns, and interesting shapes from my magazine pile. Then I cut random triangles from some chipboard (I used the back piece of old art pads, but any cardboard or sturdy material would work too).

I collaged the various greens onto each triangle, trimming the excess around the edges. I decided which triangles worked best together and stacked them, punching a hole through two pieces at a time to connect them with a little brad. Using a brad to attach them allows the pieces to move somewhat like a puppet. I love that added whimsy.

For the backsides, I just painted them with some watercolors I had on hand. You don’t have to do this if you’re just going to hang them against a wall, but since I wanted to hang mine from my window curtains, I wanted both sides to feel somewhat “done” and different.

Once enough trees were made, I simply clipped them to my sheer curtains with clothespins. They’re super easy to move around and style however you like!

You could also decide to make a garland with these trees, stringing them together through their top hole, even clipping the clothespins to the bottom instead to act as the “trunks”. I’ve done that with these exact trees in years past, and it worked out great. But as you can see in this pic, I’d already made a garland…which is the DIY I want to show you next!

Grocery Bag Garland

This holiday garland DIY was inspired by a TikTok. If you didn’t grow up crafting like I did, fear not. There are about a TRILLION quick, inspiring videos out there to show you just how simple and fun it can be (I gathered a handful of my favorites to show you for even more ideas, just keep scrolling).

This girl took her Trader Joe’s bags and decided to cut out the sweetest star garland to hang around her house. She started by drawing the shapes with Sharpie, then painting them, gave them cute little faces, and then strung them together to hang. Super simple.

Well, instead, I just decided to paint the whole bag. Actually, I painted a bunch of brown grocery bags with all kinds of different patterns and colors. You’ll want to cut open the bag to make the most of your material, paint it mostly solid with cheap craft paints or whatever you have on hand (doesn’t need to be perfect), and layer it with new colors–stripes, dots, squiggles, etc. Honestly, the messier, the more fun!

Next, I went in and drew the shapes to cut out with my metallic marker, because I wanted them to have a bit of “sparkle”. These are some of my favorite metallic pens to use. I loved her original simple stars, but I really wanted to stretch how many pieces I could get out of one bag, so I drew stars, spirals, little bursts, diamonds, and even little orange wedges. Idk why, I just thought it was fun. Go crazy here or stick to simplicity, it’s up to you!

Drawing with the metallic marker last made them even easier to cut out, and having a variety of patterns and colors made stringing them together like a fun game. No two colors next to each other. I poked two holes with a big needle and wove my string through, just like the TikTok girl.

I added it to my already tree-filled window and just love how they pair together! A little tricky to see the full pay-off in these pics because they’re so backlit and I’m no Kaitlin Green, but trust me that they are just so fun and colorful in person. The trees have held up for years, and the garland I plan to reuse as many times as it’ll last me. Neither are they so precious (or expensive) should I decide to let them go someday. But the joy of looking around your home to see holiday decor you made by hand? Priceless.

Here are some more easy ideas I’m saving for next year (or later this week if the mood strikes).

Paper Stars

These have been a HIT on my feed lately. I love that they’re so colorful and easy and that there are a number of styles and ways to make them. If you decide you want them to be reusable, use paper clips or velcro dots to secure the last pieces so you can fold them flat again for storage!

Paper Snowflakes

Like the paper stars, these snowflakes follow a similar technique, and I’m not actually sure if I can categorize them differently apart from the cut-outs. I’ve made the lunch bag versions in years past and loved them, but I recycled them after one use. I think the doily version is just to die for! Em actually showed me that one. The colorful ones would add a nice pop to any big display, and the twisty ones are a fun…twist on the classic snowflake look.

Paper Chain Garland

This one is truly a CLASSIC. Low lift with big payoff. Em and her kids made some paper chains for her tree this year from old wallpaper samples (such a cute idea), and sooooo many people on the internet are leaning in with their own colorful chains.

This girl shows you three ways to make them, each with their own vibe. I’m partial to the super short and chunky.

Gingerbread Garland

I HAVE TO TRY THIS. Such a simple idea, but oh so cute. I think it’d be fun to extend this idea beyond a garland. It would be so easy to make 3D “gingerbread” houses with cardboard and white paint, and they would last so much longer than the real, edible version does in my house. I can’t help myself but to immediately bite off the chimney each year.

So what are some of your favorite holiday crafts? Did you grow up making dried orange slice garland or string popcorn together? Are you a classic folded paper snowflake type? Have you tried making any of these fun paper crafts yourself? Or are there other festive crafts you made this year that I NEED to know about?? Sound off in the comments 🙂 I’m always looking for new inspiration!

Hey there, reader! Does this wallpaper look familiar? Any chance you remember this MOTO photo (below) from my last makeover reveal? The one where I plastered the tinier of my two bedrooms in DIY fabric wallpaper, forced a queen bed in there, and called it mine? Or maybe you’re up-to-date and instead recall a more recent post, where I flashed you my scary second bedroom, aptly named “The Doom Room”, and contemplated swapping the two?

The TLDR version goes something like this– I loved my initial bedroom design and still intended to keep the furniture (and fabric wallpaper) forever, but I made a mistake in choosing the smaller room for my personal bedroom, leaving the bigger room to be my “office”. Instead, this larger space just turned into a dumping ground for estate sale finds, crafty crap, and miscellaneous junk I wanted to close behind a door and forget about. I was sick of my excess stuff, desperately wanted more space in my own bedroom, and hoped that by switching the two rooms, I could finally free up the smaller one for guests. So I went for it, moving my bed and dresser to the larger room (which I’m loving btw), to free up the wallpapered room for a new project–a (hardly) blank canvas.

During the switch, a kismet opportunity to work with AllModern fell directly from the sky and into my lap. They were specifically looking to do a story about hosting visitors for the holidays. Like what?! This was my chance! A timely partnership paired with an insatiable desire to declutter and design a thoughtful guest space? It kicked my spare room dreams into high gear, and I can’t wait to show you how it all turned out.

Double-Sided Desk

When I first wrote the room swap post, contemplating how each area might look and function, I thought I wanted this second bedroom to double as an office space. Before the partnership, I had even picked out an AllModern desk (a piece I was eyeballing for its clever, double-sided, dual-purpose design). But the truth is, I like doing my daily computer work from my dining table and mostly use my vintage desk chair as extra living room seating, so relocating my “office” to this smaller room just didn’t make sense. What it did require was storage (and sadly, this cool desk was too big anyway).

Above all, I was craving a second sleeping zone that felt comfortable and spacious. A tucked-away oasis for any friend, parent, or first-date-mistake to have a place to crash for the night. A room that felt…roomy, despite its humble footprint. A private hang-out spot that could transform for guests but would still inspire me creatively anytime I needed to dig in the closet for art supplies. This old “wallfabric” isn’t coming down anytime soon, but with a hefty dose of some AllModern magic, I think we gave this familiar space a brand new feel…

Please, feast your eyes upon my new and improved GUEST BEDROOM! A funky lounge space by day, an artful bedroom by night, and with just enough storage to tuck my junk treasures out of sight. Let’s dig in, shall we?

Rug

One element I wanted right from the jump was a big hit of red. I knew this would help guide the design in a fresh direction. I envisioned a simple but interesting color-drenched rug, and it wasn’t hard to find a winner–I felt great about this one instantly! I love how its subtle, indented pattern references a similar repeat on the wallpaper, and I think the deep red color solidly anchors the space, don’t you?

Sleeper Sofa

Initially, I had imagined a green sofa bed in here. It had to be a sofa bed to save on space and maximize room function. But it’d need to be the perfect Goldilocks Green to work with the green on the walls, and I just didn’t want to chance it. I figured something more neutral, a beige, gray, or cream would be better overall. I was in-between sleeper sofas. Initially, I liked the 84″ Cleo Sleeper Sofa for its compact shape and long list of customizable colors. But ultimately I chose this one, the Savelle 88” Upholstered Sleeper Sofa (in Mink Chenille) because it shipped a little faster, had stellar reviews, and still looked just as good. Also, I was hopeful that a fold-down sofa bed over a pull-out mattress would better maximize space, even if the sofa itself was a little longer.

I am SO glad I went with this option. The oatmeal color looks so good in here and helps dial back the wild wall factor, allowing the rug to stand out a bit more. Plus, a neutral like this will work in just about any space I move to in the future–something I consider heavily with a piece like this. I want it to last!

But I also want it to be easy. So far, swapping between functions has been a breeze! From sofa to bed, you start by removing the two back cushions, drag the bench seat forward (it’s on wheels and works like a trundle bed), then flip down the solid back cushion to reveal a brand new, full-sized sleeping surface–just add bedding! Flip it and reverse it Missy Elliot style, and you’ll have a couch again in no time.

Ivory Sheet Set | Waffle Duvet Cover | Duvet Insert | Striped Yellow Shams | Pillow Inserts | Waffle Throw Blanket | Yellow Throw Blanket

The cushions are on the firmer side, but aren’t at all like a cheap futon. They feel more like a dense mattress, still with plenty of bounce. Two cozied-up friends or one Emily Henderson should have no trouble lying here comfortably! See? Actually, I’ve already had multiple guests stay over in this room (no, not my boss), and they all gave rave reviews on comfort. I mean, I did ask each of them how well they slept, and it is possible they lied to me… but I had the accidental pleasure of falling asleep on it myself recently, and can attest, it was a very solid slumber!

Gumdrop Throw Pillows | Wool Pillow | Yellow Throw Blanket | Side Table | Paper Trees

You may recognize some of the styling elements (like the throw pillows, side table, chrome lamp, upholstered chair, or paper trees) from our recent Christmas at The Carly decoration transformation. And well, that’s because I stole them for myself after the shoot. Actually, Em asked me to do a chunk of the shopping for that first holiday photoshoot, and instinctively, I pulled pieces from AllModern that I thought might also work in my space, hoping to cut down on the amount we’d need to style out both. I picked colors and textures I liked and could utilize here as well, so it’d make sense for me to just keep most of it in the end. Just some light, premeditated “stealing”. Like, I’m sorry, but I really wanted some of those jewel-toned paper trees for myself. This is meant to be a holiday guest story after all!

Wall Shelf

While I can cram most of my junky stuff away in the closet, I also wanted to include a few pretty storage pieces to round out the space. I found this super cute wall shelf to display a few of my favorite things, which finally gave purpose to this impossibly small wall next to my closet. It was super simple to put together and just as easy to hang.

Sideboard

Then I came across this beautiful thing. A storage piece in a wood tone I just loved, with beautiful lines… and a secret! To me, it echoed similar vibes to the double-sided desk I liked from before. At first glance, you think you know just what it is: A dresser with nine drawers. Now go ahead and move that little slider to the left for ultimate satisfaction. They’re actually cabinet doors! Boy, do I love a sneaky piece of furniture.

Side Chair

It’s a perfectly petite size, too, but with plenty of room inside. In my mind, having doors instead of drawers also allows for easier access to the stuff within, but maybe that’s just me? For now, this cabinet stores the guest bedding, but I’m sure eventually I’ll find a way to shove a hammer or a few vintage finds in there, too.

Mirror | Chrome Lamp | Vase | Pink Catchall

Above the sideboard is this funky, amorphous mirror. I love it. It’s a curvaceous walnut that pulls a little more red (exactly as I had hoped when I first saw it online). It totally complements the rug and accent pillows and pairs nicely (but not too closely) with the storage piece below. That lamp was also a Carly swipe. Its shape and material are just so sleek and reminiscent of the last lamp I had in here (which sadly broke).

Chrome Side Table

The little metal side table in the corner was a last-minute addition (eventually, a tall, spiky plant or narrow bookshelf might live here instead), but I love what these balanced pops of chrome add to the space. The platter sitting on the cabinet works great as a catchall, and the pink matches the flowers on the wall, but when visitors come to stay, I’ll likely clear the surface so they can use it to spread out and unpack. However, one MUST leave out a design-forward vase of flowers to properly greet your guests upon arrival!

We filled out the opposite wall with a few of my favorite artworks. The large painting is a piece my mom’s college classmate painted for her that I, yes, STOLE and refuse to give back. The bamboo-framed dancer print is one I scored years ago at a local Latvian rummage sale for just $10. And the newest addition is a piece Em commissioned for all of us by one of our favorite local artists, Purl. At our last team retreat, she surprised us each with a custom art piece for our birthdays. Mine is titled “Shopkeepers”. It was the final piece needed for this little gallery wall, which I think hangs so nicely over both the bed and the sofa. I didn’t even have to move the old swing arm sconce from my last makeover!

Well, folks, I think that about sums it up! In just a few weeks, I was able to carve out my little dream space for all future guests with the help of AllModern. The strong punches of color and wild wallpaper might be a bit much for some of you out there, and that’s okay! But I’m truly over the moon with how it turned out. It’s fun and functional, but the best part is there’s now SO much room for activities. Way more than before, even with the sofa in “bed mode”. I no longer feel like I’m tripping over crammed furniture or homeless piles of my “stuff”. Everything and everyone has a place now. So what are you waiting for? COME OVER!!! I’ll text you the address.

Sincerely, Gretch

*Design by Gretchen Raguse
*Photos by Kaitlin Green

Big things are happening in the Cambor household! If you’re new to this “design coaching” project, let me catch you up to speed! Back in January, Emily wrote a post asking for people to submit their upcoming design/renovation projects in the hopes that she might be able to offer some insight and wisdom as someone with a lot of remodel experience under her belt. She wouldn’t be taking over the design or project management of someone else’s project, but she’d act more as a backboard–bouncing off ideas, advice and past learnings, as questions or design conundrums came up in the process. Chrissy and Peter Cambor submitted their kitchen renovation and it felt like just the right project to take on. In just a few months, they’ve made a TON of progress.

In our last update post, the final kitchen layout had been decided on, IKEA cabinets and stone countertops were purchased and demo was underway. Well, now it seems the kitchen is nearly complete! Pete had a lofty goal to finish the remodel by Chrissy’s birthday (June 22) and apart from a few finishing touches, they’ve pretty much met their deadline! WILDLY IMPRESSIVE. But hold on – this is not a reveal post just yet! There is PLENTY of fun process to catch you up on–so let’s get right to it.

A quick reminder–this was their kitchen before. They have been pretty great about documenting their remodel journey and Pete had a lot of helpful things to say about how it’s been going so far. He’s done a ton of the hands-on work himself, only hiring out where necessary, but leading this renovation with great DIY success. Here’s what he had to say:

“To be clear – all of this is very doable, if not time-consuming. I am by no means a construction expert – I am a very JV DIY type of guy (I am sure there will be plenty of head scratching by some who look at my handiwork). I think it is important with DIY to remind yourself that you are GOING to make mistakes, and almost everything can be fixed at minimal cost.”

Here’s the gist of what all they’ve finished since we last checked up on their project:

• Completed demo
• Finished drywall and bumping out the wall
• Moved and added a new window
• Built & installed IKEA cabinets
• Installed stone countertops
• Installed appliances
• Tiled the back wall

One of the first things to address after demoing the old kitchen was the wall that was shared with the powder bathroom. The original corner cabinets receded into the wall initially, which meant that post-demo, they’d need to bump that wall out to make it flush. They originally thought this would add a little square footage to the bathroom, too, but Pete says, “We couldn’t open up the bathroom because there was water piping running upstairs in that bathroom wall – so we just popped some framing to make the new wall squared off with the kitchen. Even though we technically reduced the square footage of the room, the room actually feels LARGER. It’s just great.”

Simultaneously, they tackled arguably the most crucial part of the redesign–building and installing the IKEA cabinets. They went with the AXSTAD blue kitchen cabinet fronts.

“The cabinets from IKEA are great. The product has improved a lot over the last 15 years (in my opinion), and once you get into the swing of it, it is very doable. Our approach was to build the interior (the bones, if you will) of the cabinets in the 10 days leading up to the install. So basically, we would do a few a night, and just stored them in our living room. It was annoying in that it was inconvenient to have them lined up in our living room, but it made install day way easier. We hired a great group to come in and do the demo, which took about 4 hours, and it took me the rest of that day and the following day to install the cabinets and really get them dialed in. This included building a brace for the island (the cabinets have to be supported against something).”

“Here you can see the beginning of the island taking place. The 2x4s are there to support the cabinets and give them something to latch onto. Notice the gap in the 2×4 support structure. That is for the periscoping downdraft vent. This photo is before we had to move the gas line and vent location…”

Unfortunately, Pete discovered that the gas line and downdraft vent needed to be moved to line up perfectly with the periscoping vent fan that pops up behind the stovetop. They hired someone to move the gas line and the vent, but Pete was able to take care of the electrical. The red circle is where they had to shift everything to.

“The periscoping vent fan was the most stressful part of all of this, as it required total precision to line up behind the cooktop and for the [stone] fabricators to make the cut just right. I lost many a night of sleep over this, and had to constantly adjust, even a bit on the day with the fabricator. In the end, it all worked out, and we would have found someone to install it, but we had trouble locating anyone who had any experience in installing a periscoping vent.”

“Here’s a better look at the structure that supported the cabinets in the island. And shout out to Mountain House Camping Meals – I ate a zillion of them when the kitchen was out of commission. Mac and Cheese and Lasagna, I highly recommend (the kids were partial to Mac and Cheese).”

Either side of the island required a clever way to cover up these support beams, so they opted to waterfall their stone countertops. This also carved out a great spot for barstools along the backside (something many readers also suggested!). They had initially planned for cabinets on this side too, but ultimately, there just wasn’t space, so a spot for stools was an easy choice. Here’s what Pete had to say:

“The waterfall is great. We were definitely hesitant about it at first – from a design point of view, they were not our first choice, but we felt it was the best way to deal with making the IKEA island work. Due to the cooktop being on the island and the periscoping vent fan, there would have been a large gap in the end panels. The waterfall ensured this was covered seamlessly.” For the stone, they went with a quartz slab called “Enigma”.

“Here I was prepping for the top cabinets – this bracket had to be perfectly level and at just the right height for the IKEA cabinets. These were for the cabinet above the fridge and the oven/microwave. We had to move the 220 outlet, which was a bit of a thing, so we also hired someone to do that.”

Apart from a few hiccups and stressors, the bulk of the kitchen work was done, and then it was time for tile – something else Pete (and Chrissy!) tackled DIY-style. They finished up the surrounding drywall, making sure to prime the backsplash wall, which helps the mortar stick. Initially, Chrissy and Peter were pretty set on Pratt & Larson’s Idris Field tile in Pearl Gray, but after careful consideration, they instead opted for Zellige in ‘Casablanca’ by Zia Tiles.

“We ended up going with Zia Zellige Tile – which we really liked. Nice and thick, and all of our tile came UNHARMED. A few of them had some blue blemishes, which I am told is par for the course. Chrissy and I thought that ‘Casablanca’ would just brighten up the room a bit. And we LOVE it. Totally stoked. The Pearl Gray was pretty, but the white is just lovely.”

Before they could start with the install, they had to soak all of the tile in room temp water for 1-2 minutes, per the installation instructions. Chrissy mentioned that this releases the air bubbles in the clay, which you can see in the picture. Zia Tile also recommends this for glazed tile to remove dust and residue, and to make sure the tiles adhere properly. And here’s Pete’s “how to” when it comes to installation:

“The technique – take the mortar and use this thingy that has lines (super technical here) and spread it on smooth. Then make lines.” 

“Then [apply mortar and] make the lines on the tile so they are perpendicular (there are like a million YouTube videos about how this creates a suction effect etc etc…).”

“Then you press the tile into the wall, and boom. You are an expert. (One thing – we used no spacers. Occasionally with imperfect tiles, we used a spacer, but for the most part, none. Also, get a laser level. Super important to make sure they are level. Just a laser that points a line at the wall. SUPER helpful. If you don’t have a tripod, get one as well for the level. Bosch makes a good one.”

Chrissy and Pete knew they wanted a sort of vertical border at the base, so they started with that and worked their way up and to the right as they placed the tile. Pete says, “People have all sorts of “ways” you are supposed to line up the tile and plan ahead. We knew we wanted to do this border at the bottom.” So that’s what made sense for them. Both mentioned this was pretty tedious and a pain in the…hands.

And here is the back wall fully tiled! The brackets sticking out of the wall are for floating shelves – something they made sure to plan for and install into the studs as they did the tile. Way easier than drilling into tile after the fact.

“You can see our cabinet fronts as well here – The blue is super dark because we left them wrapped in their plastic lining so as not to damage them during the tiling/grouting etc. Also, the blue tape – very important. Chrissy read about that online – use it to open the drawers and cabinets before you install the hardware!”

For grout, they tried out a few different grays but ended up choosing a color that felt a smidge lighter than the tile – Eggshell by Maipei. For now, that’s about where the update stops. The appliances are in, and it’s now a mostly-functioning kitchen, only missing a few final touches (like the shelves, hardware, and a handful of touch-ups) before the grand reveal.

So how are Chrissy and Pete hanging in there?

“Feeling very tired, but we did stick to our deadline of having the kitchen ready by Chrissy’s birthday – which we sort of hit – the kitchen was functioning and working, which was amazing. We even had it ready a week early for Father’s Day. I’m big on deadlines. What’s the expression, ‘Shoot for the moon, and if you come up short, at least you are that much closer to the moon?’ I’m probably butchering that, but you get it (that expression works for DIY, probably not so much for astronauts). Overall – feeling good – taking a mini break to regroup. A lot of late nights and sore backs. But we are getting ready to dive in on the lights, the hardware, and the bookshelves!”

A big thanks to Peter & Chrissy for sharing all of their kitchen DIY learnings with us, not to mention taking great process photos along the way (not always an easy task). We are so impressed with their FAST progress, and it’s been awesome to see their vision from the beginning to now. Many design shifts were made along the way, but all for the better. I think the next time we see their kitchen…it may just be ready for some profesh Kaitlin photos and a few styling touches. Stay tuned!

Timing is everything, and that’s also true in design. A little over a year ago, in April, to be exact, I revealed my first Makeover Takeover–my bedroom. I had moved into my place a few months prior and was so excited to have the opportunity to design my room from the ground up, so soon after moving in. It felt like perfect timing.

I was (and still am) absolutely in love with how the space turned out. I scored some incredible furniture pieces from Article (a sick storage bed, the coolest floating headboard, and the dresser of my dreams), plus enough fabric to completely cover my walls and then some. It was awesome! But a year and two months of living in a space, even in a room you LOVE, can tend to reveal some things. Namely, how wrong I was in making the smaller room my bedroom, with the stubbed toes to prove it. 

I consider myself lucky to reside in a two-bedroom apartment, alone, where both rooms are mine to do with as I please. When I moved from my last spot, “more livable space” was high on my wishlist. I’d had a garage previously, which was AWESOME but very dangerous–not in the sense that anything could harm me (except maybe the rats, damp/crumbling walls, and broken/exposed pipes…okay maybe it was a little sketchy). But when you have a ton of extra space, especially the kind disconnected from daily life, ie: a garage, it is alarmingly easy to fill that extra space with extra stuff. And for me, that is indeed very dangerous.

When I had the garage, I was working a variety of freelance creative jobs and was heavily into flipping furniture and selling vintage decor on Facebook Marketplace. Having a workshop space was ideal and necessary for how I made a living. But soon enough, I started working for Em, and that garage space just wasn’t needed anymore. And yet somehow I convinced myself that most of what lived inside still was.

A handful of unfinished projects, paint cans with some life left (debatable), a huge collection of vintage wares (and soooo much more) came with me to the new spot. When it was time to choose which room would serve as my bedroom and the other as my “studio”, it made more sense to me at the time to pile my mountains of crap into the larger space, thinking I would eventually turn it into a state-of-the-art creative zone and office, with plenty of room to spread out and work. Fast forward a bit, and I can barely walk inside. The in-home studio I envisioned earned its new name, The Doom Room, in record time. A place where all of my extra things went to die, disappearing out of sight and out of mind as soon as I shut the door. No systems, all chaos.

And when chaos lives next door, even the dreamiest of bedrooms will begin to suffocate you. After a year in my beautiful room, I began to feel the walls closing in, and not because of the wallpaper–no complaints there–but the lack of wiggle room, in both spaces. My storage bed is so functional, but not if the drawers will only open when all of the dresser drawers across it are closed. Then there’s my clothes closet–the true catalyst for the switch up. If I hang up one more romper, I promise you that wooden rod will SNAP. I literally have to fist fight my t-shirts daily to get them back behind closed doors. And I’m sick of it!! Sick of traversing the narrow walkways of my tiny room, carved out by my big, beautiful bed. Sick of the piles of stuff ignored next door, filling the room with more and more doom every second. Sick of the overall lack of breathing room, accidental injuries, and impenetrable wall of garments.

Caitlin’s closet confidential had awoken something in me. Em’s recent prop/carriage house assessment inspired me. Tripping one too many times in both of my rooms drove me insane enough to need a change. Sometimes you really just have to empty everything out, take stock, trim alllll the fat and put back only what’s really important to you, with care (and a bit of a cut-throat mentality) while trying your darnedest not to add more stuff to the stuff. Then step-and-repeating every few years because consumerism has us in a chokehold, and this is a lesson I never seem to be done learning.

So that’s my plan! This is the official kick-off of my MOTO: Take 2. A reassessment. And my first step is to purge. My neighborhood is having a garage sale this weekend, and it’s the perfect opportunity (hell yes, deadline) to decide what really deserves to take up space in my life and home. Then it’s another small room challenge–this time a guest room/office that is actually useable and inspired. I want to live in a livable space! My biggest priority is having a bedroom I can actually walk around in, and plenty of room to sit back and admire the pieces I love so much, with the ability to use the drawers (all of them, at the same time) without stubbing my damn toe!

I don’t have a solid design plan for either space. Concepts of a plan, sure. What I know for a fact is that all of the major elements of my first MOTO design will live on. I will not be parting ways with my bedroom furniture, only migrating it. I am not exaggerating when I say: these are some of the best pieces I’ve ever owned and still look as good as the day I got them. The headboard, storage bed, and dresser–they’ll live on in the bigger room for a chance to really shine! I will also NOT be touching the wall fabric in the smaller room. This hasn’t budged since the day I installed it (a year ago! With just liquid starch, a bucket, and a paint roller!), and I don’t intend to remove it anytime soon. But it’s totally renter-friendly, and when I am ready to take it down, I can re-use the fabric elsewhere (shameless DIY post plug)!

I actually can’t fathom designing a space without adding a little DIY mojo to the mix. The wall fabric is the foundation of the smaller room, so it should be a fun challenge for me to pick pieces that work well with the existing vibe. But the DIY element in my new bedroom is yet to be determined. One big idea on the brain is: stencils. I’ve been vision boarding a lot lately and find myself continuously drawn to the vintage magazine images of stenciled, folky flowers on the walls (or the ceiling, perhaps?). It’s not necessarily renter-friendly, but I’m a friendly renter and could always paint over it when I leave.

But also, I’ve been dying to play with the color stain trend I’ve been seeing everywhere lately and might need to test it out on an older piece of mine that could use a refresh (my garage workshop mentality will never die). It’s a beautiful etagere I’ve been using (and not really loving) in my bathroom, which I think would serve me better in my new big bedroom. Better yet, if the wood was stained…burgundy? Or maybe a denim-y blue? I don’t know! But I want to try. So look out for that DIY sometime down the line.

That’s it for now. The grunt work comes first, hopefully followed by clarity and tons of radical vision. I’ll keep you posted as I move the needle. All in due time. Until then…

Sincerely,

Gretch

Opening Image Credits: Photo by Kaitlin Green | From: Gretchen’s First MOTO Reveal: A Tiny Bedroom Comes Alive With The Perfect Pieces From Article (And Fabric On The Walls??)

Gretch here, signing on to give you a project update! A few weeks ago we kicked off a new design coaching series and introduced you to our starting line-up (Chrissy & Pete). If this doesn’t ring a bell, hop on over to the intro post where we break it all down. But for a quick memory-jogger, Chrissy and Pete are renovating their builder-grade kitchen, all while juggling a tricky layout, tight budget, tighter timeline, and oh yeah, three kids under three!

Since our last post, Chrissy and Pete have officially finalized their layout, purchasing all of their IKEA cabinetry, and have even begun some light demolition to get things rolling. It’s all happening!

Many of you shared some great layout suggestions on the last post, and we think you’ll be pleased to see where C+P landed. A few of you also asked for some floor plans of the space to better understand the layout and the vision. So let us deliver! As a refresher, here’s where we last left off with the kitchen:

Their biggest concern was the lack of storage space and the need to adjust the dysfunctional layout, considering how the new one should connect with the rest of the open floor plan. And that weird, angled ’90s island? Yeah, it just all needed a refresh.

Picture yourself standing where it says “Old Floor Plan”, looking into the kitchen from the dining/living areas (like the shot above). Straight back is a hallway that leads to their garage, with a very small powder bath to the right and a laundry closet to the left. The angled wall opens up to a den, and the hallway next to that loops around the stairs and back over to the living/dining. There’s a small wall across the island with a pantry door to access storage under the stairs.

In the new layout, everything is much more streamlined. The main wall of cabinets to the left straightens out, with the bathroom wall bumping out about a foot to sit in line with the short wall across it (adding more space to the tiny powder bath–WIN). The window is replaced and centered on the new sink, and the island is updated to a better shape with more storage and shifted to be more central in the room. The biggest change happens at the old pantry wall, where Chrissy and Pete have decided to put their fridge and oven/microwave, moving the access door to the hallway.

On our recent drop-in, we were pleased to see that Pete had already made some demolition headway, removing the pantry door and walling it off to prepare for the incoming cabinetry. While there, Emily also had a chance to help…hold their littlest, Birdie (sound familiar??) while we talked about next steps. With 3 under 3, someone has to hold the baby while someone else holds the hammer–and Em will always volunteer 🙂

Pete also knocked out a new entrance to the pantry space, and Chrissy found an inexpensive place in town that will customize a reclaimed door to fit the new angled opening in the hallway. For now, this will stay as their pantry space, but they have ideas about turning the laundry closet into a more robust pantry zone once they eventually shift the laundry room upstairs (but one remodel at a time).

This is their new kitchen taking shape in IKEA’s space planning tool. I added the openings to the garage hallway and den in the back, but hopefully you get the gist! Yes, they’ve purchased all the cabinets, and no, there are no uppers going on the main wall.

Changing up our viewing orientation 90 degrees counter-clockwise, here’s the current view of the “main wall” of cabinets. The new cabinets will still cap off where the ceiling height changes as you step into the dining/living areas.

The New Kitchen Layout

And here’s that new floor plan view, this time with labels! There’s room for all the necessary appliances, plenty of counter space, and the flow just feels SO MUCH better.

The Kitchen Island

This is the back side and cooktop side of their new island, where Chrissy has also started playing with hardware. As you can see, tons of storage! She is still planning for an overhang on the short end of the island near the garage entrance for a couple of barstools.

These are the elevations for the new “main kitchen wall” and what was once the “pantry wall” but is now the “fridge and oven wall”. Again, tons of thoughtfully planned storage and some panel-ready appliances on the main wall. Unfortunately, the panel-ready fridge IKEA sells felt way too small for their family, so they opted for a larger, stainless steel French door model instead. This was part of the reason they wanted to give the fridge/oven space its own wall, so the main wall could stay more of a feature.

And here’s that feature wall digitally imagined–Chrissy spent some time mocking up how she envisions this area, complete with floating shelves and some drop-dead gorgeous zellige tile from Ann Sacks. We love it! This isn’t exactly final–the tile may not be within their budget, and the shelves are a bit TBD (two shelves? three? how long? store-bought or custom?). But how awesome is that tile layout?

Here, Emily and Chrissy are looking at some samples. Chrissy fell in love with the Pearl Gray Idris Field tile, and is going to try and find a way to make it work. We don’t blame her. It’s awesome.

At first, we were a little worried it might feel too dark with the already dark blue IKEA cabinets, but seeing the samples in person changed our minds. The tile is lighter than we were expecting, but still so rich in color, and the finish reflects the light really well. If they can squeeze it out of their budget, it’s going to be so awesome!

One thing they did already squeeze out of the budget was this stone. A beautiful quartz slab, “Enigma”.

So, countertops? Check. Cabinets? Double check (they’re all on site, and next up after a much larger round of demo). Pete has big tear-down plans to keep the project rolling. We’re excited to check back soon to see how they’re faring. It can be tricky to find “the right time” to demolish such a functional part of your home, especially with three little ones, but they intend to move FAST! And we believe in them!

Other design thoughts on the horizon involve hardware, fixtures, and lighting. Chrissy is leaning toward the Archie line from Rejuvenation in polished nickel. She’s also picked out a beautiful sink and faucet from Kohler–the ever-so-functional Riverby and beautiful Edalyn. The lighting is proving to be tricky and expensive. These can lights are just not cutting it, but swapping them for flush mounts will quickly add up. Chrissy is shopping around for better options, but is coming to terms with the lighting not being perfect if it means her tile backsplash could be.

And if you’ve been following along since the first post, you’ll know that a dining banquette is still on the table! Pun intended. For now, Chrissy and Pete are really dedicating their attention to the kitchen area first, but still have big banquette plans once phase one is complete. So stay tuned for that and many more fun updates to follow! Personally, I can’t wait to see it all gutted real soon.

Many of us (myself included) are pro-pets-on-the-couch, but I’m positive that NONE of us are too happy about the hair they tend to leave behind. So when we were coming up with useful product categories to test, pet hair removers were at the top. So today, we’re testing six of some of the highest-rated pet hair removal gadgets and gizmos on the market to see if they really will keep your sofa clean and picture-perfect.

Thankfully, we have the perfect test subject–Harvey, Em’s brother’s sweet Lab, whose two main jobs are barking at predators (mailmen) and maintaining his spot on the couch. He’s the kind of dog who will shed if you even look at him funny, so we weren’t surprised to see their sofa was covered in a solid layer of pet fur when we rolled up. Thanks, Harvey!

To give these tools a fair trial, we sectioned off the couch, one gadget per zone, and spread out the dog hair as evenly across them as we could. We tested a variety of tools–some meant to work like a squeegee, some with little teeth, and some rollers. Our winner pick is revealed at the end if you’d like to skip through our findings, but here’s how each one stood up:

Uproot Cleaner Pro VS Gonzo Pet Hair Lifter

Uproot Cleaner Pro | Gonzo Pet Hair Lifter

The Uproot Cleaner Pro (seen here on the left, the one that looks and works like a rake) worked “just okay”. It grabbed the hair as I pulled it along the sofa and did a fairly good job of collecting it into a pile, like a broom might. The tool has little teeth that cling to the hair but don’t hold onto it or lift it up. You have to go over the same spot a few times to really make it spotless and collect the hair pile with your hands or brush it toward yourself so it just falls to the ground. Not ideal. We tried this one on their rug too and found that the teeth worked a little better to really pull up the hairs (and loose rug fibers). Overall, 2/5 on the effective scale.

The Gonzo Pet Hair Lifter did no such thing. You can’t really tell in this photo, but this spongy contraption left tons of little yellow crumbs behind as it dragged across the fabric. We were NOT fans of this tool. Not only did it add to the problem by shedding some itself, but it was too squishy to properly grab any fur. The hair doesn’t stick to the sponge, it just gets sort of spread around. This one did not work at all. Wiping the dog hair with our hands was more effective. 0/5!

FurDozer VS Analan Mini Pet Hair Remover

FurDozer | Analan Mini Pet Hair Remover

These were two of our “squeegee” contenders. They each claim to have three “modes”. The FurDozer has a side with six short rubber ridges and a side with three tall ridges, including a fourth, taller squeegee edge. The Analan has three rubber sides with small, medium, and large teeth.

First up is the FurDozer and it gathered the hair very well! Online, it says to use the three-squeegee side for a more plush material like this couch, but we found that the six-ridge side worked best to collect the hair into a clump. This tool works by holding it flat to the sofa, pushing down hard, and pulling the fur toward you. It takes a good amount of work to gather all the hair, and while it did work pretty well for the surface hair on this sofa, I think this tool is more intended for stubborn, embedded hair. Plus, you still have to pick up your hair clump piles by hand. 3.5/5

The Analan Pet Hair Remover was easy to grip, more ergonomic, but worked pretty similarly to the FurDozer. In our tests here, we found the small toothed side performed the best to collect the hair into a pile. The larger sides didn’t pull the hair as well. Overall, this tool also felt more designed for embedded fur (like the kind trapped in a fuzzy car mat or carpet). Our biggest complaint was that on the velvet sofa, the teeth marks left behind a rake pattern. Nothing permanent, but we had to swipe them out by hand. The triangular shape did get into the cushion crevices nicely, but still required a good amount of work to make it all disappear. 3/5

Chom Chom Roller VS Black + Decker Pet Hair Remover

Chom Chom Roller | Black + Decker Pet Hair Remover

These two rollers seem nearly identical: the Chom Chom and the Black + Decker. Both were designed with the sort of classic lint brush fabric on a rolling mechanism, with a squeegee splitting it down the middle. With both rollers, you’re supposed to move in shorter front-to-back motions.

With each roll back and forth, the hair actually gets picked up more like a vacuum, and deposited inside, cleaning the lint rolling fabric each time. The Chom Chom worked like a charm charm! This side-by-side really shows that. There were maybe only one or two straggling pet hairs that disappeared with another quick swipe.

The best part? No need to scoop up a little hair pile with your hands! All of the fur clings to the roller and deposits itself inside the gadget as you clean. Then, when you’re all done, you pop open the back window and grab the fur ball from there to throw away. We thought for sure this one would be our winner at a 4.5/5 rating…

But then we tried the Black + Decker version and it worked just as well! Using the same small back-and-forth motion, all of Harvey’s hair effortlessly collected onto and into the roller in just a few passes.

The roller fabric picked up about the same as the Chom Chom, and there was a big chunk of collected fur waiting in the chamber after a few passes. We tested both of these rollers out on the rug, too, and were equally impressed. One thing we liked about this one was that you could see what it was gathering through the little purple window before opening it, which couldn’t be said of the Chom Chom.

But before we could dish out our final verdict and rating, we called Harvey over and had his help re-hairing a section of the couch so we could put these rollers head to head and see if, in one fell swipe, we could tell a difference in pick-up quality.

And we could not! Each roller swiped smoothly and snagged all of the new Harvey hairs in its path with just one pass. With this information, we rated the Black + Decker our winner at 4.7/5.

But then we did a price check… and at just under $13, not only does the B + D roller work the best, with a clear window to see what you’re picking up, but it’s more inexpensive than ALL OF THE GADGETS WE TRIED and literally half the price of it’s Chom Chom competitor, taking this rating to a full 5/5!

Now Harvey can maintain the dent he’s been carving out in the couch, and mom and dad can swoop in in-between dog naps to keep their sofa clean with the Black + Decker roller. It’s fun, fast and easy to use, collects the hair so you don’t have to, and doesn’t break the bank!

*Photos by Kailtin Green

If you’ve been following along closely, you’ll know that we’ve been connected with an incredible shelter called Family Promise for a while now. They’re a non-profit organization in Portland doing wonderful work for our community, providing housing and support for families experiencing homelessness. They took over an old motel, transformed it into a 70+ household shelter, and have been operating at capacity for at least as long as we’ve been working with them–all while undergoing a major renovation!

It’s quite impressive what they’ve been able to do–completing the work in strategic chunks, tackling wings or floors at a time, so the facility could/can still operate throughout the construction chaos. We signed on to help them with their design/decor needs way back when, but the renovations have made our process a slower one, as function is simply more important than form at the moment. The last thing we want to do is further complicate a renovation with our suggestions when it’s already pretty disruptive on its own. But they’ve made some amazing progress and have a few finished spaces now ready for the EHD touch! For right now, we’re mainly focused on their communal room needs; the playroom, the lobby, some of the offices, etc.

We’ll be starting with the playroom–it’s newly finished, actively in use (as you can see here) and functioning well as-is, but could definitely use a little razzle dazzle. Before they began the overhaul of this west wing, the original playroom sat next to the dining room in the east wing. Now that the east wing renovation is underway, the playroom has found its permanent home in the completed wing, taking most of the old room’s belongings with it.

This was the brand new playroom just before they moved in with all the things. Many of the larger renovation design decisions were made by the architecture firm on the project, and while we weighed in where we could, so many choices just had to be made FAST and without our input, to keep the project on track. The new spaces are SO much better than what they had been, but being a large, commercial-grade project, it can be hard to translate the feeling of home without adding in that layer of design/styling after the fact.

But that’s where we come in! The space is brand new, but it’s not without challenges. The new playroom feels like it’s doubled in size from the old one (awesome) with fresh carpet tiles (not our favorite look tbh, a choice we knew we’d have to design around from the jump), a new coat of paint (again, not our color choice but an easy thing to update), some textured ceiling tiles, a very unique layout, and of course all the bells and whistles required to bring this space up to code.

The room has two entrances from the main hallway and another door that connects to the laundry space, with a window between the two areas for parents to keep an eye on their little ones. Two big windows along the back walls let in a decent amount of light and a funky center support wall and beam situation cut through part of the space, creating various zones within the room…and definitely carving out an opportunity for some fun and intentional design!

To me, this beam/wall/walkthrough combination looks like it was destined to be a playhouse. Even the ceiling is given a different treatment that reads something like a roof. It’s one of those funky, unchangeable structural elements that may just end up providing a lot of design direction for the rest of the space. It’s what first had me so excited to dive into this space and get to imagining. But it does create a bit of a division in the room…

So What’s Next?

First and foremost this room needs to function best for the shelter’s needs. As you can see, it’s fully in use at the moment! It has found its current rhythm and systems and our goal now is to work with the flow, not disrupt it, meaning we want to change/update/swap the tired pieces that we can, without rearranging or reconfiguring the room too much.

There’s already a pretty clear play zone, couch/TV zone, teen/storage zone, and a zone for working and reading at tables. The sofa needs to stay underneath the laundry window for various reasons, and the storage cabinets and teen zone (aka foosball table) are best tucked in the back. There is some flexibility with the remaining “zones”. But really they just have a lot of stuff, and have discussed wanting to remove a few things that aren’t seeing as much use–likely the train table in the play zone and a good chunk of the books (just to store somewhere else). To get a better feel for the space as a whole, you can watch the video below (just wait for a couple of ads to play).

So far Family Promise’s only other asks for the space have been for some blackout roller shades (for movie nights), more rugs to soften up the play areas (and help cover the messes that are already taking over those dang carpet tiles), and more art on the walls to liven up the space. We’ve ordered some very simple roller blinds and will be installing them this week. The rugs and art will be coming soon! But we’d like to give them a whole lot more.

Making Some Swaps

It’s hard to look at the leather couch in this room and not want to swap it for something better. It would be so awesome if all of the chairs at the taller homework table (heck, the smaller one too) matched, and even better if they stacked to store out of the way. The small fold-up table and clunky corner storage against the wall would do well to be replaced. And the kid’s art on the wall deserves more presence! The clunky, plastic play structure could be so much better if it were somehow integrated into the funky center wall so it didn’t just shove into the gap, eliminating the fun of having a pass-thru. These are some of the things I’m thinking about!

They recently purchased some very large storage cabinets that look very…uhh…school-grade. Again, not something we had a say in design-wise, but a functional element that was crucial to their systems and storage needs, and so we need to find a way to work with the cabinets! Same thing goes for the larger, fold-up work tables. They definitely aren’t the prettiest, but they’re durable, functional and adaptable to the space–they’d like to keep them.

The rest of the furniture is quite flexible in terms of what stays/goes, but we also want to be sensitive to maintaining a sense of familiarity in the space for the kiddos who have come to enjoy it as it is. With the addition of these large, wood cabinets, it makes sense to me to bring in more of this tone/material so that it feels cohesive and grounded. And while bright, fun colors are perfect for a playroom, we want to be intentional with the palette we choose so that everything vibes.

Big Ideas

Please bear with my crude sketch/mockup–but I’d love to get in touch with a carpenter/woodworker to give this weird wall the FULL play zone treatment! It would be amazing to integrate a custom jungle gym, complete with a slide and hideout space underneath. If you’ve never checked out Groh Playrooms, go take a look at their work right now! Their amazing, out-of-the-box design is what I’d love to channel here.

I picture a play structure built into the support beam and wall, maybe disguising the beam to look like a tree, and treating the wall in some way to feel more like a house (wood siding? scalloped shingles? fun, bright paint job? obvious ‘roof’?) with maybe a whiteboard “window” to draw on or a magnet board or something!

The slide would face the laundry room window (as the plastic structure does now) so parents could keep a safe watch. Space up top would have classic jungle-gym gadgets, like a steering wheel or some kind of busy board. There would be room underneath for a puppet show theater, or it could just serve as a cozy, protected hangout zone with tons of pillows and stuffies. But something fun needs to happen here, don’t you think?? If you know someone who would be an ideal fit to help execute/build something like this with us, feel free to send them my way (gretchen@emilyhendersondesign.com)!

The opposite side could receive a similar treatment or could be reimagined entirely! They do have a decent kid-size kitchen (and I’d like to snag a laundry play set too, so kids can act like mom/dad next door) but a play set they don’t have is a storefront, which I think could be fun over here! What really excites me are all the potential pass throughs and imaginative play possibilities that could happen through this funky wall.

Kids could look down from the jungle gym balcony above, maybe there’s a chalkboard on the other side to give the store a name, and of course, the passage underneath and the doorway to the side. The “doorway” is about 15″ thick and I think it’d be fun to paint or do something fun here too. The wall could house some shelving for books or act as grocery shelves. But what is the right move for this side? If you have ideas for how either side of the funky wall should look, drop them in the comments!! I want to hear them!

Furniture And Finishing Touches

We’re working with AllModern to jumpstart furnishing the space. Their pieces are durable, ship FAST and look great, so they’ll be just perfect for this playroom! They have a pretty stellar kid inventory, too, with play sets and rugs I’ve been eyeing for a while. We recently ordered these low bookshelves from AllModern in a wood tone similar to the “school” storage cabinets, to replace the IKEA bookshelves that have seen better days.

We’ll also be looking to AllModern for a leather sofa replacement, something that reads more design forward but is still durable and wipeable. This should be easy to narrow down–they have so many good options! They also carry some great plastic stacking chairs, which we’d love to snag to replace the work table chairs that are pretty clunky. We’ll probably need additional storage units and surfaces as well as cute storage boxes/bins down the line. Family Promise doesn’t have much of a budget for this space at all currently, but Em will be contributing toward elements like the “playhouse” and all other styling/finishing touches.

Speaking of finishing touches…I think a mural somewhere in here would be incredible!! Don’t you? Maybe we recruit Banyan Bridges back to the blog so she can give this room her magical touch? Like she did so well for Em’s art barn? Either a mural or at least a paint color change in here or both! The bright teal accent wall is fun for now, but it’d be nice to shift gears once the room design takes better shape.

We will DEFINITELY be adding art, rugs, and textiles to the space to liven it up, but another thing Family Promise asked for is a better way to display the kids’ art. You know we love a good corkboard moment–why not designate a wall to go full corkboard? Then there’s the ceiling tiles. Should/could these be painted? Each one in a new color? Or is that overkill? I remember painting a ceiling tile like this in high school, so I know it can be done. But I was chatting with Mal about the project and she suggested swapping the ceiling tiles out for a fun decorative version–something like this–I want to look into similar options!

It’s going to be a REALLY fun project, but clearly we’re still in the early stages. I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas, if anything genius comes to mind! Maybe you know of a local woodworker who could help us dream up an awesome, custom playhouse/structure for a good cause? Maybe there’s a play set that your kids LOVE that you think these kids would love too? Or maybe you see something missing from our plans and you just can’t hold your tongue. Well, don’t! I want to know what you think:)

Just keep in mind, our budget for this project is minimal, and there’s a level of trauma-informed design that needs to be considered. If you’re curious to learn more about their great work or are feeling inspired to contribute, check out Family Promise! We feel so fortunate to be a small part of their awesome world and can’t wait to share some of ours with their community soon. Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,

Gretch

Hello, friends! Gretch here. It’s been a while since I’ve taken you inside my apartment, and admittedly, you won’t see much of it in this post. But we’ve got a new friend in the mix, and just like me, she could probably benefit from a little cosmetic work! This little leather beauty here is what you might call a “hand-me-down”, but to me, she’s an absolute treasure!

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted a leather sofa. Maybe it’s because I grew up in a house with one (identical in color, too) and I’m a sucker for nostalgia. A sleek, leather seat is also very “cool girl” in my eyes–a sofa you might find in a real city girl’s loft apartment. And there’s just something so nice about its buttery texture and wipe-ability. In a lot of ways, leather really gets better with age…with proper care, of course!

A brief origin story–if you don’t recognize the sofa, you may recognize this room! This is our photographer, Kaitlin Green’s living room. And this cutie sofa that is now mine was once hers. For 10 years! She and her husband bought it brand new from West Elm for their first place (and yes, it is still available). It was one of the first bigger purchases they made together. A special one. Over the years, this sofa saw lots of love: friends coming over to watch the game, a shared bottle of wine, or cuddles with their pup, Remy. Eventually, even more snuggles (and maybe a few stains too) came along with the addition of their two daughters.

They really treasured it–something I think we should all strive for when it comes to picking out the pieces for our homes! And for being 10 years old, she really ain’t looking too bad. But there comes a time to invite in some newness and when we re-did Kaitlin’s living room, she was generous enough to pass this sofa on to me.

But if you too have inherited or found a piece of leather furniture that could use a lifeline, you’ve come to the right place! I’ve watched enough YouTube tutorials to predict that with a few affordable products, I could more than likely bring this baby back to life. Or at least give her a little boost. I haven’t done this before so I wasn’t sure which leather cleaner/conditioner solution would be the best to use, and there are quite a few on the market. So today I’m putting two of them to the test.

Here’s our starting point. The leather looks and feels quite dry, but thankfully, there are no rips or tears. A few minor stains here and there, but honestly, I have been living with it in this state for a while now and it could be way worse. While the center seat cushion definitely looks the roughest, I left it untouched until the end of my rigorous testing to see which of the two products worked better to finish the job. Also big shout-out to Marlee for helping me do this and taking all the photos!

We tested out two products. On the right top and bottom cushions, we used Leather Honey’s cleaner and conditioner. And on the left, we went with Lexol’s cleaner and conditioner combo. Both of these came highly rated, but I will go ahead and spoil it for you–there was a clear winner in my eyes.

It was a super easy process if you want to see it in action (the video will play after a couple of quick ads)

Step One: Cleaning

We went in with the cleaning solutions first (obviously) and a couple of microfiber cloths, like the instructions said. Right off the bat, I will say, you’re probably better off using a white microfiber cloth if you’re gonna do this. I imagine you’d see all kinds of satisfying grime coming off onto your rag, but I only had these gray ones, and with both of the products, I couldn’t really tell what it was doing in terms of cleaning.

Lexol’s cleaner said to pour a small amount onto the rag and rub it in. It applied smoothly and pretty evenly. Because my leather was pretty soft, less taut, it was a bit tricky to pull the rag across in a big sweeping motion without it bunching. But I was able to fully coat the seat. It said to wipe away the excess with a damp cloth, but the couch absorbed the product pretty quickly, so there was no real need for that.

Leather Honey’s cleaner worked about the same, but it had a spray bottle instead. It took a little longer to saturate the cloth enough to use. Again, I tried big sweeping motions and coated the cushion as best I could, but it was hard to tell if it was actually doing anything. With both of these products, I viewed them more as a “prep step” rather than essential to making the sofa come alive again. Both sides looked maybe a little more moisturized and even after cleaning, but it was an underwhelming step.

Step Two: Conditioning

But step two with the Lexol conditioner was a breeze! The product comes out kind of white, but goes on clear and is reallllllly easy to move around and buff into the leather. Again, I kept pouring little dollops onto the rag, rubbing it into the leather in circular motions until the whole cushion was coated. This product was super easy to use and was clearly adding some moisture back to the leather, getting me excited for the end results.

This is how it looked immediately after. It definitely evened out some of the leather’s discoloration (hard to say if that was from the cleaner, the conditioner, or both). But I was most impressed by how soft and smooth the leather was feeling after conditioning. Like butter! I didn’t notice any funky smell, and I can’t stress this enough, the product was REALLY easy to move around on the material.

But Leather Honey’s conditioner? Not so much. The instructions were virtually identical to Lexol’s: a small dab of product onto the rag, rub in until evenly coated. This one did mention that the product would work better if it was warmed up, and after going in with it straight out of the bottle and STRUGGLING, I did try zapping it in the microwave. It helped a little bit? Maybe? But this product really did feel and move like honey–sticky. It was thick and hard to wipe around the leather. I felt like I couldn’t get it to spread evenly because the product was clinging and soaking into the leather too fast. And the only way to combat that was to keep adding product.

Doing this side was genuinely a little scary because it was coming out SO dark. Like so dark. I for sure put on way too much, but also felt like I didn’t have a choice if I was to coat the cushion evenly, like it said. It felt splotchy and I was so worried it was going to permanently change the color of the leather…

Because just look at how dark it was!!! This was after coating each of the side cushions with just one layer of the conditioners. I was joking with Marlee that at this stage, it was really feeling like the Neapolitan ice cream of couches. The left side compared to the super dry middle seat and the perfectly buttered right seat? Insane.

The instructions should’ve said “remain calm and let it dry down” because here’s how it looked the next day. Way better! Phew! Now these are iPhone shots, so the coloring will look a bit different, but it was for sure lighter and more even-toned in person once it had the full 24 hours to dry.

BUT I will say, I think the Leather Honey did actually darken the leather a shade or two. Don’t love that!! It’s not so bad to me that it’s super noticeable, but the Lexol right cushion was definitely the winning solution. So much so that I decided to go ahead and clean/condition the super-dry center cushion with the Lexol combo to finish the job. That is the difference you see above. But let’s pull back a bit and see the full before and after:

Here’s where we started…

And here’s how she looks now! I don’t know about you, but I DEFINITELY notice a difference between these shots (and in person, for sure). Before, the sofa was just so crusty, looked quite wrinkled, and felt super dry. Now that the sofa cushions are fully conditioned (this was shot a week later), I can say I both feel and see a difference. Did it give me a brand new sofa? Not really. But I’m happy I did it and it was truly so easy, I think it’s something I’ll try to do every six months or so.

I think the Leather Honey would’ve worked better on a tighter leather upholstery, but it was the big loser here. I am however a BIG FAN of the Lexol combo, how it moved and how it transformed. I still have a ton left over for future applications, plus it’s the less expensive option! If you’ve got a piece of leather furniture, a car seat, or even a leather purse that needs a little lift, I really recommend giving Lexol a try! Let me know if you do and if you’ve got questions, I’ll do my best to answer them in the comments 🙂

Throwing down a rug is one of the easiest ways to cozy up a room and as you know cozy is a top priority over here. A rug can help define a living space, soften up a bedroom, or provide some cushion under your feet down a long hallway. Rugs are versatile and impactful, but they’ve had a decades-long problem of staying put or even staying comfortable. Buying a rug pad is intended to solve this problem, but can become a problem all on its own when trying to figure out which one is best for you. Different rug pads are meant for different things and we’ve tested a bunch across the board to find the best ones to recommend. This was a VERY important post for us to research and write because as you know Emily has been a cushy rug pad fanatic for years now and wants all of you to experience the joy it can bring to your feet.

We did the real deal, in-person research so please read on to see the full breakdown for each one, but to save you some scroll time…

Here Are Our Top Picks!

BEST THIN & GRIPPY: nuLOOM Eco-Friendly Rug Pad | BEST VALUE: Mohawk Home Non Slip Rug Pad Gripper

BEST THICK & GRIPPY: RUGPADUSA Dual Surface | BEST LUXURY CUSHION: RUGPADUSA Memory Foam

Okay, now let’s break it down!

The Classic Rubber Grip Pad

If your main concern is movement, a rubber gripping pad works well under a rug to provide more traction. These are best used under runners or smaller kitchen and bathroom rugs–areas where rugs see a lot of daily movement. Overall, these rubber grips don’t provide a ton of cushion or extra comfort to the rug like a felted pad might. But they can do a good job of keeping a high-traffic rug in place. Here’s our thoughts on the three we tested:

RUGPADUSA Super Lock Natural

The RUGPADUSA brand came up a lot in our search, and for good reason. Their products are really great quality. This rug pad worked exactly like it said would. The material felt very durable, gripped well to the underside of the rug and the floor, was super easy to trim, and provided a little bit of cushion, too! But at almost $70 for a 2’x8′ runner size, this gripper was way more expensive than the others we tried.

Vekken Rug Pad Gripper

This rug gripper felt pretty cheap right out of the packaging and held onto its creases from being folded up. But once down, it did hold the rug in place pretty well and you couldn’t feel the folds when walking over the rug. That said, you couldn’t feel anything because this gripper was super thin. It was very easy to trim, comes in many sizes, and was the most inexpensive option of the three. BUT it’s made of polyvinyl chloride and cannot be used on certain flooring types, like natural stone or concrete, without leaving a residue.

Gorilla Grip Extra Strong Gripper

The Gorilla Grip rug pad was soft and squishy and provided a very strong grip under the rug. It comes in many sizes, was also super easy to cut, and came at a decent price. The larger spacing between the grippy blobs and the bits that connect them is said to help with airflow, but it does feel like it creates more potential for ripping or deterioration because of this. Not to mention, this rug pad smelled pretty bad. Very chemically right out of the package, but it was only super noticeable up close.

Even though it was the most expensive, the winner for us in this category was the RUGPADUSA Super Lock Natural. Our photographer Kaitlin even took it home with her to use under her entry rug because she liked it so much. HOWEVER, below you’ll find that for about the same price, some of the other felt pads (with grips) work just as well or better than rubber alone for a better value.

Felt And Cushioned Pads

Nowadays, many people are looking for added cushion under their rugs. Especially for larger area rugs, a layer of squishy batting can feel so luxurious under your feet. But not all felted pads are created equal. Some are meant to be super cushion-y with no intention of providing anti-slip technology, while others are thin enough the cushion goes undetected and grippy enough to keep that rug locked down. We tried a handful of options here:

1/8″ Cushion

Enjoy Holiday 1981 Non Slip Rug Pad

This Enjoy Holiday 1981 rug pad came recommended across some other internet lists. It’s pretty thin at only 1/8″ and with its rubber backing, it gripped to the hardwood quite well. But the felt side was too soft and didn’t hold to the rug itself very well. We tested it in the runner size, but other customers have complained about the larger sizes (like a 6’x9′) coming with a hefty, visible seam, leaving a lump in the rug. At about $30 for the runner size, it was fairly inexpensive, but this one just wasn’t our favorite.

nuLOOM Eco-Friendly Rug Pad

If you’d like a minimal cushion felt pad that also grips, we recommend going with the nuLOOM. Looks can be a bit deceiving with this one. The grip pattern on the underside is unlike the previous four–not very rubbery at first glance–and the material overall felt a little cheap in hand. But once we put it to the test, we were pleasantly surprised. The tiny flowery grips pack a punch and the scratchy felt side really latches onto the rug. We ran and jumped and slid across this runner/rug pad combo and she didn’t move. Annoyingly, this one doesn’t come in a standard 2’x8′ size, but we bought two 2’x4′ pads and laid them next to each other and they worked great. Also coming in at about $30 for a runner, this one is our winner in the thin category.

1/4″ Cushion

BAGAIL Felt And Natural Rubber

Bumping it up to the next cushion level is the BAGAIL 1/4″ felt pad. This one, much like the nuLOOM, has that super scratchy felt, gripping tightly to the underside of the rug. It comes with a rubber underside that stood up pretty well against the hardwoods and our running/walking tests, but we did see some movement with the Tom Cruise Test (the run and slide a la Risky Business). It came a little big but was super easy to cut to size. This one is a good choice, a fair price, and comes in all the sizes, but we’d say it’s best suited for slightly larger or thicker rugs where the weight helps to keep it in place.

Mohawk Home Non Slip Rug Pad Gripper

Next up is Mohawk Home, and with a name like that, there’s no way this pad isn’t rockin’! It has a minimal but decent 1/4″ cushion, that same scratchy felt that we love, and a similar but slightly more robust rubber grip side than the previous contender. It passed all movement tests with flying colors and was also an easy trim job. There was a faint factory smell right out of the package, but hardly bothersome to us. Offered at the same price point as the BAGAIL, but lower than many others on our trial list, we’d choose this one.

A 1/4″ cushioned pad is perfect for adding just a little, but not too much cushion to a flat-woven rug. However, Mohawk offers the same pad in both a 1/2″ and 3/8″ thickness as well. Thicker pads like these don’t work as well with super thin rugs as they can kind of make them look like they’re mysteriously floating on the ground. But you can (and should) give your thicker rug pad about 2″ of space on all sides to allow the rug to cascade down to the floor.

3/8″ Cushion And Up

RUGPADUSA Dual Surface

Speaking of a thicker cushion, next up is the RUGPADUSA Dual Surface. This pad provides a hefty 3/8″ cushion AND a grippy underside. The felt is scratchy (our preferred) and the rubber grips well to the floor, with only very slight shifting in our run/walk tests. It felt great to walk across it, definitely providing a new level of padding.

RUGPADUSA Dual Surface

But at 3/8″ thickness, this bad boy was tough to cut. Felt this thick tends to be, but with the addition of a rubber grip, it was even more of a challenge to trim. If you have the patience for this, an area rug that needs some good padding and some stay-putness, then this is a great option. That said, it’s a little bit on the pricier side, but the quality feels worth it. The brand also offers this Dual Surface gripper in 1/8″ and 1/4″ thickness for slightly less, but this was our winner for best lux cushion WITH a grip.

RUGPADUSA Basic 1/2″

Sticking with RUGPADUSA, their Basics line is where it’s at when it comes to cushion. If what you’re looking for is added noise suppression or extra comfort, and only if your rug is large and heavy enough (or you have furniture to keep the pad in place) this 1/2″ rug pad is great. The scratchy felt once again latches nicely to the rug, but the super soft felt side keeps your floor protected. The only downsides here are that the soft felt tends to pull a little and due to its thickness, it’s another tricky one to trim–but not impossible. But we would not recommend this rug pad if traction is your goal.

RUGPADUSA Basics 1/4″

We tried this Basics line out in two sizes and both were great for adding padding. If more cushion and comfort are what you seek, go with the 1/2″ or 3/8″. But if you’re okay with just a little extra oompf, the 1/4″ thickness still made a noticeable enough difference in comfort. Again, though, no added traction with these! Best used in places where the rug is anchored by furniture already.

RUGPADUSA Memory Foam

For our final cushion act, may we introduce you to the RUGPADUSA Memory Foam option? Talk about some cushion! This rug pad has you feeling like you’re walking on a cloud (or a mattress topper). You sink into it as you walk across and it feels nice. The product is quite heavy and the material has a natural stay power so we’d argue that this is a good grip option too. It’s 7/16″ thick, putting it just barely under the 1/2″ mark, but arguably feels more comfy/cushiony. This is also the one that Emily has and LOVES.

It’s a pain to cut, about as annoying as the thicker felt options. Plus, the price point here is steep! It’s more than double what the Basics 1/2″ felt pad costs, but if money isn’t your concern, we really love this rug pad for its luxury feel. The one pictured under our Merrick rug is currently at the River House and they swear by it.

Rug Tape And Sticky Grips

To round out this long list of options, we’ve added a few quick-fix treatments if a full-sized pad just isn’t your jam. Sometimes the issue with rugs is less about padding or traction and more about keeping the rug laying flat. Often the corners on rugs, especially a woven rug, can curl up over time. We tested three products intended to keep corners down and rugs in place. Here are our thoughts:

Gorilla Grip Sticky Pads

These corner grips are SUPER sticky. Like extremely so. The product adheres strongly to both the rug and the floor and goes nowhere! It shouldn’t leave any residue on your hardwoods (it didn’t when we tested it) but it WILL take off fibers from the back of your rug when removed. These grips are best used only once, intended to keep the rug stuck in the same place. It can be a little cumbersome to make sure the corners are aligned the right way, and placed on the correct side, but they’re a fairly inexpensive option at around $2/sticker if your main concern is corner flippage.

Home Techpro Grippers

These Home Techpro Grippers are less of an adhesive and more of a vacuum suction to the ground. The grooves in the stick-on pads help to grip onto the ground. There is a slight stickiness feeling to the pad, but felt like it was getting less sticky with every touch. It did seem to work as it claims, staying in place with our movement tests, and it didn’t leave behind a floor residue. These are probably the safest bet for holding down tricky corners if you’re fearful about adhesive transfer.

Carpet Tape

This rug tape was our least favorite of the three in this category. While the one pro is that you can cut it to any desired length, it’s really easy for this crazy-sticky tape to cling to itself before you even get the chance to stick it down. It’s inexpensive, sure, but there are reviews about it leaving behind a sticky residue (which may cost you more in the long run) and questions about its sticking longevity. Kaitlin has used this tape previously and had a hard time with both.

So that’s our official rug pad review round-up! A few great winners, some in-betweeners, and some definite NOs. If you took the time to read through every review, we thank you! But regardless, we appreciate you taking a look and let us know if you like these types of posts. We hope this helps you find the rug pad right for you!

*Photos by Kaitlin Green