hellobeautifulcreatures

This bathroom renovation from interior designer Lori Pepe -Lunché is the most dramatic transformation to come our way in a long time. The dark, heavy, cavelike “before” is my idea of a bathroom nightmare . Even if this room were spic n’ span, it would feel unpleasant. Now that doesn’t mean a bathroom needs to be white and light to be appealing, but there’s just no denying that this is a vast improvement. I love the open layout and the exposed, seamless shower design ; not only does it make the room feel spacious and airy, but it also prevents any chance for clutter (which is my biggest obstacle in the bathroom). Make no mistake: a large renovation with marble tile is an investment. But results like these seem well worth it. Amazing work, Lori! —  Kate Have a Before & After you’d like to share? Shoot me an email with your images rig ht he re! (Low res, under 500k per image , please.) More images and basic steps after the jump . . . Time: The renovation took about five weeks from ...

Taking a shower seems pretty straightforward, no? You turn on the water, step into the stall, wash your body, rinse off the soap and then towel-dry. But it turns out, we're all probably making careless showering mistakes that are harmful to our skin. After struggling with serious bouts of dry and scaly skin this winter, we asked Dr. Heather Woolery-Lloyd, the co-founder of Specific Beauty skincare , and Dr. Heidi Waldorf, the director of laser and cosmetic dermatology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, to break down the five most common showering mistakes . 1. You're taking long, hot showers. Sure, a steamy shower is one way to warm up on cold mornings or unwind after a stressful workday, but it just isn't good for your skin. Period. According to Dr. Woolery-Lloyd, long, hot showers strip the skin of its natural oils and can make common problems like eczema worse. "They can also increase generalized itching even in people who do not have eczema,"...

Before you go out and buy a “shower caddy” don’t. Why? Because you’ll likely end up with one of those monstrosities that hangs over your shower’s neck and does little to help you solve your quandary. You see, what you really want is this Suction Cup Shelf which sells for just $35 on Amazon. Not only does it install in seconds – yes seconds – but those suctions cups are industrial strength, which lock into place and have yet to move, shift or slip in the 3 weeks I’ve been testing it. So no drilling, no hanging, no balancing act. Just a clean shelf that fits anywhere you can mount its suction cups. And it even includes a soap dish. Plus it won’t rust because it’s plastic, unlike every other shower caddy I’ve ever tested. I know the word “plastic” has a negative connotation, but in this case its for the better. Bar none, this is the best shower caddy for the money and for most people Who Should Get This Shower Caddy Anyone with a penchant for cleanliness and simplicity. Seriously, though....

Whatever people say, sometimes looks do matter – especially on your home’s front door. Julia Gray looks at how to make the right first impression POINTING out that the front door is one of the first things visitors see of your home sounds like a very obvious statement – but it’s a statement that can often be overlooked. Because people become so focused on bigger DIY projects – be it converting lofts or installing fancy new kitchens – that one humble, simple door can easily be forgotten. Think what a difference a simple door, when it is smart, bright and stylish, can make to your home – and what you can do if, on closer inspection, your front door is not smart or bright or stylish. The easiest thing to do is change the door furniture – chrome or satin nickel is more fashionable than brass and gives a smart, contemporary look, suited to period and modern doors. Get metal door numbers to match, or consider frosted-film numbers if you have a glazed or partially glazed door or porch...

The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase. Brooklinen Moving is a stressful experience no matter how you slice it, and taking on the job of finding and outfitting your first apartment as an adult is even more so. Your first apartment is a perfect storm: an intersection of many needs and low resources. Chances are high that your college roommate might have bought the kitchen utensils ... or the vacuum... or the pots and pans...  and now you’re trying to furnish an entire apartment on your own with less money than it seems the job will demand. The few purchases you do make will need to last you longer than the cheap, seasonal models you bought in college so you’re not in the same spot, dumping more money into a dresser next year. You’ll likely want nicer belongings than plastic storage bins for all of your clothes as an adult now, anyway. Since it's unlikely y...

My Barnwell SC cousins , Susan and Mary Jane. "Hospitality is making your guests feel at home, even if you wish they were." --Anonymous "Staying with people consists in your not having your own way, and their not having theirs." --Maarten Maartens "Visits always give pleasure--if not the arrival, the departure." --Portuguese Proverb "For, after all, put it as we may to ourselves, we are all of us from birth to death guests at a table which we did not spread." --Rebecca H. Davis Absalom* simply would not leave . . . . . . and, having lived in, and passionately loved "my other hometown," Athens, Greece, for some three decades at the time he showed up for his visit, I could sympathize with him. How does one leave Greece? My empathy, however, was fraying. At the time he arrived, in the middle of a Greek Orthodox monks ' protest march on the Albanian Embassy, I was newly engaged, living with my British fiancé in a stunning apartment look...

And if you were a nine-year-old girl at any point during the last 30 years, you are almost certainly familiar with American Girl. It very well may have been an essential part of your nine-year-old girldom. From the beginning, from the time it was a mere kernel of an idea scrawled on a postcard, American Girl was engineered for nine-year-old girls. It all began when Pleasant Rowland, who was working for an educational publishing company at the time, took a trip to Colonial Williamsburg. Rowland had had a varied career; she'd been an elementary school teacher , a TV news reporter , a textbook writer. History and education were her passions, and while she was in Virginia, inspiration struck. She sent a postcard detailing her plan to her friend Valerie Tripp , a children's author. As she recalled at American Girl's 25th anniversary celebration , it went something like this: "I've been down in Williamsburg this week and had an idea. What do you think of it? A series of...