I confess I buy toys made for adults — and no, not what you’re thinking! A collection of Kidrobot Gorillaz and Smorkin’ Labbits have a place in our china cabinet. So I asked Kristen Rask of Schmancy to talk to us about the explosion in collectible toys for adults. Here’s what she had to say. –Mary T.

“I would say since opening Schmancy that the ‘gateway’ toy is Dunny by Kidrobot,” says Rask. “Those who know nothing of the urban vinyl toy movement still are attracted to them. Those are always, without fail, a big seller.” Can’t get enough toys? There’s more. (more…)

Some people like to renovate a house to be ultra-authentic to its time period, right down to the kitchen fixtures. Others just want to bring back a little of the faded glory (like those great 1950s tiled bathrooms that a lot of people love to tear out). Both types will find something to love at Retro Renovation, “a place for your postwar ’40s, ’50s and ’60s-style kitchens, bathrooms and mid-century modern home aesthetic.” I stumbled on the site while kicking around ideas for the floor of our very tiny kitchen — our cabinets and countertops are original to 1947, but the floor is a distinctive (or would that be NON-distinctive?) 1980s beige. We ended up purchasing a retro-style tile by Mannington that’s not too far off from this selection of retro flooring. Our kitchen won’t be anywhere cool as Pam’s (amazing) Kitchen, above, but it will be a little cooler for having found this site. –Mary T.

Image via Danny Seo

Okay, so this week isn’t so much a green find as a green question. While I’m lucky to have recently moved into a home with a beautifully remodeled master bathroom, the showerhead is one of the worst I’ve ever stood below… all bad angles, pitiful water pressure, and (I’m guessing) poor water efficiency. So after months of putting up with sub-par showers, I’m on the hunt for a new showerhead that saves water and facilitates delightful, perfectly pressurized bathing. Any ideas? Green living guru Danny Seo recommends Kohler’s WaterSense Forte showerhead ($82.45) — anyone tried it? –Meg D.

Read more of Meg’s tips for stylish, green living at her blog, Style Saves the World.

Seattle got two sunny days in a row, and we jumped at the opportunity to stain the the railings around our deck and stairs. (Our insurance company was sort of insistent that we build railings when we bought the house.) As I don’t want to use any product that has a risk of spontaneously combusting — for both environmental and personal reasons! — we decided to give water-based Penofin Aquafin a try. We were not disappointed! The stuff is kind of amazing: It barely smells at all, gives off almost no VOCs, covers great, washed out of the brushes in seconds, and dries in three hours (though you’re not supposed to walk on it for 24). You can even use it on wood that’s damp! Best of all, today it rained, and the water is beading up quite nicely. The only slight difficulty was finding it; we ended up calling around and getting it from a local lumber yard. So do your research before heading out to get some of your own. –Mary T.

We love our big living room windows, but we wanted to be able to block the sometimes-blinding setting sun. However, we also wanted to hang the curtains wide enough to maximize our view. Just one problem: our windows are 118″wide, and the longest readily available curtain rods we could find only went to 120″. Lucky for me, I have an observant (and handy) husband. He’d seen metal conduit used as curtain rods, so we decided to investigate that section of the hardware store. Turned out that 10′lengths of 3/4″metal conduit could be had for just $3.99 each. With the help of a hacksaw, a few conduit hangers, and less than an hour of work, we now have a 152.5″curtain rod. It’s a bit industrial, but that’s perfect for us. –Mary T. Read on for photos and instructions! (more…)

My current couch is dingy and drab — 10 years of wear and tear plus two small children have left some ugly marks. If I reupholster, it will probably cost $3,000 for the labor plus extra for fabric (we need 30 yards). The original couch shape is decent and I feel like it’s timeless, but there’s part of me that wonders if it’s ’80s fluffy and big. The couch has good bones — with a wood frame — and it’s down, which is higher quality than a new couch that I would buy, which would be foam. But that also means lots of pillow fluffing, and down seems to be out of fashion. I don’t know the original price, but it was a hand-me-down from a wealthy family friend and probably beaucoup bucks. If I buy new, I would probably get something from Room and Board, and I like this couch-and-chair set that costs around $2,500. (I’m thinking Vick fabric in Graphite.) So the question is: Spend more and reupholster old couch? Or start fresh and buy new? –Beth J.

You may recall that I was looking for bedroom decorating inspiration awhile back. Well, we ended up buying a new house that same month, rendering that particular problem moot. Now that we’ve moved, it turns out that the main issue is the the bed itself, a modern canopy that we purchased two years ago from West Elm. (We bought a king, but only the twin version is still available.) We still love how it looks, but from the beginning the sound the bed made was an issue. After, say, a night or two of sleep in the bed, the screws would loosen up and the bed would make an echoing clanking noise at the slightest movement.

So here are my questions:
1) Does anyone else have the West Elm metal canopy bed, and the same sound issues? If so, have you come up with any solutions?

2) We’re leaning toward selling the canopy bed and getting a simpler, mid-century modern-style, king-size platform bed. Any suggestions that cost under $1,000? — Mary T.

Last weekend, I covered the chair shown above with a rose-print fabric from Brooklyn General. This was my first reupholstering attempt. A friend found the abandoned chair down the block from my apartment and lugged it over, assuming I’d like its lines and would figure out how to address the problem of its staid floral fabric.

Covering chair seats is supposed to be easy, but I was suspicious. Instructions (from The Nest, Martha Stewart, and eHow) blithely advised to “unscrew the seat,” but I was convinced my chair would have something annoying up its sleeve, like tightly-stuck nails. Wrong. A couple of turns with a screwdriver, and out it popped.

Next I placed the seat face down on the new fabric. The instructions suggested removing the old material, but I left it on in the hopes of a cushier seat (which explains why it’s plumper than the original). I also left in the old batting, out of laziness. In pursuit of flat corners, I notched “V”s at the points where the fabric gets folded over while turning a corner edge. Unfortunately, my “V”s weren’t the right shape, so my corners are lumpy. (Anyone have tips on how to solve that problem?) Overall, though, reupholstering turned out to be a relaxing and absorbing way to spend an hour. Final step: using a staple gun to secure the material.

The main reason this project was uncomplicated is the chair itself. It has the right kind of seat—”drop-in,” according to one set of instructions. Because it’s old, the screws practically fell off. And its nicked wood and wobbly left arm, which I plan on gluing, meant I wasn’t worried about ruining the chair with a badly-placed staple.

As it happens, the fabric I picked out isn’t that unlike the old one, but hopefully the right paint color will emphasize its jewel-like pinks and greens, making the chair look more up-to-date. My question for you is: what color do you think would best complement the brown-and-pink pattern? Pale pink? Cucumber? Cream? I’d love to get your suggestions about the palette — I think it will make a big difference! — Bunny W.

We always hear about the wonders of Sears Kit Houses, affordable single family homes that were ordered from a catalog and delivered in thousands of pieces for assembly in the early 1900s. This month’s Cottage Living magazine has a great feature on the renovation of one in Pennsylvania. There are great before and after shots on the mag’s web site — be sure to check out the chalkboard wall and the lovely photo mural in the bedroom. If only we could place an order of one now! We’re sold!

I have now become officially obsessed with before and after shots of home renovation. Of course I had to join the Flickr group Room Renovations: Before and After Shots. Amazing what a little hard work will do to change a room. Renovations range from down-to-the-studs extreme to one woman who cleared off and rearranged a tabletop in her kitchen! I love it. - Mary T.