In an effort to stay within budget, and to cut back on consumerism, sometimes you gotta work with what your momma gave ya . . . or what you already own. When stars align, sometimes the furnishing that's a hand-me-down, a street find, or the like, is the perfect one for your digs. The owners of a beach shack on the Isle of Wight in the UK made the most of an old oar by using it as a curtain rod. Read more

The antler and hunting trophy trend has been around for some time, and I will venture to say that taxidermy wall décor and antler chandeliers (sorry, Jason Miller) are officially over. But there's still a place for a call to the wild in your home — if you get creative. I love how one Living Etc reader reimagined the style by DIY-ing a set of rustic curtain rod finials and curtain tiebacks Read more

Recently, one of our readers wrote in asking, "I'm a college student moving into a room in an apartment with no closet — any open-closet ideas?" I posed this question to our Facebook friends, and did they ever come through! Check out some of the great ideas our readers had for dealing with a bedroom that's missing the standard closet. Ronda recommended, "Learn how to fold neatly. Install Read more

On rushed mornings, the last thing I want to do is drag my space-hogging ironing board out from the closet, unfold it, plug in my iron, and wait 10 minutes for it to heat up. Instead, I wind up choosing something a little less wrinkled than the clothing I initially had in mind. So I decided to buy a fabric steamer, the Rowenta 1400-Watt Pro Compact Steamer ($50), and see if I might become a Read more

I wish I was handed a quarter for every time one of my travel companions said, "You should just do carry-on" or asked, "Why don't you pack lighter?" Whenever I do try to pack lighter, I find my workout wear gets left out. There are lots of compact gym essentials that can easily fit in a suitcase, but when it comes right down to the basics, how do you know what to take? Here are some options I Read more

Here's a post from CasaSugar Community member YBandD from the Su Casa group: I recently moved into a new apartment. Here is some of the decorating progress. First thing is first: get rid of the awful plastic vertical blinds. I have great 9′ ceilings and the blinds were not exactly accentuating any architectural details. Poof, be gone!  I did full height 96″ drapery panels to soften the Read more

Here's a post from CasaSugar Community member LAKR from the Su Casa group: We're renting this loft from January to June...long enough to settle in, but we don't want to spend a bundle decorating, and we can't make permanent changes, of course.I really disliked the  undersized curtains on our beautiful front window which looks out onto the waterfront.  I had a feeling that floor to ceiling Read more