Wow Home Idea

MAGNOLIAMARKET.COM Chip and Joanna Gaines, stars of HGTV's Fixer Upper and visionaries behind oh, roughly every kitchen your mom has pinned to her "Home Ideas" board, have been pretty tight-lipped on the details of their new bakery, Magnolia Flour, since Joanna's initial announcement on Instagram nine weeks ago. A post shared by Joanna Stevens Gaines (@joannagaines) on Dec 29, 2015 at 9:45am PST The bakery's official launch is currently set for mid-May, according to Joanna's February 25 blog post, but we've done some sleuth work, and here's what we've learned about the Waco, Texas-based shop — and a few educated guesses (read: pure speculation based on obsessive Instagram/Internet stalking) on what's to come. 1. It will serve strawberries and cream cupcakes. We took a final vote for the icing flavor on the strawberry cupcake... Front and center is the winner! My gut says to go with the cream! I love the blend of it with the strawberry cak...

ToxicSites.Us Here's a not-so-fun fact to pull out at a cocktail party: There are currently 1,300 highly toxic waste sites in the United States, which could potentially threaten the lives of the people that live near them with illness, miscarriages, birth defects, cancer, and more. These particular locales are called Superfund sites — a government nickname for places with toxic waste that EPA recommends for immediate cleanup. But, unfortunately, many people don't even know where these contaminated grounds are located.  To answer this need, Brooke Singer, a media artist, felt compelled to create ToxicSites, a searchable database that catalogs where these toxic spots are in the country in real time, using data provided by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The project started when Singer met Robert Martin in 2006, an environmentalist and former national ombudsman of the EPA....

In a way, having an old house is like having a child — you don't know what you're in for until you're deep in the trenches, and you'll spend years vacillating between feeling completely overwhelmed and head-over-heels in love. (I can say this with confidence, having purchased an old house within two months of giving birth to my first child.) Beyond the very obvious questions (e.g. is the foundation stable?), there are several critical questions that any potential old-house buyer should ask themselves. And believe it or not, they have more to do with personality than anything else. 1 Do you like working with your hands? Hero Images Before moving into my old house, I would have considered myself more of a thinker than a doer. I've always loved to decorate, but have never been especially handy — then again, 17 years of hopping between New York City rentals hadn't allowed much opportunity for tinkering. But just as no one can prepare you for what it's like to ...

There's little we love more than gazing over a lovely landscape — so the opportunity to view winning entries for Britain's International Garden Photographer of the Year is definitely one we didn't want to miss. The top photographs from 2015's competition are currently on display at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, London, including the winning image, above — a stunning landscape called Tekapo Lupins by the aptly named Richard Bloom. Can't make it to London in the near future? Sit back and enjoy a selection of the winners' and finalists' entries here: Emma Jacobs - Wildflower Wilderness   Carole Drake - Pigeon House at Dawn Chris Herring - Spring Breeze Nicola Munro - You Lookin' At Me? Joe Wainwright - Hot Air Balloon over Trentham Gardens James Woodend - A Night to Remember Janice Dyson - Chatsworth Saxon Holt - Blue Oak Jude Gadd - A Misty Sunrise in Chatsworth Park For more information, go to igpoty.com (Images: International G...

Pretty Practical Home If we could describe the average laundry room in a word, it would be "joyless." It's a space dedicated to carrying out a dreaded chore, where often the only frills are on your linens. That's why this makeover by Sharon of the aptly-named blog Pretty Practical Home blew us away. The "before" is a familiar sight, from the beige walls to the array of hampers. Though it's certainly organized, the room feels cramped and decidedly utilitarian. Sharon started by stenciling an ornate paisley-like design, which mimics the look of wallpaper. The blue simply pops against the neutral background, while the large-scale motif draws the eye around the room, offering the illusion of expansiveness. Other space-maximizing moves included adding a big mirror and nixing the standing island in favor of a floating counter, which provides room for folding. It also allowed Sharon to store larger (and lovely!) hampers underneath. Take a look around: Prett...

Weston Wells Dan Fink got his big break in the unlikeliest of ways: studying human biology at Stanford University. "Post-graduation, I was hired to assist a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and ended up working on design projects for him," says the 32-year-old New Jersey native. "I understood the way he thought." Word of his self-taught talent spread throughout the tech community. "Young people who'd never owned a house suddenly had great ones they needed help with," he says. His calling cards: peaceful spaces where discussions flourish ( such as this San Francisco living room, below)  and evidence of his yin-yang backstory. "There's a duality in what I do," he notes. "East Coast order and California ease." Laura Resen This story originally appeared in the November 2015 issue of  House Beautiful.  By Hillary Brown

It's amazing what a fresh coat of color can do.  Courtesy of Brit + Co. Beer Bottle Vases Upcycle glass bottles to make an array of brightly colored vases. Mix and match metallic with matte colors to get a multi-textured finish. Get the tutorial at Brit + Co. Courtesy of Picklee Vintage Fan Restoration Use spray paint to update a vintage find and bring an old-school (yet on-trend) look to your workspace or home. Get the tutorial at Picklee. Courtesy of Live Love DIY High-Gloss File Cabinet Spray paint a dull file cabinet to spruce up your home office and store your documents in style. Get the tutorial at Live Love DIY. Courtesy of Homey Oh My! Tin Can Planters Create a charming window-seal herb garden out of tin cans coated with copper-colored spray paint. Get the tutorial at Homey of My! Courtesy of Honey Bear Lane Raspberry Barstools These kitchen seats are so chic you'll want to host a party just to show off your handiwork. Get the tutorial at Honey Bear Lan...

Getty Fire safety is a hot-button topic (pun intended) — and rightly so. During a recent five-year study by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), U.S. fire departments responded to 1,000 home fires every day, on average. That's 42 every hour, causing roughly $$$ in damage each second. "The majority of home fires can be prevented by taking some very simple steps," says Lorraine Carli of the NFPA. Start today by considering all of the little things you do that can put you at big risk. 1. Crowding appliances together "When you don't leave space around electrical appliances, you're not allowing the heat they generate to dissipate," says Rachel Rothman, Technical Director at the Good Housekeeping Institute. All major appliances should be plugged directly into a wall outlet — rather than using extension cords or power strips to clump them in the same area — according to Carli. "More than one heat-producing appliance in an outlet at a time r...

Getty Moms may traditionally be the keepers of the cleaning rulebook at home, but plenty of dads out there have their own clever work-arounds, genius chore-day tactics, and, of course, time-tested maxims they pass on to their kids. We asked readers to share the best wisdoms their fathers taught them — and they didn't disappoint: 1. Make it sparkle.  "My dad was in the army, and always told me to use newspaper to polish brass. He was also in charge of cleaning bathrooms in my house and suggested spraying a little Windex on a paper towel and using it to polish all the faucets." — Victoria, 29, Brooklyn 2. Hot water. Always. "My dad insists that you can't wash dishes in anything but the hottest hot water. He actually gets upset if someone rinses a dish in cold water." — Jane, 36, Los Angeles 3. Treat your grill right. "My dad always said the trick to keeping a good grill was to brush and then brush some more. Keep it clean and you'll never have a bad...

When designer Dina Bandman got the chance to create a laundry room at this year's San Francisco Decorator Showcase, she gave the typically overlooked space a dramatic upgrade: unexpected lighting, scenic wallpaper and a spot for sudsing pups were all integral. "The laundry room is the new powder room!" Bandman says. "It should feel special and be an extension of your home's design." A Seth Smoot "I'm obsessed with blue and white — stripes, ginger jars, anything preppy," Bandman says. When she saw de Gournay's hand-painted A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains wallpaper, modeled after designs from China's Song Dynasty and in a Delft-inspired colorway, she fell in love. "My taste is classic and this cobalt scene almost looks like a ginger jar on the wall," she says. Seth Smoot "I designed the dog wash for ease: Sit on the ledge, hold them firmly — they jump! — and rinse them with the Kohler Finial hand shower," Band...