Graphic design
fromApartment Therapy
5 hours agoThis Item Designers Always Buy First at the Flea Market Will Make Your Home Look More Expensive
Designers prioritize art when shopping at flea markets for unique and affordable pieces.
Textiles are a window into the communities that created them, with every motif and line signalling a different memory, tradition or identity. Often seen as folk art, these pieces of embroidery and weaving bring together dozens of narrative threads, from Japan to South America. But nowhere is it more fraught with meaning than in Palestine.
The Aubusson Tapestry Museum is situated in an exceptional context shaped by a rich history and a powerful natural environment. The Creuse capital of tapestry has been marked by its history since the royal manufactory of the 14th century.
Making pojagi was a way of "economizing resources," and also "an act of affection," explains artist-fashion designer Christina Kim of Remodelista longtime favorite Dosa. Shown here: Dosa's cotton and silk Pojagi Scarves are "both a reminder of Christina's childhood in Korea and a beautiful expression of traditional recycling"-and would work well on a wall or in a doorway.
Distance does not soften the terror. It only deepens my helplessness. In moments like this, I realize that geography is not measured in miles, but in attachment. War rearranges distance. These days I find myself returning to "The Conference of the Birds," the 12th-century poem by Attar of Nishapur, seeking meaning through ancient wisdom about spiritual journeys and transformation.
A compleat Persian Palace--there are many minor variations and lesser imitations--is distinguished by its exaggerated moldings, numberless layers of cornices, elaborate grillework and columns galore. A Persian Palace brazenly combines motifs and wantonly disregards proportion and scale.
The beauty of frills lies in its delicate silhouette that pairs equally well with gingham bedding as it does with florals or simple solid colors. In fact, an all-white ruffled bedding set or a frilly decorative pillow is all you need to lighten the mood in a room. Extra pomp doesn't have to skew antiquated, either, as several modern variations from upscale brands like Sferra and Annie Selke illustrate.
Our role is, first and foremost, to transmit our fascination with a craft and to ignite that same excitement in the designer. This is the foundation of our curatorial approach: creating the right encounter between a designer's universe and that of a workshop.
Our small crew stayed in the Saadia riad, where rooms overlooked a courtyard lined with Moroccan zellige (tilework) and intricately carved arched balconies. The interiors were a labor of love by the family of Caid Azzi Boujemaa, a former palace worker who was gifted the Riad in the early 20th century as a thank you for his loyalty. In the early 2000s the property was restored by the La Sultana hotel group,
Traveller check into hotels for easy access to historical Mayan sites and the cenotes beyond, with ambles through colourful squares and late, balmy nights digesting feasts over tequila tipples. Between cultural excursions and natural wonders, however, there's much to be said for the artisans in these parts. From crafted perfumes to handmade chocolates, these are the gifts and trinkets to make space for in your luggage.
Fashion and dress in Mesopotamia - clothing, footwear, and accessories - were not only functional but defined one's social status and developed from a simple loincloth in the Ubaid period (circa 6500-4000 BCE) to brightly colored robes and dresses by the time of the Sassanian Empire (224-651). Styles changed, but the essential form and function remained the same. As in any civilization, the upper class and nobility wore more expensive clothes of higher quality.
But this week I spotted an ingenious use for the extras, courtesy of NY-based company Proche Studio. Here's their proposal: Mail in a wool blanket, and they'll give it new life in the form of a great-looking-and uber snug-chore coat, vest, or scarf. I'm particularly smitten by the chore coat, a fresh version of the quilt coats that became popular a couple of years ago, and much, much warmer.
My husband and I just upgraded our apartment here in Germany to one with much more space. The downsides of this is we have hard marble floors and a tall-ceilinged living room (oh woe is us!). It's very echo-y and looks directly into our neighbors across the street. The windows have external shutters, so light-blocking isn't needed, but we'd love to get
An intact mosaic from Late Antiquity discovered during restoration of a historic municipal building in Istanbul is now a floor again, covered in plexiglass and welcoming visitors to the new Zeytinburnu Mosaic Museum. Visitors of Turkey's newest museum move across elevated glass walkways, suspended right above the original floors themselves. The mosaics are not relocated fragments mounted on walls, but surfaces that remain exactly where they were first laid, preserving their context for all to see.
Despite their slender profiles, the best runner rugs can still transform a space from confused to curated. While they don't have quite the anchoring effect of an area rug, they can still breathe life into the spaces that need it most (see: entryways, hallways, all-white kitchens in need of resuscitation). Beyond creating impact in your entryway or hallway, runners serve an entirely practical purpose: catching and/or disguising debris in your high-traffic areas.
In the early 19th century, the invention of the loom threatened to turn the labor market upside down. Until then, cloth was made by skilled artisans, but the loom enabled more cloth to be made more quickly by less-skilled workers. One could even argue that the Jacquard loom, a loom that allowed for complex weaving patterns via punch cards, was the first computer.
Also known as boho style, this free-spirited aesthetic is built on an eclectic mix of patterns and organic textures anchored by earthy elements and color palettes. Take a look at Justina Blakeney's Los Angeles home tour to find inspiration-her peacock-hued bedroom is a lesson in texture. The beauty of this style is that you can express yourself with bold prints that range from paisley motifs and palm leaves, or tone it down by layering a neutral bedspread and pillow shams with tassels or pom-poms.
While descriptions of the distinctive Mongolian nuqula hairstyle abound across both surviving written and visual sources (shaving the top of the head, leaving a rectangular lock on the forehead and twisting the remaining hair behind the ears in loops), rather less attention is given to how women wore their hair. In part, this is due to some of the clothing styles which obscured the hair from the view of travellers or in the paintings produced in the Mongol courts.
The ongoing repression of dissidents in Venezuela following the US attacks reminds us that President Trump never had the interest of the nation's people at heart. The painful reality of many immigrants is one of being caught between dehumanizing forces in their native countries and in exile, and reduced to abstractions in an increasingly unnuanced "discourse" that flattens lived experience.
The Rural Cut places vintage fashion in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, among vineyards, open fields, and the animals that inhabit the land. As a Beirut-based stylist, I worked with a fully Lebanese team to create a shoot that feels authentic, where each garment and every frame reflects the textures, history, and rhythm of the rural landscape. Photography by Angele Basile / Instagram: @angelebasile Styling by Rinad Saad / Instagram: @rinaaaaddd
From a single material, a Hyderabad-based design studio creates a wide range of site-specific installations, furnishings, and decor. It's all in the name of the firm, The Wicker Story, which was founded in 2019 by architect Priyanka Narula. Capable of being formed into everything from abstract constructions to functional objects, the natural material lends itself a huge variety of pieces that vary in size and complexity.
The collaboration brings together Designtex's deep expertise in high-performance contract textiles and nanimarquina's poetic command of craft, tactility, and the beauty of the imperfect. For both teams, the partnership emerged from an immediate sense of kinship - a shared language of material integrity, color sensitivity, and a respect for heritage techniques reinterpreted for contemporary spaces. "We did that by using performance yarns and intentionally embedding imperfections into the weaving process."
The show features the work of 14 contemporary artists who use the rug as a medium to engage with cultural concerns related to religion, technology, social justice, housing, and the environment. The diverse roster of artists from the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia work across a variety of media, including yarn, cardboard, repurposed carpets, and hair combs, to transform this functional object into a site of experimentation - manipulated, reinterpreted, and made new.
In this freezing season, we're thinking warm thoughts. Hot chocolate, '90s rom-coms, purring kittens, and the best luxury throw blankets. "Feels like -6 degrees" day after day has us dreaming up cozy blankets speciated for sophisticated lounging. We're talking thick wool that's not scratchy, cashmere not prone to pilling, oversized throws as soft as your favorite sweater. High-quality textiles are of the highest import, and we'll even pay the dry cleaning fee for this level of comfort.
Tons upon tons of these single-use plastics end up in landfills or even floating in the ocean. Spanish design firm PET Lamp set out give another purpose to these otherwise short-lived materials. Partnering with artisans in communities from Chile to Ethiopia to Australia, the company celebrates both Indigeneity and sustainability, drawing upon time-honored global craft traditions while supporting local economies and recycling discarded materials.
Any time I've felt like a room in my home was "missing something," it's almost always been a rug. They have a way of subtly tying the details of a space together and can enhance the aesthetic without you having to make much effort. In my opinion, the hardest part is picking one out - but knowing where to shop is a great place to start.
At first glance, the faux fur treasures all look similar, but each has its own distinct perk. For instance, the Lola Blankets pick has a stretchy construction that's perfect for wrapping, while the Cozy Earth bubble blanket is the ultimate reading-in-bed accessory thanks to its heftier weight and tailored look. Since these are quite fluffy, I like to style my faux fur blankets in two ways, depending on my mood. For all-season decor, you can't go wrong draping it against woven upholstery.
Accessible from three sides, the booth is shaped by approach and visibility rather than a single frontal orientation. The primary entry is marked by an angled portal set back from the site edge, establishing a layered visual field rather than an immediate overview. From this offset threshold, overlapping planes of tiles, textures, and color unfold gradually, encouraging movement through depth rather than direct access.
The age of white-washed, super scant, and industrial spaces are behind us. Designers are craving excitement and color this season, manifesting this shift with maximalist bedding sporting punchy colors, big stripes, and winding patterns. An eye-catching bedding set is as good as a full bedroom makeover. Linens have the ability to fully shift the tone of a room: A set of deep cobalt silks can add mystery and allure, while a gingham duvet can take a space from empty to adorable.