LIVING SPACES
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Q: We just bought a new 55-inch flat screen TV, and I’d like to hang it over the fireplace in our family room. But my...
You’re probably familiar with tiny houses—homes ranging in size from 80 to 400 square feet—that offer small-scale liv...
Recessed living areas known as sunken living rooms—and their cozier cousins, conversation pits—spread like wildfire d...
Q: I'm eager to try out my new flat screen television on movie night—less so to rig it up to the wall. How high shoul...
Is your living room languishing because you think you just don't have the time to spruce it up? Well, think again! If you have a day—and a design dream—you alread...
2016 may very well be remembered as the year of dramatic reveals. As it winds down, let’s take a moment to admire the most eye-popping before-and-after decorating...
One of life’s simplest pleasures is plopping down in front of the TV to watch your favorite show. But sometimes when ...
Television sets are considered one of history’s greatest inventions and one of the biggest boons to in-home entertainment. Indeed, beginning shortly after World W...
Who knows why homeowners tend not to much design effort into their hallways? Perhaps it's because their narrow dimensions offer limited options. After all, even g...
Open floor plans are perfect for the modern family: flexible, airy, and interactive. But when it comes to decorating an expansive interior for maximum comfort and...
Since 2011, Becki Peckham and Chris Nicholas have been hard at work remodeling their home in eastern Canada, all the ...
When the family gathers to share food and laughter, the dining table stands at the center of it all. Whether handmade, purchased, or inherited and steeped with hi...
The formal dining room is an interior in flux. For decades it was a mainstay of the American home, but in recent years it has often found itself co-opted for a pl...
Choosing paint colors for your home can be a daunting task, especially when it comes to the living room. It's a space that is both an intimate setting for your fa...
What is it about a nook that draws us in? The informality? The coziness? Architects often carve nooks out of wasted space—beneath a staircase, under the eaves, by...
In bars and restaurants, drink coasters often bear the logos and slogans of popular beverage brands. At home, DIY coa...
After a long day, almost nothing is as relaxing as enjoying a cocktail. If you like to unwind with a drink but don't always like the stress or expense of going ou...
Are you thinking about adding a sunroom to your house? Or maybe you’re in the market for a new home, and a solarium or sunroom is on your wish list. Whether you'r...
Many people today not only live in their homes but also work, play, and entertain in them too, all in the comfort of their favorite place. You can do the same, so...
Walk into any store or turn a page in almost any magazine this month and witness the very publicly celebrated relationship between chocolate and pleasure. As awar...
No matter the size and style of your home, incorporating a reading room will give your book lovers a space to curl up and while away a cold winter afternoon.
As impromptu, low-fuss gatherings become the norm, creative hosts are entertaining friends in spaces carved out from kitchens, hallways, and living rooms.
As the holidays loom on the horizon, many families have begun to make plans and gather essentials. For some, that mea...
Design mavens reveal their favorite colors for living room walls—and why those hues work so well in this public yet intimate setting.
Now that we're nearing the end of summer, you may be looking for ways to bring your exercise routine indoors. Have yo...
The biggest challenge in inspecting your own house is to be able to see it as if for the first time. Let me suggest o...
Homes, how we live in and use them, are constantly evolving. Kitchens have opened up to living spaces and become fami...
Many homes have a treadmill or dumbbell these days, but a home gym is more than just an accumulation of equipment — i...
What better home improvement to consider on the darkest day of the year than a sunroom addition?Listen to BOB VILA ON...
Where would we be during the holidays without the sleeper sofa? Sofa beds of the past are notorious for being somewha...
With so many dishes and serving utensils, not to mention the number of guests, Thanksgiving puts your dining room to ...
Browse top-rated home theater room accessories to make your game day a blowout.
Give theme-appropriate furniture and accessories top billing in your home movie theater.
Bob meets with architect Gregory Rochlin to discuss the third-floor structural redesign.
A whole-home audio system is installed, along with new appliances, including laundry machines, a freezer and fridge, and an outdoor grill.
The house's two chimneys are repaired, allowing the installation of a gas fireplace insert, and basement family-room cabinets are completed.
Bob meets with homeowner Sarah Monzon to recap the project, from the initial preparation to the renovations to the finishing touches.
Bob tours one of the Vanderbilt family's most elegant dining rooms. The Berles have restored the ornate plasterwork ceilings and cornices, which were the inspirat...
Bob tours one of Winterthur's most ornate rooms, the Blackwell Parlor.
Artisan Ken Forcier are applying the second "layer" of the stencil he's using to decorate in the parlor of the modern Colonial.
Carpenter Bob Ryley and the finish carpenter install interior trim in the dining room.
Carpenter Bob Ryley works with general contractor Kevin Kalman to install entertainment center cabinets.
Bob and Roxane Gilmore continue touring the governor's mansion in Richmond, VA. After enjoying the highlights of the dining room, the discussion turns to the kitc...
After the controlled demolition is complete, Bob tours the upstairs living quarters of the governor's mansion.
Peter Dolan (from the Atlas Elevator Company) and Chuck Bailey (from the Virginia Elevator Company) put in the brand-new dumbwaiter.
Bob tours the finished restoration of the historic sections of the Virginia governor's mansion.
Collaborating architect Lisa Shire accompanies Bob, as he continues his tour of the completed loft conversion.
A new kind of rubber slate is applied to the roof, and the crew brings the spa down on a special plywood ramp, then carefully places it in the turret for installa...
Bob takes a final tour of the home workout area, discussing the tub surround and the new exercise equipment.
Bob meets with Dan Drook to check out the new multimedia entertainment center.
Bob tours a Georgian architectural beauty with twin octagonal parlors a few blocks away from the project house in Charleston, SC.
Bob and interior designer Robyn Peterson tour the finished, furnished California-Spanish beach house in Malibu. The media room has an Old West theme. The kitchen ...
Bob goes furniture shopping at Sears with the homeowners and an interior designer. The homeowners pick out furniture for the dining room and family room.
Bob continues his final tour of the complete Wayland project house with the interior designer, who explains the thought process behind the furniture and color pal...
Bob takes a final tour through the nursery, office, kitchen, and family room.
Bob helps carpenter-contractor Bob Ryley build an insulated floor so as to extend living space into the basement.
Refinishing the basement continues with the installation of wood paneling.
A plate rack for the dining room is built from scratch and is finished with a faux-antique paint job.
The circle-head window, and its accompanying window seat, are now finished in the family room basement.
Contractor Tom Forest repairs a hump in the dining room floor, then revives the floor’s maple finish.
Bob joins architect Mike Morgan and general contractor Ron Gan in the basement of the coach house to discuss options for making the basement space useful and/or m...
Bob tours the completed living room and dining room of the coach house, then heads down into the basement to see the work that's been done on the heating system.
Bob walks through the remainder of the renovation, admiring the details and faux-finish painting that continues through the kitchen, living room and dining room.
