Gary GershoffGetty Images
If you ask any New York–area designer to name a favorite decor find they snagged for a song, chances are it s from Design on a Dime. The annual event the brainchild of designer James Huniford sees top interior designers create vignettes full of donated furniture and decor, which are sold at clearance prices to benefit Housing Works, the New York organization supporting those impacted by AIDS and homelessness. Professional designers and design lovers alike have scored everything from bespoke curtains to antique furniture to luxe accessories at the shopping extravaganza, now in its 16th year. After a COVID-induced pause last year, the event is back and better than ever: Now, you can shop the sale virtually as well as in-person.
Why Powder Rooms Are the Best Place in the House to Take Decorating Risks
Here, a brief design history of the humble half bath.
By Kelsey Keith Stephen Karlisch
While every bit of our homes has gotten more usage during the past year in quarantine, never before have our humble sinks seemed quite so ho-hum. Even brass swan taps lovingly sourced from estate sales inevitably bear the brunt of so much handwashing and hand-wringing. Woe, indeed, is the washbasin.
But the hygienic realities of the half bath have historically been tempered, at least with euphemisms if not with a decorative flair that belies the room’s intended usage. (Did we mention the brass swan taps?) Our current chapter in domestic hygiene, blighted as it is by COVID-19, arrives in the wake of two centuries of engineering innovation alongside evolving social mores the advent of indoor plumbing; a lavatory for guests’ use while what we commonly call “powder rooms” came to prominence even earlier.