If you're decorating your home and hiring an interior designer isn't in your budget — or you just prefer to take on home projects yourself — read on for the best books for home style…

(These also make great gift ideas if you're on the hunt!)

What are your favorite resources for choosing furniture and decor and styling your home? What do you think are the best books for home style? During the past year and a half, have you used some of your extra time at home to focus on decorating your house or apartment?

The Best Books for Home Style

General Home Style Books

The Best Decorating Books for Minimalist Style

{related: how to set up the best home office}

The Best Home Decor Books for Maximalist Style

The Best Home Style Books for Apartments/Small Spaces

{related: how to decorate your home if you work all the time}

Home Style Books for Families with Kids

{related: the best places to buy furniture}

Other Home Style Books

Readers, do tell! What are your favorite books for home decor? What's your favorite decorating style — and do you have any favorite brands or designers you follow for inspiration? Have you ever used an online design service?

The post The Best Books for Home Style appeared first on Corporette.com.

Here's a question that I ponder from time to time: What are the best faux flowers for home and office?

Real flowers are lovely, of course, but they require a bit of care — you have to cut them and arrange them and refresh the water and then trash them and wash the relatively gross yet hard to clean vase. (Tiny violin, I know.)

When I was younger I remember thinking that fake flowers were suuuper cheesy — I think primarily because my primary exposure to them was that wall at the crafting store. The older I get the more I realize that there's a HUGE difference in quality in faux flowers, and that the more expensive faux flowers actually look quite lovely and sophisticated.

I'd love to hear from those of you who have Opinions about this — which brands are best for faux flowers for home and office? Do you have many kinds of faux flowers that you rotate seasonally? Do you find that there are any kinds of faux flowers that are better for upkeep, i.e. not getting noticeably dusty and/or being hard to dust?

{related: they also are a great addition if you're trying to make a bookcase look pretty!}

In any event, color me in love with these faux calla lilies from Pottery Barn — they look fancy but minimalist. I could see them looking absolutely fabulous in a sleek apartment in mostly whites and grays. They're $250 at Pottery Barn.

Sales of note for 7.19.24

• Nordstrom – The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale is now open to everybody! Here are all of our picks, and here are reader favorites.
• Ann Taylor – Semi-annual sale, extra 50% off markdowns + 20% off everything!
• Banana Republic Factory – 40-60% off everything, take an extra 20% off your purchase
• Eloquii – 50% off select styles
• Everlane – Up to 70% off
• J.Crew – End of Season Sale, extra 50% off sale styles
• J.Crew Factory – 40-60% off everything
• Lo & Sons – Summer sale, up to 50% off
• Madewell – End of season sale, up to 70% off with code.
• M.M.LaFleur – Save 25% sitewide. (Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is the biggest sitewide discount I've ever seen…)
• Rothy's – Lots of great finds in the “final few” section
• Talbots – Semi-annual red door sale, extra 40% off markdowns

Sales of note for 7.19.24

• Nordstrom – The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale is now open to everybody! Here are all of our picks, and here are reader favorites.
• Ann Taylor – Semi-annual sale, extra 50% off markdowns + 20% off everything!
• Banana Republic Factory – 40-60% off everything, take an extra 20% off your purchase
• Eloquii – 50% off select styles
• Everlane – Up to 70% off
• J.Crew – End of Season Sale, extra 50% off sale styles
• J.Crew Factory – 40-60% off everything
• Lo & Sons – Summer sale, up to 50% off
• Madewell – End of season sale, up to 70% off with code.
• M.M.LaFleur – Save 25% sitewide. (Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is the biggest sitewide discount I've ever seen…)
• Rothy's – Lots of great finds in the “final few” section
• Talbots – Semi-annual red door sale, extra 40% off markdowns

Some of our latest posts here at Corporette…

And some of our latest threadjacks here at Corporette (reader questions and commentary) — see more here!

Some of our latest threadjacks include:

• Is there a mantra or slogan that will help me combat imposter syndrome?
• AITA for not moving to the middle seat to be closer to my husband on a recent flight?
• What are your latest favorite nonfiction books for fans of Mary Beard?
• I'm so annoyed by people who look at their smart watches instead of paying attention to our conversation…
• Let's have a secrets thread…
• I need tips on managing employees in BigLaw who have to leave for daycare pickup…
• I'm thinking of leaning out to spend more time with my family – how can I find the perfect job for that?

The post Coffee Break: Faux Calla Lily appeared first on Corporette.com.

We haven't had a discussion about home decor in a long while — let's discuss lighting! Which are your favorite stores for lighting fixtures? What was your first lighting fixture purchase that struck you as adulting (versus, say, buying a $10 lamp at Ikea or Bed Bath & Beyond because, hey)? Which are the best budget picks for lighting fixtures — and which splurges are worth it? Do you feel like there are any lighting choices that are best left in your youth?

This post contains affiliate links and Corporette® may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. For more details see here. Thank you so much for your support!

For my $.02, I always drool over the Rejuvenation catalog, and we recently bought some sconces there that may be the most I've ever paid for lighting. We also have some nice, very simple hanging pendant lamps from Tala, and a nice floor lamp from BluDot that I like a lot. (We must have gotten a crazy sale, or maybe they raised the price… I don't remember paying $500 for it!) On the budget side of things, I've had a lot of good luck with JCPenney lighting, to be honest. In the past, I've had bad experiences with Ikea lighting — so long ago I don't entirely remember what the issue was; nothing burst into flames but I think lamps stopped working somewhat randomly. 

Pictured below: floor lamp / pendant lamp / sconce

In terms of lighting choices, I always love the look of fairy lights and string lights, but feel like they quickly remind me of the chili pepper string lights my husband had up when I met him (he was 28 at the time). I have some of these “glimmer strings” from Pier One and have been happy with them, particularly for holiday decor. (Almost all of them have a way to set them to go on at the same time every day and run for six hours, then shut off.) They're not a lighting source on their own but they can definitely add to the vibe. 

How about you guys — which are some of your favorite stores for lighting fixtures? Where would you look first if you needed something major, like a dining room chandelier? Have any of you added your own lamp at the office? 

Stock photo via Stencil.

The post What Are Your Favorite Stores for Lighting Fixtures? appeared first on Corporette.com.

Here's a fun open thread for today — where is your furniture from, and do you recommend? What do you think are the best places to buy furniture? We haven't talked about grown-up furniture in far too long, so I'd love to hear your thoughts. Fill out as much as you can (brand, style), and let us know your thoughts…

Couch/Sofa:

Armchairs:

TV stand:

Rugs: 

Kitchen Table:

Dining Room Table:

Bedroom Set:

Mattress:

Any bathroom furniture (cabinets, tubs): 

Patio Furniture:

Other favorite piece(s) of furniture not mentioned:

Worst furniture purchase: 

General experience when buying furniture: 

For my $.02: 

The Best Places to Buy Furniture (IMHO)

Couch/Sofa: Our main couches comes from JC Penney — Furniture Possibilities. We wanted something in a bright teal that was affordable and this one was under $600 — we actually got two about four years ago. They've held up well, all things considered (i.e. crazy boys jumping on them), and only now are we starting to see signs of wear/saggy cushions and things like that. Considering the price we paid I wouldn't be too upset if we have to get a new one in a few years. When we're looking for our “hopefully forever sofa” I think we'll be looking at Room & Board; I've coveted an Ian sofa ever since a good friend got one years ago. (Related: You might want to read our last discussion on how to pick kid-friendly furniture over at CorporetteMoms!)

Armchairs: We just got one from Joybird (the Eliot apartment chair) and love it — it's comfortable and seems really well made. I was nervous to order furniture on the internet but the fact that they send you swatches AND have a 365 day return policy made me feel better about taking the plunge.

TV stand: Can I pass, if I'm embarrassed? No? Ok — the main TV stand we use is one that my parents bought me at Best Buy… after law school. For my HUGE television (back when they were, like, huge boxes). It's gray MDF and dinged and has a general “MEH” aura to it, but we haven't really seen one that has inspired another purchase. 

Rugs: We've had, at various points, rugs from Crate & Barrel, West Elm, FLOR, Joss & Main, Zulily, and so forth, and have always had pretty good experiences. One bad experience that wasn't the fault of the rug: the shag rug from Crate & Barrel wasn't a good fit for a crawling baby, so my MIL now has it. (I kind of got stabbed by a bobbypin my babysitter had lost in the rug that I hadn't seen, and shuddered to think what would have happened had my son found it.) The only place I won't buy rugs from is Ikea, if only because I feel like every time I go to the store I see a zillion fuzzballs floating around the store that, when I get to the rug section, I realize are all coming from shedding rugs. 

Lighting: Another thing I won't buy at Ikea: lighting. We've just had some bad experiences there, although they were so long ago I'm forgetting the specifics. That said, we've had totally fine experiences from a bunch of random stores like JC Penney, Pottery Barn, Target, Amazon, Joss & Main, so go figure. (I like to drool over the lighting in Rejuvenation, but we haven't found a must-buy piece yet.) Oh, also, I fell in love with Tala pendants after a trip to ABC Carpet & Home and splurged, but be warned: they're very soft, low lighting, so not great for, say, kitchen pendants, where we have them. 

Kitchen Table: Ikea for the win! We got a plain brown extension table and have no complaints for the price. Again, this was bought with the expectation that while the kids were small there would be lots of markers and glue projects and accidents and, hey, it has lived up to that.

Dining Room Table: We don't have a separate dining room table at the moment. Years ago I was thrilled to buy an expandable glass-topped table that I had once seen featured on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (the OG version), and it turned out to not only be a pain in the butt when expanded to seat six (something about the placement of the table legs got in literally everyone's way) but having a table with a removable glass topper is not something I'd recommend for people with small kids or messy eating habits — I can't tell you the amount of gunk that would get stuck between the pane of glass and the sides of the table. Yuck.

Bedroom Set: My parents' wedding present to us was to help us pick out a nice set of furniture from Amish Country in Ohio (Homestead Furniture). It's still some of the nicest pieces of furniture we own. The kids' bedroom furniture is Ikea — the MALM line holds up really well (but make sure you anchor it to the wall if you've got kids!); we have one piece from the Hemnes collection that we haven't been as impressed with because the drawers keep coming off their tracks. 

Mattress: We just bought a mattress a few years ago and I'm not impressed with it — I'd love to hear if you guys have any favorite mattresses. 

Any bathroom furniture (cabinets, tubs): We haven't bought any tubs but I still love the Ikea/Godmorgon furniture I picked out for a mini-bathroom redo — I loved that that the cabinet had full-extension, soft-close drawers, and the mirrored cabinet has a ton of space (we actually got two of them).

Other favorite piece(s) of furniture not mentioned: We have a small side table from Ballard Designs that I really like — it's got tiny circular mirrors all over it and a general antiquey gold geometric design. The only problem is that the geometric design is open metalwork and my kids keep shoving tiny toys there, but hey… anyway that was my first purchase from Ballard Designs and now I drool every time I get a catalog. Oh, also, when we redid our kitchen a few years ago we used all Ikea cabinets and drawers and I liked the price, features like full extension drawers/soft close cabinets, and I liked that they were versatile enough to be changed out for other Ikea cabinets/doors if we wanted to down the line. 

Worst furniture purchase: Gaaah our china hutch. We bought it before we had kids and it's this huge clonking piece that takes up too much room and, frankly, is lousy furniture — the drawers don't pull out all the way, the wood veneer is flaking off every time it gets dinged, the “dramatic mood lighting” lights are somewhat unpredictable. We got it from Macy's (along with a matching credenza) when we were newlyweds and we regret both pieces now — they were on sale but we still probably spent close to $3000 on both pieces. Very disappointing and we haven't been back to Macy's for furniture purchases since. (To be honest, getting all the wedding china was also a mistake, but that's a discussion for another post — here's our last discussion on what to put on your wedding registry.) 

General experience when buying furniture: We've definitely had a mix of high and low, and honestly we've had better luck with the “disposable furniture” pieces than we have with the “forever” pieces. I have strong opinions on a lot of Ikea's offerings, obviously — we've also had good luck with random chairs from Ashley Furniture in terms of comfort/durability/price/style — they're also sold through Joss & Main and JC Penney in case you prefer those shopping experiences. We love browsing at places like West Elm, Crate and Barrel, CB2, and Pottery Barn — but I often feel like the same style of furniture can be found elsewhere for less money, once you know what you're looking for.

Readers, over to you — where do you think are the best places to buy furniture? Are you browsing for anything this Labor Day weekend? Do you buy furniture over the internet, or do you prefer to see furniture in person? What furniture stores do you implicitly trust or turn to first for style — and which ones are in your “yuck, I'd never buy furniture there” lists? 

Stock photo via Deposit Photos / londondeposit.

The post Where Is Your Furniture From – And Do You Recommend? appeared first on Corporette.com.

Readers, how do you feel about your home decor — does the vibe match what you want to feel when you come home from a long day at the office? What are your best tips on how to decorate your home if you work all the time? Did you decorate your home yourself, or did you hire help to do it? How often do you change your decor? Do you prefer a cozy home with lots of books and accessories, or a more minimalist, clean look? Colors or neutrals?

I've talked before about how I intentionally chose bright, uplifting colors (hot pink, yellow, and navy) for my first apartment out of law school because I knew I'd be working long hours, would probably only be home when it was dark outside, and wouldn't be able to “build” my decor slowly (because I expected to be working all the time).

I'm still grateful for the fun, girly space I came home to every night and I'm glad I took the time and energy to decorate it a little bit ahead of time. I lost a lot of the pink and yellow accents when my husband and I married and moved in together, and right now it seems like we're mostly hostage to all of the toys and other colorful kids' things in our home — definitely not a planned, restful space!

Readers, over to you — do you like your home decor? Did you spend a lot of time on it and/or do you feel like home decor comes easy to you? On the flip side, for those of you who suspect or know you aren't gifted at home decor (like me, honestly), have you worked with an interior designer? There are a ton of online-only services cropping up these days, including Hutch, Homepolish, Curio Designs, Decorist, and more! Have you used any of these more affordable online-only interior design services, ladies? Any reviews to share? In general, what are your best tips for how to decorate your home if you work all the time?

Psst: We've talked about where to buy grown-up furniture, when to buy “nice” dishes and other things you may associate with wedding gifts (even if you're single), and how a good cleaning service makes it ALL better. We've also, of course, talked a lot about office decor.

Image source:  Stencil.

Curious about some of our other home decor discussions? These are some of our latest ones…

• What Is Your Favorite Purchase for Your Home?
• How Many Dishes Do You Own (And What Patterns?)
• 5 of the Best Online Interior Design Services
• Great Gift Ideas for the Household (Reader Favorites!)
• The Best Books for Home Style

The post How to Decorate Your Home If You Work All the Time appeared first on Corporette.com.

2021 Update: We still think this was a really fun discussion on when to buy grown-up furniture — but you may want to check out our more recent discussion of the best places to buy furniture (with TONS of reader comments and reviews).

There was a fun discussion a while ago in the comments section — where do you go for furniture when you're upgrading from Ikea (or otherwise buying “grown up furniture“)? I thought it might be fun to round up the answers, and perhaps to start a series on “the next step.” (We'll obviously do fashion as the next one in the series — are there any other categories you would be interested in, ladies?)

Furniture is a really funny thing — it tends to stay with you for years, so hopefully you like the purchases you make. Post-school budgets don't always allow you to buy the good stuff, though, so for me (and most of my friends) we “leveled” up after our first few years in the work place — but only if we could find something we loved.

For example: When I was setting up my first post-grad school apartment, I compromised on a blue leather sleeper couch from Ikea, thinking, hey, I need a place to sit, and I can always buy a new one in a few years. After my husband and I got married we visited a TON of shops for new couches, prepared to spend money (he haaates the couch), but we didn't quite find anything we loved, so we tabled the discussion… and then got pregnant. The Ikea couch is still a big “meh” in our house, but we are thrilled that we didn't buy a new, non-leather couch whenever my son decides to do something silly, like eat yogurt with his hands. (Why, Jack… why?) 

We did “level up” with our bedroom furniture and dining room furniture, though, after trying to read a bit about furniture shopping…. In the bedroom, my parents generously gave us a housewarming gift of a bedroom set from Homestead Furniture in Amish Country (in Ohio, my home state), and my parents-in-law graciously got us a rug when they went on vacation to Turkey. That's my husband pictured, clowning around with our massive mule chest).

We also eventually bought a dining room table from Jensen Lewis, as well as a rocking recliner from Best Chairs‘ Storytime Series.

Some purchases have been lucky — we've bought a number of rugs from online flash sale sites like Hautelook, Rue La La, and One Kings' Lane, which have all turned out fine for the quality we need right now (see above re: Mr. Yogurt Hands).

We have unfortunately made a few purchases I regret, including a china hutch and credenza from a mass market store — they were floor models so were already dinged when we got them, and the little details bug me, like drawers that don't extend all the way (and break easily).

Otherwise… my son is still using my old Ikea bedroom furniture (that stuff holds up, I will say that!), most of our lamps are still from JC Penney (I forget how I found their lighting department, but I generally like the stuff we've gotten, including the huge hanging lamp we have over the dining table), and, well, the couch is still the couch.

Readers, when did you buy nice furniture? What stores did you go to when you decided to “level up”? Has anyone made special trips, such as to North Carolina, for furniture?

  The commenters tossed out a ton of ideas for furniture stores they consider for “grown up” furniture, including:

• Arhaus
• Ashley Furniture
• Broyhill
• Dania Furniture
• Ethan Allen
• Home Decorators Collection
• Jonathan Louis
• Lancaster Handcraft
• Macy's (the furniture and mattress sale starts 10/8, actually!)
• Overstock.com
• Pier One
• Pottery Barn
• Room & Board
• Usona
• West Elm (offering free shipping, today only)
• Wolf's Furniture
• World Market
• Craigslist, resale shops, and boutique sites like forgottenfurniture.com.

For my own $.02, I would also include:

• Design Within Reach
• Restoration Hardware
• Mitchell Gold & Bob Williams
• The Conran Shop
• Special furniture trips to places like North Carolina and (if you happen to be in Ohio, my home state), Amish Country — it's where we got our bedroom furniture (a very generous housewarming present from my parents)
• Warehouses and outlets — for example, we haven't found anything we've loved, but we always visit the clearance section of ABC Carpet & Home when we're near there, and would probably make a trip to the warehouse outlet the next time we're looking for something specific…
• Ask about floor models when you visit stores — and don't be afraid to try to negotiate with the sales person, particularly if you're ready to make a purchase that day.
• You may also want to sign up for a store's mailing list (Crate & Barrel, Room & Board, etc.) to try to get a sense of the sales flow — for example, if Crate & Barrel is having a huge sale on outdoor furniture in August, it would stink to buy it at full price in July.
• Finally — if you're visiting a big store like Macy's, ask what kind of discount you'll get if you open up a credit card that day… it may be worth it.

Readers, where have you bought grown-up furniture? Did you luck out with some inexpensive purchases? Do you regret any purchases you made while leveling up?  Do you have any pieces you love, or pieces you hunted forever on Craigslist?

The post The Next Step: Furniture appeared first on Corporette.com.