Marina's cookie-cutter New York apartment wasn't much to look at when she moved in, but she wrangled her design savvy and managed to soften the space and create a cozy home. The biggest challenge, as she recently told Apartment Therapy, was luring her downtown friends to her uptown apartment, but having a full bar—which is on fine display in her kitchen— and some mixology skills definitely helped. Now she says the first thing her friends say when they walk in and see her kitchen is: "Sweet! Can you make me a drink?" More

Q: I just moved into an apartment, and the area where the trash is stored smells atrocious. I've cleaned it and used natural deodorizers (baking soda, air fresheners, etc.), but the old garbage smell keeps coming back. Does anyone have tips on making this area smell brand new?

Sent by Liz More

Here's a cute, crafty project some of you might enjoy: keep your small electric appliances organized by storing them in cubby holes. And lest you forget where they go, create labels with Scrabble letters! It's like your appliances just showed up for their first day of kindergarten. More

This perfectly pastel kitchen just outside Tel Aviv belongs to interior designer Merav Sade. Merav, a proponent of Frank Gehry's assertion that "Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness," loves her kitchen (who wouldn't!), with its light blue, grey, and wood tones. See more photos below: More

Though at first glance this kitchen is completely not my style (I'm much more of a minimalist), there is something undeniably appealing about it, don't you think? Perhaps it's the varied shades of green (the color of spring peas, or fresh chives) up against the faded Moroccan floor tiles. Or maybe it's the fabulous ceiling mural. Either way, I look at it and I imagine a villa in the countryside, and easy, breezy living. Not bad for a little kitchen dreaming! More

Three years ago Hakarl and his partner Jili decided to conceive and raise a child with a lesbian couple. The child actually turned out to be a set of twins, and the two couples decided to form a family of their own making. Both couples bought apartments in the same building in Wiliamsburg, Brooklyn, and the two girls now spend time in each of the homes. This burgeoning family, according to Hakarl, necessitated a few kitchen tweaks. First on the list: an oversized table that could easily fit eight people.

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Sean and his wife Sara live in Costa Mesa, California in a 1941 one-bedroom cottage full of interesting details and admirable craftsmanship. The house is a work-in-progress, but the couple is keen on "respectfully and intentionally" maintaining and highlighting the home's vintage details. Sean, a furniture designer, has designed and built a few key pieces in the home, including the walnut table and the breakfast nook in the kitchen. More

My friends Rachel and Alex live around the corner from me in the funky, historic urban neighborhood of Clintonville near downtown Columbus, Ohio. Our homes share some similarities: The worn-down beauty of an old kit house, a small yet bountiful yard, a modest kitchen.

And yet the similarities stop there: Rachel and Alex renovated their kitchen on a budget, using some seriously creative ingenuity, and they have created a true urban homestead, one that feeds and nourishes them, their daughter Lil, and a small menagerie of friendly creatures. We throw around the terms DIY, "homesteading" and "urban gardening" so frequently — come see what this really looks like, for a real American family in the city.

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How do you create a beautiful home on a budget? If you're Shayne and Andrew, the owners of a 100-year-old home in Los Angeles, you learn to "negotiate your way into almost every last furnishing in the home" with the help of eBay, Craigslist, garage sales, and flea markets. (The whole house—all 1,600 square feet of it—was furnished for around $10,000.) It also needed to be a very family-friendly home, and the kitchen is particularly inviting. Check out the mini table just for the kids! More

If you've already renovated a kitchen or are just beginning the process, you know how overwhelming the details can be. Our Fittings and Material Spotlights are quick guides to basic kitchen fixtures to familiarize you with terminology, pros and cons, and relevant reader reviews. We've covered sinks and countertops, and now we're moving on to faucets. Curious about pot filler versus pull-out spray faucets? We'll get there. Today we start the most common kitchen faucet: the single-handle. More