Lifestyle

“But I walk the dog every day,” I said as I pleaded my case. “I think it’s called white coat syndrome.” Peering over her laptop I could tell she wasn’t buying it.

At age 16, Barbara Palmer became a single mom. Suddenly, she felt trapped in a community where she had felt so free.

At a friend’s urging, I once read a dystopian novel set in a post-apocalyptic era in which the civilized world, or, more precisely, the things about the world that made it civilized, had disappeared. History, philosophy, technology, and the knowledge bases on which they were founded, had all been destroyed.

“But I walk the dog every day,” I said as I pleaded my case. “I think it’s called white coat syndrome.” Peering over her laptop I could tell she wasn’t buying it.

At a friend’s urging, I once read a dystopian novel set in a post-apocalyptic era in which the civilized world, or, more precisely, the things about the world that made it civilized, had disappeared. History, philosophy, technology, and the knowledge bases on which they were founded, had all been destroyed.

When the vast majority of your life is happening within the four walls of your home, every square foot counts. So the past two years have inspired some serious, space-saving creativity. • “Everybody all of a sudden was just surrounded by their environment, just sort of thinking, ‘If I’m going to be spending this much time here, I really want it to be great quality space,’ ” says interior designer and HGTV host Vern Yip. • Oddly enough, one popular strategy for creating multipurpose spaces at home in 2022 is an innovation born more than a century ago: the Murphy bed, a fully made bed emerging from a wall to instantly transform a living room into a bedroom. • New Jersey-based interior designer Karen Topjian remembers seeing Murphy beds in old black-and-white Hollywood movies and thinking they looked wonderfully glamorous. It seemed almost magical, she thought. Unlike a sofabed that requires moving cushions and some degree of assembly, Murphy beds have the superpower of transforming a space with just a single motion.

Someday I’d like to make a list of all the things I’ve found while looking for something else. Photos I’d forgotten.

At age 16, Barbara Palmer became a single mom. Suddenly, she felt trapped in a community where she had felt so free.

Winter is prime time to curl up with a good book. Add a sunlit easy chair, crackling fire, blanket, toddler or two, and sleeping cat or dog for cozy homebody happiness. • It all begins with a book, a book meant to be held and read. • Even so, some would argue physical books bring a lot more than reading pleasure; they are meant to be seen as well. • For interior design, books can convey style, personality, texture, color, interest, warmth, inspiration and vitality … tangible and intangible concepts that have become increasingly important for homebound readers during the recent pandemic. • Along with other home furnishings and improvements, physical books have experienced a boost in the last two years. • But their rise predated the pandemic.