How-to

I thought this d.i.y. up over the weekend for my newsletter and can hardly wait to pick up the ingredients. Inspired by a canvas grandfather clock I had seen here (thanks Fiona), I came up with a smaller version that you can make yourself pretty easily I would think. Here's the how-to:
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[Ed. note: While some of these may seem a little harsh—I happen to think that most hosts and hostesses wouldn't begrudge a friend help in calling a taxi if she needed one—let's face it: some house guests need a little tough love. You'll find it here.]
The hostess/houseguest relationship is very much like a dance. You're always moving in relation to each other. You're following someone's lead or they're following yours. Most people instinctively know the steps. But here are a few houseguest tips for anyone who thinks they have two left feet, from expert hostess Kathryn M. Ireland.

• Don't ask your hostess to make your travel arrangements. That includes requests to check on a flight or call a taxi. I don't enjoy having my afternoon snooze in the hammock under the beech tree interrupted with some mundane question about whether or not Easy Jet flies at night.

• Don't terrify the children or adults with tales that the house is haunted, as one guest did when she asked to be moved because ghosts were scratching their way out of graves underneath her bed. They may well have been but let's not frighten the others.

• Don't stub your cigarettes out in the potted plants or drop them in the gravel driveway. Woebetide if I find a cigarette butt and I can trace it back to the smoker.

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Expert Ron Murakami, owner of Oriental Lamp Shade Company in New York City, gives us the rules of thumb for finding perfect mates.

Height & width: Measure the lamp from the bottom to the top of the neck and then multiply by 0.75. This figure is the tallest the shade should be, but a few inches less is fine. For a round base, measure the bottom straight across, then multiply by 2 to arrive at the shade's appropriate width (for a square base, measure the bottom on the diagonal).

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Everything you ever wanted to know about installing wallpaper yourself, but were afraid to ask. These step-by-step instructions demystify the process. Plus: how to know when to call in a professional.

What kind of wallpaper is best? Look for pre-pasted paper (see Waverly and Sherwin-Williams for examples), which means that the back of the roll is coated with adhesive. This is the easiest to hang.

Washable or scrubbable? Washable paper may be gently cleaned with a sponge or soft towel and water, but only occasionally. Use this paper in bedrooms and living rooms. Scrubbable paper is sturdier and can be cleaned frequently with soap and water, making it ideal for high traffic areas like kitchens and bathrooms. Vinyl coated papers are scrubbable and easy-to-hang options for such rooms.

How much paper is needed? To determine how much wallpaper you need, measure your room's length, width and height. Read More »

The glow of a chandelier glamorizes even the most casual get-together or family meal. Here are some tips for how (and where) to hang your favorite fixture.

Getting the dimensions right

Size

A chandelier needs to work with a room's proportions. "Too small, and it looks like somebody left an earring in the middle of the dining room," says Queer Eye for the Straight Guy's Thom Filicia. Decorator Todd Merrill recommends erring on the large side. For low ceilings, consider lamps that spread horizontally; tall ceilings can accommodate cascading vertical designs. In dining scenarios, figure the chandelier's diameter to be roughly a third to half the width of the table.

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