Behr
03.08.2024 - 12:53 / bhg.com / Sophia Beams
John Bessler
If you’re in the market for a new bed, you might have noticed that a futuristic kind of frame is on the up and up this year. The floating bed first rose to popularity nearly a decade ago, but people are opening their eyes to it again in 2024—and for good reason.
Most of the time, this effect is an illusion: Usually floating beds «hover» at about six inches off the ground, so they appear to float from any angle. The bed’s legs (or a support block) are positioned in the center, making it look as though there are no legs at all. Sometimes though, they actually don't touch the floor at all, with the bed getting its support from metal beams attached to a wall.
With design aesthetics like clean girl and quiet luxury trending, it’s no surprise that the sleek and modern look of the floating bed is becoming popular. The art of it comes from its subtlety—it’s nearly identical to a regular bed other than the base, providing the «effortlessly elegant» look that so many high-end styles strive for.
Many floating beds are also lean toward minimalism: After all, what’s more minimalist than a bed that doesn’t have legs? Light-colored floating frames with natural wood grain are the perfect match for refined, neutral-toned homes. They give you an easy way to bring a little character to a design centered around owning as little as possible.
Floating beds are even a key feature of the influencer-inspired «baddie» aesthetic Pinterest named earlier this year. The beds that have built-in LED lights around the base, which highlight that the bed has no legs, offers a modern and sophisticated take on the LED strip trend. But of course, dressing it up with LED lights or not is up to you; we find that modern and minimalist aesthetics
VICTORIA PEARSON
A conversation with Sarah Price about how she designs her planting schemes is fascinating. She works in an unfettered way, with no specific planting plans but an intuitive sense of the plants that will work well together to form the nature-inspired compositions she is known for. Her gardens are like exquisite paintings, comprising layers of detail with a gentle succession of plants that provide interest for most of the year. This summer combination comes from Sarah’s own garden on the edge of Abergavenny. Here, she has created different areas and habitats, including a dry garden in the old walled kitchen garden.
If you’re a fan of the quintessential indoor-outdoor Western lifestyle that comes along with expansive floor-to-ceiling glass, a warm wash of natural light, breezeways that maximize airflow, and surrounding serene landscape, you can thank famed architect Cliff May. Regarded as the founding father of the iconic California ranch house, May’s work has been repeatedly published in Sunset since the 1930s. What made his work stand out at the time was how he designed homes not so much based on architecture but on the way people wanted to live in them. Making the most of the Western climate, his goal was to provide a closer relationship with nature through garden courtyards and blur the line between how we use interior and exterior spaces. May in turn created private sanctuaries where families could relax and enjoy a lifestyle of informal outdoor living. He invented the way most people want to live in the West, and his influence is felt throughout the region some 90 years later.
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Lana Williams, owner of Oakland, California-based plant shop and design company The Tender Gardener, is known for her gorgeous step-by-step plant recipes for creating lush outdoor planters. In Lana’s latest book release, The Container Garden Recipe Book, she’s revealing fabulous floral and frond combos that will have you making plant and pot pairings like a pro. Here she shares a few seasonally appropriate tips on the types of statement plants and containers to use as we transition from late summer into fall.
“Impossibly unaffordable” are two words that Californians are probably less than thrilled to hear. In a recent report from Chapman University in Orange, California, and the Frontier Centre of Public Policy (FCPP) in Canada, that’s exactly how four California metros are described. The 2024 edition of Demographia International Housing Affordability shows San Jose, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego listed among the top 10 least affordable housing markets—not just in the United States, but worldwide.
A couple of the Sunset editors were talking about the Barbie Dreamhouse the other day. And we had a hot take: Although it’s an iconic home (with a slide, pool, and a color palette that childhood dreams were made of), it’s not the most attractive-looking space from an interior design or architecture standpoint. Sure, it has some touches of mid-century modern style and an extremely cohesive color palette, but we think not very many people would want to live there IRL. On top of that, it doesn’t really look homey or comfy. And all of that’s okay, because the house is for a doll and make-believe moments. What’s a human who wants to live out their Barbie fantasies to do?
When gardening and landscaping, having the right tools can make all the difference. For moving mulch, compost, plants, or clippings efficiently from one area to another, you need a great wheelbarrow. After all, owning one of thebest wheelbarrowshelps make it possible to grow beautiful flowers or delicious edibles! With so many options to choose from, we know that selecting the best wheelbarrow can be overwhelming. That’s why we put together a list of our favorite wheelbarrows, ones we still love after years of use and that we know will help make your time spent in the garden easier and more efficient. Our Top Picks: Our Favorite Wheelbarrow: True Temper Wheelbarrow – $219.99 at Amazon What Other Gardeners