Got a problem area in your house? Cookie is teaming up with HGTV to solve design dilemmas. If you live in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut and need Genevieve Gorder's help with a problem in your house, send us a photo of the space and a brief essay, and we'll pass them along to HGTV for consideration! Hey, it's worth a shot, right?

Also, send us your specific design question, and it might appear in an upcoming issue of Cookie with Genevieve's advice.

Remember this headboard from a 2005 issue of Cookie? Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge certainly did, and she just recreated it in her own house! See her version below and check out her great instructional video.

A series of five log cabins joined together, the Sohrs' house in Nashville, Tennessee--featured in this month's issue--is one of my favorite homes we've ever covered. It's even more inspiring when you see how far it's come. When Genifer Goodman Sohr and Benjamin Sohr bought the place--which they share with their son, Oden, 4, and Benjamin's daughter, Lucy, 10--it was pretty gloomy. Think low ceilings, wood-paneled walls, and some very funky lighting fixtures. Check out the transformation:
 
The kitchen, before (left) and after (right).
 

Lucy's bedroom, before (left) and after (right).


Lucy's bathroom, before (left) and after (right).

We had some fun with the walls in our back-to-school desks story in the September issue (making its way to newsstands and mailboxes now!). To achieve these looks in your own home, follow the how-to instructions below.
 
To create the silhouette storage display shown on page 104, first gather all the tools that you would like to include--items with holes or open areas that they can hang from will work best--then follow these steps:
 
1.     Trace the items on adhesive shelf liner (found at any hardware or homegoods store for about $4) with a permanent marker. Cut out the shapes with scissors. Use an Exacto knife to cut out interior openings.

2.     Using blue painters' tape, mark off a large rectangle on the wall. For best results, use a yardstick and level to draw straight lines with a pencil, and then put up tape along those lines.

3.     Hang your cutouts within the rectangle using small pieces of tape to find the best arrangement. Once you are happy with the configuration, peel the backing off the cut outs and stick them to the wall. Burnish with your fingernail so that the edges adhere well to the wall.

4.     Apply two to three coats of paint with a paint roller, using only medium pressure so that the cutouts don't move.

5.     Once the paint is dry, remove the cutouts and tape. You may need to do touch-ups using the original wall color.

6.     For each tool, hold up the item to the wall and figure out where it will hang from. Mark the spot with a pencil and use a hammer to insert a small nail.

The chevron pattern painted on the wall on page 107 is not hard to pull off with some careful planning (a level, a yardstick, and a T-square would be helpful to have on hand). We used three shades of green paint and one bright yellow shade, but you can draw color inspiration from the room you’re working in.  

1.    A chair rail creates a natural upper border, but if you don’t have one just trace a level line at the height where you would like your pattern to stop, and tape it off with painters' tape.

2.    Next, trace vertical lines in pencil from the baseboard to upper border, spaced one foot apart along the wall.

3.    Cut the shape of a parallelogram out of cardboard to use as a tracing template. The short sides can be 5 inches or more (the wider you go, the less taping and painting you will do later on) and the long sides should be about 15 inches. (See diagram below.)



4.    Using your cardboard template, trace the chevron pattern in pencil, stopping at your top and bottom borders.

5.    Using painters tape, tape off alternating sections within the design.

6.    Paint the sections you have taped by randomly selecting from your paint palette. The less you think about which colors to use where, the better the overall effect will be when you’re done. Apply two or three coats, brushing away from the tape so paint does not seep under.

7.    Once the paint has dried, remove the first round of tape and start again, taping off the remaining sections. Continue painting, and feel free to leave some sections unpainted, as we did here (where you see white).

8.    Once all paint has dried, gently remove the tape, taking care not to pull of the paint beneath.  Erase any visible pencil marks.

Before the arrival of our little lady, this room was a (terribly cluttered) home office. There were desks, file cabinets, book shelves, and piles galore. But when it came time for baby, the small space got a big makeover.

I just adore the gingham tent from your recent Tori Spelling story. Where can I buy one? -- Andrea Summers, Framingham, MA

We love it, too! This adorable hanging tent is made by Win Green in the United Kingdom. See it in full color below.

Though many of the items in our August playroom story were custom-built for the family, don't despair--you can easily re-create their cozy look with these store-bought items.


The bean bag chair: Easy Bean child, $220, Eazy Bean.

The table with storage (in rear): VIKA Amon/Annefors Table Combination, $130, IkeaThe seats: Cork stools, $380 each, Jasper Morrison for Vitra, Matter.

The main table (in front): Extend Table (19"h x 26"w x 54"l) in Ash with Natural Finish, $540, Andre Joyau.


The reading nook: Igloo Outdoor Wicker Chair, $5,495, Locsin International for Neoteric Home, Home Infatuation.


The storage unit: Linear Custom Cabinet (74"w x 80" h), $2,899, Room and Board.

"Every night I'd lie in bed and think, Someday I'll decorate this room."

How many times have you thought that very same thing and never gotten around to doing it? Then this is THE book for you. We love Elizabeth Mayhew's book, Flip! for Decorating so much, we wanted to give you a more in-depth look inside the pages in case you missed our mention in our June/July issue.

Below, some of our favorite images and tidbits from the book. Take a peek inside Mayhew's own home in Manhattan's Upper West Side and learn some of her tried-and-true decorating tips.

"Window treatments should be interesting but they should never steal the show. I keep window treatments tailored, crisp, and elegant and only sometimes add a touch of trim, applique or contrast border. So just keep curtains simple, but make sure that they fit the window properly."

"Most dining rooms have too much space to not have storage units. Because action is centered at the table, you can dedicate at least one wall to storage without it being obtrusive. Look for units that are roomy but not gargantuan. Then fill it with essentials for serving and entertaining so you won't have to rummage through your kitchen cabinets while dinner's getting cold."

"Pick a bed frame that sends a message the second you walk in the door. In this room, a dynamic bed is 80 percent of the decorating. The rest of the room can be modest or even unremarkable as long as the jewel of the setting is top-notch ... At all costs, avoid a mattress pushed against the wall; there really is nothing more depressing."

To "flip" through the pages yourself, find the book on sale at Barnes & Noble and Amazon And check out her website to see a slideshow of Mayhew putting together her own living room.

When Brooklyn parents Gregg Mitchell and Andrea Chu set out to create a nursery for their newborn son, Nico, they used their professional design sensibilities (he works in textiles, and she's a photographer whose work frequently appears in the pages of Cookie) plus a little bit of personal flair. We love their use of antique furniture throughout the nursery--making it unique, warm, sophisticated and sustainable. Below, Mitchell fills us in on the details.

What was the inspiration behind the decor of your son's nursery?
We really wanted something fun and whimsical that felt like a child's room. But at the same time, we didn't want it kitsch or silly. This room is directly off our living room/dining room, so it had to make sense with the rest of the house.

How would you describe your decorating style?
Well, I work for an English interior textiles company (Bennison) that is quite traditional. So there is definitely an element of Englishness to it: a very comfortable grandness--lived in but rich and layered. Nothing is cold and nothing is intimidating--but nothing is altogether typical either.



How did you get the brilliant idea to use a secretary desk as a changing station? It's such a beautiful piece!
That was mostly born of necessity. We were desperate for more storage and needed something that would do double duty as a changing table as well. This beautiful piece was in the family (it was my sister-in-law's father's) and luckily works perfectly. So I guess luck played the biggest roll!

Sarah Engler, associate editor

Remember our tour and video of Robert and Cortney Novogratz's flipped Manhattan home? The couple is sharing their secrets for transforming dumps into stylish, family-friendly homes in their new book, Downtown Chic: Designing Your Dream Home: From Wreck to Ravishing. The book is full of eye-candy--great decorating inspiration and tips from the seven houses they've renovated as well as cute shots of their seven (!) kids.

Also, read our more recent interview with Cortney.