Articles by Becky Harris

My mom still laughs about that Mother’s Day in the mid-1970s, where the whole family spent the day scrubbing out the aboveground pool. It was memorable, if less than ideal. But there are a lot of better ways to spend special time at home with Mom.
After talking with a bunch of mothers about what…

This Spanish Colonial home had wonderful architectural features, but the interior felt dark, lacked cohesion and didn’t fit the spirit of a family that loves to entertain. Interior designer Heidi Feliz-Grimm helped give it a transitional style that feels harmonious with the original…

An overwhelming fireplace surround and too much white paint made this large living space a snooze. And the homeowner, who has lived all over the world (London, New York City, Hong Kong, India) had tired of much of the furniture she’d been lugging from country to country for years. Ready to start fresh…

We hear about designers making rooms “light and airy” all the time. The right blue paint, on the other hand, can set a dramatic tone. Blue hues can add some East Coast preppiness, tie antiques and modern furnishings together, cozy up a bedroom or provide crisp contrast to bright white. Below, the right…

Star Wars fans, let’s geek out today. Why today? Because “May the Fourth” sounds like someone mispronouncing “May the force [be with you].” Sounds like as good a reason as any for a made-up holiday, and it certainly sounds a lot more fun than May 3, which, according to the internet, was Lumpy…

It’s hard to imagine how a giant antique map could live harmoniously in a contemporary space, but in this Vancouver condo, it’s a big success. Interior designers Jamie Hamilton and Greer Nelson updated and opened up this once-dark and cramped condo, using a cohesive color palette and modern lines…

In a kitchen, it’s all about the details. And a range backsplash can draw all eyes to it. This space between the stove-top and the vent hood is a prime opportunity to create an interesting focal point that brings in new textures, colors and images. Here are 11 things range backsplashes can do for a kitchen’s…

Brooms and mops can be tough to store neatly and efficiently. Confession: My own usually wind up crammed next to my refrigerator, with everything falling down when I grab for one. They don’t fare much better leaning up against a wall in the downstairs closet, toppling down whenever I need to get a coat….

A designer recently told me that lots of people are afraid to use peach. A color must have done something truly terrifying for the masses to fear it so. What did peach ever do to us? Well, I’ll tell you. In the 1980s, there were some truly hideous uses of peach — frilly bridesmaid dresses with 27 ruffles,…