Fanciful shelf trim for kitchen and pantry.

Electrified gasoliers from the collection of Karla Pearlstein.

Old houses notoriously lack storage space. Here's how to create it.

A Japanese technique for burnt wood meets the bungalow.

A tutorial in bracing color and geometric, stylized forms.

Tiles, textiles, wallpapers, and notecards with the Arts & Crafts Rose motif.

We’ve compiled a list of makers whose unique offerings are specific to time, place, or style. Add these possibilities to the familiar, often budget-friendly if predictable brands sold at home-improvement stores, such as Daltile and its subsidiary American Olean.

Production tile from the building store, art tile from small studios, decos and relief tiles, subway tile and mosaics, glazes matte and iridescent, encaustics and California revivals: whatever your choice might be, proportion, color and shade variance, and even the grout become part of the design decision.

Hex tile options for backsplash, bath, and flooring.

Small business ownership helps perfect the art of authentic tile reproduction on a grand scale.

An ardent collector uses antiques to celebrate the past.

A bland and damaged surround is remade with a period tile installation—and the fireplace becomes a stylish focal point.

Popular in late Victorian, Arts & Crafts, and Mediterranean Revival homes, multi-tile panels and murals are a lovely way to add art to your old house.

A seamless addition allowed for this master bath, imagined as a ca. 1930 upgrade.

Nostalgic details belie the room’s efficiency and storage capacity.

A fancy shade will dress up a thrift-store lamp.

Brilliant tiles, lighting and ornaments.

Lessons for living lightly in a historic Victorian-era brownstone restored.

Some habits of early householders, such as seasonal decorating, are worth repeating.

Color triggers instinctual and often unconscious responses.

For restorers, salvaged material is often just what's needed.

Handcrafted in Sandwich, New Hampshire since 1819, Tappan Chairs are not reproductions--they are the real thing.

The mystery of floral paintings on the walls of Spillian.

A 1925 magazine article documents 18th-century wall paintings.