Having a guest room with a full-size bed is a nice luxury, but for many lucky enough to have a spare room, that room usually has to serve several purposes at once. Often, the guest room is the home office or maybe a family media room for lounging with the TV and books. When you're trying to allow for so many different needs in a single room, it's tough to give up the space for a giant bed. Which is why a sleeper sofa or a daybed can often come to the rescue. This collection of daybeds and sleeper sofas caught my eye for their stylish design and useful practicality.

One of my favorite things about my profession is discovering innovative ideas that go beyond innovation for its own sake, but are truly helpful in day-to-day life. This is particularly evident within sleek new storage systems that maximize the capabilities of small spaces. Here are just a couple of such designs that I've discovered recently.

Recently I decided to re-design our breakfast nook. It's such a great space, but we never used it because it was always half-finished and then it became storage that I had pretty much closed off from the kitchen. It was such a hidden space that when I finished it, our friends were shocked that the space even existed in our house! I really wanted it to feel fresh, so that I'd want to sit down with my breakfast and a cup of tea and start my day off feeling energized. 

For most, lampshades are far from your first thought in the morning nor do they even pass through your mind when you're staring right at one! Most often, they go unnoticed and unrecognized, which may be your intention if it's simply topping a fabulous lamp. However, take that notion to the other end of the spectrum and you have an amazing opportunity to add a pop of color or pattern because an incredible lampshade could be your room's secret weapon and have your friends tutting themselves for not thinking of it.

If you're like me, inspiration is a key factor to your daily work life and it's something that translates regardless of what you do to bring home the bacon. Whether you're crunching the numbers, brainstorming ideas or pleasing customers, everyone needs to get a little creative at times. And for me, having a few visually intriguing objects on my desk can help me get into the right mindset.

Remodeling a kitchen is an exciting and stressful time that can be made simpler if you do your homework beforehand. There are so many decisions to be made on fixtures, cabinets, pulls, paint and countertops. I thought I'd lend a hand and share with you a few options for countertops beyond the beautiful but typical Corian.