Featured! My home in Rue Magazine

If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen a few of these pics in the last month. But I wanted to share a link to possibly the most-fun feature I’ve ever been a part of: a Q&A and home tour in the beloved online design magazine, Rue!

The feature landed earlier this summer, and it’s still live here. Here’s a sneak peek of what’s inside. Photographs are all by Allison Sepanek.

They even included a few of my real-life design tips, and featured pieces from my new ceramics collection with Jill Rosenwald!

If I’m being totally honest, these spaces are usually much more lived-in than they appear in this feature. We use every inch of our house, and our counters are usually topped with all manner of construction-paper art projects, pipe cleaners, breakfast dishes, and mail. But whose aren’t? In any given month, these rooms look like the above pics approximately twice, for about twenty minutes at a stretch—and never at the same time. I did manage to sneak in some reminders that people live here, though. Who can spot the Beanie Boo owl on page 21?

Head on over to Rue to read the full story.  And huge thanks to editor Kelli Lamb for the beautifully produced feature!

Me + ​Real Simple = OMG

I’m mayyyyyybe going out on a limb here, but if you’re reading this blog, I’m guessing you’ve heard of the magazine Real Simple. I remember when it launched in 2000—I was a magazine intern at the time, and I thought, “Holy crap. A magazine that’s all about how to make things easier, not just fancier/better/prettier/[insert comparative adjective here]. Why has nobody done this before?”

Real Simple pretty much invented the home hack. I’ve been a reader from the beginning, even contributing a tip or two to the magazine now and then. My 2016 makeover of a Bachelor couple's space was featured on their website, too. 

So it’s extra-exciting to share some news this month: I’ve been tapped to style the kitchen of the Real Simple Idea Home, a project that’s going to be revealed in full in their October issue! A teaser appears in the July edition:

Doing a little summer menu planning this morning thanks to @real_simple’s July issue... And swipe 👉🏻 to see who shows up on page 37! 🙋🏻‍♀️ Yup! I’m beyond excited to be working on Real Simple’s Idea Home launching this fall, and this issue has the details. Pick it up to read more about the collab, plus get some kitchen-organizing tips from me and @neatmethod’s cofounder Ashley Murphy. And stay tuned for the big October reveal 😉 . Kitchen 📷: @joyellewest for @rizzolibooks . Design and styling: Me

A post shared by Donna Garlough (@donnagarlough) on Jul 6, 2018 at 3:56am PDT

What's the Real Simple Idea Home? In short, it’s a real-life residence that’s going to be full of “aha” moments, from smart decorating ideas to budget-stretching solutions. Each space is being furnished and decorated by a different brand or designer. Being Real Simple, there’ll naturally be tons of storage tips as well, courtesy of the organizing team at Neat Method. There is an INCREDIBLE roster of design talent on board for the project, which I won’t share yet... Just know that I’m floored to be in the mix!

Right now I’m still tinkering with the design. Given my job at Joss & Main, I’ll be filling the space with lots of budget-friendly kitchen items and decorative touches from the website.

You’ll have to wait until late September for the full reveal, but for now, click here to read a teaser from the issue now on stands: "5 Pro-Approved Ways to Make a Small Kitchen Look Bigger."  The kitchen pictured in the article is my own, photographed by Joyelle West for my book (link to purchase here). And pick up a hard copy before it’s gone!